Whatever It Takes

On the long winding road that began at birth, you find yourself at a crossroads. Though all paths lead to one end, the different trials and challenges and experiences and successes and failures that you faced along the way make your life worth living, don't they?

[lifeisasham]

another what if switcharoo idea:

what if the umbrella academy members’ plot roles got jumbled around with their powers still the same (but with certain deviances).

luther takes the role of allison (taking inspiration from marcus) and becomes a sort of entrepreneur and benefiting from his fame as a former member of the academy and going with his dream of becoming an astronaut and establishing his own family but repeatedly and unknowingly hurts his kid (because he never learned that using the same strength to deal with adults to handle kids is not acceptable and had to learn how to control his strength along the way) and has to deal with divorce

diego takes the role of viktor with his powers suppressed since childhood and constantly felt like an outsider in the umbrella academy and goes on to become part of the police force but never gets promoted past a certain rank no matter how hard he works because the ratio of his successes to failures with his cases (eudora would be like helen in this scenario)

allison takes the role of five in that she’s super confident in the use of her powers to the point of arrogance and when they were young, pushed herself to the limits and created a rumor that she left the umbrella academy (instead of just walking out like any normal person because she thinks reggie will just drag her back) but was instead taken by a shady organization manipulating events behind the scenes for decades or centuries and are planning for the apocalypse

klaus takes the role of ben, dead as a doornail (but not really, cause he’s immortal - not that he or anyone besides reggie knows) and would appear as a ghost towards some siblings (astral projection); dies (put in a coma) due to the ‘dave incident’

five takes the role of klaus, a druggie treated as a waste trying to forget visions of the future or the past that reggie forced him to delve into or to stop the visions from coming altogether (doesn’t discover the spatial side of his abilities until much later or the fact that his abilities over time goes beyond visions)

ben takes the role of diego as a gruff vigilante by night and anger issues to last decades (take sparrow ben as the basis for his personality) with an on again off again relationship with jennifer

viktor takes role of luther, reggie’s loyal soldier and was severely injured during a mission but was saved by reggie by making him a cyborg and sent to the moon where spent his days playing solos with his violin

thoughts, anyone?

[tumblingghosts]

heck yeah role swaps!! this is so interesting!!

is luther getting divorced from sloane in this scenario? or just a normal person (not one of the 43 marigold children)?

omg the dave incident…does klaus have a specific sibling that he sticks by? would he astral project most often with five (since five is swapped to canon klaus’s role)?

i usually hc that diego and klaus were closest as kids, and it fits so well with diego being the “ordinary” one here. after klaus dies, he’d essentially lose his closest confidant.

also five not learning the spacial aspect of his powers until later?? ig the commission would generally leave him alone as long as he’s purposefully drugging himself and not messing with time…

awww poor viktor…the thought of him still alone in this swap au makes me so sad…

i could see ben turning out more like sparrow ben if he’s feeling isolated from the rest of his family. five and viktor are a duo, so are allison and luther, and diego and klaus.

while ben is part of missions, not excluded like diego, and gets along well enough with everyone, but he doesn’t have a best friend in the family. eventually, the bitterness starts to boil over…

anyway, love this au!! <33

[lifeisasham]

Thankies!

Thinking Luther would be married to a normie, listed forbes' 30 under 30, and, before leaving the academy, would be like a silent watcher, inciting drama and striking for the opportune moment to gain reggie's recognition

Diego could've formed a punk band with Viktor (comic reference) while studying to be part of the police and before Viktor get shipped off planet (though their cooperation would be rare due to training and missions)

Allison's involvement in the 'shady organization' would temporarily keep the academy off the hitlist until she finds out about the apocalypse scheme involves the academy

Klaus wouldn't probably stick to anyone in particular (I think the more someone believes in ghosts, the more likely they could perceive Klaus); Luther probably wouldn't and focus on business, Diego probably would and wish Klaus to be around, Allison wouldn't because she already has too much on her plate, Five is a maybe especially when high, Ben is a skeptic but wouldn't discount the possibility (makes Klaus' presence very faint), Viktor would but due to excessive loyalty towards Reginald, would make Klaus not want to be around him

Thinking that the commission would be entirely out of the picture and replaced by 'shady organization' and, just like Klaus was in canon, he'd be relegated to intel and reconnaissance but his presence would largely be treated inconsequential because nobody believes him most of the time due to being a druggie and maybe diagnosed psychosis (because of the visions?) Future visions could be like that's so raven and past visions could be like illusions superimposed over the present

Ben, I think, would be close to Five (similar to how Diego and Klaus were, maybe) and has frequent run-ins with Diego; maybe Ben could work as a criminal psychologist as his regular day job whilst becoming a target batman at night

Viktor could probably work in close collaboration with Luther (Luther could make his company focused on aeronautics in partnership with NASA) and they could maybe hang once in a while after Viktor was shipped off.

[lifeisasham]

another what if switcharoo idea:

what if the umbrella academy members’ plot roles got jumbled around with their powers still the same (but with certain deviances).

luther takes the role of allison (taking inspiration from marcus) and becomes a sort of entrepreneur and benefiting from his fame as a former member of the academy and going with his dream of becoming an astronaut and establishing his own family but repeatedly and unknowingly hurts his kid (because he never learned that using the same strength to deal with adults to handle kids is not acceptable and had to learn how to control his strength along the way) and has to deal with divorce

diego takes the role of viktor with his powers suppressed since childhood and constantly felt like an outsider in the umbrella academy and goes on to become part of the police force but never gets promoted past a certain rank no matter how hard he works because the ratio of his successes to failures with his cases (eudora would be like helen in this scenario)

allison takes the role of five in that she’s super confident in the use of her powers to the point of arrogance and when they were young, pushed herself to the limits and created a rumor that she left the umbrella academy (instead of just walking out like any normal person because she thinks reggie will just drag her back) but was instead taken by a shady organization manipulating events behind the scenes for decades or centuries and are planning for the apocalypse

klaus takes the role of ben, dead as a doornail (but not really, cause he’s immortal - not that he or anyone besides reggie knows) and would appear as a ghost towards some siblings (astral projection); dies (put in a coma) due to the ‘dave incident’

five takes the role of klaus, a druggie treated as a waste trying to forget visions of the future or the past that reggie forced him to delve into or to stop the visions from coming altogether (doesn’t discover the spatial side of his abilities until much later or the fact that his abilities over time goes beyond visions)

ben takes the role of diego as a gruff vigilante by night and anger issues to last decades (take sparrow ben as the basis for his personality) with an on again off again relationship with jennifer

viktor takes role of luther, reggie’s loyal soldier and was severely injured during a mission but was saved by reggie by making him a cyborg and sent to the moon where spent his days playing solos with his violin

thoughts, anyone?

[lifeisasham]

appropriate age for number five to start dating anyone

i’ve done the math. if we’re going to be following societal norms on the rules of dating and no more age-related temporal corrections or incidents occur with him, number five would need to be 29 physically and 74 mentally to be dating anyone and that their partner has to be 44. s4 was 10 years too early for any romantic plot involving him to be acceptable (but the umbrella academy just loves defying taboos and socially acceptable standards).

[lifeisasham]

Was Number Five OOC in S4?

There are plenty of arguments that conclude that he is. There are some that would say his behavior throughout the season was too relaxed and mellow in comparison to the manic and irritable behavior he exhibited in the previous seasons. Most would also say that he would never give up trying to find a way to circumvent the Cleanse and the every other apocalyptic event that would follow their family in every reality. Most would say he never would have had an affair with his brother's wife. While would admit that this was not how I would've preferred his character to progress, I don't think it was out of character at all.

First of all, there was a significant time gap of five to six years in between the third and final seasons so you cannot expect characters' personalities to stay the exact same way. Most people tend to forget Number Five is a very tired old man and had been very ready to retire since season three (I would also argue that he had likely been very tired long before the first episode of the first season and he was fueled mostly by coffee the desire to extend his siblings' lifetime). He had likely wanted to not have to work at all but the need for resources denies that desire along with the fact that his own body would allow him to rest.

Secondly, towards the argument that he would have never given up trying to find a solution for their perpetual apocalyptic situations, I would like to reiterate that Number Five is a very tired old man. He had been ready to retire from his unpaid and unappreciated job that is solving world ending scenarios - a job that he sucks at and fails at every turn, by the way (but he tries). The fandom expecting him to know or find the solution to every one of the world's end events is just as bad as the rest of the Hargreeves siblings are in-universe (so the fact that Sloane had come up with a solution to contain the Kugelblitz very likely relieved the heavy weight he had been carrying on his shoulders - the weight of the world). Now, if the series itself were not ending, it likely would've fallen upon the other siblings to try and find the solution after he informed them of the problem (even if the series itself were to be extended, I think the Hargreeves would have needed to die by the series end.)

Finally, towards the argument that Five would never have had an affair with Lila, here is a link for my thoughts:

preface: i don't ship five with lila and think it more along the lines of forbidden love. what happened in season 4 is something i wish didn

Additionally, I think their whirlwind romance - which I believe was planned to have been endgame (eww and gross, the character was physically a child/minor along with the actor when this plotline began) with the benefit of hindsight - supposed to be to add drama and shock value rather than an actual necessity for the main plot.

In conclusion, no i don’t think Number Five was out of character in S4. (this is not to say that the others are also not out of character)

[lifeisasham]

the number fives could have been twins

if we disregard their appearances and comic lore, sparrow and umbrella five could’ve been twins; space-time and gravity are often discussed as correlated in science, sloane is an irish name and five is irish in the show, and, most importantly, they’re both huge nerds

[lifeisasham]

possible additional similarities: they're both such romantic souls; and (my headcanon) five would have very much liked to travel all around the world like Sloane

[lifeisasham]

what if…

a what if idea wherein five didn’t time travel into the post-apocalyptic world and stayed as part of the academy and explored his abilities through training with dear reggie, wherein ben didn’t die but resorted to drugs to try to drown his trauma alongside klaus, wherein eventually let viktor become part of the umbrellas but trained him harder than anyone else to accelerate his progress to catch up with the others. the umbrellas are still disfunctional as ever, still separate to pursue their own goals after the jennifer incident wherein five time travels a few seconds back to before reggie kills ben and they let the bomb kill her (becoming the main trauma ben tries to deal with). reggie still kills himself years later to bring them all back together to stop an apocalyptic event only he knew about (commission exempted). how would their dynamics be and how would the commission push for the world’s end (without using lila)?

[lifeisasham]

a hypothesis on the hargreeves’ (umbrellas only, sorry sparrows) love language

Love languages - acts of service, material gifts, physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation - is different for every person, may also be combinations of two or more, and may also differ in how a person would want to receive it from how they give it.

This is my perception (personal opinions) of the love languages of the Umbrella Academy from what I've observed in the show:

Luther: gives acts of service and material gifts; receives words of affirmation

Diego: gives acts of service; receives words of affirmation

Allison: gives physical touch and words of affirmation; receives material gifts

Klaus: gives quality time and words of affirmation; receives physical touch

Five: gives acts of service (may be some quality time as a child); receives quality time (possibly physical touch after leaving the post-apocalyptic wasteland but the handler's creepy caresses would have undoubtedly ruined that and made him averse to it)

Ben (as a ghost): gives words of affirmation; receives physical touch

Viktor: gives quality time; receives words of affirmation

(might expound more on these later)

[lifeisasham]

headcanon: the kugelblitz was not the result of a paradox but a disaster created by founder!five

the kugelblitz showed up when the umbrella academy returned to 2019 instead of when their mothers were killed even though that, in itself, was already a paradox. because harlan’s powers came from viktor - one of the people who was supposedly no longer existent - the fact that harlan killed the brellies’ mothers using viktor’s powers should’ve produced the kugelblitz (or another event) straight away instead of the umbrella academy’s presence in a reality where they shouldn’t exist. the temps commission should have also detected this anomaly but they did nothing to prevent it with the last person alive being the the founder. i think that producing the kugelblitz, had left the founder in the state five and lila found him in. i think that the kugelblitz was made through sacrificing and concentrating every bit of energy he had in him.

[lifeisasham]

the number fives could have been twins

if we disregard their appearances and comic lore, sparrow and umbrella five could’ve been twins; space-time and gravity are often discussed as correlated in science, sloane is an irish name and five is irish in the show, and, most importantly, they’re both huge nerds

[lifeisasham]

Who amongst the Hargreeves (Umbrellas + Sparrows + Lila) would let the world burn in order to achieve their own goals?

[lifeisasham]

my understanding of the character progression on number five

preface: i don't ship five with lila and think it more along the lines of forbidden love. what happened in season 4 is something i wish didn’t happen but could understand what was likely plotted out by the writers.

five from pre-s1: he was surviving a post-apocalyptic wasteland where he should’ve died for all intents and purposes. however, he did survive against all odds with his family as his guiding lights. or rather the idealised versions of his family that he envisioned in his head and what was written in viktor’s autobiography. while he may have also seen some of their exploits and characters through the infinity switchboard, those were probably more of snippets that served to reinforce his illusions of them. he can’t possibly watch what he missed of his family’s lives because the infinity switchboard would be very tightly guarded, especially if five is around; he would probably escorted and shown those snippets rather than allowed control over it.

five from s1: the first disillusionment that was blatantly presented in the show was when viktor dismissed his trauma. five expected viktor to go along with the revelation of the world ending, likely not even expectecting help to figure out what causes it, but that viktor would listen, at least. another disillusionment is likely that klaus was, unexpectedly, better in reality than five had imagined him to be; more than just a junkie and the family’s disappointment.

five from s2: another disillusionment with viktor was when they came to a head, with five seeing viktor if free of the drugs and the memories of the umbrella academy. there was also another disillusionment with mostly everyone when they failed to arrive within that hour he set for them, just expecting everyone to drop everything they’re doing and the lives they’ve built.

five from s3: here, we see five finally showing signs and effects of being disillusioned from s1 and s2, willingly giving up trying to save them. by this point, he was already so tired and had retired before being pulled back into the thick of things. we also see his relationship with lila progressing from enemies to frenemies to neutral or even cordial.

five from post-s3 pre-s4: from an interview with the actor, we learn five is lost in life and without purpose, disillusioned with his scattered family living their new lives, no longer seeing them as his guiding light.

five from s4: we see his relationship with lila has already become at the same level as his family’s. five and lila just diving into the multiversal subway and getting lost in it together wasn’t really how i would’ve wanted that relationship culminating but i find more potential for them together than with lila and diego due to an understanding of their shared trauma that they would likely have kept sealed and hidden away.

side note: i think that, if she wasn’t pregnant from s2, lila and diego wouldn’t have lasted one year and that she would’ve been on the wind.

another side note: on the fandom, i think most people idealizing five as this immutable and unchanging character focused solely, tunnel-visioned on and can only live for his family, just as five was idealizing what he remembered and what was written of his family. this likely stems from all the fanfictions that writes him as such, disregarding the fact that, just like the other characters in the show (except reginald, abigail, grace and pogo), he is, in fact, human. he should be allowed to be selfish, to live for himself, to seek and accept love from others (platonic, romantic, etc.) he already tried to seek love from his siblings and where did that get him? he likely won't be able form any sort of lasting romantic relationships with anyone else other than lila (and isn't that just sad?) unless most his memories were removed (even then, there is still the possibility he would regain those).