#Pogo Rogue

[theindieinformer]

This Week In Indies: April 22 - April 26

This Week In Indies: April 22 - April 26 4/23 - Tales of Kenzera: Zau 4/24 - Pogo Rogue (EA) 4/24 - Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure (EA) 4/24 - Rotwood (EA) 4/25 - Another Crab's Treasure 4/26 - Manor Lords

Welcome to This Week In Indies, a peek at the indie offerings on Console and PC you can look forward to playing in the following days. As always, you can always scope out our further-reaching 2024 release list to see what awaits in the impending weeks, months, and year. It’s hard to follow the stellar list of games that we had last week, and while today’s list isn’t as deep as its predecessor,…

[eschergirls]

​It's been 2 weeks so it's time to announce the winners of the contest!

Since it's EG's anniversary month, and given the quality of the entries, I've decided to pick 5 winners. :)

Each winner will get to choose a prize if they wish (but you don't have to, you can just participate for fun, I just wanted to give a prize because I enjoy the caption contests and appreciate all the people who participate).

Also before we start, I want to give a special shout out to Nev on Mastodon for making the very hilarious chair edit that's included in this post. Suddenly everything about Demonslayer's post makes sense! Since it's not technically a caption, it seems unfair to judge it with the others, but I still want to give it an honorary winning spot.

Moving on, here are the caption entries:

P J Evans: The one in red is absolutely going to be going topless if she moves. @singingflames: Wonder Woman's less impressive cousin always felt a little disappointed with her specialty equipment - the invisible toilet.' @ashleyfableblack: Between foreground bewb-ladys pose and strained expression and background bewb-ladys look of disgusted disinterest, I would say bewb-lady one looks like she's trying to cop a squat but I'm not sure she has the internal organs to digest food. @ashleyfableblack: 2nd impression- Bewb-lady red seems to be scratching herself against Bewb-lady blue as if they were a grizzly and a tree.. @mekanikaltrifle: "hey- hold on, lemme just rest my ass on your belt. you're cool with it right?" "Uh no--" "Too late! Ass planted." [world-weary, ass-induced sigh] @humansaregreat: “It was an inconvenient time and place for mini-me to take a poo, but when nature calls…” @karltface: "Though deep in her heart she knew the fart could not be fully trusted, it was too late to stop it." @zombiemollusk: new demon-slaying technique: pogo sword, then threaten to shit. it's a completely foolproof plan. @chattylulumutt: a guide to twerking on giant ladies volume 1 @holyshinta: "Ten fresh new ways to NOT hold a sword! Presented by Lady Tincan and her constipated mother, the Swimsuit Gladiator!" @soap-lady: “Seeing how her Demon Slayer gig has proven unsuccessful, our heroine decides to become the world’s first Bikini Mime. Here she is, convincingly miming sitting in a chair.” @melonbride: Caption: "I thought I could sit down here but it was just a perspective trick, now I'm going to fall over" @everentropy: Both of them: "Oh my god I really have to fart" tacoblacc: It looks like she's twerking on the big lady's belt

And here are the winners!

5th place goes to holyshinta

4th place goes to karltface

3rd place goes to melonbride

2nd place goes to chattylulumutt

And finally the winner is… singingflames!

Congratulations to all the winners :D and also thank you to everybody who participated, your captions were all very creative and good!

If you won and would like a prize, please message me with which prize you would like. If you came in 2nd, message me with 2 choices in order of preference, and if you came in 3rd, message me with 3 choices, etc… I'll give you your top choice that hadn't been taken by the other winners.

The codes I have available are for: Overgrowth, Syberia, Riot: Civil Unrest, Castle Crashers, Hotel Giant 2, Not The Robots, Steel Storm: Burning Retribution, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD, Rage in Peace, Uncertain: The Last Quiet Day, Uncertain: Light At The End, Nigate Tale, and Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos.

Please stay tuned in the future for another contest!

[kyndaris]

Heart of Darkness

After finishing off a slew of quick games before my trip overseas, I decided that as I traipsed around South Korea and Japan, it would be good to tackle another Square Enix title. No, it was not Final Fantasy XVI, although I'm sure bleachpanda would have approved. Alas, I didn't have the game on a portable handheld and I wasn't planning on packing my PlayStation 5 into my luggage.

No, I brought something much smaller.

This was a game akin to Octopath Traveler. Except, instead of having playable characters explore the one world and stumbling upon their fellow travellers, this title would see each and every protagonist play out their own self-contained stories of varying lengths across space and time. And all of them would be tenuously linked by a seed of hatred fuelling all the villains they would end-up taking down by the end.

More importantly, the game in question was also a remake. The original had come out aeons ago and had never been translated into English. But with the resurgence in recent years of pixellated art-styles and the success of the 2D-HD hybrid in titles such as Triangle Strategy and Bravely Default, Live a Live was gifted a second chance to appeal to the hearts of gamers worldwide.

Now, when this game first released in 2022, I have to admit, I was a little sceptical about picking it up. There hadn't been much in the way of fanfare for it and I already had quite a few other games on my plate to tackle. COVID-19 might have put a damper on many blockbuster triple-AAA titles but I'd enjoyed a glut of smaller niche titles.

As such, it was hard to try and squeeze Live a Live into my very packed schedule.

And so, it is with a heavy heart for me to admit that I didn't pick up this game until quite a while later. But pick it up I did. And knowing I'd need something to help me unwind during my trip, I chose it to be the game I played.

After all, it had sold itself as having many different stories that could be played independently of each other. So, in my mind, it would be the perfect pick-up and play game.

What I hadn't anticipated was that the first two chapters I'd pick end up being two of the longest: The Near Future and Prehistoric. I was also at a loss to know which order to play the chapters in but settled in for the first option in the rotation.

Near Future stars Akira. After his father passes away, Akira is whisked away to live in an orphanage with his sister. There, he whiles away the time by helping out his friend, Matsu, at a taiyaki stall and lounging on benches in the city park. After a few altercations with the local gang, he stumbles upon a conspiracy where humans are liquified to bring back a bird God, Odeo. The story ends with Akira duking it out against the revived God in the Steel Titan mech, piloted through Akira's psychic powers.

Prehistoric, on the other hand, has Pogo stumbling upon cavewoman Beru, who had fled her own tribe after nearly being sacrificed. Unfortunately, her tribe manages to track her down. Pogo, with the help of his gorilla friend Gori rescue her, bringing down the Tyrannosaurus Rex Beru would have been sacrificed to. In so doing, Pogo wins the respect of his tribe and that of Beru's.

But the story that stood out to me the most was the Far Future one, starring the iconic Cube, a small round robot, who was created by the engineer Kato to assist around the spaceship. The story plays out like a horror story with elements of Alien and System Shock. It isn't long before Cube is forced to face off against the rogue primary artificial intelligence, OD-10.

Then, of course, there are the stories of Sundown Kid, Oboromaru, the Earthen Heart Master and Masaru. Completing all seven of the stories unlocks an eighth chapter: The Middles Ages.

In the Middles Ages, players step into the shoes of Oersted. A knight of the Kingdom of Lucrece, he shows off his prowess at a tourney held by the King. Besting the sorcerer Streibough, Oersted is rewarded the right to marry the king's daughter. That night, as he celebrates his victory, the princess is kidnapped by the Lord of Dark. Oersted sets off on his journey to slay the Lord of Dark at Archon's Roost.

The rescue, however, does not go as planned and Streibough dies. Hasshe, the previous hero who had slain the first Lord of Dark, also falls. With a heavy heart, Oersted returns to Lucrece to report to the king.

It is later revealed, however, that Streibough is alive. Jealous of Oersted, Streibough orchestrates a plot to besmirch Oersted's good name and paint him as the villain. After accidentally killing Lucrece's king, due to an illusion, Oersted finds himself alone and without allies, the citizens of Lucrece quick to denounce him as a new Lord of Dark. Upon Oersted's return to the Archon's Roost, Oersted is forced to confront the traitorous sorcerer. Streibough slain, the princess emerges. But instead of being overjoyed, the princess expresses anger toward Oersted and commits suicide.

Overcome with hatred and despair, Oersted steps into the role of the Lord of Dark, christening himself a new name: Odio and extending his tentacles across time and space. These are, of course, the enemies the rest of the characters fought in their individual stories.

With the end of this eighth chapter, a ninth one opens up: The Dominion of Hate. Here, Odio transports the heroes of the previous chapters to the Kingdom of Lucrece, questioning the reasons why they fight and engaging in battle with them.

Much of the messaging in these last few moments still feel quite relevant to the current situation of our world. Especially as wars rage and people treat each other with disdain, drawing lines in the sand and forgetting that not everything in the world is so black and white. And as more and more people struggle with mental health, giving into the darkness of their hearts as they lash out at others through the anonymity of the internet, I'm reminded once again that most of our lives are more than a few comments or a status update on social media.

And yet, many have now squeezed themselves and their whole personality into 60 second video clips or 240 characters.

The internet may love their 'morally grey' love interests but somehow we've also forgotten there is more that motivates an individual than just one post they might have put up ten years ago.

In the end, it all comes down to what we make of our situations and how we react. Far too often, we rush ahead, blinding assuming people are out to get us without stopping to think things through. And in our bid to remain relevant, we fail to think about the human on the other end of the text chain and their feelings and their lives.

Yes, you may be the 'main character' of your story. But so are others. They aren't just bit characters in your play.

And maybe that's something we need to remind ourselves each day when we take to sending hate through the internet.

In this day and age, I'd hate to fight what sort of Lord of Dark might come out from all the vitriol dwelling inside. Joseph Conrad might have depicted a man's slow descent into evil by venturing deep into a jungle but we are seeing a modern day descent into savagery play out right before our very eyes.

I didn't mean to end everything on a downer though.

From a gameplay perspective, Live a Live keeps it simple with its turn-based combat a la Chrono Trigger and other role-playing games of yesteryear. What was intriguing to me, though, was the grid-like combat and the ability for players to position their characters just-so to deal critical damage or to target more enemies through area-of-effect attacks.

While this necessitated some form of strategy, I also found it easy, once sufficiently levelled, to just hit the final boss with all my strongest attacks without much thought on how long they would take to charge.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Live a Live and somewhat regret not picking it up earlier. Should Square Enix ever release another experimental title, I think I'd be quite intrigued to see where it might lead.

[queersrus]

Hi, Fukase anon here! Sorry, It never occurred to me that people may have a hard time coming up with things for characters they don't know a lot about. Sorry :( /gen

Anyways, I really love the clown and red theme ideas! Also, since Vocaloid is technically a music software, I was thinking some music-themed names as well! Also, as long as this isn't too specific, could you maybe do some X-themed things since there's a lot of Xs in his design?

I also like the idea of the darker, edgier themes, but I'd rather not have anything explicitly horror/slasher/demon related... as someone who kins Fukase, being associated with that stuff brings back some rough memories :( /nm

I'm sorry if I'm being too specific or picky or anything like that, and I hope everything I've said makes sense! Once again, thank you in advance :)

no worries!!

heres some names and pronouns based of red, clown, dark/edgy themes and the letter x!

Music names:

muse, musa, musica, musette harmony melody, mic, major, minor clef, capelle, capella, cord, chorus note key tone, tempo, timbre bar, beat, bridge, bass, blue, blues sheet, strum, song, singer, sang, string, sonata, soul acoust, adagio, allegro, andante, arpeggio, amp, alto, aria instro, instra, instrumenta rythm/rhythm, ryme/rhyme, rock, rocker orchest, orchestra pitch, pop funk

list here, here

red names:

Altemur, altan, autumn, apple, amaranth, alhambra, alroy danla, desire, desiree parichat, phoenix, pepper, poppy/poppie cher, cherry/cherrie/cherri, crimson, clifford, copper, candy/candie, currant, carmine, carmin, chili, coral, corsen, clancy maroon, merlot, mahogany, mohagan blood, brick, berry/berrie, blush, burgundy, barn, burn, blaze ruby, rust, rusty, rose, raspberry, redd, rede, redde, reder, redi/redie/redy, reddet/redet/reddett/reddette/redett/redette, redeta/reddeta/reddetta/reddeta, redin/redine, redina, redino, roso/rosso, rufus/rufous, rowan, rosa, rosie, roisin, rory, radley, rudyard, radcliff, redmond, redman, rumo, russel/russell, rohan, redford, rufina, reeding/reading, reed, rogan, roone, roth garnet, ginger, gough scarlet, sangria, strawberry, sienna, sorrel/sorrell jam wine, watermelon fire, flame, ferrari, flan/flann, flannel, flanner, flannery, flyn/flynn, flanna vermilion, venetia imperia tart, torch hazel, harkin

clown names:

Joseph, john, joey grock oleg emmett/emet/emmet/emett bozo, barry ronald krusty penny, pogo, pinto charles sunshine weary, willie albert, antonio, arthur daniel, david, demitri/dimitri, Demetrius/demitrius tinsel

actually found a whole wiki here

Dark/Edgy names:

dusk, dagger, draven, drake, draco, damon/daemon, damion/damien/damian grey/gray, gunner/gunnar, greer keir, khaos, knox, kestrel umbra, umbro poison, pain/payne asteroth/astaroth, asher, ammo, astrid chaos, crow, coen, chase, casper, caspian, cassian, carter, cage, colton hades, hemlock, hex, hunter, hawk, harper somber, sombre, sombra, serpent, snake, saber, stone, storm, slade/slayde, sparrow, salem, snow, smoke, slayer necro, natrix, nox, nix, nyx, nero, nash branwen, briar, blackwell, blade/blaid, blair, blase/blaze/blaise raven, reven, requiem, rhapsody/rapsody, rogue, ryder, ryker, raze, razer eris, elysium, ebony jinx, jett/jet, jack, jason lucien, lucius, lock/locke viper, venom, vlad, vane/vain/vein, veil, vee/v wolf/wolfe trix/tryx, trixie, thorn, tyren/tyrin, tirent, torrent, tyranny, toxin, tank, tempest, tanner zeke, zena fox, flask, falkner, falkon/falcon onyx/onix, obsidian xena

X names:

xen/xene, xavier, xena, xeno, xenon, xeon, xero, xerox, xyx, xyr/xyre, xyra, xray, xeny/xenny/xenie, xenia, xander/xzander, xyla, xyler/xylar, xia, xavi, xylia, xylitol, xioa, xu, xan, xanth/xanthe, xanthus, xavia, Xinjiang, xinia, xenophon/xenophone, xayvion/xavion, xochitl, xio, xion, xiona, xiomara, ximena, xanthia

many here

red 3rd p pronouns:

list here and here

clown 3rd p pronouns:

list here and here

edgy/dark 3rd p pronouns:

list here, here

x 3rd p pronouns:

xe/xem, xy/xem, xy/xyr, xe/xyr, xy/lo, xylo/phone xyi/lotl, x/x's, ex/ex's, ex/exes, xay/xem, xay/xyr, xie/xem, xie/xyr xe/no, xeno/xenos, xeno/morph, cross/crossed, cross/crosses, x'ed/out, exed/out, ex/amble

hope these help!

[hoesidon]

"Allison killed Harlan. That was wrong." Yes, that was a thing that happened. However, if we're counting score then by all means let's count the scores. Viktor killed Leonard and Pogo out of anger. He slit Allison's throat after learning the truth. And was ready to kill his family back in season 1. His temper tantrum ended the world. Let's also talk about Five and his long list of kills. He joined the commission to get back to his family and get everyone back to the correct timeline. Diego was ready to kill Hazel as revenge for killing Patch and probably would have if Five didn't stop him.

So yes, Allison did kill Harlan, and I understand why the fans are angry at the writers for killing off the only autistic character. But let's not forget that Allison isn't the only one that killed someone on this show. If you're gonna talk about Allison then you gotta talk about Viktor and Five as well. For Christ's sake Five told Viktor that the next time he went rogue Five would kill Viktor himself. But y'all don't wanna call Five out for that one

[sebastianshaw]

“Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, why?! Look Ah am all for men wearin’ whatever, but Ah did not sign up t’have mah eyes burned out today.”

Rogue says men in lingerie rights for everyone except Shaw

"I'm sorry you're jealous that I fill this out in a superior fashion," Shaw said, fiddling with the frills. Then he caressed one cup of the corset, "Or perhaps it's that you prefer the view when it's off?" @southern-belle-outcasts

[thebitterdm]

Finally I have awoken from my slumber after Thousands of years. Rogue Trader with Pogo. https://twitch.tv/thebitterdm

[deebrisbyfish]

The skunk strip as my predominantly gray hair began growing out was REALLY prominent when my hair was dark, which was a big factor in me wanting to go back. Thankfully, Heidi has some serious hair coloring skills and fixed me up. The punchline here was largely about me enjoying taking advantage of the fact that as a comic strip, I don’t HAVE to represent reality very realistically unless I want to. And to be honest, I rarely want to do that when wacky visual gags are possible.

[proudtoehaver]

Tfw people forget that Bodhi Rook is Jedhan, same as Chirrut and Baze.

[fierceawakening]

https://apple.news/AInR6tsbXRfiR-N8IU-6SEA

Thought the first: Well I am EXTREMELY FUCKING GLAD Millie did that

Thought the second: None of this surprises me

Thought the third: Nevertheless, JESUS GODDAMN CHRIST ON A SPARKLY POGO STICK

Thought the fourth: …NOW can we please stop pretending it’s always unjustified to call people crazy?

[lacking-hydration]

He's the guy!!!

Here's my take on the Riddler! Obviously he's inspired by Jim Carrey's Riddler cause... yknow His cane is also part pogo stick so... Do with that info as you may

I'm gonna start working through the Rogue's Gallery, I've already also got Catwoman, I'll post her in a second, and hopefully I can get Two Face done next.

[theindieinformer]

The Indie Informer Plays Dungeons Of Hinterberg, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall, Fishbowl, And Pogo Rogue

If you don't know what to play this weekend, I show off several fantastic indies in this week's extended Friday stream!

Episode 30 Two extended streams in two days! While the May 9 celebration focused on some of the heaviest hitters of the day, this time the focus is on limited-time LudoNarraCon demos and recently released titles. Those include the Dungeons Of Hinterberg Playtest, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall demo, Fishbowl demo, and Pogo Rogue. Support Videos This show is made possible by The Indie Informer’s…

[angelicamerlinbarnes]

TUA DANCE SCHOOL AU

(but also like there's murder in here because it's still Umbrella Academy so...)

(BEWARE: mentions of abuse and harassment, murder, kidnapping, etc.)

(If you can handle watching Umbrella Academy, this will be fine for you.)

(Ballet, Hip-Hop) Diego came to this school for Eudora, and he’s staying here for Eudora. She’s his beloved adopted sister, and the one who told him he should pursue his passions in hip-hop… and ballet, but Diego’s not interested in telling anyone that bit yet. He’s only gonna be here a year anyway, just long enough for Eudora to win her way onto the women’s US national soccer team and earn enough money for the both of them to live worry-free for the rest of their lives. He’s not planning on making friends… until one of the dancers in his ballet class trips into his chest and Diego starts questioning whether love at first sight is a thing.

(Ballet) Klaus is top of his class in ballet, which is the only reason they haven’t kicked him out yet. He’s addicted to some hard shit; he’s sold himself for money; he’s living with his abusive boyfriend who he hasn’t loved in three years because if he wasn’t he’d be homeless. He knows he’d be fine if he just told Five what was happening to him, because Five is a thirteen-year-old runaway genius living in a studio apartment big enough for three, but Klaus doesn’t know how to bring it up. He knows he’s a mess - he’s got serious PTSD, anxiety, and depression from his few months in the army where his boyfriend he actually loved was killed in front of him, and he’s got anorexia because he’s a ballerina so of course he does, and he’s probably suicidal if he thinks about it too hard. But he just doesn’t want to deal with it. At all. But then there’s Diego. Sweet, innocent, hero-like Diego. And Klaus loves him. Klaus doesn’t love anything, but, fuck - Klaus loves Diego.

(Ballet, Break Dance, Hip-Hop, Tango) Five is a killer. You can laugh, it’s okay - everybody does when he says that, as if it’s a joke. Five’s alright with that. He has more to lose from them finding out about his habits than he does from actually doing it. It’s not like he can get caught - he’s killed detectives and cops too, and he’s very good at covering his tracks. Next on his list is Klaus’ boyfriend, who’s a piece of shit. He’ll bring Klaus home with him, and keep him safe. Five may not be loyal to many, but those he is will die of nothing but natural causes. He has access to things you can only dream of. All of his dance classes double for training; dance is a good segway to fighting techniques. The only trouble is Diego, who Five loves, who Klaus loves, who is well and true and good… who looks far too much like that vigilante who travels around after hours saving Five’s victims before they’re done bleeding out.

(Flamenco, Hula, Hip-Hop) Allison is undercover, and ready to be done with this shit. She knows Five’s guilty, and knows he knows she knows he’s guilty, and knows that if he wanted her dead she would be by now. She’s worried about his intentions towards Diego, but Five seems to have instead set his sights on Klaus’ boyfriend, who Allison can’t honestly say she’ll be sad to see go. So Allison won’t be bringing Five in - at least not yet. Instead, she focuses her efforts on her dance classes, hanging out mostly with her best friends Klaus and Ray, the latter of whom she has a crush on. And she’d make a move, too, if it weren’t for that stupidly hot and kind himbo she keeps passing in the hallways and cursing at.

(Jock, Break Dance) Luther doesn’t fit in here. Everyone here is so fucking talented, and Luther just… isn’t. Break dancing is just a hobby to him, but dance seems like life or death to everybody else. He’s starting to think maybe he should just quit, but then he sees Allison in the hallways, and thinks maybe all the ridicule is worth it. Though his petty fights with that Diego kid are getting annoying… and there’s something unexplainably sinister about this school. Almost like it’s… he doesn’t know. Sometimes it’s almost like it’s not a school at all.

(Choreographer, Contemporary) Ben is one of the school’s choreographers, though he’s still a student. He knows everything about everyone, and uses that power carefully. This school is going to fucking hell, what with all the criminals scheming under its roof, but none of them are Ben’s first concern, loathe as he is to admit it. No no, Ben is worried about Klaus. His best friend, Klaus. His beloved brother Klaus. His abused, sick, sad, scared, suicidal brother. God. Here’s the thing - Ben will do anything to save Klaus. Anything. Even, he knows with some sort of horrible inevitable certainty, die.

(Violinist) Vanya plays violin for the dance students to perform to. Her teacher Leonard is harassing her and she’s probably gonna end up his invisible victim one of these days, since nobody seems to care about her here. Except for Sissy, the student volunteer secretary who’s attending a normal college across the way. She and Vanya are in love, and they’ve moved in together and Sissy proposed to Vanya last week and Vanya thinks they’re maybe gonna be happy together forever. And then Five, Vanya’s only sort-of friend, climbs through her window at two in the morning covered in blood, passing out with only the words, Sorry. It’s not mine. Vanya screams, and it’s all downhill from there.

(Tango, Waltz, Ballroom) Ray is undercover with Allison, but she seems uninterested in bringing Five to justice. Not that Ray minds - she’s a pretty good judge of character, and Ray trusts her with his life, even if she seems to be hellbent on letting a serial killer go free. Ray’s also found an oddly fulfilling friendship with Klaus, and vows to make sure he gets his happy ending with Diego. But then he finds Ben’s bloody and beaten body in the second floor bathroom after class one day and thinks, Oh. Shit.

(Ballet, Break Dance, Tango) Lila is in the know. The Handler wants someone to combat Five, who went rogue on her a year ago and only sticks around this stupid school to keep an eye on Klaus. Lila, meanwhile, is looking for a way out - Five’s not an option. He’s too sticky. But Eudora, that soccer star at the school across the street, her best friend Diego’s sister… Eudora’s a way out. (And she’s really fucking pretty too, but that’s unrelated.)

(Jock, Hip-Hop) Eudora has this weird feeling about the school she sent Diego too. If she’s being honest, she sent him there because she knows about his vigilante-ism and thought it’d give him something else to do. But when Eudora comes to visit him (and yes, maybe Lila with the eyeliner and pretty skin), she instead finds her brother’s crush tied up in the basement and screaming. And then there’s a gunshot. And then there’s nothing.

(Ballet I Guess) Dolores is the statue formally known as the “Little Dancer of Fourteen Years”. She’s at the museum right near the dance school, and Five visits her nearly every day, talking to her about any and everything. Sometimes Klaus comes with him, or Diego. Five doesn’t know why she’s important - she just is.

(Orchestra & Flamenco Teacher) Leonard is the creepy and perverted orchestra and flamenco teacher. Allison hates him on sight, but loves dancing, and can’t leave. Vanya doesn’t trust him, and he seems hellbent on treating her inappropriately, and Allison wants to fucking throttle him. But she’s sure Five will take care of it. He’s good like that.

(Ballroom Teacher) Hazel teaches ballroom dancing, and has been married to Agnes for almost twenty years now. His best friend and partner is Cha-Cha, and they both secretly work for the Handler, having been given their orders to dismantle Five. They know they’ll have to make him come to them, so they take Five’s favorite person: Klaus. It’s really such a shame that Ben boy found out what was going on and confronted them - he was far too polite to die.

(Break Dance & Hip-Hop Teacher) Cha-Cha probably wants to leave the Umbrella Academy, if she’s really honest with herself. She wants to… I don’t know, buy a boat and fuck off forever. Leave all this stupid shit behind. But now she’s got Ben’s blood on her hands and she can’t undo that, she can’t, and there’s - there’s Eudora, sweet, brave, innocent Eudora, bleeding out on the basement floor while Klaus screams. And Cha-Cha knows Diego - she’s just dug her own grave twice over.

(Ballet & Hula Teacher) Agnes is, on the contrary to most people’s expectations, not an oblivious idiot. She knows exactly what’s going on in her school. She also knows her students can handle themselves.

(First Dean, Tango Teacher) The Handler thinks she’s got all her secrets well under wraps. No one knows how many bodies she’s buried, how many students she’s killed… she’s safe from everyone but Five, the little bitch. And she thinks this up until the moment Klaus walks through her office door with a gun in his hand and the smiling ghost of Ben beside him, and realizes, Oh shit.

(Second Dean, Waltz Teacher) Reginald gives no fucks. He’s only teaching here because Pogo says it would be good for him. Granted Reginald thinks Pogo is a bit of an annoying wussy, but nonetheless he’s here. Teaching “secret” assassins how to dance. What a fucking joke.

(Counselor) Grace is everybody’s favorite person. When the school finally falls, she’s the one they all go home to. She only wishes they could learn how to dance without weapons beneath their skirts.

This turned out way darker than I intended and I am not sorry.

[lostinfinity1]

Fun speculations theories for The Umbrella Academy mostly the tv series (includes spoilers from both seasons and potentially the comic) They are for fun, not to be taken seriously by any means. (written August 2020)

Quick summary of the theories for those who don’t want to read with more explanations below.

1.     Five will join the sparrow academy.

2.     There will be a fight for “Time” at the end.

 First theory.

 Why would Reginald want Five back in the group? Easy.

1.     Five’s power is incredibly versatile to include in a team. Add a scene where Five discuss his first (spoilers last ep. Season 2) rewind with Reginald to thank him for the advice. That alone would increase his interest in him. I also think he might want to prevent the apocalypse on his own planet. Anyway lots of potential.

2.     Five is the only TUA member that Reginald that he didn’t seems to despise or find annoyingly stupid. (We all can relate to that, I think. That diner scene was marvelous.)

3.     To have 7 members in the sparrow academy. That one is a bit my own interpretation. That cube. Nope. I really don’t want it to be a member of the sparrow academy, maybe a guardian figure like Pogo at worst, but I want it to be an extension of one of the kids power. Like a technological based power. If the cube is out, that means the 7th spot is free. Five could take it.

Other reasons:

1.     Foreshadowing. His name is still a number. Probably going to fit perfectly with the sparrow academy since they didn’t have a Grace mom to name them.

2.     That would increase conflict between the two teams like crazy and keep TUA stuck in that timeline for a while.

 How would that happen? A rumor-like power like the one Allison has (comic spoiler from what I could find online) is also seen in the sparrow academy. A power that alter reality like that could be easy to use to brainwashed Five into thinking that his Family is the Sparrows not the Umbrellas. Easy peasy.

Now imagine Five in the Sparrow academy. That would be a hell of a ride.

The smol angry psychopathic family-obsessed old man with a bunch of kids who likely never had any kind of love or support and that probably do not see each other as family.

In a way, Five is like a glue that brings the TUA siblings together. He would act the same with the sparrow kids. That over aggressive love is what the sparrows needs. Like they might brush him off at first, but unlike most TUA Five would never back down. Bonus points if he act with one sparrow kids like he does with Vanya, (infinite bonus point if he does that with all sparrow kids), giving them advice during training (he is a pro assassin after all) and support and maybe even stand up for them to Reginald.

… And imagine the TUA sibling being sooooo pissed off that Five act like a softy while he was a meanie to them with Vanya hiding in a corner saying oops when she realises he was nicer to her and her alone.

 Second theory.

The moment Five said  “Time changes everything”, I was hooked on the character and the possibility of what it could mean. Five is the one who says that in episode 5 and I just love the potential implications of that sentence because he could be referring to himself. The unchanging Five stuck in a teenage body, never changing his name, not even his clothes. He is basically turning into “Time” itself, changing timelines every single time he jumps. His first time travel changed everything for the remaining member of the TUA creating fractures in the group. Subsequent time travels influence greatly the events that unfolded afterward.

Ending

And all good time travel plots end with a fight for Time. In this case, Time would be our adorable assassin Five. If Five powers increases and him becoming more time, I can see him be captured by bad guys (Alien? Reginald? One of the other 43 kids? The sparrow academy rogue?) either brainwashed or being used in one way or another to control time. (ex: controlled but not brainwashed by another 43 kids, being a component of a time machine that supply him with power, etc. Anything goes.) With all his siblings fighting for him (might include the sparrow kids if the 1st theory happens)

Imagine the potential. The TUA struggling to save him. Five bonding with the villain with how incompetent they are at saving him. The villain agreeing (A “you had it rough”, kinda speech). Five’s power going berserk and fast forwarding individual fights and slowmoing others fights in a chesslike mosaic. Even rewinding fights. Like I am completely sure the production team could pull off something epic. They already are.

And then someone finally reaches Five. Would like Vanya since she was always the cause of the apocalypse and with how close they are. The ending could be five choosing a timeline that is good for them and jumping. 

That was long. Hope you enjoyed it. I’m just throwing it out there because it was all I was thinking the past few days and I needed to move on. haha. Now off to work on other projects. 

[klbwriting]

The Sparrow and The Rogue - Part 1

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Pairing: Ben Hargreeves/ female!Reader

Warnings: some fighting, a touch of fat-shaming

Summary: The Umbrella siblings arrive back in 2019 to discover that Ben has no idea who they are, their dad wants them all dead, and they are once again in way over their heads

Notes: I’M AT IT AGAIN.  Another series because I’m a glutton for punishment and I can’t resist my love for Ben Hargreeves.  A few actual notes now.  Note 1: In this I refer to Ben as Number One because I feel that is who he seems to be in the Sparrow Academy and also once Reginald learned of the others I don’t think he would allow personal names ever again.  Note 2:  I have named the reader in this as Number Eight because I feel its ambiguous that you can infer yourself as a reader into the shoes of someone just called a number.  Note 3: I am really trying to portray the characters well so I hope you enjoy!  Please like, reblog, but most of all COMMENT send asks about it or just reply with something or use fun tags.  Thank you!

Klaus couldn't process what he was seeing.  Ben, his brother, his dead compadre, the one person who was always there for him (except when he was on something, and that one time he just abandoned him in a bar), was right there in front of him with a bad boyband haircut and hate in his eyes.  It was a scene that was both tragic and beautiful for Klaus.  Vanya felt similar feelings rise in her.  Ben had been the one to truly save the world, had been the kindest of her siblings when they were kids, the one who seemed to actually love her and here he was looking at her like he wanted to unleash the horror on her right in the living room that she used to call home.  Diego recalled easily how Ben when he was possessing Klaus had hugged him so tight and he had felt the love he missed from his baby brother, but now he had the distinct feeling that Ben would take him out without a second thought.  None of the other four had had any moments with Ben recently but they were feeling similar things, happiness at the fact that he was alive, but confusion over how different he seemed.  Klaus finally opened his mouth to say something when Reginald stepped in.

"These are the morons I told you about Number One, they have come to usurp your group, they are what I have trained you for," he said.  The Umbrella siblings turned to face their father, faces a mix of rage and hurt.  Ben frowned looking at the motley group in front of him.  "Well Number One?  Lead your team against these frauds."  He was conflicted, he had rarely attacked anyone who didn't deserve it and he didn't really know what these guys did to deserve the wraith of his father, but before he would make a move the front door of the academy burst open, shattering to the ground as several figures entered the room.  Leading them was a familiar face.

"You dummies going to just stand there?" Lila asked as she entered the room ready for a fight.  The Umbrella siblings looked back to the Sparrow siblings to see them now all around Ben, masks on, and ready for attack.  Surprisingly however, none of them looked anything like the Umbrella siblings, they were all completely different, except for Ben.  

"What are you waiting for Number One? ATTACK!" Reginald yelled. 

  "Shut up dad," a girl standing beside Lila snarked to Reginald.  He glared back at her.

"I see you've grown yet again Number Eight, getting bigger by the day," he snarked back.  She snarled at him.  

"O come on, fat-shaming?  That's a little much," Klaus said.  Then he caught sight of Lila's expression.  "O right, escaping."  He followed his siblings and the two women out as the others with them were left behind to fight with the Sparrow siblings.  They got a few blocks away before stopping for breath.  

"Number Eight?" Five finally spat out at the unknown woman.  She shrugged. "I was Number Eight for five years before Lila here came along and sprung me," she explained.  Diego looked confused.

"You look exactly the same as you did in the 60's how is that possible if you raised another peron?" he asked.  Lila smirked.

"A lady never reveals her secrets.  O I missed you love," she answered, gripping Diego's face in her hand.  He rolled his eyes but didn't pull away.  He missed her too if he was being honest even though she had tried to kill him, a few times.  "Now I see you have met your new counterparts."

"Why is Ben leader?" Luther asked.  The rest of the siblings looked at him as if to say 'what the fuck dude?'  He held up his hands shrugging. 

"Because Ben as you call him is the strongest in that crop, at least in terms of powers, channeling a being of destruction in your abs can get you a lot if you try," Eight responded.  "But he can be sympathetic and good most of the time."  She reddened some at the confused looks on the siblings faces.

"You'll have to forgive sweet little Eight here, she has a bit of crush on Number One there," Lila said, putting an arm around Eight that the woman immediately shrugged off in annoyance.  "Anyway, now that you've returned to the present I should catch you up shouldn't I?  Come on, to our little hideout, the others should be getting there by now since our little distraction and extraction worked."  She turned without getting a response and headed down a flight of stairs that had construction blocks in front of it, disappearing underground with Eight following her.  The others looked at each other and one by one they followed the women into the ground.

---------------------

Number One found himself wondering several things after the scuffle had ended.  One, why had his father spent so much time talking up this group of siblings like they were evil incarnate?  He didn't see any sign of anger or threat from any of them.  Two, why did Eight always have to show up with Lila?  It drove him crazy to see her, especially now after their last one on one fight that didn't exactly end with a normal take down unless Lila was teaching unexpectedly kissing as a new technique.  And three, where the hell had they gotten the name Ben from?  He racked his brain for a time that he was known as Ben and he couldn't recall one.   "Dad, what was all that about?" he questioned as his siblings watched at dinner that night.  Reginald sighed deeply, hating to be questioned, especially with Pogo and Grace in the room.

"Number One, I have told you before, the Umbrella Academy is a rival, a group who wants to destroy us and what we hope to achieve," he said as if One was a small child.  

"I understand that's what you told us but that is not what I saw in them today, they looked sad, and confused," he said.  "If they were a threat then why didn't they seem to know us at all?  Why did they call me Ben?"  

"Enough Number One, if you cannot listen properly then you are dismissed from dinner and are to go study Lord Byron again, maybe you will learn something finally," he snapped.  One gripped his fork tightly but stood and did as told, just like always.  He was the leader and needed to set an example.  He heard the whispers from his siblings before they were silenced by their father.  He felt Number Three poking around in his mind, trying to see what he was thinking, trying to put a thought into his head but he shook it off and headed upstairs to his room. 

He shut the door and let out a breath, finally relaxing for the first time that day.  He stripped off his uniform and got into comfier clothes, before laying down in his bed.  He laid there, actually taking out Lord Byron and reading some before he heard the last of his siblings go to their rooms.  Once he was sure that the house was completely locked down and everyone was at least pretending to sleep he put the book down and rolled over, feeling behind his bed for the loose brick just below his box spring.  He pulled it out and from it he pulled out a crayon drawing and a cell phone.  He put the picture back into the hidey hole before powering up the phone.  He smiled at the message that was waiting for him.

'It was nice to see you today even if I almost had to kill you' 'You couldn't kill me if you tried' 'Ya, you're probably right, but you couldn't kill me either One' 'I know Eight, I know' 'Maybe we can find a way to have a fight tomorrow?' 'I do have some time scheduled to patrol between 9th and 15th street aroud 5 pm' 'I'll be sure to vandalize a building or maybe rob a warehouse on say 12th?' 'I'll be there to stop you' 'Can't wait, goodnight One' 'Goodnight Eight, o and what dad said, you look amazing the way you are' He didn't get an answer but knew she'd see it in the morning and hopefully it would make her smile.  He put the phone and brick back and drifted off imaging her smiling at his message.

[lochrannn]

AU-gust: Walk a mile in my red boots

Read on AO3

No warnings

prompt no 8: Character Swap

Characters: Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves, Five Hargreeves

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

-

“Five, I have to find him! I just don’t understand why you can’t see that!” Lila throws her hands up in the air, exasperation with her oldest brother hitting a boiling point.

She’s been having this argument for days now.

After they returned to 2019, to an empty mansion, no mom, no Pogo, they had spent a good few days talking about what they had experienced and how they would go on. It didn’t take too long for them to split up, though. Allison wanted to get to LA as quickly as possible to see Claire and Vanya decided to travel with her. Having left Sissy back in Dallas and learning about how her life had been leading up to her causing multiple apocalypses had been tough on her, and she said she needed some time to re-evaluate where her life should go.

Lila isn’t ready to let go of her experiences back in Dallas yet, though. She feels like it’s her responsibility to find Diego and see if he’s ok.

“Lila, he’s a lunatic who manipulated you and tried to kill our siblings. Really, really wants me dead! Why are you so desperate to go after him? What are you going to do if he tries to hurt you? You know there’s not that much you can do if we're not there for you to copy our powers. And Diego’s a highly trained assassin!” Five is trying to be understanding, but Lila can tell by the way he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet that he’s going to try any tactic he can to dissuade her.

“God, Five, why don’t you get it? You told me all about the loneliness you experienced in the apocalypse. Diego’s just lost everything. Everything he believed in has been taken away from him, I can’t imagine a place more lonely than that, except for the apocalypse, maybe. And I know he’s dangerous, but I don’t believe he’ll hurt me. And wouldn’t you rather know where he is and what he’s up to than have to wonder whether he might not come back to finish the job?” Lila knows that’s a low blow but she’s desperate. She can’t quite put into words why she feels so strongly that she has to find him, she just knows that she does.

“I’d like to see him try,” Five mumbles off to the side, but Lila can see that she’s slowly getting through to him.

It’s not like she needs his permission. She helped the little gerbil from the Commission, she’s sure she can wangle a favor out of him, she doesn’t need Five. But after everything they’ve been through, she’d much rather he was on her side on this one.

There’s a tense moment between them and then Five lets go of a long breath and nods once and Lila smiles broadly at her brother.

Before leaving the kitchen she ruffles his hair and earns herself a pretty hard slap to the hand in return.

-

In the end it’s not hard to find him.

Of course Herb has been keeping tabs on him. Not only is Diego a rogue Commission agent now, but the new interim head of the board is genuinely sympathetic towards the catastrophic loss Diego’s experienced and when Lila makes contact with Herb, he presses a pre-programmed briefcase into her hands and wishes her good luck.

-

Lila studies the sign outside the cantina. Her Spanish is a little rusty but she’s quite certain that it says no women are allowed inside.

Well, fuck that.

Usually she’s not too concerned about local customs, different strokes for different folks and all that. And it’s not like she’s traveled, really, outside of missions with the Umbrella Academy when they were children. But this sign can fuck right off. She hasn’t come all this way to find Diego to be turned away by outdated gender norms.

So she walks in holding her head up high and instantly draws everybody’s attention.

But all she can focus on is the figure that scrambles in a blur to what seems to be the back of the large room with its wooden ceilings.

He’s out of sight before she can even start running, but in her pursuit she swipes a knife off of a table and flings it out of the back door before she sprints through it herself.

She hasn’t had any real opportunity to practice using this power as she only found out Diego had it when he had repelled Vanya’s attack and had toyed with Five by whizzing a knife fractions of inches away from his head when they were fighting in the barn. At least that’s how Five tells it.

Well, Lila decides to simply wing it. Intuition has always served her quite well in copying her siblings’ powers, so why not now?

And at the same time as she bolts out the back door, she hears the sound of a knife imbedding itself in a clay wall and a loud yelp.

She turns to the noise and there he is, knife pinning his jacket to the wall, a line of blood welling up along the tear in the material - oops - and he has her leveled with a deadly glare. But he doesn’t move, just stares her down.

“Gotcha!” Lila says, trying to ease the tension between them, she thinks she deserves at least a bit of co-operation from him, seeing as she de-escalated the fight between Diego and Five back in Sissy’s barn. With her words no less!

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Diego spits out at her, his expression still murderous, but he also still hasn’t moved, so Lila continues approaching slowly while she says, “Oh you know, I’ve been jonesing for a bit of a holiday so I thought to myself ‘Where’s that bastard who played and manipulated me while I was at one of the lowest points of my life? Would really like to know what he’s up to these days.’”

For a second something almost a bit like guilt flashes across Diego’s face, but then his scowl deepens and he doesn’t say anything, nor does he make a move.

So Lila chances it and steps up to him, only to regret that the second he pulls the knife pinning him out of the wall, launches himself at her, slams her back against the wall and presses the knife to her throat.

Shit, she may have misjudged this. Maybe snark wasn’t the right choice after all.

There was a time when she thought he was quite charmed by her sharp tongue, but right now she remembers that she can’t actually be too sure about anything concerning Diego. However, there’s a feeling deep down inside of her that still believes that he won’t actually hurt her, but maybe Five is right and she’s just desperately naive.

Diego is towering over her breathing heavily, not from exertion, but clearly from rage.

“Why the fuck are you here, Lila? Is that little murderer you call a brother with you? Cause he can see what he gets for hunting me down!” he snarls.

Entirely out of options Lila decides the only way forward is with the truth. “Five’s not here. I came alone.” Oh you idiot, the voice in her head that sounds a little too much like Five chimes in. “Came to make sure you were ok,” she says, staring up at him imploringly.

That’s clearly not what he expected as she can feel his forearm twitch where he has it pressed to her collarbone and his grip on the knife at her throat falters for a second.

“Why?” he whispers. For the first time she feels like there might be a tiny bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“Cause you’re all alone, Diego, and I made you a promise and I’m not sure you really heard me… you know, the whole family thing?” Lila had made an impassioned speech back at the barn, but even though every word had been completely sincere, she feels a little awkward about the whole thing now.

A nasty grin stretches across Diego’s lips and he sneers, “I don’t believe for a second that all of your siblings feel the same way. Doubt they’ve forgotten about how I tried to kill them. Came pretty close, as well! And what the fuck makes you think I’d even want to be part of your family, anyway?”

He’s leaning against her heavily now and Lila knows he’s trying to intimidate her, but if he wanted to hurt her he would have already done so. Clearly he’s not actually willing to just leave this conversation either.

“They’ll get over themselves,” she says with as casual a shrug as she can manage with a knife to her throat, “and I care about you, Diego, the same way I think you care about me. And I don’t believe you actually want to be alone. But beyond that, it’s up to you.”

At her words she sees something crumble behind his eyes and suddenly they seem to fill with unshed tears. “Jesus, Lila, I drugged you and took you to the Commission against your will. You’re fucking crazy to be anywhere near me!”

“Yeah you did. And maybe I am. But what can you do?” Lila just says gently.

Apparently that’s how easy it is. Diego closes his eyes, presumably to stop the tears from falling, tips forward, and knocks his forehead against hers.

Then the knife is gone and Lila uses the opportunity to wrap her arms around him and he melts into her hug.

And while they stand there, Lila with her back against the wall, slightly struggling to hold a sobbing Diego upright, she rubs soothing circles into his back and whispers into his ear, “It’s gonna be alright! We can make it alright, I promise!”