#he barely knows luther but he knows he can trust him over CLAIRE who he's worked with for years. urhghghurhghrhg I'm FINE

[chevaliermalfets]

Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell in Mission: Impossible (1996)

[babblingbear09]

Reginald has Allison Rumor Five AU

I’ve been thinking through this AU I’m never going to write so figured I’d just post.

What if Five figured out how to time travel back from the apocalypse when he was still pretty young, say 14 or 15, and he makes it back about a year after he left. He scared his siblings by vanishing that long, is clearly traumatized, and Reggie can’t trust him not to vanish again. So, he sticks with what works and orders Allison to help.

He can’t take away Five’s powers because he’s too old for it not to have major repercussions and the siblings would remember. Plus, Five is undoubtedly useful as long as he can be controlled. So instead, he has Allison rumor Five to obey Reginald.

Allison is so stressed about her brother missing for over a year and Five in his panic keeps trying to get out so he can work at stopping the apocalypse (he’s not in his best state being a young teen with the trauma of the apocalypse and weight of the world on his shoulders). So Allison goes along with it. The Umbrella Academy hadn’t fallen apart yet and their trust in Reginald hasn’t been broken yet and she just wants Five to listen to Reginald before he disappears again, this time forever. She’s young and doesn’t think this through.

From there, I can’t decide if Reggie has some short term alien technology that has her forget (which wouldn’t work on Viktor because there would be too much to forget) or if Allison doesn’t fully grasp the full ramifications and just forgets. Either way, Five is now trapped in the house, forced to obey their father and no one else realizes it.

Reggie lays some ground rules: no leaving the house without permission. No time traveling without permission. No hurting him. No communicating to anyone that he’s rumored. He makes Five tell him everything he knows about the apocalypse and immediately pulls him out of the Umbrella Academy into more specialized training. Instead, he works to force him to master time travel, now under his direct control and use it to carry out his plans.

He only lets him join the Academy occasionally for special missions. Five is able to save Ben but the trust between siblings has been lost. Reginald knows they all failed to stop the apocalypse the first time and so doesn’t stop them all from leaving, this time even Luther who feels replaced in his father’s affections.

The siblings are hurt that Five doesn’t want to be around them anymore. That he barely talks to them and refuses to leave the house and Reggie’s thumb. He does bargain with their father as much as he can for time with his siblings (ordering complete obedience from someone skilled at finding loopholes is exhausting and a little bit of sibling time helps keep Five compliant). He pops up here or there, always out of the blue and often at different ages but will never stay for long. He watches one of Diego’s boxing matches, attends one of Victor’s recitals, shows up to congratulate Allison after her wedding and after Claire is born, buys Klaus dinner, shows up at Ben’s graduation.

Five was never super close to all of his siblings growing up, but he did love them, and after finding their bodies he’s desperate to see them alive and well as much as he can. He’ll do almost anything to be able to do so. Five wants to stop the apocalypse as much as Reggie but there’s very little to go on and he feels trapped, stuck back under his father’s thumb, watching his siblings grow up and live their own lives without him. He wants to stop the end of the world, but if they can’t do that (and his father never explains how the missions he’s sent on are supposed to help) he at least wants to die with his siblings, not trapped alone in a mansion he can’t leave.

This all comes to a head when Reggie dies. In this AU I don’t know if he thought whatever they’d done wasn’t enough and still killed himself or if the Commission thought they were too close and killed him to get the timeline back on track. Either way, the siblings come home and Five is freed from the Rumor for the first time since he was 15.

He wants to tell his siblings but years of forced silence don’t make him a good communicator. His siblings are all angry at him for being his fathers puppet. But some things have changed. Five periodically showing up did help the siblings stay somewhat in touch. Viktor didn’t write the book this time around and Ben is alive. But, Five doesn’t know about the Commission and is incredibly skilled and free to leave. In steps the Handler.

From here, I don’t know where it would go. If Five would be drawn in by the Handler’s promises of help or work to fight them. But somewhere in there, the siblings would find out the truth and realize their brother has been held hostage by their father all these years after facing a year or two in the literal apocalypse. And then it would come to light that the apocalypse was caused by Reggie’s actions in the first place. Viktor would have a fellow victim of their father and the siblings would have to face an organization less interested in killing their brother as forcefully recruiting him. As if he needs any more of that in his life. No idea how this would end, but Five definitely would deserve a hug.

[number5theboy]

who do you think is five’s ’ favorite subling?

Oh, interesting, interesting.

Short answer.

I don't really know. I can't really pinpoint it. Maybe the memory of Viktor. In reality, more likely Luther or Diego. If Season 2 had even slightly bothered to follow up on their dynamic from Season 1, the answer would've been Klaus.

Longer answer.

I'm briefly touching on the siblings he hasn't interacted with enough to get a read on how he feels towards them. I think he loved Ben like he loved all his siblings. Him asking Viktor about how he died and how that felt, and him asking Klaus about Ben shows that Ben was on Five's mind, even after 45 years, and he was the second person he called out for when he landed in the apocalypse. And Allison....in the comics, she's the one who is the most similar to him, and the sibling he interacts with the most. He doesn't like any of his siblings in the comics, but that's neither here nor there. In the show, they barely talk. He does care for her, and he cares for Claire, and they get to gang up to mock Diego, but there is never a strong sense of what their dynamic is, what they think of each other. It's a crying shame.

From the little we know about the Umbrella siblings' childhood, I think it's fair to say that as kids, Viktor was Five's favourite sibling. Seemingly the only one whose opinion Five cared about, the first one he called out for when he landed in the apocalypse, and the only one he trusted when he came back, the only one he thought would listen to him. Someone he has so much love for he can forgive causing the event that ruined his entire life, and someone who he loves, and who loves him. But it's not someone he knows anymore. He and Viktor don't really understand each other, they can't really see from the other's perspective. Five runs out on Viktor in Season 1; Viktor turns his back on him in Season 2; they almost brawl; they play the blame game. I still think that Five has a soft spot for him, more patience than he has for any other sibling, but I think that Five and Viktor have not yet figured out how to consolidate their favourite sibling from childhood with who that sibling has grown up to be, so this is still a developing dynamic, and one I really, really love.

The brothers Five has spent the most time with in both seasons are Luther and Diego. And those dynamics are slightly different, but I still like to discuss them together, because they are the most consistent between seasons; Five spends extended amounts of time with the two. And I think he considers both to be like. His idiot little brothers (affectionate), while they see him as their annoying little brother. It's fun. His relationship with Luther is more straight-forward. Luther helps Five, and vice-versa. There is some mild ribbing, but they work alright together - there's support there for each other, some good bonding moments, a little fighting, but when push comes to shove, they do have each other's backs. Like. Luther believes that there is fundamental good in Five. And Luther is who Five opens up to the most. There is love there, somewhere. With Diego, Five is a lot brasher, a lot more antagonising, and they rise to each other's bait, because they are quite similar in a few ways, both contrarian on purpose, the first two to really break away from their father while also constantly haunted by his spectre. Out of all of the siblings, Diego is probably the one Five works best with in combat situations, and there is an unspoken support where the support is spoken in Luther's case. Five definitely has the best grasp on who these two are as people now, and, even though he is shit at showing it, he loves both of them a lot. I think, over the two seasons, these two are the ones he spends the most time with, and in practice, they might figure as favourite siblings in a practical sense - they are the ones in the show that show up for him when need be.

And then there's Klaus. Oh Season 1 Klaus and Five dynamic, how I love you. How I miss you. Once Five runs out on Viktor, Klaus is who he turns to, the one he can buy. He then immediately betrays Klaus and refuses to fund his drug habit, but he does something with Klaus that he doesn't really do with anyone else in Season 1 or Season 2. He comes back to Klaus. The two of them are similar to the point of Five denying it. And yet he loops back to Klaus as his first ally three times in Season 1, and Klaus comes with him every time, even though Five is unreliable and prone to taking off, and also pretty much the reason Klaus got kidnapped and tortured. Five can be very off the wall and Klaus matches that energy without questioning it. They make sense while surface-level not making sense at all. Klaus sees through Five in a way Five is not used to anymore - he's the one that gets the biggest rise out of him. That's his third idiot brother and the one that is the inverse of him, the one that genuinely gets under his skin the easiest of all his siblings. And I feel like maybe this combination of being understanding and also ride or die would make Klaus Five's favourite sibling. But then Season 2 happened and they barely even looked at each other, so it's difficult to assess what their dynamic is in general, how it would and could continue. As it looks, we will get more of them in Season 3, so I'm looking forward to that.

So yeah. I think Viktor, or the memory of Viktor, is Five's favourite sibling more in theory than in practice. Diego and Luther come much closer to being people that Five actually spends time with, the ones he feels comfortable with, they are the favourites in practice more than theory. And in Season 1, Klaus is the one that is both challenging and one hundred percent behind Five, and this could have developed into him being Five's favourite sibling, but then the show dropped that dynamic almost completely for Season 2. That's how I see the most prominent dynamics Five has with his siblings, but as for who he, the character, considers his favourite, I can't really pinpoint. It is really difficult to say. Now can he and Allison PLEASE talk to each other?

[hoe-for-writing]

wake up next to me tomorrow

A/N: trigger note for sexual assault and attempted rape please don’t read this if it triggers you It was well known that you were promised to the High King Peter. Ever since he had laid eyes on you when he first met Aslan, he had fallen under your spell. And you were totally, absolutely in love with him. So, if fit well. It was still dark outside when Peter started moving next to you. For some reason, a part of a king’s duty was to wake up early and talk to a bunch of people. Pete got up and kissed you on the cheek, then walked to the bathroom. You drifted into a state of half sleep and barely noticed when Peter once again kissed you and then left, only leaving the smell of fresh herbs.

A happy and soft “Good morning, milady.” woke you up once again. You opened your eyes and saw Eliza, one of your maids. “Good morning.” You managed to sit up and stretch out your arms. It took you a few seconds to lose the sleepiness but then you got up and went to the bathroom. Eliza had already prepared a warm bath and just pinned up your hair. You took of your night gown and sank into the warm water that smelled like lavender and sage. For a few minutes you forgot the whole world around you and just enjoyed the scent of your bathing water. You didn’t even here the bath door open, but you immediately recognized the soft but strong hands that massaged your shoulders. “Good morning.”, you mumbled and slightly turned your head. “How come I have to get up incredibly early and do work while you can stay in bed all day and enjoy a very nice bath?” He asked and kissed you on the cheek. You just shrugged and then said: “If it bothers you so much, you could of course always join me.” “Ah, you know, I would love to, but I can’t. Sooooo much to do.” Peter explained. “You’re the High King. Send Edmund.” Peter’s loud laughter could sure be heard in the whole castle. “He’s so just. It would be no problem.” you added and smiled innocently at him. Peter flicked some water into your face. “They might call him the Just but sometimes I’m worried he’ll start a war with his remarks.” You rolled your eyes but still had to smile. “Trust me, he is intelligent enough to end it in the same second. So, please, join me.” You pouted your lips and put on your most begging face. “I can’t, my love. The King and Queen of Karlormen and their son will visit us in just a few hours. You didn’t forget, did you.” He asked and gave you a kiss. A stretched “No!”, went over your lips. “Of course not.” You obviously did. Peter left the bath and you hurried to be finished. Your maids entered and one, Claire, started to dry your hair with a soft cloth. You chose a red dress that had a golden lion stitched over your heart. You always wore red and gold when Peter had male, unmarried visitors. It was supposed to symbolize your connection to Peter and so far it always kept men from courting you. You spent the rest of your morning and noon with reading and stitching. But after a while you started to get bored threw on a riding coat and went to the stables. It sure would still take some time until the King, Queen and Prince of Karlormen would arrive. You spent some time outside just riding wherever the path took you.

After a while you turned around. Your maids were waiting for you in front of the stables. Milly ran up to you and said completely out of breath: “Quick, the King… and the Queen and the … Prince have al…. already arrived. You gave her your horses reins and ran inside. You threw your coat into the kitchen and made a mental remark to get it back later. You stormed towards the throne room and stopped quickly before. You took a few seconds to catch your breath and fix your hair. You checked your dress for dirt. After you decided you were bearable to a King’s eye, you entered the room. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy sat on there thrones. Susan rolled her eyes while Edmund and Lucy only giggled. The King and his son turned around to look at you while the queen was nowhere to be seen. “And you are?”, asked the older man. His hair was grey, partly white, his eyes were cold and he had a harsh face. “Forgive me, milord. I’m Lady y/n.”, you explained and curtsied. He gave you a rude look and said in an almost mocking tone: “You’re forgiven.” You had to control yourself to not role your eyes. “Tell me, King Edmund….” the King began and then loudly cleared his throat. His son, who hadn’t stopped staring at you, turned back around. Your eyes went to Peter who was watching you as well. Forgive me. You formed with your lips. You’re forgiven. He whispered back with a cheeky smile. Then he turned his attention to the King. Due to your relationship, you were invited to dinner with the Kings, Queens and the Prince. Susan entered with you and Lucy came running around the corner. You sat down next to her. The prince, Luther, whose name you finally had found out, sat on the other side of the table across from you next to the            Queen, Helena, who you saw for the first time. She was beautiful, no question. She seemed incredibly young -a lot younger than the King- for her hair had not even a tiny bit of grey in it. The dinner was just filled with political talk which was not that interesting to you. You cared more about morals than politic. But you could feel the eyes of Luther on you. He did not look away once, not even when he was answering a question. “Now, High King Peter. Our two countries lie so close to each other but still we do not have some sort of alliance. That saddens me.”, the King stated. Everybody looked at Peter who just nodded. “Well, my advisors said that the best way to strengthen an alliance would not be a handshake or gold.” The King continued. “Enlighten me, King Helgrus.” Peter answered. “Well,” he began again and made a dramatic pause. You already had an idea what he would say next. “My advisors told me that a marriage would make a strong bond. Don’t you think?” His tone was almost hateful. “Dear friend, I fear my sisters are not ready to be married just yet.”, Pete replied. His voice was a little shaky but calm. He was obviously trying not to upset the King. The Queen made a barely audible sound for which she earned a not kind look of her husband. “Oh, that my friend, wouldn’t be a problem. My wife and I married when she was a lot younger that usual brides as well. But I did not think of one of your sisters, even though they’re both pretty. No, I was rather thinking of your friend over there.” He said and pointed at you with his knife. One could tell that he knew that you two weren’t just friends. “King Helgrus, I’m sor…”, you started. “Woman, I didn’t ask to speak.” Peter’s jaw clenched as he looked from the other king to me. “Well, there we have another problem: Lady y/n is already promised to be married.” Peter explained. “Is that so? And to whom, might I ask.” King Helgrus continued. His grey eyebrows were raised and only deepened the wrinkles on his forehead. “To me.”, Pete answered. The rest of the evening was rather cool and strategic talk. Queen Helena did not once say something, but it didn’t surprise you, not with that husband. A small celebration was planned after the dinner. Violin music and the scent of champagne filled the air. You stood with Peter, talking quietly. “Thank you, for not marrying me off.” you whispered. King Helgrus might have been drunk but his wife was there as well. “You really thought I was just going to agree?”, Peter wanted to know, his face surprised. “Well no, but King Helgrus talked about strategy and… alliances. I just thought you wouldn’t want to risk anything.” You said under your breath. “I sure wouldn’t like to risk your freedom and your…” he turned around and checked whether the Queen was listening. “your life…” he continued. “I would ne-“  but he didn’t get to finish because Prince Luther came up to the two of you. “High King Peter.” He greeted and then turned to you. “Lady y/n.” I curtsied while Prince Luther nodded. “Would you like to dance with me? If your…. fiancé allows it.” He asked you and then looked to Peter. He seemed tense but nodded. “Yes, of course.” I then answered. Peter’s look burned in my neck as we walked away and started to dance. “Your fiancé doesn’t seem to happy that we’re dancing.” Luther stated. “Well, I’m sure he doesn’t mind.” Lie. “Hm… I would like to express my… happiness for the two of you. When’s the date of the wedding?” Your face got warm. “Um, so far, we had planned for late spring.” You answered vaguely. “Now, that doesn’t really sound like a plan to me.” The prince looked at you, waiting for an answer. “Well, um, we haven’t been engaged for a long time.” His hand wandered on your back and left warm handprints on you. “If we were to be married, it would happen next month.” This was so random to you that you didn’t even know what to answer. So you just stayed quiet. “Let’s take a walk outside.” This was even more random. You had almost blurted out a loud “why?” But you didn’t want to seem rude. “Um, fine.” He put let go of your one hand but kept his hand on your back. You looked over your shoulder and made eye contact with Peter. Are you okay? He formed with his lips. I guess. You shrugged.

 You walked a bit in front of him just to get rid of his hand on your back. He was humming a melody and looking around. He started to talk about the benefits of a marriage to him but after a while you just interrupted him. “Prince Luther, I’m flattered, honestly. But I’m promised to P… High King Peter.” He growled quietly and you took a few steps back. He walked towards you and held your wrists. “You cannot wear such a dress and expect me to not be enchanted by you. I want you. I.”, he shouted. You tried to walk back to the party, but he did not let go of your wrists. “Please, let me go.” You asked. He pulled you closer to him and whispered in your ear: “Stop talking, woman.” A few tears rolled over your cheek. “Please, let go.” You tried to pull your wrists out of his grip but he was a lot stronger than you. He leaned forwards, trying to kiss you, but you turned your head. “Please.” He let go of your wrists but only to force you on the ground and kiss you. You thought you were lost and that it was going to happen. You tried to shout and scream but he covered your mouth with his sweaty hand. Nobody would hear your muffled cries. When you tried to get up, your dress tore in the back and almost exposed your body. You tried to cover yourself while attempting to get away. Loud shouting interrupted Luther. And those shouts belonged to Peter and guards. Peter came running to you. He hit Luther so hard in the face that the prince fell over and stayed put. Then Pete crouched down to you and gave you his coat, yelling at the guards to look the hell away. Peter put his arms around you and you let your tears stream into his shirt. You woke up alone. The bed next to you was cold. You looked through the room to find out what woke you. Eliza stood at the door and came up to you. “Good morning, milady.” She said softly. “Oh, Aslan. You’re freezing, milady. I’ll prepare a hot bath.” Before leaving, she put a blanket around you. “Eliza?” You whispered. “Yes?” “Thank you.” While lying in your bathtub you could look at the outcome of last night. Your wrists were blue and green and you had multiple bruises on your legs and your back. The skin under your eyes felt puffed from crying. You felt so stupid for walking away with Luther. Just the memory made you shiver even though the water was hot. You pulled your legs towards you and rested your head on your knees. The bathroom door was opened just like yesterday morning. And just like yesterday morning Peter entered. But this time he took of his clothing and joined you in the bathtub. He sat behind you. You leaned against his chest and felt safer immediately. “He’s gone. He and his father.” Peter said. “Good. He better stay gone.” You whispered and closed your eyes. “Wake up next to me tomorrow.” You said. Peter took a deep breath and said: “I will. I promise.”

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[b-rainlet]

Just want to say I love your blog. Your TUA content is lovely and I can't say what a breath of fresh air it is to find another Luther champion. The fandoms treatment of him, istg, some of the most ludacris nonsense I've ever had to read. Especially love how you point out he's ALWAYS been so sweet and selfless when it comes to Allison and her personal happiness. Anyway I saw you say you seem confident alluther will actually happen. I sure hope so, but why do you figure? The antis are so loud.

Awwwww, thank you anon, you’re so sweet! Yeah, this blog is on 24/7 loving Luther lockdown! I feel like the antis are easing up a little bit after S2 aired because most of Luther’s scenes were used as comedic relief and the faves he was clashing with (Diego and Vanya) seem to have a better relationship with him now, so it’s not as bad anymore, but I have to admit I never ever go into the main tag so I can’t be 100% sure. 

Maybe you should try looking through the ‘Luther Protection Squad’ tag to find some more like-minded people? I swear there are more of us out there!

But to come to the Alluther question: 

I know that the antis are loud and I’ve noticed that most of them have counted S2 as a win for them, talking about how Allison ‘moved on’ and how Alluther won’t happen but I disagree (and I will now launch into a rambly post about why lmao).

WARNING: CONTAINS S2 SALT. PROCEED WITH CAUTION

All of this is based on the assumption though that they will be somewhat consistent in their writing regarding Alluther and S2 taught me that that isn’t very likely, so maybe I’m completely wrong and Alluther will never ever be mentioned in S3, but based on what happened so far, I could see them as an endgame couple. 

I mean in S1 they were a pretty big plot point so I don’t think I have to say anything about that but even though the Alluther scenes have been toned down in S2 they were there. 

Let’s see what antis would say about why Alluther won’t happen: 

Allison is married

And? Allison has been married before and still mentioned comparing every man she ever loved/dated to Luther. Allison has been married and she has had a kid with another guy and still Alluther was going strong. 

Not to mention that the end of this season has made it very clear we won’t see Raymond again.

Raymond (and Sissy) are temporary love interests for this particular season and both of them cannot leave their timeline without majorly fucking things up - at least according to Five, but the whole timetravel rules can change at the drop of a hat - but more importantly, both of them had a talk with their respective lovers about wanting to stay in their timeline. 

So unless Allison will return to the 60s (which doesn’t seem likely tbh), Raymond is gone for good. 

 Raymond was her true love tho! Like Klave!

I don’t think antis actually word it like this but I’ve noticed how all of them hopped onto the Almond train immediately and keep gushing about how good and cute they are and that’s great! You can ship what you wanna ship! But I think a lot of the love for this ship has to do with how it prevents Alluther from happening. If Allison is deeply in love with this wholesome man, she can’t ever like her brother. 

But tbh….I didn’t buy Almond. For two people who are happily married they crumble and burn awfully fast. 

And tbh, I was thinking about making a post about this so I’m gonna add this rant here but I just wanna preface this with the fact that I don’t hate them and I don’t hate people who ship them, I’m just….using this opportunity to poke some hole into their relationship. 

I think it would’ve been more believable if Raymond and Allison would be in the early stages of dating while all of S2 goes down. Think about it.

They are married? After one year? I mean, as far as I know, Allison has been in the 60s for about two years - since Luther was the first one who arrived and he spent 3 years there??? But I am not fact-checking this, so correct me if I’m wrong - so she had time to get used to being there, adjust to having no voice, meet Raymond, fall in love with him and get married to him. 

And considering she could already talk again it must’ve have been a while before she started talking to/dating Raymond? I don’t think a wound like that wouldn’t take a while to heal but with this show’s consistency, maybe it did. 

I was actually hoping Allison would stay mute for a while longer but alas

So, they got married pretty fast imo, and you could argue that it’s the 60s but 

Allison isn’t from the 60s

Allison just got out of a bad marriage. There’s like, a year?? maybe?? between her first marriage and her second one and tbh, I don’t think Allison would get married again so fast, tying herself to someone again almost immediately, especially if you consider what getting married in the 60s means for a woman and her personal freedom (it’s hinted at with Sissy but not with Allison and even though Raymond was probably a good husband who let her have her freedom and her say in things - as we can see with their movement - it’s still the 60s. Women couldn’t earn their own money. They couldn’t even spend any money without having to ask their husband. They were basically property of their husband and I can’t believe Allison would immediately jump back into being married, no matter how nice and good the guy is). 

“That just means it’s true love! That’s why their marriage may seem rushed!”

Yeah true love. I also keep secrets from my true love.

I mean, I understand that Allison couldn’t start talking about time travel or Raymond would’ve started thinking she’s crazy or something - and maybe would’ve sent her to a mental institution as is his right as a husband, so good idea getting married! - but she didn’t mention stuff like “I had a child.” or “I lost my family.” either and those are vague enough to not raise questions.

I mean, she could’ve lied! She could’ve said Claire is dead, which considering the apocalypse was what they were escaping is true!

She could’ve talked about how she had a family, but they kinda lost each other - maybe talking about how they all moved away and she doesn’t know where they are now, even though she misses them terribly. 

I mean, I simply can’t believe that she had to grief for her own child all on her own and she didn’t even tell her husband (and she couldn’t even properly be sad about it since Raymond and her lived together, so she probably didn’t have many moments where she could think about the future and the things she lost without the possibility of being walked in on). 

And how much it would’ve meant if there would’ve been a scene of her crying over Claire when she thinks she’s alone, but alas.

Then there’s also the whole added drama to their relationship. Which was btw, so unnecessary.

@showwriters: Why do you establish a relationship you obviously want to be viewed as full of love and instead of letting it be the steady rock the character can lean on during all the already ongoing chaos, you add drama to it and let it fall apart as a side plot which immensely suffers from not being shown/explored enough. 

I mean, we already have relationship drama with Vanya/Sissy and that relationship feels more natural because their obstacles are outside forces and not...one of them distrusting the other. 

You know, I get why Raymond is suspicious, I totally do! I just don’t think it makes the relationship believable. 

Once again, if they would’ve been in the early stages of dating and suddenly Allison’s weird brothers appear and she seems to be in cahoots with the cops, I would also think ‘???’ and it would’ve made perfect sense for Raymond to be confused and distrustful and not want to talk to Allison. 

But they’re married. They’re married and they vowed to love each other in sickness and in health and yet Raymond immediately jumps to ‘Allison is a spy’.

The woman you love enough to marry. That’s your first thought. Okay. 

(And if you wanna compare that to Vissy...Vanya suddenly drives off in the night to meet her family and disappears for a while and she apparently did something to Harlan and now he’s behaving weirdly and has powers….and she’s talking about taking Sissy and him to the future…..and yet….Sissy trusted Vanya). 

And tbh, I was done with their whole relationship the moment Allison spent the whole night calling every single hospital, trying to find out whether her husband was in one of them - was even alive - in tears and close to breaking down because the last time she saw him they were both involved in a riot and the possibility of him being in jail or hurt is very high only to find out…..

…..he had a meeting with their group without telling her because he doesn’t trust her. 

And what? He couldn’t have called her to at least tell her he’s okay and he’s gonna stay somewhere else overnight because shady shit did just go down that they need to discuss but he wants to be alone for now? That’s the bare minimum and yet he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t even call to make sure she is okay since running away doesn’t mean she couldn’t have accidentally been dragged into a brawl and hurt. 

Once again: They are married. 

So tbh, all I got from this relationship is the feeling that Allison simply didn’t wanna be alone in this new timeline and that isn’t an explicit point against Alluther. 

Okay, but….Allison moved on! So she still won’t get with Luther!

Did she? Did she really? I don’t think so. I mean, one of the first things we get from Allison aside from ‘She’s married’ is ‘She looks at the moon so often, her husband notices and gets her a book related to that’. 

That’s one of the most blatant ways they could’ve said: ‘She misses Luther.’

And Luther only. Not the whole family, Luther. If they wanted to somehow make this platonic or familial, they wouldn’t have taken the character she is canonly interested in romantically (which she is and has been since S1, no matter what antis say). 

I mean, if they only wanted to show ‘She misses her family’ they could’ve added a scene where she listens to the kid next door playing the violin or sees a boy in schoolboy shorts or maybe mistakes someone for Diego or whatever, endless possibilities. But they didn’t. 

They made it very clear she misses Luther and I don’t think she had a scene that shows her missing any of her other siblings in such a way (which is btw paralleled by the scene where Luther mistakes someone for Allison, which is also the only scene where he’s shown thinking about one of his siblings to the point he thinks he sees them - as far as I remember). 

But that’s probably only a coincidence, right?

Then there’s them meeting for the first time. I mean, they hug and the rest of the world disappears.

They took the time to shoot/cut this scene in a way that, when Allison and Luther hug after years of not seeing each other, everyone else isn’t in the shot anymore and it’s just them. Because they tried to make this as platonic as possible. 

(In comparison, Allison and Diego don’t even hug. And Klaus and Allison do hug and it’s a happy moment but there is no romantic music and it’s more focused on them being happy to see each other and not framed as a romantic scene. I mean, I have no clue regarding things like ‘motifs’ and ‘scenery’ but just watch those two hug scenes back to back and you know what I mean). 

Then the scene proceeds and they talk and sit down and Luther mentions her marriage and Allison tries to apologize. 

Just think about that. She doesn’t outright apologize but she does try to explain why she got married by saying how hard it was and is only stopped by Luther telling her he’s glad she wasn’t alone. 

How….how can you read that as a platonic convo between brother and sister? Just replace Luther with Klaus. Why would she feel the need to explain herself and seems guilty about being married? Is it because it implies she gave up on finding her family? If so, that would be her reaction with every sibling but she is explicitly like this with Luther. She tells Klaus she’s married too, and in that scene it’s definitely a ‘siblings catching up’ moment and it’s a happy moment and she doesn’t seem apologetic about being married. 

She is with Luther. 

Because they both know that there’s something between them and has been for a long time, to the point that Allison is visibly jealous when Luther has other relationships (his one-night-stand in S1) and this is the second time Allison has turned towards another man instead of waiting for Luther. And that’s why she tries to apologize. That’s why she tries to explain that she couldn’t know whether they - whether Luther - would ever show up, so she tried her best to move on - but she didn’t really, hence the moon scene. 

(This is also the scene where Luther could’ve been angry with her - and she probably would’ve thought he’s in the right - since during the days leading up to the apocalypse it seemed like they were slowly working towards being together - even if the kiss never happened, there’s still the phone booth scene which is basically Luther confessing his feelings - and now she once again leaves him standing alone, waiting for her to possibly return to him. 

But he isn’t, he just tells her he’s glad that she wasn’t alone. Because he is the actual embodiment of a gentleman and this world doesn’t deserve him). 

And this is just what I remember from watching the season once and then not really engaging with it, I can’t understand how antis can see those scenes and come to entirely different conclusions. But I guess, you really only see what you wanna see, huh?

But, but…...Incest is disguting! Even their siblings think so!

They don’t. They really don’t. There’s a gifset on tumblr somewhere compiling the scenes in S1 that show how chill the sibs are with Alluther, but let’s disregard those and just focus on S2 since they changed up a lot from the prior season and antis seem to think S2 was them finally saying ‘No Alluther’. 

I guess there’s the hair salon scene where Vanya, Klaus and Allison talk about relationships and Klaus lightly teases Allison for liking Luther. 

Now, he mentions Allison crushing on their brother in the same sentence where he talks about Vanya and her ‘Farmfrau’ and unless I missed it, he doesn’t change his voice. He doesn’t suddenly sound completely disgusted, or like he wants to vomit or whatever people think, so either, he thinks Vissy is as ‘disgusting’ as Alluther, or, he thinks both are simply relationships his sibs are interested in pursuing and he teases them about them like a sibling may do. 

And then you have Allison’s reaction. 

She doesn’t go: ‘Oh yeah, that was gross, what was I thinking’, she doesn’t make a face or disgusted noises or what, no, she tries to defend herself and her feelings. 

Which tells us: 

Despite popular belief to disregard Allison’s say in the Alluther relationship, she wants the relationship and she is obvious enough about it their siblings know (and Klaus makes it a point to say ‘Allison is into Luther’ and not ‘Luther likes Allison and Allison tolerates it). 

Alluther is brought up while they talk about current relationships, implying Allison still feels this way (especially because the way she reacts doesn’t make it seem like it’s a long over relationship with no longer relevant feelings. But again, I watched the season once and I don’t remember everything that was said. I think this is telling enough though). 

So..tell me again how everyone thinks Alluther is disgusting?

By now anon is thinking: ‘What is the point of all this rambling?’ 

And yeah, I am sorry for going way too into detail but I just wanted to make it clear that if the writers were intend on killing Alluther off in S2 - like antis believe - then everything I just mentioned wouldn’t have happened.

(And that’s without even mentioning the cpr scene). 

Alluther did get reduced but it didn’t vanish even though they decided to completely erase other things (like Claire and Eudora who are barely or not at all mentioned or things like Kliego being very close). 

This would’ve been the best opportunity! They re-meet in the 60s and Allison is happily married and takes the time to tell Luther he should move on. Or both are single and Luther tries to ask where they’re standing and whether she would like to try with him and she goes ‘This would be a mistake’ and that’s it.

(I am making Allison the one who ends things because it would be ooc for Luther to just end the possible relationship after waiting for Allison for years and there needs to be some consistency even in the mess that was S2). 

But! This didn’t happen!

Alluther is more or less back where it was in S1. Allison isn’t in a relationship anymore and won’t get back with the guy and Luther loves her no matter what. And the cheek kiss seems to leave them both on a hopeful note of finally getting together. 

So unless they use S3 to once again redo the show, it feels like Alluther is set up to be endgame. Like, I am getting ‘star-crossed lovers’ vibes where you’re just waiting for them to finally get together - because they just belong - but things keep getting in the way.  

You could compare it Diego/Lila in that regard, I think it’s pretty obvious those two are gonna end up together too. 

I have another ask about how they could get together, where I will definitely ramble more, but this shall be it for now. I hope it was halfway consistent. (And doesn’t have too many typos, I’m too lazy to check).

Also the formatting is shit but idc, I spent like two hours on this

[in-tua-deep]

So in the fae!Five AU does Five grow at a different rate than the others or is the fact that he still looks and acts likes a kid because he was in the fae realm all that time and it distorted his growth? Or does he just age differently in general? His siblings have to take care of their poor traumatized little brother who has spent years being held captive and has habits of being a prisoner and isn’t used to freedom. Poor baby wandering around clinging to his (pt1)

here’s the thing: changeling children are supposed to be essentially human. They grow like humans, they exist like humans, they die like humans, they replace humans. And yes, they’re too smart at too young and they look at the world like they know too much, they see things ordinary people can’t and they tell the truth.

But unless someone sees them for what they are, they think they are human. 

Five is… a little different. 

He’s supposed to be a changeling, but he’s not quite. A changeling is a child exchanged for a human child, and within that exchange the changeling child - well, they’re supposed to change. To become more human. Less bound to fae rules. They’re not human, but they’re not not human. 

(Iron doesn’t burn a true changeling. Lies don’t burn like coals in their mouths, though it is uncomfortable.)

With Five, the exchange was unfinished. Instead of being a changeling - he was essentially an abandoned fae child. Not human at all.

But he didn’t know that.

And if he’d just been left on his own, then perhaps people would have noticed his oddness. If he’d been kept alone, away from others, they would notice that he doesn’t age quite right.

(In another world, where Five is raised human but not within the Umbrella Academy, where Reginald recognizes that one of the children he finds is not what he needs, Five grows in fits and starts as his mother worries. He tromps through the woods with bare feet eating mushrooms and berries that would kill a human. She loves him, but she doesn’t understand her strange child who babbles conversation with the crows outside his window, who never loses his balance as he walks on railings and fences. 

In that world, Five doesn’t expect a super power. Doesn’t split the boundaries between worlds and walk between. Instead he smiles at his mother, and when she sees him in the corner of her eyes she notices his too sharp teeth too bright eyes and she shields him from the world. He grows in fits and starts, sitting in front of the TV and watching shows. “How old am I, Mama?” He asks her. He looks perhaps six. “Thirteen.” His mother answers honestly, because the last time she lied to him he wouldn’t speak to her for a week.

Five hums thoughtfully, and the next morning he strolls into the kitchen taller and broader and with a sharp smile.

They don’t talk about it.)

But in this world, Five is wrapped up in his mother’s shirt and placed next to another infant wrapped in a jacket. He is adopted in a house with six other children born the same day at the same time, and he adapts.

Five is an impostor, but he doesn’t know that. He thinks he’s human. He knows he’s odd, he knows he had rules engraved on his soul that the others do not, but he think them part of his ‘powers’. His siblings grow, and he expects himself to grow alongside them, and so he does. 

Five grows in fits and starts, but it’s less noticeable, it’s more often. Reginald takes their heights and weights every year on their birthdays for his records, and the children swan out and brag about how much taller they grew since their previous measurements. Five walks in and expects to be taller as well, and oh look - he is. Even if Ben swears up and down that he was definitely taller than Five the day before. 

And then Five is taken, and he is in the Handler’s castle, and he doesn’t have a comparison anymore. He doesn’t have siblings to measure himself against. Without them to compare himself to, he doesn’t grow.

And then he’s not in the castle. He’s back in the mansion, with siblings who are no longer his age. Technically if we’re going by a measurement of years, probably forty-five years passed in the fae realm as compared to the seventeen that passed in the mortal. If the Handler had let Five keep track of time, he would know that he’s technically 58 years old. But she didn’t and he doesn’t. 

He can’t measure his growth by his siblings anymore. They’re adults, they don’t get any taller. And I’m not sure if Five actually knows how to grow without them.

The Handlers is probably a couple of thousands of years old. Maybe a few thousands. If you ask her, she’d wink and tell you it’s awfully rude to ask a lady her age. She’s very powerful, and that’s what matters.

When Five first comes to her, he’s 13. That’s nothing. You can have fae who are a few hundred who look like they’re maybe six in human years. Old eyes in young faces. You can have fae who look 20 who act like they’re children, complete with temper tantrums and whining. Fae aren’t human, and to judge them as such is impossible.

But Fae are also just a bit susceptible to how they’re treated. If you treat a Fae as dangerous, they tend to become so. If you treat them with respect, they’ll be respectable. If you fear them, oh, then they become something to fear. 

Reginald treated Five like a tool, and Five was an excellent one in his own way. He excelled at training and adapted beautifully. Vanya treated Five as a confidant, and he listened to her and cared about her and loved her. Ben treated Five as a shield, hiding in his room and ducking behind Five during interviews, and Five became a protector who taunted their father with words so that he would assign Five special training and not Ben. Klaus treated Five as a friend, he leaned on him and smiled at him and joked with him, and Five smiled back and played tricks that made his brother laugh in delight. 

The Handler treated him like a child. She gave him a bedroom with a soft bed and lots and lots of toys. She gave him a teddy bear that he named Dolores, that became his only real companion in the impossible castle. She talked down to him and pinched his cheeks and provided the fine silk clothes of a fae child for him to wear.

And now he’s back, and his siblings look at him and they see a child. And their behavior matches accordingly. It might just be a little bit of a vicious cycle, honestly. He gets mixed signals, honestly. His family treat him like someone they need to protect, and the Handler’s minions who come after him treat him like someone dangerous. 

(Deadly little thing, they call him. They remember him from when they tried to steal him so many times after the Umbrella Academy finally left the safety of their walls. He killed many of them, in his protectiveness. They do not forget the viciousness of a fae raised weapon.)

The family also treat him as the foremost expert of supernatural bullshit that they have though, and they trust him. So he becomes trustworthy in response (and Five has always been good at twisting things, and if they trust him then they must also trust him to have their backs - and Five is very good at having their backs)

To call him a child is - probably accurate. But it’s difficult to say because where the mortal world is black and white, and the fae are orange and blue, Five is off in the corner being orange-and-white or blue-and-black. 

Five tends to obey human rules (no murdering or maiming mortals) and he obeys fae ones (no lies, no breaking your word) but his behaviors are probably a mix? He’s not super interesting in collecting people’s Names, thanks. He does love a good trick though, though his are probably a bit more benign than luring mortals into the woods to dance until they die. His showmanship and drama are probably a result of his fae heritage, but fae tend to be every-fae-for-themself (outside of those loyal to the courts, of course, who are the-regent-first-and-then-every-fae-for-themself)

(though fae attitudes towards fae children, barring the Handler and other unsavory sorts, should probably be brought up at some point. If Five had made it out of the Handler’s castle, as young as he was, he probably would have been snatched up and adopted by someone. Fae tend to be protective of fae children once they become capable of speech and as such know their Names)

Five is. not like that. He puts his siblings first.

(Is the Umbrella Academy a court, he wonders? But he felt no loyalty to Reginald and indeed felt glad at his death. But the others - luther-and-allison-and-diego-and-klaus-and-ben-and-vanya, yes, they are people he would lay his life down for

despite everything, despite everything, the Umbrella Academy had always considered themselves siblings. For better or worse, whether they fought or pushed Vanya away or left, they always remembered each other as my sister or my brother

Reginald did not consider the children to be family to him. Reginald was not loyal to the children. And so Five did not love him and was not loyal to him.

It’s a fae thing)

After everything that happens, and the Handler is taken care of in a satisfactory way, and Vanya doesn’t end the world, Five meets Claire.

And Claire looks at him and thinks “family” and so of course Five adopts her into the fold and decides that he would die for her. And Claire looks at him, and she sees kid like me, and so when she asks to play Five only hesitates for a heartbeat before asking her how

and so she teaches him how to be a kid, and he follows her leads (which is probably mildly disastrous but you know what? the hargreeves have dealt with so much shit that this should be nothing)

and then, eventually, after a few years pass, Claire turns fourteen and Allison obligingly measures her against the doorframe of the kitchen as has become tradition. And then she gestures Five over, because that’s become tradition as well even though he hasn’t grown in years, and she almost drops the pen when she realizes - he’s gotten taller. 

“Five,” She asks slowly, “Why are you taller?”

Five blinks at her, slowly, like a cat. “Because I’m fourteen?” He tells her, even though he is almost certainly not. “Claire changed sizes between thirteen and fourteen, too, and you’re not asking her why.”

Claire links her arm with Five’s and gives her mother the most innocent smile she can, and honestly Allison is not paid enough to put up with this bullshit so she just throws her hands in the air and mutters something about a family meeting later and shoos them both off to get ready to go out to birthday dinner.

Claire is a pretty tall fourteen-year-old. Taller than Five certainly. Vanya just sighed the day Claire outgrew her and blamed it on Allison being too tall herself. Between thirteen and fourteen, she grew a few inches.

Five matched her growth exactly. 

“If you grow taller than me, I’m gonna be mad.” She informs him as she drags him up the stairs. She’s probably going to make him wear matching feather boas with her and see if they can convince people they’re twins.

Five blinks at her, “Of course I won’t be taller than you. I’m going to be taller than Ben, but shorter than Diego and Klaus.” He pauses with a frown, “I used to be taller than Allison though, but she’s really tall now? And Vanya didn’t grow at all. I don’t get it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Claire tells him, ruffling his hair and making him roll his eyes. “As long as I’m taller than you, I don’t care.”

Five considers that, and then shrugs. “Is Dolores invited to the party?”

“Only if she wears a tiara.”

“Okay,” Five accepts easily, because Dolores likes sparkly things so that would be no hardship. “Plastic or real?”

Claire presses her hands to her lips in intense though before sighing, “Man, as much as I would love to commit a jewel heist with you right now, I really don’t want to be grounded on my birthday so - I guess plastic.”

Five still, to this day, doesn’t really get the human idea of possessions (much to every single adults chagrin, except maybe Klaus who is an agent of chaos and delighted - Five thinks Klaus probably would have made a good fae, though he doesn’t say as much to his brother’s face) but he just nods his acceptance. 

“Race you to my room?” Claire offers.

“Stakes?” Five offers back.

“If you win you get my undying love.” Claire deadpans, hopping ahead a few paces. Five catches up to her easily.

“I already won that last week.”

Claire considers, “Hailey is being a bitch to my friend so I need to do something. If I win, I get to pick the payback, if you win, you get to pick what to do?”

Five, always delighted to play a trick (he thinks it’s a fae thing, but Klaus also loves them so he’s not 100% sure) nods gleefully and sticks his hand out to shake on it. 

Every folklorist in the world will probably tell you the same thing. Do not make deals with the fae, and definitely do not shake their hands. 

Claire smiles, and she shakes on it.

What do those stuffy old assholes know about her uncle, anyway?

[babblingbear09]

I posted 717 times in 2022

That's 717 more posts than 2021!

15 posts created (2%)

702 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sharkneto

@tinned-beef

@number5theboy

@akstzs

@blurrycow

I tagged 108 of my posts in 2022

#five hargreeves - 57 posts

#the umbrella academy - 53 posts

#tua - 48 posts

#number five - 39 posts

#tua fic - 15 posts

#the umbrella academy season three - 14 posts

#lila pitts - 13 posts

#diego hargreeves - 12 posts

#tua season 3 - 11 posts

#klaus hargreeves - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#that still doesn’t explain the whole time loop thing of how 100 year old five ended up in the same position if the commission didn’t exist

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Reginald has Allison Rumor Five AU

I’ve been thinking through this AU I’m never going to write so figured I’d just post.

What if Five figured out how to time travel back from the apocalypse when he was still pretty young, say 14 or 15, and he makes it back about a year after he left. He scared his siblings by vanishing that long, is clearly traumatized, and Reggie can’t trust him not to vanish again. So, he sticks with what works and orders Allison to help.

He can’t take away Five’s powers because he’s too old for it not to have major repercussions and the siblings would remember. Plus, Five is undoubtedly useful as long as he can be controlled. So instead, he has Allison rumor Five to obey Reginald.

Allison is so stressed about her brother missing for over a year and Five in his panic keeps trying to get out so he can work at stopping the apocalypse (he’s not in his best state being a young teen with the trauma of the apocalypse and weight of the world on his shoulders). So Allison goes along with it. The Umbrella Academy hadn’t fallen apart yet and their trust in Reginald hasn’t been broken yet and she just wants Five to listen to Reginald before he disappears again, this time forever. She’s young and doesn’t think this through.

From there, I can’t decide if Reggie has some short term alien technology that has her forget (which wouldn’t work on Viktor because there would be too much to forget) or if Allison doesn’t fully grasp the full ramifications and just forgets. Either way, Five is now trapped in the house, forced to obey their father and no one else realizes it.

Reggie lays some ground rules: no leaving the house without permission. No time traveling without permission. No hurting him. No communicating to anyone that he’s rumored. He makes Five tell him everything he knows about the apocalypse and immediately pulls him out of the Umbrella Academy into more specialized training. Instead, he works to force him to master time travel, now under his direct control and use it to carry out his plans.

He only lets him join the Academy occasionally for special missions. Five is able to save Ben but the trust between siblings has been lost. Reginald knows they all failed to stop the apocalypse the first time and so doesn’t stop them all from leaving, this time even Luther who feels replaced in his father’s affections.

The siblings are hurt that Five doesn’t want to be around them anymore. That he barely talks to them and refuses to leave the house and Reggie’s thumb. He does bargain with their father as much as he can for time with his siblings (ordering complete obedience from someone skilled at finding loopholes is exhausting and a little bit of sibling time helps keep Five compliant). He pops up here or there, always out of the blue and often at different ages but will never stay for long. He watches one of Diego’s boxing matches, attends one of Victor’s recitals, shows up to congratulate Allison after her wedding and after Claire is born, buys Klaus dinner, shows up at Ben’s graduation.

Five was never super close to all of his siblings growing up, but he did love them, and after finding their bodies he’s desperate to see them alive and well as much as he can. He’ll do almost anything to be able to do so. Five wants to stop the apocalypse as much as Reggie but there’s very little to go on and he feels trapped, stuck back under his father’s thumb, watching his siblings grow up and live their own lives without him. He wants to stop the end of the world, but if they can’t do that (and his father never explains how the missions he’s sent on are supposed to help) he at least wants to die with his siblings, not trapped alone in a mansion he can’t leave.

This all comes to a head when Reggie dies. In this AU I don’t know if he thought whatever they’d done wasn’t enough and still killed himself or if the Commission thought they were too close and killed him to get the timeline back on track. Either way, the siblings come home and Five is freed from the Rumor for the first time since he was 15.

He wants to tell his siblings but years of forced silence don’t make him a good communicator. His siblings are all angry at him for being his fathers puppet. But some things have changed. Five periodically showing up did help the siblings stay somewhat in touch. Viktor didn’t write the book this time around and Ben is alive. But, Five doesn’t know about the Commission and is incredibly skilled and free to leave. In steps the Handler.

From here, I don’t know where it would go. If Five would be drawn in by the Handler’s promises of help or work to fight them. But somewhere in there, the siblings would find out the truth and realize their brother has been held hostage by their father all these years after facing a year or two in the literal apocalypse. And then it would come to light that the apocalypse was caused by Reggie’s actions in the first place. Viktor would have a fellow victim of their father and the siblings would have to face an organization less interested in killing their brother as forcefully recruiting him. As if he needs any more of that in his life. No idea how this would end, but Five definitely would deserve a hug.

53 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

#4

Was anyone going to tell me Nailed it did an Umbrella Academy episode? Because this is the best thing I’ve ever seen.

114 notes - Posted October 6, 2022

#3

My burning question — does the Commission have some cool alien technology that creates Pneumatic tubes as needed or does sending a message trigger some underpaid worker to go back in time and install one where needed.

Like, I know the Commission has a talking fish and can create bodies and can make candy taste like a decade, but automatically creating Pneumatic tubes out of nothing is very impressive.

But more than that I adore the idea of some low level drone donning overalls and fake work orders grumbling under his breath about “a bowling alley, really!? What on earth is an assassin doing in a bowling alley?” as he tries to keep his cover and fend off real repair men.

124 notes - Posted September 16, 2022

#2

I’ve seen a lot of posts talking about how dumb it was that Five didn’t time travel in S3 to either escape the new end of the world or at least reverse time to save his siblings. On a rewatch, I don’t think the issue really is that he didn’t so much as the show didn’t fully explain why he couldn’t.

The Umbrellas arrive in 2019 and the Kugelblitz appears. Almost immediately after, we see Lila attempt to use a briefcase, and it completely fails. She steals another and the same thing happens — kaput. Five even says how astronomically impossible this is. The Commission briefcases have been the most reliable time travel in the show by a wide margin, way more accurate than Five’s powers and able to handle more jumps with more people far easier. Despite that, once the Kugelblitz started, they can no longer function.

Five and Lila do manage to time travel but it takes both of them plus a briefcase to barely get to the Fifties and back and doing so completely fries the commission briefcase. At this point, I don’t think even they together have the power to travel back unassisted without a briefcase. And that’s even before the Kugelblitz really powers up.

The big question here is why, which Five actually explains while they’re in Commission headquarters. The Kugelblitz is the opposite of the Big Bang — the timeline is collapsing in on itself, pretty much creating a giant black hole centered on 2019. This tells me two things:

1. Time, past and future, is literally collapsing into 2019. The Kugelblitz is an unimaginably powerful force that’s destroying the universe and only getting stronger by the second. If time travel is usually hard, I imagine trying to go backward against that force is next to impossible (I’d go with actually impossible once it got stronger). As mentioned, Five + Lila + the briefcase could barely do it. There’s little chance alone.

2. Despite all the destruction we see in the season, 2019 is the center point and the last thing to be destroyed. We see at the end of the show that the only thing left in the universe is the city block with the hotel. I’d imagine the same thing happened with the timelines. Why was every single person in the commission dusted? Because the commission headquarters is in the Fifties. If the timeline is collapsing, it makes sense that things further in the past are collapsing first. The Kugelblitz isn’t just destroying the present, it’s the collapse of the entire timeline with 2019 as the center point. I think by the time Lila and Five time travel, everyone from up to that point in history has been destroyed, not just the commission. Time is rolling up like a carpet with 2019 being the last to go. If they even could time travel, they would have even less time to live their lives or try to save the universe than they did in the Sparrow timeline.

I do think time travel could have worked. If they had known Harlan was the cause before Five and Lila time traveled, I think them with the briefcase could have made it back, killed him (sorry Harlan) and saved the world. But without that knowledge, they couldn’t have investigated and tried to save 7 different women before 1989 was dusted. And once they had the truth, the Kugelblitz was stronger and the briefcases were destroyed.

So yeah, there was literally no time traveling Five could do this season. I think even rewinds would be impossible against the gravitational pull on the timeline that was the end of the universe. For once, Five had to live it out with everyone else and accept fate.

139 notes - Posted July 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Happy Birthday to the 43!

Today you’re all turning 30! (Except for that weird group over there who are 34, 32, 31, 30 and a few months, and 58 going on 14 for some reason)

170 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

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