#⠀ ❚ ⠀ … ⠀ ( general. ) ⠀ —— ⠀ ot3.

[leverage-ot3]

bonus:

[havonte]

Everlasting friendship between

Taeyang and G Dragon

[sleepyminty]

You either die third wheeling or live long enough to become the fun uncle of the family that you third wheeled for the rest of your life

[meanderingstream]

Thoughts on Leverage OT3 and Canon

I think that if some of the things that the OT3 said to each other were said by a man and a woman in a TV show, the audience would clearly read it as romantic. Like if a hetero ship said:

“For better or worse, we change together,” from the Rundown Job {for better, for worse, in sickness and in health…}

and “til my dying day” from the Long Goodbye Job {to death do us part},

and (you never really need anything.) “Yeah, I did [soft, loving look], but thanks to you I don’t have to search anymore,” from the Long Goodbye Job

and Hardison’s “for tonight, [name] has perfect pitch. You ever wonder how Britney Spears sounds so good on her tracks? Well, this is it, except mine's is in real time, Baby.” From the Studio Job,

and Parker’s [I’ll] “be here for you forever and we’ll always be together” from the Harry Wilson Job,

and Hardison’s “I’m here if you need me. Anytime,” from the Fractured Job

and the Hurricane Job with Parker and Eliot’s “I can’t do this without you.” “Well, that’s never gonna happen, [name].” “The arm around me was a nice touch,”

and “I’m making a four-course meal for them” from the Date Night Job

and “maybe I don’t like watching someone I care about take punches meant for me. You know, maybe I don’t wanna do a job that involves me watching you get hurt all the time.” From the Weekend in Paris Job

and “I mean, I’m in a great relationship, but would I even be in it if it were up to those swiping machines?” “We are in trouble.” “Nah, I mean, [me and you]? That’s fine. That’s working.”

If all those things had been said between one male and one female character, I feel like the audience would pretty clearly read it as romantic. I mean, my mom insists that Joan Watson and Sherlock Holmes got together romantically at the end of Elementary because of the hug and the line, “I’m staying. Of course I’m staying,” even though it did not read it that way to me. General audiences will read a lot of things as confirming a m/f couple because they see that kind of story so often that it’s what they expect.

Now granted, TV shows do like their slow burns because it provides tension without having to create problems in an established relationship, so fans of straight ships often do have a long wait for canonization. However, people didn’t question whether Josh and Donna from The West Wing or Tony and Ziva from NCIS were romantically interested in each other. It was clearly canon that they had those type of feelings or that type of interest for each other, there were just other things getting in the way of them actually starting to date. If a hetero ship said all those quotes listed above to each other, their romantic interest would absolutely be read as canon by the audience, even if they had not yet been shown on a date or kissing in the show. But because this is between 3 people, the OT3 is a somewhat niche ship in the general audience of Leverage outside of tumblr and AO3.

Like many of us here, I also felt let down when the Maria plotline happened in season 1 of L:R, especially after John Roger’s tweet that they’d canonized the OT3 after the Long Goodbye Job and his tweet that “your OT3 is safe” about the reboot. He specifically called it the OT3 in both cases, which pretty clearly refers to polyamory. If he meant that the characters that make up the OT3 (Hardison, Parker, and Eliot) are safe as in alive and healthy, then he should have said that. If he meant their friendship was safe, then he should have said that. If he meant they are in an open relationship or that Eliot is in a queer  emotional relationship with the other two but is not romantically and/or se✖ually involved with them, that should have been made clearer in the show. Instead, by the end of season 1, we got Eliot looking for fulfillment in life by trying to find a girlfriend to settle down with, and Parker qualifying her statement that they'd be together forever with “I know it's not the same [as a romantic relationship].”

Parker and Hardison’s romance is clearly stated and shown in the series (as it should be because they are awesome <3), but Eliot is not included in this unambiguously romantic relationship. While I am loving the partnership between the 3 of them and all of the OT3 nods so far in the 3rd season, I am also a little frustrated that they are just nods.

The burden of proof for a queer and/or poly ship is higher than a m/f pair. There is enough canon evidence to make a compelling argument that Eliot is the life partner of Hardison and Parker. However, the burden of proof for this type of relationship is higher because it is not what audiences are trained to expect. I adore the 3 of them together, and whether the series would show them all kissing or give us open, explicit discussion of their relationship as something like a queer-platonic partnership (probably not using that term, but that kind of relationship), I would love it either way. As it is now though, we get hints and nods that make OT3 shippers freak out, but that can be easily overlooked by general audiences as just good friends. If they are meant to be read as just really good friends, I wish John Rogers would not have used the term OT3, the definition of which includes the word “polyamory.” If they are meant to be polyamorous, I wish the show would make it unambiguous that’s what is going on, meeting that higher burden of proof for queer relationships.

On the other hand, I don’t want to complain about queer-baiting, because I feel like it’s not allowed to confirm your main characters are in a polyamorous relationship in a procedural like this that doesn’t center relationship drama. That seems like it’s just not possible yet. They are allowed to have a canon lesbian main character now- unlike in the original series- but I feel like maybe polyamory is still not an option. So the only other option than what the writers are currently doing is to totally disavow the OT3, which I obviously don’t want to happen. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong by the end of L:R season 3. I would absolutely love that to happen (dear God, please make that happen). But I’m not holding my breath.

I do still really appreciate John Rogers for the way he runs the show (both in the original and for season 3 of L:R) and for openly acknowledging and even supporting polyamorous ships, which is rare to find. I am aware that they fought for more queer representation in the original series but were only allowed that one cop lady from the Experiment Job in a single episode. Maybe this is the most they can get away with now, or maybe they are choosing to walk the line between hinting for the shippers while maintaining plausible deniability for everyone else. An intentional position of strategic ambiguity.

My point is that even if you don't account for the OT3 tweets, the canon status of the relationship between Hardison, Eliot, and Parker is complicated. It has enough textual evidence that if it were about a m/f pairing, then at minimum their interest/intent would be considered obviously canon. However, it does not meet the higher burden of proof that general audiences need in order to clearly realize when a queer relationship is happening. So it's left in this limbo between fully canon supported and totally unnoticed.

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

if Crozier had a nickel for every time someone close to him kept a mortal wound secret from him he'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's definitely enough to give him some very specific trauma for the rest of his life

[lies-and-branches]

Imagine your Ot3

Person A scoffed: “Why can’t you let go of B?”

Person C: “Because they drive me crazy!”

Person A: “I’m supposed to drive you crazy.”

[flowersforthemachines]

it's actually sooo evil how Verso, Lune and Sciel are basically the best party line-up, and Verso is implied to be crushing on both Lune and Sciel, and Lune and Sciel have their own lesboerotic thing going on, but while Verso can romance either of them they can't be a throuple. 0/10 sandfall why would you do that to me

[wmiescieinazumy]

the kirino/kariya/shindou trio are so very obizenyuki coded to me

or maybe i just miss obizenyuki.....

obizenyuki pictures borrowed from @/redmemoirs

[enjoyerofstories]

i said at some point that i would have liked sel to apologize in words too not just with actions and, well, i'd like to apologize myself because i have completely forgotten about this line in legendborn

[independent-fics]

The Leverage OT3 in Every Episode

Leverage: 01x07 The Two-Horse Job

[cessmaga]

when you are both teenagers with a bit of low self esteem and probably think you are not doing enough who have god-like powers to save the world and have the world on your shoulders, but still standing strong preserve despite all of the shit and horrors you've gone through

yeah

you probably need therapy

[havonte]

My Doraemon

[arctic-hands]

I maintain that had Tasha not died, she, Data, and Geordi would have been poly with each other for like the entire run

[reinanova]

you know a show/book/media did something right when the fandom writes fanfics that are an extension of canon, rather than a rewrite of canon

[thequeenofsastiel]

Not Tumblr meta turning me into a Spuffy shipper. Not Tumblr meta at all.

[holly-poly]

Holly Poly is, as the name implies, an exchange for polyamorous relationships. OT3s, OT4s, OT6s, orgies, open relationships, sedoretus, whatever strikes your fancy, as long as it involves three or more entities.

Participants are able to offer and request fanart, fanfiction, fanvids, podfic, fanmixes, gifsets and/or aesthetics/moodboards.

Dates: All times are 11:00am UTC, save for golive which will depend on when final pinch hits are posted. Apologies if the change of time causes any confusion; this change was necessary since the previous time used for deadlines did not work well for the mods' mix of timezones last year. We will make sure to update this post with links to countdown timers once they are applicable, so that people can check on those to see how long is left before the next deadline. 17-24 October: Nominations are open 31 October-11 November: Signups are open 17 November: Assignments will be sent out no later than this date. (And hopefully will go out much sooner.) 6 January: Default deadline (extended to 9pm UTC) - you can see a countdown timer at this link.  13 January: Fanworks are due - you can see a countdown timer at this link. 20 January: 27 January - The archive goes live (as soon as everyone has a gift). 27 January: 3 February - Creators revealed.

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