monfivela

[monfivela]

TUA Fic: A Condition Called Love

Chapter 1: I heard a rumor...

Chapter 2: We Only See Each Other…

Writing for @silverywolf14 means I have to go deep into Lila's complex character and torture her and have fun with (plot) twists and turns.

Writing for @lokinightfury means sending her on a wild goose chase, while stalling her speed-reading ability with shiny clues, baits, traps, and puzzles.

Here's the next chapter of A Condition in Love, you'll need the help, so thank you @lokinightfury for your big brain and sharing with us your fantastic job!

This is my new fun writing project, being a diabolical little monster mastermind 😈

“I heard a rumor you’re in love with Lila.” It was a joke, until it wasn’t. AU, Academy Days, then Years Later, Number Eight!Lila

[monfivela]

Accurate.

and i oop—

[monfivela]

The latest chapter of Fever Dream by @rowan-555 @rowan555 is so good and gives us such a delicious glimpse into the dynamics of Max's Delicatessen.

Have you read it? Don't walk, run!

Rowan_555 writes in first-person, present tense, alternating between Five’s and Lila’s perspectives as they are lost in the subway. It gives us her version of what happened down there during S4 of The Umbrella Academy.

Their strength lies in a very cinematic style of writing, while maintaining tight control over the plots and actions, and keeping readers constantly on their toes. Also: big brain moments, the kind that blow your mind with how clever some of her explanations are.

Current word count: 123,327 Current chapters: 31 / ?

You’re in for a treat 💖🔥🥵👌

Icons of Max’s Delicatessen

✨Subway Lure Five✨

✨Drunk Five✨

✨Server Five✨

✨Brisket Five✨

✨Rain Man Five✨

✨Booth Five✨

[monfivela]

The art is so pretty and glossy, it gives us such a dreamy atmosphere 😍

So many hours put into this artwork, our fandom is full of talented and generous people. Thank you for sharing your labor of love with everyone 🙇🏻��♀️

It amazes me how much love can be perceived from both the subject and the creator for them every time 😍

✨ First Lila & Five comic strip ✨

I can’t believe I actually finished this!! About 15 hours of labor of love went into this piece, and honestly I’m so happy with how it turned out—especially the anime style result. The vibe is super soft and fluffy, like that glowing honeymoon period where everything just feels warm and golden. ✨💛

It still blows my mind that I’ve been hyperfixated on these two for over a year now, and somehow I still have endless inspiration to draw and write about them. Honestly it’s all thanks to being in such an amazing fandom that makes the brainrot feel like home. 💕

Hope you enjoy this little strip! 🌸

#umbrella academy #the umbrella academy #tua #lila pitts #number five #lila x five #five x lila #five hargreeves #tua fanart #comic strip #digital art #fluffy vibes #soft content #honeymoon energy #ship art #brainrot never ends #fandom love

Breakdown of frames

[monfivela]

My latest WIP gifted to @lokinightfury and @silverywolf14.

Meaning I've committed myself to a big challenge. Hope I'll be able to hold the plot and surprise these two big-brained authors till the end.

Pouring all their favorite tropes in this one 😈

A Condition Called Love

“I heard a rumor you’re in love with Lila.” It was a joke, until it wasn’t. AU, Academy Days, Number Eight!Lila

Chapter 1: I heard a rumor...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/69259661/chapters/179544506

You should never become friends with your mutuals because all you do is give them the most perfect ammunition to be able to emotionally eviscerate you with surgical precision.

Anyways. Go read this.

I want to cry. I also adore it. @monfivela is a genius and I hate love her

A condition called love

[monfivela]

Somewhere Only We Know

We had so much fun doing an alliance on #wplace 🍓🍓🍓

Thanks @hansodax, @lokinightfury, @mints-and-lilacs, @inadequate-all-along for adding your pixels!

Can you find the coordinate of this pixel art on the map? There is only one place possible 🥰

[monfivela]

This ⬆️

This ship has inspired so much amazing content, and @just-b-wilde is an all-around creator with the best edits, plus always original and creative plots.

We only got 15 minutes of montage with them in Season 4, but that was enough to spark so much great content. I’m humbled to have been touched by them, as have been others.

We may be only a few who are moved by the beauty and the tragedy of this ship, but we’re still here... a year later and still creating.

Thank you @just-b-wilde for your art and your thoughtful analyses, always on point 👏

There’s so much I’d like to say, but the truth is — I’m a bit pressed for time today, and instead of writing long rambles here on Tumblr, I should probably start packing my suitcase, since I’m leaving for a week-long trip tomorrow.

Still, I can’t get 8/8 and the Fivelila / TUA anniversary out of my head, so I wanted to write a few words before the day is over…

First of all, I already uploaded a new Five & Lila video on YouTube yesterday. After making what feels like a million edits with them, it’s getting harder to come up with something truly original — but I think I managed to do something a little different this time.

The premiere is already scheduled on YouTube. I couldn’t resist setting the premiere for 8/8 at 8:08 AM (NY time). If you’re feeling impatient, I posted a one-minute preview of the video on TikTok.

Secondly — I’d love to write about how much Fivelila means to me, but if you know me and my content, I’m sure you’ve noticed over the past year.

So many posts, videos, fanfics… I’ve spent hours creating for and about them — and I don’t regret a single minute.

I’ve always loved creating, and I’ve had many favorite characters and dynamics over the years, but the truth is: Five and Lila hold a very special place in my heart like no other ship ever has — and I truly love them.

They brought me back to writing, and even though their canon story didn’t end quite the way I hoped, there’s something magical about that too. It opened the door to countless alternate stories and interpretations.

All I want to say is: I’m genuinely grateful to be a fan of theirs. Because, as it turns out, the most (unjustly) hated ships are often the best ones — even if not everyone can see it.

But I do. And I know many of you do too. 💙

[monfivela]

Thank you Steve Blackman for giving us canon Five x Lila.

There’s some Fivela shippers in this house

by monfivela - The Umbrella Academy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/68858041

[monfivela]

My daily laugh and heartbreak thanks to TUA S4 and all the wonderful people I’ve met since, what a year it has been! 💜🚇🍓☂️

Say what you want about S4 of TUA but I made the best family this year and have laughed more than I could have ever imagined by hanging out with the best people because of it. Not just online, in real life too.

We might just be a bunch of racoons in some trenchcoats but we are having a full on party and it's been wonderful. As illustrated by @monfivela

[monfivela]

The Umbrella Academy: Happy S4 Anniversary to all the Racoons all over the world.

Thank you all for your contributions to the Five/Lila ship 🫶

This is my take on what truly happened at the Greenhouse…

References by Racoon artist @YenCatX on Pinterest.

Check out the rest of the comic strip on Ao3:

There’s some Fivela shippers in this house 🍓🍓🍓

And thanks everyone for adding to this collection: TUA S4 Anniversary

[monfivela]

I’m staring at The Depiction of Love.

You can feel the love pouring out of this drawing, both from the oh so talented artist and between the subject characters 🫠

Thank you for sharing this with all of us!!! 🍓🍓🍓

[monfivela]

[Verse 1]

I saw your green hair

Beauty mark next to your mouth

There on the subway

I nearly had a breakdown

A few weeks later

Somebody wore your perfume

It almost killed me

I had to leave the room

[Chorus]

It's just another day and it's not over (Ah)

'Til it's over, it's never over

It's just another day and it's not over (Ah)

'Til it's over, it's never over

[Post-Chorus]

'Til I don't look for you on the staircase

Or wish you thought that we were still soulmates

But I'm still counting down all of the days

'Til you're just another girl on the subway

[Verse 2]

Made you the villain

Evil for just moving on

I see your shadow

I see it even with the lights off

I made a promise

If in four months this feeling ain't gone

Well, fuck this city

I'm movin' to Saskatchewan

[Chorus]

It's just another day and it's not over (Ah)

'Til it's over, oh, 'til it's over

It's just another day and it's not over (Ah)

'Til it's over, it's never over

[Post-Chorus]

'Til I can break routine during foreplay

And trust myself that I won't say your name

But I'm still counting down all of the days

'Til you're just another girl on the subway

[Outro]

She's got, she's got a way

She's got a way, she's got a way

And she got, she got away

She got away, she got away

And she's got, she's got a way

She's got a way, she's got a way

And she got, she got away

She got away, she got away

(She's got, she's got a way

She's got a way, she's got a way)

She's got a way (She got, she got away

She got away, she got away)

She's got, she's got a way

She's got a way, she's got a way

And she got, she got away

She got away, she got away

for @clumsybookworm18 💖🚇

[monfivela]

This.

Five and Lila makes sense in the TUA universe, with a dash of tragic star-crossed lovers.

Umbrella Academy S4 reaction (spoilers)

I'm a little surprised how negative the reaction to S4 has been. It's flawed and a bit too loose, sure, but I think there's a thematic arc, to do with the painful but redemptive potential of selfless love, that a lot of people didn't recognize, or didn't like, possibly because it's too sentimental, or too tragic, or both.

In particular, I have a really different take on That Relationship. You know the one I mean.

But before I get to that, I just want to address the issue of unexplained plot points, of which there are certainly many.

Short version: Just let it go.

Long version: Comic-book storytelling is all about the impossible premise, the unlikely twist, the overblown threat, the arbitrary race against the clock, the catastrophic non-ending. A big part of TUA's appeal is that it takes that formula to an absurd extreme, unwinding a plot so convoluted and horrifying as to be comedic, then offering a resolution that raises more questions than it answers, and that seems final -- but is it ever? There could always be more. Even now. Because reasons.

But scratch the surface, and it's really all about the over-the-top super(anti)heroes who are surprisingly endearing, nuanced and tragic, whom the audience roots for despite a million reasons not to. Would S4 have benefitted from a few more episodes? No doubt, mostly to give each character their due (Klaus, my Klaus, you deserve more!), and to let the story breathe a bit. The plot probably wouldn't have made any more sense anyway. But c'mon, did it ever, really? So, why a subway? Why a squid? Why a diner? Does it really matter?

On to That Relationship, the much-criticized story of Lila/Five (aka Live -- can I copyright this?). This comically trope-laden ship (forbidden love, montage love, love triangle, enemies-to-lovers, pocket universe, happily-ever-after, etc) fits right into TUA sensibility. Despite being a bit underbaked, it's moving. The actors play it well, and in dropping their characters' armor, you realize how much armor they're usually wearing, how hard they're always working to cover their feelings. Out of all the characters, seeing these two having real emotions is most devastating, especially with each other. It's because this pairing is wildly unlikely that it hits.

Lila and Five have similar histories as traumatized, sensitive souls turned cold, cruel killing machines. They're smarter, more cynical, and stronger-willed than everyone around them. And they are clearly starved of love and desperate for connection. (Everyone on this show pays a price, but I find Five's terrible loneliness the most heartbreaking of all.) So then fate throws them together in a way that makes it inevitable they'll form an attachment, only to then demand of them the ultimate sacrifice. Their surprisingly quiet, life-affirming, Guinevere-and-Lancelot love is redemptive, in contrast with the meddling, selfish, and/or destructive love of others: Reginald and Abigail, Ben and Jennifer, Gene and Jean. Live aren't an unnecessary digression, they're central to the thematic development of the story. Sacrifice saves the world, but without love, there is no sacrifice.

And yes, I absolutely think Lila loves Five to the end. And while I appreciate that some might find the age difference between the actors off-putting, I don't think there was anything inappropriate on a Doylist level, and it all makes perfect sense on a Watsonian level.

Also:

Aidan Gallagher and Ritu Arya are extraordinary;

the use of Baby Shark is genius;

Diego, Luther and Allison have been the least interesting characters from the start, and S4 does nothing to change that;

Viktor needs a sense of humor;

I love that alternate universes are all the rage these days (so many great tropes started with Trek), but tbh Loki does it better;

as visual representations of the space between realities, I love both the Loki automat and the UA subway, but at some point, using recent-past retro design to signal liminal space is going to get old, which, come to think of it, will be deliciously ironic.

[monfivela]

This doesn’t get old. I love them so much 😭

[monfivela]

I’m always surprised by the new narratives @just-b-wilde come up with 😍

Lila Pitts • Don't Blame Me (+ Five and Diego)

[monfivela]

This is like the cutest thing ever.

@hansodax chibi!Five and Lila are back to give us lots of smut the slowest slow burn ever.

No wonder we’re all going feral at the slightest sign of affection.

Love this switch on canon!

With dialogue more spoilery

[monfivela]

Here’s some fluff 🍓

short but sweet 🍓

forgot to upload this here lol

dedicated to @lokinightfury