Five With Diego: Fuck You. You’re A Piece Of Shit, You’re Lucky I Fucking Found You Dickhead

Fair warning, this is gonna be a ramble!

So I was just thinking about Vanya, and how sort of sweet and polite she was in the first season, and that got me thinking.

I fully believe Vanya is autistic, and from my own experiences, I was thinking about growing up. When I was a child I didn’t really know how to interact with the world. I grew up watching a lot of TV shows and movies (mostly ones that my sister would put on) but before I mirrored TV shows characters, I mirrored her. But Vanya didn’t watch TV growing up, so she didn’t have Disney Princesses or Thomas the Tank Engine or Arthur like I did. (For anyone who doesn’t know, mirroring is one of the ways that autistic kids may learn to interact with the world, through watching how NTs interact and then mimicking it to fit in or at the very least to be able to communicate with someone.)

The only people Vanya had to mirror were her family, and given their general attitude towards her it seems unlikely that she did. When I was a child I recognised which behaviours I never wanted to mimic: my parents screaming at each other or us, my sister telling me if I didn’t do what she wanted she’d never love me again/she’d hate me for the rest of our lives. I knew those things made me feel bad, so I knew they weren’t things I wanted to do to others.

In the same way, I think Vanya knew she didn’t want to mimic the negative behaviours of her siblings. So I think the person she mirrored most was Grace (and maybe Pogo a little). Grace was their mum, she was loving and nurturing and exactly the kind of person I would have wanted to mirror as a child. Except Vanya has added insecurities. It made me realise that growing up, Vanya was often softly-spoken and polite, because that’s how Grace was. But we never see Grace get angry... So Vanya never learned a healthy way of dealing with her anger, especially given that she was drugged up a lot of her childhood.

If anyone can word this more coherently than I did, or come up with a better analysis, please do, because I’m not sure my argument made much sense (or even had a point to it...?)

TL;DR - Autistic!Vanya mirrors Grace, and that’s why her personality is somewhat reminiscent of Grace’s.

tua headcanon (horror movies night):

luther would definitely be the type to let his siblings hide their faces in his arms whenever they get scared. he’d also be kind enough to sit in the middle and hold the popcorn bowl for everyone because he’s the only one who can get through a movie without yeeting it fifty feet into the air (like klaus)

diego sits on the floor, casually flipping his knives the entire time, the only indication that he ever gets scared being the way he does it faster and faster. and it’s sort of an unspoken rule, but whoever’s sitting behind him gets to be diego’s unofficial pillow for the night. he especially likes it when it’s allison because she has a habit of carding her fingers through his hair, and he’s fallen asleep with his head in her lap on more than one occasion

allison is always in charge of snacks and drinks because she makes a mean margarita and she’s the only one in this household who actually knows how to cook something that isn’t spam or bacon or eggs or instant ramen

the ghosts in horror movies don’t actually scare klaus; c'mon, the man has seen way worse shit than that. it’s just that some of them look too much like the ones he sees in real life, and so he has a hard time disassociating afterwards. still: that little boy from the grudge never fails to freak him out, and whenever he’s on screen, klaus throws popcorn at the tv until he disappears

five doesn’t really care for horror movies but he does appreciate his siblings’ efforts to bond, and so he sits with them for the hour or two it takes to finish a movie with next to no complaint. sometimes, he falls asleep only twenty minutes in, and has to endure all the teasing about being an old man when he wakes. when he does make it through an entire film, it’s only because he’s busy pointing out continuity errors or how ridiculous the other effects are

ben sits with them, but doesn’t really engage; he’s too busy reading for that. it’s also pretty uncomfortable for him to watch movies about dead things and monsters under beds when he finds out that in another timeline, he was dead for 17 years before he managed to move on. besides, he gets more scared from the sound of allison, klaus, and vanya screaming than the actual movie anyway

once, they decide to watch a lovecraftian horror film, and ben thinks it’d be funny to release a few tentacles and sneak up on everyone from behind. the result is one wasted bowl of popcorn, a knife missing his ear by a few inches, vanya shattering at least three vases, and klaus’ incessant screeching about “you could’ve killed me, ben! do you want me to follow you around for the rest of your life? no? yeah, didn’t think so!” but hey: it’s the best prank he’s ever played, and it’s just so, so worth it

vanya tries to pretend like she isn’t scared, but she actually is. horror movies had never been her thing, even when they were young. but klaus’ running commentary is actually pretty funny and allison sometimes tells juicy stories about the actors, especially the ones she’s worked with in the past, and so vanya stays. besides it’s nice to curl into luther’s side and feel him jump a bit whenever somebody on screen gets murdered, and it’s even nicer to laugh at him afterwards when he tries to pass it off as being “cold”

afterwards, they retreat to their respective rooms. but in the middle of the night, allison hears her door creak open and in creeps klaus, tugging ben by his sleeve with vanya not too far behind. after a while, luther comes as well, half-dragging a protesting diego behind him

they’re in the middle of making an awesome fort when five teleports in, carrying a box of griddy’s donuts and a carton of milk to wash it all down. for some reason, they’ve always just known when the others are in need of sweets, and tonight is no exception

while they eat, they share stories about their childhood and although it has the potential to turn sad really quick, it also helps them grow closer when they realize just how much they have in common, even after all these years. saving the world thrice from an apocalypse does that to a family, i guess

five is the last to fall asleep so it’s his duty to turn the lights off, but before he does, he takes a minute to take in his sleeping siblings’ faces: of ben–still slightly distant but slowly accepting that this is where he belongs–curled against allison, who has always thrown off heat like a furnace; vanya burrowed under three comforters because even as an adult, she still gets cold at the drop of a hat; klaus’ head resting on luther’s chest; diego face-down into a pillow, his hand stretched out towards the space they’ve all reserved for five, searching for his brother even in sleep

and in that moment, five just feels so much love for them swell up in his chest that all other worries fly out of his head because what else could matter when his family is here and safe and together again? so five flicks off the switch, lies down, and lets diego mash his face into his shoulder because even if he wakes up all drooled-on tomorrow, there’s still no place he’d rather be

vanya in heelies for doodle prompt

whrrrrrr

@dailytua​‘s countdown to season two: July 28-30  | Free Space | a tribute to the high numbers, the lost Hargreeves

Fucking tomorrow

THE SIT-IN

Special shout out to the conductor for having to make eye contact with her that whole time

absolute king his lead violinist came in looking like she took Forbidden Benadryll and he said you know what we don’t have time for this can you violin? yes? good we’re going on

Favorite Season 2 Vanya Moments

- lowkey mocking Carl at the dinner table

- playing hide and seek with Harlan

- "Is there any way tacos will cause the end of the world?"

- drunk finger guns

- her little hops into the group hug (big uwu)

- basically the whole salon scene with Klaus and Allison

- Vanya vs. Five standoff

- "oops" :3

- every moment of being gay with Sissy

- "Who I am is not a disease."

- learning to control her powers!!! strong independent woman!!!

- taking out a buttload of Commission agents at once

- The Scene With Ben (*sobs aggressively*)

- saving Harlan twice because she's just that badass

Feel free to add any of your favorites that I missed!

Vanya Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy is very autistic coded in my opinion. She doesn't express emotions well and bc of this could be seen as cold by some, generally awkward in social situations, is easily overwhelmed, and playing her violin is a stim for her. Her powers are tied to her emotions so when she gets overwhelmed and starts to have a meltdown her powers react along with her. I see a lot of myself in her honestly.

reginald: even if, god forbid, i raised children, i would raise them with MANNERS

also reginald: kids! it’s 4pm!time for your emotional manipulation!