#(just ask hardison!)

[aardvaark]

im so glad that we never get a clear picture of sophie’s background in leverage & i hope we never do. however i also really like making up various, often conflicting backstories for her in my head. perhaps they’re all backstories for an alias of hers, ones she laid to rest back in season two.

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Eliot: "I 'talked' to the Marshal last night."

Harry: Is now cursed with unwanted mental images.

Leverage Redemption S01E10 The Unwellness Job.

[werewolfsmile]

Fam, your Were-wolf Eliot head canon post came up in my queue for reblog and I re-read it and gotta ask,

Does Lieutenant Bonanno know? And if so how did he react?

Tara was with them long enough to find out, how did she react to "Sparky"?

(Also I am majorly inspired by the image of Quinn just showing up when he's in town for a wolfy play date (and yes both Eliot and Quinn have threatened Hardison not to call it that, Parker gets a pass calling it that cause she's Parker and she'll call it that anyway threat or no threat) and I was wondering if you'd be okay with me trying to write that scene and tagging you when it's done?)

-- @scotchiegirl

Ahh thanks so much for asking!! You've made my brain start thinking about this fic and headcanons all over again!!

Bonanno finds out during the events of The Boys' Night Out Job. After all the other crazy stuff he has to deal with from Nate Ford & Friends, he just throws his hands up and says, 'of course you are. of course werewolves are real. i should'a known.' and goes about his life. But every time they play cards, he squints at Eliot and warns him against using his enhanced abilities to win.

"No funny wolf business, y'hear? We try to keep it a clean game." Eliot just blinks at him. "I don't have x-ray vision, dammit!"

Tara figured it out before the rest of the team did but she never said anything about it, knowing that he was keeping something like that secret for a reason. But when Sophie calls up to rant about something Eliot's done (after the team's found out), Tara just laughs and says something along the lines of "classic Sparky". Sophie is like, wait, you know??? And Tara's like, oh you know now too?? Finally!!! And then they gossip about Eliot and werewolves and all the weird stuff they've encountered on grifts. Because, really, finding out Eliot Spencer is a werewolf is one of the least-weird things to happen in Tara's life.

WOLFY PLAY DATE OH MY GOSH YES THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS!!! Ahhh you may absolutely write the scene, I would be honoured! Though fair warning that I have plans to include it in my fic of this whole AU, The Full Moon Job. And if I read your version of it before I write my own, I may be influenced by what you write. So as long as that doesn't bother you, have at it!

(shameless link of my fic included for anyone who might be interested)

[independent-fics]

Thinking today about Parker in “The Inside Job” and her hearing Hardison and saying she messed up and his already here and guiding her to Eliot who’s waiting for her and just how happy she was to hear and see them.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Something that occurred to me this time…

… Is that Eliot deliberately brings Hardison w/ him to confront Moreau the first time. He tells Nate that he and Hardison will do it (don't worry, I also Love Hardison taking the moment to be like 'hey, are you okay?' bc those two usually express themselves through bickering so much that it clearly telegraphs just how off Eliot is being that Hardison is dropping the usual banter to be serious).

Which for one thing, says something about Eliot's confidence in Hardison in general, but also, like… Yes, Parker's probably not the choice for that introduction, it's not her style, but Nate or Sophie could also have played the part. He could have tried to go alone. But he pulls Hardison.

Obviously he's not trying to put Hardison in danger, he makes it quite clear in all other scenarios that he does not tolerate Hardison in danger (visual cues in The Gone Fishin' Job my beloveds), the others are well aware of the fact that he's Done Some Shit and are equally unaware of his connection to Moreau. And to be honest, I can't pinpoint an exact reason why I think he might have done it, chosen Hardison to be the one who finds out first. Maybe he suspected Moreau would underestimate Hardison, making him safer (relatively, if course), then someone like Nate or Sophie. Maybe he thought it would be best to have Hardison's tech skills as back up. Maybe he thought Hardison would roll w/ the punches the best. Maybe he just wanted Hardison there for morale.

I don't know, but it's a moment that didn't really occur to me the first time, but I think is actually quite meaningful in a more emotional way.

[leverage-ot3]

I love how the ot3 are still taking classes to learn each other's skills. Do you think that we'll ever see part of those classes? Like the tail end of one at the beginning of the episode right before we find out about the person who needs to be helped?

omg bestie me tf too

I’d LOVE to see, like, hardison and eliot learning how to crack a safe, or eliot practicing fighting forms with parker and hardison, or hardison teaching eliot and parker how to create basic bugs

or parker taking them to a racetrack or something like that and backseat driving making them practice driving maniacally defensive driving

OR ELIOT TEACHING THEM HOW TO COOK (I know that isn’t technically a crime talent, but helloooooooo sharing your love language let’s fucking GO)

or in that vein, even just scenes of parker and eliot watching hardison’s favorite shows and actually paying attention would be really cute

also eliot holding the punching bag as parker and hardison take turns with it, gently critiquing them on their stances and punches. he isn’t gruff with them (unless they tease him) because he genuinely wants them to learn and be able to best protect themselves. he knows they’re both strong and fit and capable, but it helps him rest a little easier knowing that he has taught them better self defense moves

and parker teaching them how to pick out of handcuffs so they will never be trapped if she can’t get to them in time

and hardison teaching them how to deactivate self-destructs and other offensive technological security measures because he never wants them to feel like he felt stepping on udall’s bomb or feel like he felt waiting to hear if parker made it out of that potato safe

logically I know that we probably won’t see it in the show since it (unfortunately) isn’t really centered around the ot3 dynamic, but I’d surely sell my soul to see it on screen

[thebabygronckle]

gajeel redfox is so elliot spencer coded

[mistbornhero]

Leverage: Redemption - The Date Night Job

The Thief Tango 💖 Requested by @devilwithabirddress

[katierosefun]

Howdy Caroline, I saw a post about Talk shop Tuesday so I thought I'd be nosy on main. I wonder, how does research factor into your fic writing, and what was the most taxing research you had to do for a fic? 🐸

oooh hi, iva!!! thank you so much for shooting the ask--god knows i always love talking about fic!

to answer your question: i think most of my fic-related research is limited to "what episode did character x do this/say that", just so that i have the timeline of events down. i know it's not the end of the world if i don't perfectly remember how a certain scene went down, but i can't help it--i like being precise when it comes to at least recalling canon events.

outside of that specific brand of research (just making sure my timeline/recitation of quotes is all set), i'll sometimes do wilder research for like ... au projects that are set in a different time. that doesn't happen often (i think the reason why i tend not to write au's that are set other than present day is specifically because i get overwhelmed by the amount of research to be done), but when it does, i'm usually stuck researching for hours. that's probably why i just never got around to posting this one period jwds au i have. the plot keeps shifting, mostly to suit the research that i've done. deep sigh. one day i swear i'll finish writing that story and post it, but right now it's just gotten a little away from me. it's marinating.

outside of that story though, i think i've been lucky enough to not need to do too much research for fics . . . maybe that'll change one day (especially if i ever fall in love with a more period-drama-esque story), but ! ! ! as of now, i think my research time really only takes up 10 - 15% of my fic writing process.

[naturallysuperbands]

.

[aardvaark]

do you ever think about how nate went to seminary school and almost became a priest? because i do

[3amsnek]

hahahhahhahaha. what a week huh.

[the-faultofdaedalus]

i’ve reached terminal level brainrot w/ leverage and that is the “insert remortal tony into a plot even if it makes no sense”

[werewolfsmile]

tysm for answering my qs about werewolf!eliot !! not to keep bugging you lol but i remember you mentioned in the tags of a post one time about a hc/au of parker being some sort of fae or otherworldly being who’s just kinda found herself here in the non-magical world - could you elaborate on that? like how come she’s in the non-fantasy part of the leverage universe, or whether the other characters know, etc? only if you want to of course, no pressure :) i’m really enjoying reading your posts about all these ideas!

You're welcome! And you're definitely not bugging me, I love getting the chance to ramble about my thought lol (werewolf!eliot post here) (link to the post and my tags that started this)

Honestly I don't have as clear ideas for Parker as I did for Eliot, but I imagine her being some kind of changeling or air/wind sprite that was left with humans for whatever reason.

(ooh i'm getting more ideas for this the more i think about it..)

okay, Parker is actually half-fey, half-human

no one really knows who her parents were or how she came to be on her own (me included lol), she was just found on a doorstep as a baby

the people who took her in had their own issues and the state eventually intervened and sent Parker into foster care

she found out at a very early age that she was different to other kids - she could move around without making a sound, she could fit into tiny spaces - all very helpful for a young girl in a foster system that was chewing her up and spitting her out

she also discovered that she could ... not turn invisible exactly, but she could be less visible if she wanted to be; all she has to do is think about not being seen and people's eyes just drift over her

Archie had absolutely no idea what she was when he got his hands on her, but even he knew that she was beyond just a gifted child

he only realised there was something magical about her after she fell off the roof of the warehouse he'd been training her in - then walked it off like it was no biggie

fey creatures love puzzles and riddles, so of course Parker has always had a natural affinity for puzzles (aka locks)

her super artistic talent is a trait that is Entirely Parker and, given that she entered a life of crime early and was surrounded by artistic masterpieces all the time, she never even considered that other people would draw/paint/whatever with any lower skill level

this contributes to her not understanding what the fuss is over art

she gave herself the name Parker when Archie met her and asked her name; it was the first thing that came to mind

she doesn't remember her birth name and isn't bothered by that in the slightest

Eliot was the first of the team to figure out she was fey - being a werewolf, he can smell and/or sense that kind of thing on others

Hardison suspected something was up with her, but then felt bad for thinking that, but then strange things kept happening around her so he started to keep a list ...

pretty much Hardison has a red-string conspiracy theory-style board of Parker Things. He's too terrified of offending her to ask her outright, but he's more convinced every day

(he's also more in love with her and just thinks her fey-ness is another thing to celebrate)

Parker finds Hardison's board of Parker Things and is utterly fascinated. It's like he understands her better than she understands herself. He's super flustered when he finds her poring over the board and tries to make excuses, but Parker's quick to steamroll over that and demands if he knows what she is

Eliot finds them 15 mins later, stuck in an endless loop of confusion over which of them actually knows what Parker is

he just rolls his eyes, says she's half-fey, it's obvious, like, "what? it's a very distinctive smell!"

which leads to how the hell would he know what the fey are and Eliot's like, oh crap, right, they still don't know I'm a werewolf whoops

Hardison and Parker stage a coming-out for her to Nate and Sophie

(Eliot refuses to be involved but still gets roped into carrying the banner. He's still finding glitter in his hair weeks later)

Sophie is thrilled about the reveal and confesses to being a siren (or some other supernatural/magical creature that can manipulate people, idk i have less thoughts about her than i do about parker)

Nate is all like are you kidding me right now what the hell is my life

after a lot of badgering, he confesses he didn't know about Parker, although he has been ... aware of magical beings for some time

no he will not be discussing this any further, can we just get back to the con now??

Parker finds that, now she's aware of her fey-ness, her magical abilities develop further

she doesn't quite gain the ability to fly but ... yeah okay, she can pretty much fly

she wants to test how far this flying ability goes - by, of course, jumping off tall buildings with Hardison in her arms (and no harness for either of them)

Hardison flat out refuses this, so Eliot somehow finds himself the unwilling victim

of course, Parker masters flying while carrying people in no time and proves it to Hardison by just grabbing him and jumping off a building one day

(he's still in therapy for it)

Parker also discovers she can make herself kind of ... misty

this skill is harder to learn but she's already been able to make her hand go misty and whoosh inside a lock

picking the lock is harder in this incorporeal state but Parker's instincts say there's a way to do this, so she keeps practising until she can pretty much disintegrate herself and float through locked doors to rematerialise on the other side

it's a nightmare for the whole team because, sure, it's not like locked doors stopped her in the past. But now she's so excited about it all the time that any concept of privacy completely leaves her brain and she jumps in and out of rooms and safes etc any time of day or night

Wow. This ended up longer than expected! Guess I did have some ideas about fey!Parker after all..

[harveen-denzel]

Writing a leverage episode in my head. It's wonderful.

[unloneliest]

there's a website with complete transcripts for the entire original run of leverage, and it has the season one in intended release order! it's one of the most beloved leverage-related resources out there for me, and i'm never sure how many people are aware of it, but i highly reccomend it to folks, especially when looking for specific details to reference in meta.

Anyone: *is watching Leverage for the first time*

Me: have you heard about watch order? Do you know the watch order? Hey. Hey. Are you aware that season one is out of order and requires a specific watching order. Hey. Hey. Hey. Have I told you about watch order yet?