#I just want more nerdy Eliot

[independent-fics]

Gif-ing “The Two-Horse Job” tonight and once again Eliot is wearing glasses in the beginning to watch the job presentation?? I just need to know if this man wears prescription or not.

[evasleveragefanshit]

I wanted to talk about The Broken Wing Job and a thing I noticed about Parker.

I think we all know that Parker is definitely Autistic-coded, though to exactly what extent that was directly intentional depends largely on who you ask.

What I noticed is Parker's initial hostility toward Amy. She gets upset because Amy is trying to be friendly towards her in a way Parker interprets as insincere.

I think a lot of Autistic people can relate to the experience of being suspicious towards people who act friendly, especially if it might be insincere, because social interaction can be filled with invisible landmines. This can result in people who do the opposite of masking. Basically, seeing conversation/ friendly overtures as a type of conflict and refusing to play the game. Rather than try to figure out the rules for optimal conversation (and risk getting them wrong and being ostracized), they just skip to choosing to make things as uncomfortable for the other person to avoid trying and failing.

I think we see Parker do this a lot throughout the series. I mean, her first instinct when she feels social conflict while grifting is literally to start stabbing. She never masks to make the team more comfortable, even when she learns how to play the game to grift.

So, when it comes to The Broken Wing Job, Parker acts as weirdly as possible. See: "Best meal I ever had was in French prison." I see this as her trying to communicate 'I am not like you' in an attempt to get Amy to acknowledge the communication barrier and leave her alone.

HOWEVER, as the episode goes along, Amy not only accepts all the strange Parker gives off, but shows Parker some of her own strangeness back. (See: all of the people watching).

Amy met Parker on her level and communicated in a way Parker understood.

This is really important because even her teammates sometimes fail to do this. They don't always 'get' Parker, and because of this they can sometimes dismiss her. I think Eliot and Sophie are the worst about this.

Sophie gets Parker sometimes, but as a grifter she relies on the rules of neurotypical interaction, and can sometimes get frustrated with Parker, or try to get her to do it the "normal" way.

Eliot out of all of them is the most stereotypical man out of all of them, and as such he has a strong tendency to enforce this worldview. He does this to Hardison, at least originally, when he sincerely does not value computer skills because he deems them "geeky/ nerdy". Similarly, he is the one who most frequently chides Parker to get her to be less weird. That said, he tends to speak straight forwardly, say what he means, and honor his word. So out of all of them, he may be the one she understands the best.

Anyway, that's all.

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

Okay, okay. You all are probably ANNOYED about my Leverage posts- and I was on the fence about posting this one because I'm only on season 3. However, I just have SO many thoughts and I need to process them. So- here it goes;

*takes a deep breath*

Leverage is home. Like, I don't- I don't know to explain it. In another post I said the show was intoxicating and that's still true. But it's also- it's also home. Maybe I'm the only one, but when I watch it- I feel like I belong. Which is ridiculous. I'm not talented at all- but Leverage is almost like a security blanket. It's- it's safe and warm... it's home.

The only thing I can think of why it's home is because of them. Because they make it feel like home. They make feel safe and like your being cared for. Like your not alone. Even if you don't think your good at something- Leverage has your back. It gives you a sense of security. Which is weird because their criminals. But- like they said; Sometimes the bad guys are the only good guys you get.

I mean- you have Nate Ford who is always two to three spaces in front of the bad guy. Who sits there and listens to victims and gives them hope. Who talks to his team and bounces ideas off of them- instead of talking down to them. He's the kinda guy that watches from the background and sees all sorts of angles. Gets into the minds of both the victim and assailant. And if the con goes wrong- he has a second one ready to cover. Whose weakness is an empty bottle in an occupied barstool.

You have Sophie. A terrible actress whose good at acting. She can play any part. Be unseen- while being seen. Whose brave, kind, and gentle- but can kick butt when needed. She's not a damsel in distress- but she'll play the part. And the thing about that part is; it's so convincing- even she believes it too. Despite that- she's honest and sincere, she'll tell you what she thinks. Her heart is gold. Her trust is thin. She's like a snake- hypnotizing. Her weakness is the love she gave to a man who thinks too much and feels too little.

You have Eliot. A man that- if you just look at him- you'll just shrug him off. He's like any other brute. Big and brawny. And that's why you shouldn't ever judge a book by it's cover. He's so much more than that. Yes. He's brawn. A real southern charmer. But he has a brain and a heart. He's that big brother and gives you hugs and you can't help but melt into the security of that feeling. That feeling of safety that you just know has an ocean of anger underneath. But your not scared, you can't be scared. Not of him. He's the kinda guy you run towards- because you know he'll keep you safe. And yeah- maybe he'll use his brawn to keep you safe, but he'll also use his brain and his heart. He'll get you out of the situation in one piece with a grumble and a growl. His weakness is his kindness and that's why doesn't let it show.

You have Alec. The brainiac. The hacker- who isn't all that much to look at (compared to Eliot,) at least not at first glance. Yet, there's something about him that screams safe. Just as much as Eliot. He's outgoing and kind. Smart and funny. And the way that he's got everyone's back- even when it doesn't seem like it. He's your go to- to find any kind of internet mistakes and he's a good shoulder to cry on. He's that brother who is dorky, awkward, and nerdy- but he's honest and sincere. His weakness is not being able to be there when it really matters.

And- and you have Parker. The thief. The master thief- that didn't belong anywhere. Nimble and lean as she flips and slinks through vents. She's the little sister the family didn't know they even wanted. Until finally they realized she was what they needed. She's bright and cheerful despite how she grew up. Her life wasn't easy foster care and street living is a rough life- but she still believes in good things; Santa clause, Nate, Sophie, and Eliot. Most importantly she believed in Hardison. She was on her own until she was found and working with a team. Then she belonged to them. Everything she had done- was so that they knew she loved them. Her weakness is having the ability to not get caught.

To end this; Leverage is an amazing shoe- because it reminds us that no matter our background. No matter how many times we've messed up and haven't belonged- we are all human. It tells us that we will find our home, our tribe, our safety. That no matter our weakness- we'll always have somebody who can take our weakness and become our strength.

I'm only on season 3. I'll more than likely have more thoughts come by season 4/ season 5. (If you agree or disagree- don't hesitate to message me!

[madstronaut]

PSA: i am an absolute sucker for meet-cutes

ya know what's funny? every time I have the passing thought wondering if I'll run out of fic I've bookmarked to (lovingly) rant about, my moots/cod writers never fail to deliver new bangers after bangers... at this rate my bookmark folder is bursting at the seams and threatening to explode into a big flaming glorious ball of confetti and words and emotions and tears (mine, my tears, those are all mine-)

I have also had the most exhausting past few weeks and seeing memes crop up about "becoming important at work is ruining my life" hit a little too real for me to laugh without crying a teeny bit but you know who i know got me? FANFIC WRITERS MY BELOVEDS THAT'S WHO 💖💖💖 (whom? fuck idk anymore how did I even get my job when I fuck up basic grammar lol)

I have been listening to Posty's new country song with Dolly Parton and it feels incredibly gaz-coded to me... I recently went karaoke-ing and let me tell you I would flirt hardcore by alternately winking constantly/making deep unblinking eyecontact into kyle's baby browns while singing this song anyway sorry totally sidetracked by daydreaming about making out with gaz and then wearing nothing but his hat while i ride his d- [rest of sentence drowned out by dolly parton's bridge]

ok fuck THE FIC WHERE WAS I BACK TO THE FIC

Reading: Firefighter!Kyle by @stellewriites

ok to start mister mistoffelees!!!!!!! what a name I swear cat owners give their pets the wildest names (I met someone who had two cats named porterhousesteak and shakeandbake - both names were pronounced like one word) (also on the off-chance charlotte if you're reading this, let's pretend we are two ships passing in the night and you can ignore my videogame military men thirstblog and i'll ignore the names you chose to bestow on your pets)

and even before stelly described him I KNEW HE WAS AN ORANGE CAT 😂

also I have not read or seen Cats the book/musical/movie prior to reading this fic but this made me want to so that I can flirt with stelleverse!kyle

“please misty, my arms are tired and my neighbours have probably already lost all respect for me,” you groaned. it turned into a huff when he turned away to clean his paws, ignoring you again. “you win! there, happy? you furry little orange devil, you fucking win!”

🤭🤭🤭 ok but let's be real we've all been there pleading with pettos and having full-on one-sided conversations with em

you pulled out your phone and skimmed the articles you’d pulled up advising you on how to get a stuck cat out of a tree.

*running to google* also is this not the most millenial/gen-z thing to do!!!! lmao the things I have googled....

“ah that looks like a job for our best man, don’ya agree, si? think this requires garrick’s expertise,” the man said again, smirking at the man sat next to him up front.

we stan a man who sees someone and goes "that's my mate's type" i feel like soap would be such a good wingman

“oi! i’d be happy to help the bonnie thing with their pussy, but ah thought you might appreciate stretching yer legs,” ‘tav huffed from the window.

irl men saying this to me: mace to the face first, questions later

fictional video game men saying this line to me: *practicing deep lunges so I can open my legs for them even wider*

“ahh ok,” kyle nodded. he tested the balance of the ladders against the tree. “musical or book?” my mum used to love t. s. eliot, so i know probably more than i should about it,” he joked, slowly reaching his hand out for misty to sniff at.

NERDY MAMA'S BOY THEATER LOVER CAT WHISPERER HIMBO KYLE MY BELOVED (seriously stelly just took all my fucking weaknesses and rolled them into firefighter!kyle)

“it’s what we’re here for,” kyle said easily, shrugging as he came to stand before you. “plus, it’s always easy when the callers are so pretty.” “hah! right, yeah he’s a cutie,” you said and wiggled your fingers at misty, letting him bat at them. kyle waited for you to look up before replying. “i meant you,” he said a little sheepishly.

"he said a little sheepishly" that cat better get back in that tree to make space cos I'd be taking a running leap into his arms after rizzing me up like that

“like, how? on the emergency number?” you hinted. “ah fuck,” he swore and patted at his pockets. you heard the scotsman laugh from the truck and hid your own teasing smile behind your hand.

SCCREEEAAAMMMING

I would be remiss not to include this cute little challengefic stelly wrote that I have daydreamed about multiple times after reading (I usually picture gaz or soap here when I read about college/uni!141)

the fic also reminds me of the large lectures I attended in college (I was a solid sit near the middle or 2/3 up the room but never allll the way in the back student) where I observed in no particular order:

several randos watching various LOTR movies on their laptop

watching Pirates of the Caribbean and Dragon Ball Z was also super popular

also anime porn! FUCKING WHY THO SIT AT THE VERY BACK IF YOU'RE GONNA DO THIS YOU FUCKING DEGENERATE I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THAT IN MY SOPHOMORE LINGUISTICS LECTURE

also re: chronic anime porn purveyor -> seeing a girl straight up go over and unplug his charger from the wall socket AND his laptop and just WALK AWAY WITH IT 😂🙌 (my queen I still think about you from time to time after all these years, I oft pray to match a thimbleful of your energy)

girl playing Pokemon Red on an emulator on her laptop (I was riveted and also went to search and download the same and got lost in the sauce burning through all the pokegames for a hot minute too...THANK YOU ARIA!!!!!!!!)

guy playing tetris on his comp at an INSANELY god-tier speed level; i'm positive he did it for an audience because i swear i saw people attempting to look for and sit behind him to observe him during classes to watch his ass play (noooo this wasn't me who said that also he was kinda cute in a 'you are very competent in this weirdly niche area and i find that kinda hot' way)

girl dropping $800+ on topshop website (am I dating myself mentioning topshop lol is it still around?!?!)

guy speedwriting a paper for another class and turning it in - all during a totally unrelated class, honestly was impressed

girl flawlessly applying liner, lipstick, and a glitter topper without spilling or getting the glitter everywhere (btw at a 9am lecture? slay sis)

anyway can you tell i went to a very large uni lol OK WHERE WAS I BACK TO FIC BACK TO FIC

you stared at the screen unblinkingly, thoroughly distracted from your course and the discussion around you until a hand holding a slip of paper appeared at your shoulder in your peripheral. you flicked your eyes up and found the professor busy facing the board and took the chance to swivel in your seat to look up at the one above yours and the handsome man that currently claimed it.

I can physically feel my pupils popping til they engulf my eyes as I read this - also I loved the premise of this challenge (cali my beloved making bangers as usual @the-californicationist) with people having to guess who the chara was! one of the verrrry first fics I read in cod fandom was an insert-blorbo-of-your-choice-here x reader that I looooooooooved; I find the fill-in-the-blank aspect verrrry titillating✨

“i could maybe think of some way you could thank me,” he acquiesced, smile turning sly. “better concentrate on the front of the class for now though.” he nodded forward.

can also physically feel my pupils turning to heart eyes at this line 😍UNFFFF YES YES LET'S HAPPILY BRAINSTORM THE MANY MANY M A N Y WAYS I COULD THINK OF THANKING YOU GOOD SIR

i met some of my best mates (and earned some wild stories to boot) at uni, as they say over on the other side of the pond, and all the fun cute chaotic little moments of serendipity sprang back up when I read stelly's works and made me feel incredibly nostalgic 🥰🥰🥰 going old school and pulling out my 2008 neutrogena lipgloss out of memory lane for my chef's kisses for yooouuuuu mwahmwahmwahmwah😙👌😙👌😙👌😙👌

[miseryinyou]

Watching Eliot interact with Tam in 2x03 has got me feeling some kind of way. The way I always feel when Eliot interacts with kids. But somehow this Tam interaction just spun the dial up to 1000.

Eliot has KILLED people. He's done absolutely immoral, terrible, and unforgivable things.

Yet, I watch him talk to a kid - any kid - and all I can think is "why is this man not a father?". Eliot has a violent past, but he's a protector through and through. He loves so much.

Watching him with Tam honestly makes me tear up a little. Here's this nerdy teenager that has made a career out of something that Eliot thinks is ridiculous and a mockery of something (sports) that Eliot values.

Still - after spending 10 minutes with those kids Eliot self-appoints himself as their hype man. He cares about them. He wants the dorky little nerd to meet his girlfriend irl. He wants them to be happy and healthy. He makes them kimchi because he knows it's a comfort food for them. He constantly asks them how they're doing.

I swear to God. That's more than most Dad's are doing in North America.

Someone needs to make Eliot a dad. Or a foster parent. Or something. Because he'd be a GREAT one.

[catscraftsandcommentary]

@everything-but-the-not-natural hey, you want to play "how accurately can I predict Leverage?" (I've still only seen through "The Two Horse Job." So halfway through season 1.)

List of characters because I am SHIT at names:

- Nathan Ford, former insurance investigator and current hiest planner, son died after being denied insurance coverage for an experimental treatment

- Sophie Devereaux, professional chameleon (but only during crime/high stakes situations), clearly wants to get with Nathan

- Eliot Spencer, close combat expert (but dislikes guns), excellent cook, and (former?) horse girl

- Alec Hardison, tech expert and hacker

- Parker, thief, gymnast, and INSANE

- Jim Sterling, former rival to Nathan and current insurance investigator

So! Predictions:

- Eliot used to be military, probably Marines or other special forces. He presumably excelled at regular military fighting and got fast-tracked to black ops. (He may have gotten pulled into being a contractor after his official term of service ended.) I'm betting SOMETHING traumatic happened to cause his dislike of guns - if I had to guess, I'd say that he was ordered to kill (via sniper shot) someone who was using a human shield (most likely kids or someone Eliot cared about). Bonus points if the sniper target turned out to be not a villain, which Eliot could have figured out if he'd been closer to the action.

- He probably turned to crime to escape being chased by the military, to support himself, and possibly to find someone to protect him from all the enemies he made while serving whichever military/spooky government force he used to work for. He ABSOLUTELY feels guilty about all the harm he did in his Tragic Past (not everyone he fought/killed was evil, but I doubt he knew that then), but he won't let on about this until much later, after he's started to trust everyone. (Parker will just offer to blow his enemies up. Alec will want to hack them.)

- Eliot will 100% end up cooking for the team at some point. Probably frequently. There will probably be a funny scene where he throws out all of Parker's and Alec's shitty junk food and then aggressively cooks them something from scratch. With a shit-ton of vegetables minced into a sauce, because HOW ARE YOU TWO NOT DEAD ALREADY?!?!?

- Parker strikes me as a foster kid. Foster or group home after she fucking BURNED DOWN HER PARENTS' HOUSE, WTF PARKER. And of course, being in a place with OTHER troubled kids just taught her all sorts of tricks (on top of the ones she'd figured out by herself). At some point, she learned to use money as a way of keeping score of her success in life - possibly someone bullied her *specifically* because they had money and she didn't? In any case, her moral compass is "I do what I want, whatever's most fun in the moment, WHEE!" With her skills, this is TERRIFYING.

- She will ABSOLUTELY steal shit to try to make her teammates happy - things they mention they like or are nostalgic about. Eventually she'll learn to care about people and show affection WITHOUT first resorting to crime. (...but it will take a WHILE.)

- Alec is harder for me to pin down, partly because none of the episodes have focused on his backstory yet and partly because I can't identify with him as much. But SOMETHING drove him to not only *use* computers, but EXCEL at them. I'd guess he was a nerdy kid who liked computers, and then learned that coding/hacking was a way to escape an unpleasant real life. The more he learned about coding and hacking, the more he realized that he could change his real life by doing that...and thus his start in crime.

- He also learned to play a role pretty well (when he was an office worker for a job, and the flashback where he pretended to be a black celebrity). He's probably got a history of people expecting certain things from him (due to racial or economic status) and learning to either play to those expectations (and thus escape notice) or loudly call out how inaccurate those are to embarrass people into backing down (as he did when someone noticed he'd changed costumes in an elevator). This chameleon ability will continue to be useful.

- At some point, he'll probably pick up some more physical skills from Eliot and Parker, since right now he either works behind the scenes or as a distraction.

- Sophie can do flawless performances of any character, but ONLY IN HIGH PRESSURE SITUATIONS. She learned that *somewhere*, and I'm betting that when we find out where/when, it won't be pretty. I'd bet she was neglected or abused somehow, and playing different roles was the only way she could get what she needed to survive. (And if she was caught being a fake, she was punished somehow, so she learned that she had to be FLAWLESS.) But because she's used to using this skill in high stakes situations, she can't call it up the same way when the stakes are low - like an audition or a theatrical performance.

- We'll get to see more of her true (probably adorably awkward) personality - who she is when she isn't playing some flawlessly elegant beauty. When she's comfortable enough to relax like that around the team, THAT'S when Nathan will start to pick up that "oh shit, she likes me, this could be something REAL."

- Nathan used to be an insurance investigator for high value claims, but unlike his rival Jim Sterling, Nathan usually tried to FIX the situation instead of just screwing people over to save the company money. (For example, recovering stolen items instead of just saying "this was a conspiracy by the owner.") He thinks insurance companies should HELP people, and felt personally betrayed when his company refused to cover his son's medical care (I think someone mentioned that it involved an experimental treatment). He felt that the company should have covered his son's care - possibly that whatever loophole they used to deny care didn't apply, or just that "I've been such a good worker for so long, you should make an exception for me."

- Obviously that didn't happen, and the company was probably blunt to the point of nasty about it, which prompted him to quit. You've mentioned he has an ex-wife, so that may have been the last straw for her re their relationship. (First their son's illness, then the denied care/coverage, then using all their money to pay for their son's care, followed by their son's death.) When Nathan quit his - presumably well-paid - insurance job in disgust/grief, she saw it as throwing away their only chance to get out of the debt they'd taken on. Cue a huge fight, followed by a nasty and bitter divorce. So he lost EVERYTHING all at once - his faith in his job, his son, his marriage, his financial security...no wonder he turned to alcohol to cope.

- The functional alcoholism WILL be a recurring theme. It's probably his biggest character flaw at the moment, which makes it an easy way for the writers to trip him up or have the team criticize him. When he starts to cut back on the alcohol, that will be a major turning point. (But he'll almost certainly relapse at a plot-critical point.)

- Jim Sterling implied that Nathan had a more prestigious position than he did at the Sleezy Insurance Company (even if they were doing similar jobs). I'm guessing there was some sort of internal competition, probably tied to how much money they saved Sleezy Co or to how many claims they could justify denying, and that Nathan always beat Jim. (Bonus points if the winner of the company's competition got some sort of prize - a large annual bonus, a raise, a better office, etc. Which obviously Jim wanted and Nathan took for granted.) Jim is petty and bitter as hell about this, so he's going to happily screw Nathan and team over WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

I (@leverage-ot3) want to appreciate both orv fans and leverage fans for getting this far!!! obviously we both have a lot of fans and support and we should be friends not enemies!!!

I see a lot of people being like idek who those [leverage ot3 characters] are and someone called them clowns (derogatory) in the tags but please be nice!!! we can be rivals but also appreciate one another!!! I for one am very interested in orv now after all your propaganda and I really hope some of you have read the propaganda posts about leverage and are interested!

I’ve learned about a lot of new polyships because of this competition and I’d love to consume more of that media!!! let’s appreciate each other, not being each other down 💖💖💖

for those of you that don’t know: leverage is where the term competence porn was popularized. they are SOOOOO good at what they do (crime)!!! the woman in the ship is canon autistic but also the leader of international leverage crews and is canon the best thief in the world! the black man is referenced many times as the smartest man they have ever known and kicks the shit out of negative black man stereotypes! he is nerdy and kind and emotionally intelligent and full of love and is also buff! and eliot has done very bad things but the theme of the show has always been redemption! they all love each other and respect each other very much and spend time learning about each other’s interests and uplifting each other

also each episode is 45 minutes of rich powerful people eating shit and then going to jail 🫡🫡🫡

i accidentally clicked on this pic and idk how to delete it cause mobile is weird help. i dont wanna close and reopen the answer so just have this for free as a treat

anyway yeah ive seen confusion from both sides tbf but leverage has been getting that since round 1 which i think is hilarious because yall are very a strong fandom clearly theres so many of you voting and there have been a lot since round 1, yet i still get tags from ppl who dont know what leverage is. which in itself is fine but pls dont be rude yall!! thats not what we're about

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

now I'm curious, can you tell us more about writing Flourish out of order? what made you decide to try writing it that way? what was agonizing about it??

I think honestly I decided to do it that way as an experiment, because so many other writers say it works for them, and on paper it does seem like a good strategy for keeping your interest focused over a long project. It's something I'd been interested in experimenting with for a while, and Flourish seemed like the right story for it because of the structure.

If your memory is good or you've read the author's notes recently, you'll know that Flourish began life kind of as a stunt -- a bunch of people on Tumblr were laughing at Rudy Giuliani, as one does, and saying that "landscaper next to the dildo store" should become the new fandom trope to replace "flower shop next to the tattoo parlor." I often get ideas by hearing something stupid and thinking, okay, but if you did want to do that for real, how would you? And I got really hooked on this idea of Quentin running this super nerdy, Ivy League sex shop, and Eliot, who comes from this canonically working-class background, struggling to find some kind of balance between his origin story and his artistic temperament in a way that was more complex than just fucking off and pretending to be someone else.

But that was really all I had, going in! There was absolutely nothing like a plot involved. I knew it would have to take place over a year or more, so I kind of broke it out seasonally and did a bunch of research about gardening in Pennsylvania specifically and the landscaping industry generally (my Kindle Unlimited algorithms were bonkers for a while). I noodled around with the concept of plants and blooming where you're planted. I came up with a huge, detailed backstory for the Waugh family, since I knew it was going to have to be his connection to his family that drew Eliot there at all, and I knew I really liked the idea that Eliot and Ted became garden buddies before Eliot and Quentin were really a thing. I had a general sense that there was going to be a culminating conflict between Julia wanting to leave the business and Q feeling betrayed by that. And at the point where I signed up for the Big Bang, that was more or less all I knew, and I thought, okay, maybe what I do is just put these characters in rooms and let them bounce off each other until I figure out what I really want the story to look like.

And honestly, that part wasn't too disastrous. I wrote a lot of the Eliot stuff first, since I had a stronger sense of his conflict, and I let Quentin's Whole Deal emerge gradually -- which is why I think his arc is a little more messy, but you can get away with messy in Quentin's case, it's Quentin.

I got to the point where I had about 30k of fiction and I was like, okay, I get this story, I can explain it to myself. I wrote an outline. And that's where I fucked up, because what I should have done is backed up to the beginning and wrote like I always do, filling in the gaps chronologically and editing completed scenes where necessary. But I was still into this idea that I was Letting the Story Lead Me or some fucking thing, who knows, and I started just tackling scenes from my outline whenever I thought of something cool to do with them.

And that was a disaster, because what I should have realized about myself is that for me, the pleasure of writing is in the momentum of it. When I write, I do generally have a sense of what the third act will contain, but the fun of it is kind of -- building the deck or laying out the game board. I spend a lot of time setting up People With Problems, and then as I'm actually writing, I'm solving their problems, and the biggest component of that is letting them talk long enough to figure out what they think their problems are, which is rarely what I think their problems are, but to me the most interesting thing about any human being is where they're wrong about themselves. So as I write, I'm always using the things these characters say and think to build the conflict, I'm basically starting out with my story and learning as I go why they're not already doing what I think they should do -- what I will eventually get them to do.

This may all seem a little abstract, but trust me, there's a click that happens when the story shifts gears and I'm no longer setting things up, but now I'm writing to address what's in motion, not to Create Problems On Purpose anymore, but to drive those problems to a head and then solve them. And with Flourish, I never felt that click, I was never able to Win the Story, because big chunks of the first act still weren't in place until very late in the process.

And on a practical level, it meant that certain late things were supposed to be a bigger deal, but I wrote it so slowly and with such frustration that I just didn't have time to set them up as much as I imagined I would -- Quentin's contentious relationship with Marina was supposed to be a thread, and when I wrote the later scenes it was theoretically resonant that Julia says "you both made me carry this as a secret from the people I love, you both let me down." But then the way the story evolved, that just got squeezed out because there wasn't an organic spot for it and I didn't have time to create new scenes for it. So stuff like that, where if I'd been writing Act Three with complete knowledge of what actually had and hadn't happened earlier, I'd have approached it differently. And that was super frustrating and made me feel like I was fucking it up.

In retrospect, I do like Flourish a lot. I think I made the story work, mostly just through brute force. But when I look at it, I can definitely see the seams, where the transitions seem abrupt and random, where certain things still look to me like responses to events that never actually happened in the story. It's fine, it worked out mostly. But I truly never enjoyed writing it in the way I usually enjoy writing, and I absolutely think it's because I didn't have a strong, completed first act pushing me through to an ending that felt like a justified payoff to Page One.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, this was cathartic! And, uh, people should read Flourish, which I think is a pretty decent little novel about taking the hand you're dealt in life and trying to turn it into something you're proud of. It's so AU that I think even if you've never seen a Magicians in your life, it's completely readable.

[onyxbird]

I posted 4,114 times in 2022

That's 1,685 more posts than 2021!

198 posts created (5%)

3,916 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bostonbakeddeans

@icannotreadcursive

@vickyvicarious

@party-gilmore

@original-missif

I tagged 3,371 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#q - 1,500 posts

#dracula daily - 370 posts

#leverage - 350 posts

#eliot spencer - 221 posts

#mr. quinn - 164 posts

#leverage aus - 159 posts

#the sandman - 126 posts

#cats - 111 posts

#leverage ot3 - 81 posts

#alec hardison - 69 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#con of showing this post to my friend: we currently live on opposite sides of a large country--prohibitive to attempting joint puppetry. 😢

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

A ridiculous Leverage AU concept popped into my head last night that's cracking me up. So first, it's Leverage OT3 having teamed up as a criminal crew without meeting Nate and Sophie. I'm picturing it in like a cyberpunk setting, but could potentially just be a canon-adjacent setting where the OT3 joined forces without Nate's influence, still pursuing crime for personal gain.

They've become a force to be reckoned with, a target of law enforcement and other criminal elements alike--probably clashed with at least pieces of Moreau's organization more than once--but no one has been able to touch them. Everyone with any connection to the criminal underworld knows about the genius Hacker Hardison and his cyber-crime empire, and everyone knows about his two closest lieutenants: a incredible Thief and an unstoppable Hitter, known only as "Parker" and..."Baby."

Some know only that much, and, when meeting the crew, many are prone to guess that the dainty blonde must be "Baby," and thus the glowering brunet must be "Parker."

The slightly better informed know that the Thief is "Parker" and the Hitter "Baby," but aren't 100% sure which is which.

The truly well-informed folks in the criminal underworld know who is who and enough of their reputations that although "Baby" is spoken of in hushed tones, since they know of no other name for the most elite Hitter in the business, no one dares to even think of calling him that to his face. That can get difficult for people who have to do business with him directly or discuss matters involving him with Parker or Hardison. None of the three ever offer any alternatives. (Every so often a newbie criminal comes along and decides to crack a joke about the name, often some variation on "putting Baby in a corner" and is quickly warned by their peers that 1) you do not joke about Baby--he could kill you with a blade of grass and is known to materialize in the most unexpected times and places--and 2) that specific joke has been made a million times already.)

Behind the scenes, of course, the trio's partnership is quite egalitarian, and Eliot's name is used freely, but 1) neither Parker nor Eliot is comfortable being the face of their organization, while Hardison is happy to LARP his nerdy little heart out as an evil overlord, and 2) Eliot had reasons to not want his real name spread around too much and made the tactical error of giving Hardison a little too much freedom in deciding what to call him in front of people.

Nate eventually does come on the scene, finally disgusted enough to break ties with his "lawful" but corrupt organization and willing to turn to the criminals he used to chase to cut a deal. His boldness at asking for a meeting in addition to what they knew of him as an investigator piques their interest, but they're disappointed when he stumbles in unkempt and still fairly inebriated.

He gains their interest back when, even in his drunken state and having never laid eyes on any of them, he sweeps one look around their temporary HQ, immediately clocks Parker as THE Parker despite her just standing still next to Hardison, and, by process of elimination, turns to Eliot and says, "So, you must be Baby."

895 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

#4

Dying to know how Van Helsing "signed" his phonograph entry in all-caps. Did he just suddenly bellow his surname into the phonograph at full volume in case Jonathan wasn't sure who was speaking?

(I'm also not at all clear on why VH is leaving notes by phonograph rather than just writing a note, but at least the "how" of that is fairly obvious.)

1,042 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#3

It seems like a lot of modern vampire fiction implies or outright shows that a vampire can drain an entire adult of blood, either completely or enough to kill them, in one meal (and they feed frequently). And then here's Dracula implying that 3 adult vampires are going to share a single small child.

I mean, I know people talk about portion sizes in the USA being excessively large, but the vampires of Sunnydale/Bon Temps/etc. are apparently taking this to the extreme.

1,494 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

#2

Dream of the Endless is back in his cage for Halloween, and he is not happy.

I, on the other hand, am delighted by how well the design carved up, particularly how clearly Dream's eyes glow.

I ended up decreasing the width of the binding circle a bit to fit better on the pumpkin without shrinking Dream and the cage down any further, and the chains are a little chunkier to be carveable with the tools I have, but overall the concept translated onto the pumpkin very well.

I think it looks even better in person--it's hard to capture well on a phone camera.

1,706 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Suddenly tickled by the idea of Death giving Dream a mobile phone (whatever magical version can get service in the Dreaming) to facilitate him keeping in touch with his one (1) human friend Hob. (And maybe even making more friends? Hint, hint, little brother.)

She assures him she's taken care of everything. The only thing he needs to do is give this sequence of numbers to Hob (or any other human he wants to be able to contact him). He'll know what to do. Death has already set up everything else on the phone--she even set a ringtone for him!

Dream has never cared enough about human telecommunications to know what a ringtone is, and he's too distracted by insisting that he doesn't need a phone--he and Hob have managed fine for centuries without one--to think to ask about it.

He realizes this was a mistake only later, when he's looming dramatically and impressively over someone as Lord Morpheus, and suddenly music begins to blare:

🎶 "Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream! Make him the cutest that I've ever seen..." 🎶

(It gets through an entire verse before he figures out where the music is coming from.)

2,406 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[leverage-ot3]

even MORE notable moments from The Queen’s Gambit Job

Sophie: No, no. I did not steal that necklace in Cyprus. It was Venice. How could you forget that? It was carnevale. The masks, the gondola chase...

Nate: Venice. The green dress.

Sophie: You do remember.

Nate: Only the details that matter

nate ford, sly motherfucker

- - - - -

Sterling: You ever been to Kazhistan?

Nate: Yeah. 2006. Mostly sand and terrorists. Not an ideal vacation spot.

- - - - -

(Eliot, Parker and Hardison stand next to one of the chess tables. Eliot stops Parker from hitting a chess timer)

Eliot: Stop playing with stuff.

Parker: I wanted to hit it.

Eliot: Don't hit it.

Hardison: Man, it's so great to see all these athletes in their prime.

Eliot: Where the hell do you see athletes?

Hardison: They're ev--man, the Olympic committee recognizes chess as a sport.

Eliot: This is a sport?

chaotic parker and eliot

also eliot stfu it’s nerdy but literally it’s canon that you play chess so you have absolutely no right to talk

- - - - -

eliot LOVES to fuck with sterling and we love to see it

- - - - -

Sterling: So, you think it's okay to risk my informant.

Eliot: Sterling, as far as I know, your informant's another lie.

Sterling: Still don't trust me.

(Eliot looks at Sterling and chuckles)

- - - - -

Nate: Wait, wait. Yeah, yeah. That's it. That's exactly it. Livingston is always the first into the elevator and into the vault. There's got to be a way for the security system to know when it's Livingston and when it's not. It's a weight-and-gait authenticator.

Hardison: The floor panels are pressure-sensitive, and they're also programmed to identify an individual's weight distribution.

Sterling: And walking patterns. We have one installed at the data center at Interpol and another at the Hockney exhibit in Luxembourg.

Hardison: It's also in the Pentagon, in the inner ring.

Sophie: And so it's all determined by Livingston's weight?

Hardison: No, no, weight distribution measures where the mass is in the body, not how much mass there is.

Eliot: It's like a fingerprint. Anybody but Livingston gets on that elevator or the vault floor, and the alarms go off.

- - - - -

Nate: We know what security system's protecting the weight, so all we got to do is hack into it.

Hardison: Okay, let's get one thing clear here. When you say "we," you really mean me. And what do you mean, just "hack into it," Nate? I don't know what this thing is. Never seen it before in my life. How am I supposed to hack it?

Nate: I mean, that's a very good question, Hardison. I'm sure you'll have it figured out by tomorrow. Good luck. (pats Hardison on the arm and leaves)

eliot smiling at the exchange because he’s a little shit

- - - - -

Hardison: Yeah, now, these are the grandmasters, Nate. Okay, you're good but not that good.

[Chess Tournament Room]

Nate: Ah, I beat you every time, Hardison.

Hardison: Maybe if you let me use the Vulcan rules like I'm accustomed to... I mean, you're stingy with it, Nate. You're real stingy.

nate and hardison sometimes play chess in their free time ?

also HARDISON CAN ONLY WIN PLAYING CHESS IF HES USING THE VULCAN RULES WHAT A DORK

- - - - -

all of parker’s outfits in this episode are adorable, but I ADORED her cute lil French photographer outfit

- - - - -

(Eliot is still watching the Kazhistani through binoculars)

Sterling: Let me get this straight, 'cause I'm having a hard time believing this. You're telling me you think he acted alone.

Eliot: That's not what I said, is it? I said I don't think that there was only one bullet. Where did you get this coffee, man? It's horrible!

Sterling: Coffee's fine. If there was a second bullet, that means there was a second shooter. Otherwise, he fired a Carcano bolt-action twice in less than two seconds, which simply cannot be done. You do realize that, on a topic where nobody agrees on anything, you picked the one thing, the only thing which is not up for debate! Simply humanly impossible!

Eliot: I did it. (chuckles and takes drink of coffee)

Sterling: Bollocks.

Eliot: You'd be surprised what people can do when they're properly motivated. Seriously, did you put something in this? (smells cup)

Sterling: Your file says that you crawled 3 miles through a sewer to kill the head of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, but the coffee is a problem.

- - - - -

(through the binoculars, we see the Kazhistani talking on a cell phone)

Eliot: We're gonna need the parabolic.

Sterling (grabbing binoculars): No, I got it.

Eliot: You--unless you can read lips, we're gonna need the parabolic, all right? (grabs binoculars) They're speaking Arabic.

Sterling: You'd be surprised what people can do when they're properly motivated. (grabs binoculars)

- - - - -

hardison catching parker and them giggling? adorable.

- - - - -

Parker: Just they feel really weird.

Hardison: Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to that. And this (gestures to a mat on the floor) is "Dance Dance Revolution."

Parker: You're into that?

Hardison: No. I'm, it's just for recreational, for cardie--it's-- Look, the pads are programmed to analyze your gait and match it to Livingston's gait. But... (turns to type on the computer) I've broken his down into seven key time frames. Basically the same system you'll encounter in the vault. So, you ready?

Parker: Ready to try.

Hardison: Okay.

Program: Are you ready? Let's go. (obnoxious music plays)

Hardison: I'm sorry. I couldn't, uh, I didn't have time to kill the voice on it. I-it's all good. Just go ahead.

- - - - -

Program: Dance fail!

Parker (rushes toward computer): I told him to stop yelling at me!

Hardison (catches Parker): Hey, hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Parker: Hardison!

Hardison: Hey! Parker, breathe.

Parker: His limp and these boots, I--they're-- I don't like them. They're weighing me down. Quick and light. That's how I survive. You slow me down, you kill me.

Hardison: Hey, hey, Parker, hey.

Parker: What?

Hardison: Hey. You had to be quick because you were alone. If you get caught, that's it. I get it. But you're not alone anymore. Look. Look at me. You're not alone. You're not. You have a team. You have me. And I got you. I got you, girl. Come on, now. Let's, um... Let's try something different, okay? (resets program) Now, getting the rhythm is kind of like dancing. You remember how it was when we took down Duberman?

Parker: Mm-hmm.

Hardison: You remember that? All right. (takes Parker into his arms) Now, just follow me. Get--get on my toes.

Parker: On your toes?

Hardison: Yeah. I'm all right. Now just, uh, just move with me.

(Hardison begins humming as he walks Parker across the mat in a dance)

THIS PARDISON SCENE

- - - - -

THEIR HIGH FIVE YOUR HONOR

- - - - -

(Parker enters the elevator using the right gate to bypass the alarms. The doors close behind her)

Parker: Yes!

SHES SO CUTE

- - - - -

hardison dancing behind his computer while he is humming for parker

+ parker’s relieved smile

+ sophie smiling because they’re fucking adorable

- - - - -

Nate: Well, you must be afraid of something.

Olivia: Spiders. Poisoned pawns. Carbs. But you want to know what I'm not afraid of?

Nate: Hmm.

Olivia: Being afraid.

Nate: Huh.

Olivia: You like that? I stole it from my dad.

(Nate turns to look at Livingston)

Olivia: No, not Robert. My real dad. The only thing Robert ever taught me how to do was, well, I guess he did teach me how to play chess.

Nate: Oh.

Olivia: But it was my real dad that taught me how to win. (begins tapping a captured piece on the table)

- - - - -

(Eliot tries to open the door but there is an electronic lock on it)

Eliot: Damn it. The one time I need Hardison.

(Eliot turns to one of the wiring racks and pulls a piece of metal from it, taking it to the door and hitting the hinges)

🥰 he admits he needs hardison 🥰

- - - - -

Hardison: Okay, Parker, there should be some exposed piping, an industrial sprinkler system.

[Livingston’s Vault]

Hardison: Do you see it?

(Parker is strapped to the sprinkler system, lowering herself toward the case the weight is in and smiling)

Parker: Yeah, I see it. You think it'll hold me?

Hardison: Think it's your best shot.

she smiled earlier because she had the same idea and already did it by the time hardison figures it out

we LOVE our mastermind thief

- - - - -

Hardison: Okay, okay. Parker, listen. They're sending the elevator back up. It's on the move. But I got some bad news. Security protocol is gonna send it straight to the top, and they're gonna lock it down.

[Livingston’s Vault]

Parker: That's my way out.

(Parker moves to the elevator doors and begins to force them open)

Parker: Come on! Open!

[Hotel Room]

Hardison: Are you about to do what I think?

[Livingston’s Vault]

(Parker gets the doors open and looks down the long elevator shaft, then up toward the roof)

Parker: Hardison, I just wanted to say—

[Hotel Room]

Hardison: Parker, jump!

[Elevator Shaft]

(Parker jumps into the elevator shaft and lands on top of the elevator)

Parker: Whoa.

SHE IS STRONG

- - - - -

Nate: Everyone to the extraction points.

[Hotel Room]

Hardison: Whoa, whoa. Wait. Eliot's here?

[Interior Car]

Nate: Yeah, just follow the trail of the terrorists. You won't miss him.

- - - - -

(Eliot walks toward the exit, breathing hard and looking angry)

Hardison: Eliot!

Eliot (hugs Hardison): Hey, man. (pushes Hardison away) Stop, dude. What are you doing?

Hardison: Where the hell you been, man?

Eliot: Sterling drugged me. Smashed my earbud.

(Hardison laughs)

Eliot: Shut up. (walks away)

Hardison: So, I'm guessing you probably want to hit some bad guys, huh?

Eliot (turns back): Why? You know where some are?

Hardison (hands him an earbud): Come on.

(they run into the building)

EVERYTHING about this:

- eliot seeking out comfort in hardison

- eliot ‘my reputation is everything’ spencer immediately denying the hug when hardison hugs back

- hardison’s visible and audible concern for eliot’s wellbeing

- hardison laughing because he knows EXACTLY what his bf needs to get back in his groove (punching some bad guys!)

- eliot: ...why, you know where some are? SOFT

- hardison: c’mon SOFTER

+

also, I saw a meta post that said that every time something major and dangerous happens in season 4 (especially after The Grave Danger Job) eliot hugs hardison and IT’S TRUE

ALSO eliot HATES being drugged and feeling helpless, and it makes him feel very vulnerable and out of control. so what is one of the first things he does after that? hug hardison, one of the two people in the whole world that makes him feel truly, utterly safe.

- - - - -

(sounds of a fight come from outside the door. Hardison opens the door as Eliot lets a man fall to the floor)

Hardison: H-he's working some stuff out. Ugged-dray by erling-stay.

Eliot: Hey.

Sophie: Well, I don't mind waiting if you want to... a little more.

Eliot: I think I'm good.

(Sophie follows Eliot away from the room)

supportive family

- - - - -

Parker: I'm think I'm trapped up here.

Hardison: There's a third way down.

Parker: No, I don't have a chute.

[Interior Car]

Hardison: Uh, check again.

[Roof]

(Parker looks inside her pack)

Parker: Did you do this?

[Flashback]

Hardison: But you're not alone anymore, Parker. You're not. You have a team. You have me. And I got you. I got you, girl.

[Roof]

Parker: Okay. Problem is, I'm too high for a base jump. (puts pack back on) I don't weigh enough for this wind sheer. I'm gonna get tossed around like a leaf.

[Interior Car]

Hardison: Parker, look down.

[Roof]

(Parker looks down at the weight boots and smiles. Men open the access door to the room with guns drawn)

Man: You have visual?

Man 2: Nothing!

Parker (falling): Yeah! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Yeah! (releases chute) Whoo! Ah!

[Interior Car]

Eliot: It's right... Go that way.

Hardison: It's there, man.

(Hardison turns a corner and comes to a stop. Parker, still trailing her parachute, runs to the van and gets into the door Eliot opens for her)

Hardison: You okay?

Parker: Yeah. Can I go again?

Hardison: Guess it's not so bad being weighed down, after all.

hardison and sophie were smiling so much for parker as she got in the van I’m soft

- - - - -

Sterling: Olivia, get back in the car.

Olivia: He didn't have a choice. It's not safe here. I was in danger, and he's my dad. What wouldn't you do to save your kid?!

sterling immediately says “olivia” because even HE knows that’s a BIG ouch move

- - - - -

Nate: Why'd you come to me?

Sterling: 'Cause you're the best thief I've ever seen. I couldn't risk anything less.

- - - - -

(Nate takes a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to Sterling)

Sterling: What is it?

Nate: It's a name. Give me everything you got on him. Everything. (starts walking away) You do that, I'll make sure Eliot doesn't know where to find you.

Sterling: This makes us even, right?

(Nate doesn’t answer, just walks away)

I love how THAT was the threat that was given- eliot not knowing where to find sterling

- - - - -

again, the team gets chinese takeout a LOT

+

we LOVE to see the family sitting around a table having dinner

- - - - -

Sophie: So, what, the salt was plan "B"?

Nate: No, no. That's plan "M."

Hardison: Don't I die in plan "M"?

Nate: Yeah, usually. Yeah.

Hardison: What you mean, "usually"? How many plans do I die in?

Nate: "C," "F," and "M" through "Q."

Hardison: Oh, see, that's a little close to home, man. Need to switch that up. How many plans does Eliot die in?

Nate (points at Eliot: Uh, none. (points to Parker) And none.

Parker: None.

Nate (points to Sophie): And, uh... So, there is a plan where he comes out of it with a scar that goes from the temple through the eye...

Parker: Ooh! You'd look so cool with a scar.

Sophie: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Can we go back? Let's rewind.

Nate: But you live in plan "A."

Sophie: You skipped past me.

Nate: See, see, it's evolving. There's actually a plan, no.

Sophie: Isn't that creepy? He's planning my death.

Parker: To a glass eye.

Nate: Okay, here we go

saving the plans for reference and because this scene was chaotic and SO them lmfao

notable moments from The Queen’s Gambit Job

leverage 4.10

bruh are you telling me that sophie and nate had a gondola chase in venice and there was no flashback for it ???

- - - - -

Keep reading

[readinginthereadyroom]

let’s talk about sophie devereaux for a minute.

it’s the cross my heart job (lev 4x09) and sophie undoes her ponytail, drops her blazer, shimmies down her slacks to reveal a short dress (or long tunic), and swaps her black flats for red heels. she has changed her entire look in a matter of moments.

and I just. i love this for her. she tells eliot I always travel with heels. when what she means is I’m always ready for a costume change.

her knoweldge of fashion and trends would have to be as extensive as her knowledge of art. and there’s psychology at work there to—the difference between the femme fatale or the girl friday or the nerdy scientist. when and how to use those personas. but most importantly—how to embody those personas. heels or a badge or a pair of glasses.

so my headcanon is that sophie carries a few essential accessories wherever she goes. a scarf—around her neck or in her hair or tied to her bag. a large hairpin or ponytail for easy updoes. the perfect shade of red lipstick. expensive makeup wipes.

and a pair of heels.

sometimes she rotates items. maybe some extra jewelry, instant dry nailpolish, a hat, tights. the trick is to pack light. have multiple uses per item. dresses can become shirts or tunics. a necklace can be wrapped as bracelets. lipstick can be worn as rouge. a scarf can become a belt.

but sophie also has class. she likes the finer things in life. so her spare earrings might be 24 carat or diamonds. her scarf silk. her handbag the latest designer. she also invests in custom pieces—blazers with hidden pockets. reversible coats. convertible heels.

and yet. the greatest of sophie’s costumes have always been on-the-fly. someone’s glasses, a swiped labcoat, a briefcase. hair up, down, or covered. sunglasses, glasses, or contacts. which means she constantly scoping out everyone else’s clothes. what’s easy to nab. what’s been left unattended. who can I be with those pieces?

she deserves more credit. it’s not like it’s easy work. because she’s not just creating a wardrobe for herself—she’s decking out the whole team. and that means knowing their measurements. what cuts and fabrics are best for their respective roles. eliot and parker need room to move. hardison needs pockets for his gadgets.

and then of course, there’s the question of what clothes the team can share. parker and eliot are around the same height so they often swap coveralls—a pair that’s slightly too small on eliot will be just slightly too big on parker. for when eliot needs to be noticed and parker does not.

on that same vein, hardison and eliot have similar upper body builds. hardison likes to make the fbi or csi or tech coats (it’s just iron-on letters on bulk supply jackets) but sophie’s the one that knows which jackets the two men can swap. which roles they can both play during a con.

even parker and hardison have some overlap. parker has an uncanny ability to blend in with a crowd. throw one of hardison’s caps or hoodies on her and she just disappears.

and then of course there’s parker with herself. despite being the only women on the team they don’t share that many clothes. parker can slip into one of her spare dresses when needed. but their roles are often on opposite ends of the spectrum—sophie is supposed to be noticed. parker is not.

all of these variables are turning in sophie’s head at any given point in the con. she finds clothes that fit with standard personas, clothes that can overlap, and specialized clothes for their many aliases. but also...clothes that fit them.

because there are some codes you can’t switch. eliot’s aways a bit country—regardless if he’s a construction worker or a millionaire. parker can do high femme, but androgyny suits her better. and tho parker’s comfortable showing skin, she’s not with showing cleavage. of being sexualized. and then there’s hardison and his shoes. sophie will admit she didn’t know much about sneakers, but hardison was all to happy to infodump about them. so now she has a special collection just for him.

and then there’s nate. the bane of her fashionable existence. she’s given up on dressing him. his repeated choice of cartoonish bufoons (with hat) inexplicably seems to work. don’t ask her how or why because it defies all logic. she’s just happy when he starts wearing his day-to-day suits pressed and his shirts laundered.

anyhow. just sophie being sophie. a badass chameleon. who knows the difference between buttons and cufflinks. who can tell you when it is and isn’t appropriate to wear a hat. who can tell how much money you make by what watch you wear. who can spot a fake purse a mile away. who’s just a bit more than scary good at what she does.

which is read you for filth the instant she lays eyes on you. and then becomes anyone she wants to be.

[vickyvicarious]

We have gotten Girls' Night Out and Boys' Night Out and both were glorious. We have gotten the Thiefsome Episode and the Sophie/Nate (+ Sterling) episodes and those were glorious.

But I'd really love to have seen some more episodes with heavy focus on all sorts of combinations. We got all of them in small doses for sure but imagine an entire episode with heavy focus on/primarily involving only, say:

Sophie+Hardison (social skills social skills bonding also gossip, competence vs. Drama at all moments)

Eliot+Nate (sad past man angst probably but also some nerdy hidden childish thing)

Parker+Sophie+Eliot (they all take turns corralling one another probably. all 3 thinking they are the only one holding this con together)

Hardison+Parker+Nate (nate is so tired)

Sophie+Hardison+Eliot (I feel like insightful conversations abound)

Nate+Sophie+Parker (depends SO much on when in canon it's set honestly)

They just would all have different dynamics than usual in very fun ways and I want to see them! Especially if it had the odd cutaway to whatever the hell the other team is up to.

[pale-silver-comb]

So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals. 

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong. 

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day. 

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.) 

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.  

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.  

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.  

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon. 

[chaotic-bestie]

Why would you hide this in the tags

I also have always loved that the creators love the throuple idea and have referenced it. Idk if I could ever see them following through with the throuple line, but unlike those fuckwits on the BBC (more on that), it wasn't because they're cowards.

Their references and allusions to the throuple are not in the way you saw with Moffat and those fuckers with Sherlock. They dangled shit over their fandom and laughed at them and made them feel stupid and queerbaited and ugh fuck I hate Moffat and those stupid fucking twats.

These creators (which I keep saying because every time I try to think of everyone's names, my brain turns to jelly) love their fandom, love what they create, and want everyone to feel welcomed and loved. Like, Breanna, in the Magic the Gathering episode (whatever the name of that game is) was in place of the audience saying, "you make us feel like we belong. You make us feel ok." This show has always been my one true love because it took the worst fucking time in many of our lives (the recession) and manifested our anger and frustration and made something amazing.

I love everyone in this show. All of them make me feel seen for different reasons. Eliot's struggles with intimacy and vulnerability. Parker's struggles (in the beginning) with feeling like she belonged somewhere and finding a family. Breanna being the late-millenial/zoomer who has only lived in a fucked world. Sophie's struggled with finding herself and trying to develop things. Harry's battle with doing the right thing and also just how fucking silly he is. Hardison and his nerdiness and how he's come out of his shell. Nate--no I fucking hated Nate. He was garbage.

ANYWAY, tldr, this show has been what so many of us needed. Watching them all come into their own, develop, and continue to develop, is a very rare fucking thing to see in a show and there's a reason it's a comfort.

Eliot seems to be really making an effort towards healing this season. Obviously he's been working hard for years and years now, but he's been working hard towards redemption. Now he's working on actually healing. He's acknowledging his pain and actually letting it show (I had to give myself a hug when he actually gave Hardison a genuine answer when he was asked if he was ok or not. And he said he didn't know and looked like he would have accepted a hug from Alec or Parker right then).

[evilwickedme]

ok so to sum up my feelings for leverage: redemption, season 1(a): (long post warning, there’s a tl;dr at the end)

I knew that Hardison wouldn’t be in most of the season due to Aldis Hodge being a busy bee nowadays, but I didn’t realize that meant he’d only be around for the first two episodes. He was sorely missed, not only because of my attachment to him, but also because he’s usually the grounding factor in the group dynamic, and his role as info guy and tech guy was split evenly between two characters who had their own issues.

That said, Hardison is absolutely a highlight of the two episodes he’s in. his speech about redemption was everything I could’ve hoped for (plus, more evidence for the Jewish!Hardison pile...). I wish we’d gotten to see more of his dynamic with Breanna because what we saw was funny and sweet and we don’t generally get to see Hardison taking care of somebody who so desperately needs taking care of. I hope that Aldis Hodge is around for more episodes in 1(b), because what we’re left with feels a little hollow.

Sticking to original leverage characters for now, for the most part the leverage crew still felt true to the original series as characters, even if the show itself was a little bit confused at times. The actors understand their characters and embody them so well that I think one could give them the trashiest script ever and they’d still sell it. Sophie is a particular focus in 1(a) because of Nate’s death, and she’s particularly well written as a result.

That said, I’m super bitter that we saw little to no mastermind!Parker. Parker’s character being given the mastermind role was a big deal and it feels like they’re walking it back because they feel uncomfortable with it. It is eventually given an in-text excuse, but literally in the last episode, and it was not a particularly convincing reason, and in fact contradicted moments from previous episodes (Sophie leaving for a client meeting and ignoring Parker in ep3 comes to mind). It’s frustrating, it makes the end of the original leverage feel pointless, and letting Parker make a decision once in a while is not the same thing at all. The original series repeatedly showed us that while everyone in the team had their strengths, Parker works problems and solves them in unique, interesting ways, and other characters’ days in the limelight tended to be comedic or even failures. It’s a broken promise, and a pretty major broken promise at that.

On a more positive note, Parker’s dynamic with literally everyone was fantastic. She’s possibly the best written character this season. They’ve taken the autism out of the subtext and into the text (although obviously still undiagnosed), and given her coping mechanisms that were taken seriously in the text even when they were played for laughs, which I appreciated. Her attempts to mentor Breanna were sweet, her friendship with Sophie was electric and at times (CRIMES) hilarious, and as usual, she has a fantastic dynamic with Eliot that makes my heart burst. If you don’t think they’re romantically involved, at least acknowledge there’s a life partnership here. They’ve spent the last decade together.

(We’ll get to Harry.)

Eliot isn’t given much arc-wise, which is frustrating since he’s my favorite. He’s being presented as the goal at the end of a redemption arc, ie to keep working at it every day until your soul heals or whatever, and it doesn’t reflect the message they’re trying to convey via Hardison’s speech and our two new characters. He’s got his moments, but I think they under utilized his potential.

Breanna!!! Breanna’s my new favorite, except for Eliot. She’s hilarious, she’s insecure, she’s nerdy and excited in a way that’s similar to Hardison but still distinct in its inherent teenage-girl-ness and I LOVE IT. Unlike the previous series, where Hardison’s “age of the geek” was often a joke played on Hardison, we’re at the point where Eliot and Parker are both right there with him, and so they accept and even appreciate Breanna’s nerdiness. Also, canon gay character? In YOUR Leverage? It’s more likely than you think.

(No, I never thought they’d make ot3 canon on screen. I hoped, but I didn’t think it would actually happen.)

I think Breanna’s the character that will be the most interesting to see grow. She’s got a lot of potential and a list of crimes a mile long (or more). I adore her with all my heart. I want to see her tiktok account.

Harry. Oh, Harry.

It took me a while, but I do like Harry. It took a while, because the narrative positioned him at the same level as Nate back in episode 1 of original Leverage. But in episode 1 we didn’t know the other characters. We had Nate as the POV character, and so we cared about him because we were seeing the world through his eyes. (This is TV Studies 101. I know this, because I took TV Studies 101 in 2019.) In Leverage: Redemption, we no longer have a POV character, for several reasons:

Nate, previously the POV character, is dead.

As it is, by mid-season 3 of leverage Nate was no longer a POV character. This is, coincidentally, the point where the leverage writers realized they had four other characters in the main cast they could do something with, and in-universe, Nate accepted that he was a thief, not a special Good Man.

Sophie is sort of a POV character for the first episode of the revival, but only for the first few minutes. Afterwards, the series settles into the groove of seasons 3-5, i.e., the entire crew is our POV. We know our crew, and we love them as is.

Narratively, however, Redemption insists on positing Harry as the POV character, because it is his redemption we are pursuing most vehemently. And I think they really relied on us already knowing the actor - I’ve never seen him in anything before, so to me he was a completely fresh face and they put almost no effort into selling him to me. Beyond being competent and consistently mildly baffled by the antics of the leverage crew, I honestly don’t know who this man is by the end of EIGHT episodes with him. I have a much better handle on Breanna by the end of 1(a), and I can tell you I knew all five of the original leverage crew better by the end of the first episode of the original series than I do Harry. What’s the name of his daughter, John Rogers. Is he still married. How old is the daughter. Why is none of this worth mentioning. Give him a sense of humor that isn’t reacting to other people’s shenanigans. I’m so frustrated. It’s bad writing.

I did manage to grow to like Harry by the end, but I’m pretty sure this is down to Noah Wyle’s charismatic portrayal of an under-developed character, at least partially. And I never stopped being frustrated at not knowing who this man is at all.

The two highlights of the season are undoubtedly episodes five and six. Episode five was the first time I felt like the episode was more than a collection of good moments between the main cast and mediocre moments between the main cast and also the main plot. The issues with pacing and tone that I suffered through for most of the season were mostly non-existent in ep5 and 6, and at least in episode 5 I attribute that to the pared down cast. They had time to focus not only on our actual characters - Sophie, Parker, Breanna - but also on the case. This is the only client from 1(a) I am going to remember next week without googling it first, mark my words.

Episode six worked for the exact opposite reason - it completely disregarded the client and plot and immersed itself in the characters. Breanna gets a moment to shine, but everybody else gets their bits and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the script that was most fun to write. The characters felt natural, real, and captured the found-family dynamic that’s been missing all season for the first time.

While episode 2 is the weakest episode, I don’t actually have much to say about it. I am disappointed in episode 8. For a mid-season finale, I really expected them to do something. Instead, it was an episode about Nate Ford that copped out of being about Nate Ford (both with fake-Nate and with the new version of him being relayed to us). I would have told the writers to give that energy back to episode 1 and write an episode that’s about anybody who isn’t Harry, oh my God. I know I said I grew to like him but so many episodes were about Harry. He’s the newbie! Why didn’t Hardison get an episode that was actually about him, considering he was only around for two episodes? Why does Eliot have to be the butt of the joke when the theme of the series should directly tie back to him in a much more meaningful way? The last episode parodies their own tagline by saying Eliot isn’t just a hitter, but it deftly avoids noticing that they’ve turned him into nothing more than very muscly comic relief, including in that very episode!

Also, I hated the Marshal. Eliot actively looked uncomfortable around her.

tl;dr

The season took a while, that’s definitely true. But it did find its footing eventually, and by the halfway mark of 1(a) it finally felt cohesive again. The characters were played fantastically even when they weren’t well-written, and if nothing else, the humor landed every time. It still has its kinks and problems to work out, but if you look at it as a brand new show rather than a continuation of one that went off the air over eight years ago, it’s actually doing rather well. I’m choosing to judge it in both lights - according to its own standards, it establishes its identity in episode five; according to Leverage standards, it establishes its connection to its roots in episode six. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed 1(a), and continue to have high hopes for 1(b).

fic writing will commence in three, two, one...

[ot3-watch]

Episode 5: The Mile High Job

WHY IS THIS EPISODE 8

FUCK THE NETWORK I’M VERY TIRED

So we’re starting on a client testimony. Which is sad because I kind of like the context establishing scenes

Sophie being French is hilarious

I’m not saying Hardison shouldn’t be able to take off when he needs to. I am saying that MAYBE THEY SHOULD PLAN HEISTS FOR DAYS WHEN THEY ARE A MEMBER SHORT?

Also, why does Hardison not put his food on a plate before he puts it in the microwave. That spinning plate does not get washed nearly enough for that to be sanitary

OK wait did Hardison just flake out? THEN WHY DID THEY NOT POSTPONE?

THEY SHOULD HAVE PLANNED THIS MUCH BETTER

I love Parker being magic and teleporting

The security guards always seem like idiots and tbh, working where I work with the security guards being who they are, I feel like it’s all bullshit and a disservice to security guards.

I love the Doctor WHo references. TOM AND SARAH JANE BAKER YES MA’AM

But also did no one make a Doctor Who comment? Like really. I know Tom Baker is probably a common name but I really want to know what happens when they get a whovian checking their IDs

THe poor flight attendant. That sucks. Can you imagine getting a COMPLETELY fake call that your cat might be put down? I’m sorry, I can’t. Completely innocent people get screwed by them sometimes and I feel bad

Eliot remembers everyone he’s slept with I love him.

THIS POOR FLIGHT ATTENDANT? WHat happens when she comes back and everyone is side eyeing her and being bitchy?

I hate the trope of girlfriends or love interests being overly sensitive about people remembering tiny details. Especially when they aren’t actually together. Especially when it happened years ago. Especially when they hold it against them for the whole episode.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE TERRIBLE MEMORIES OK

Also, this is Nate. It’s a shock he has any brain cells left with how drunk he is 99% of the time. Get OVER yourself Sophie.

PLACE YOUR MASK OVER YOUR MOUTH AND NOSE ok Leverage predicting the future…

Parker being a terrible flight attendant is hilarious

Did I like her in this episode? I think I liked her in this episode

Eliot suffering through economy I can’t

I feel bad for the woman, but like… stop pushing? I know she’s nervous but the flight attendant is trying to do her job. I mean, it’s Parker, but in any normal situation…

Hardison pulls the same “You’re such a racist” bit every time he gets in a sticky situation, and it always works? Can you imagine if he tried to pull that on an actual racist?

Do planes have bars like that? I’ve been on plenty of planes and i’ve never seen a bar like that

Im never in first class though so whatever

OKAY GUYS THE IN-FLIGHT MOVIE IS ONE OF THE LIBRARIANS MOVIES

Which means noah wyle exists in the leverage universe.

HOW IS THAT GOING TO WORK WITH THE REBOOT THOUGH?

Unless they just… expected no one to notice? To be fair, it’s not like they focused on it

They probably just needed a movie they could use without securing rights first or running into copyright issues

But still… paradoxes

Eliot just going through a bunch of random people's bags…

HE AND PARKER MOVING AROUND EACH OTHER SO COMFORTABLY THOUGH

THIS IS SEASON ONE WHY ARE THEY SO GOOD TOGETHER ALREADY

I LOVE THEM GUYS

Parker. That’s not reassuring Parker. Parker that’s just terrifying. WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT PARKER?? pARKER?? i’M CONCERNED PARKER!

I really hate Sophie getting mad at nate for this shit. It’s not funny. It’s not cute. It just makes Sophie seem unreasonable and bitchy

OK BUT Hardison and the woman bonding IMMEDIATELY over nerdy gaming is so great

Also i like that they made the other nerd a woman is great

OK but he is not talking nearly silently enough for the ONLY other person in the room to just stop listening to him?

Could you imagine the person you were talking to randomly stops talking, looks upset, and then sticks his head in the cabinet? And starts muttering to himself?

LIKE EITHER HE CAN’T TELL REALITY FROM FANTASY OR HES A SPY

WHY ARE YOU NOT SUSPICIOUS??

He really does pull this shit off really well.

The amount of men in that conference room is oppressive and very realistic ina very sad way

Parker must be in a thief’s paradise

OKAY I REMEMBER NOW AND I DID LIKE PARKER IN THIS EPISODE

“Nobody tells me anything”

THAT’S SUCH A MOOD

Literally the job I’m working in right now is exactly like that

My job is literally to know things and help people and provide them with the information they need

AND STILL I’M ONE OF THE LAST TO FIND THINGS OUT

IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING OK

WHy can I not remember why they’re going after genegrow? Someone died I think? But i cannot remember

“The guy in 1D wants to kill you. Ginger Ale?”

Why is it that all i can think about right now is harry styles and niall horan

I mean I KNOW why but like… why

I LOVE them but why?

WHAT IS THIS OFFICE WOMAN’S NAME I LOVE HER

How does no one question Hardison showing up out of nowhere though?

Im just saying… supposedly it’s “Dave’s” birthday, and they think they should have already known about it? He just started that job on that day?

Unless he’s pretending to have been there forever but even then…

This makes no sense? I’m so confused?

Eliot beating a guy up in an airport bathroom is fantastic

But also you can’t fit one person in a airport bathroom, let alone two

THe view from the top is much smaller than the shots from the side

Parker: the guy we just took out? Eliot: -_- Parker: The guy Eliot just took out?

Sophie always seems so shocked by the inhumanity of some of these people they interact with. Nate’s like “Yeah, people are awful” and Eliot’s like “I see worse all the time” and Parker’s like “Is this meant to be weird or something?” but Sophie’s like “WHAt? Someone wants people DEAD? And might KILL US IN THE PROCESS?”

Is the art theft world just not so violent?

Even hardison doesn’t seem shocked, just upset and offended. Sophie’s always like OoO though and it gets weird?

Now both Eliot AND Nate are fitting in the bathroom? With an already unconscious guy? I’VE BEEN IN AIRPLANE BATHROOMS. THEY AREN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR THAT.

Unless i’m just fat. Which is an option.

Why do people have random wires in their luggage? Who travels with a giant bundle of wires in their luggage?

Oh look. The red head was right. There is a tailwind

OK But THE OXYGEN MASKS CAME DOWN AND NO ONE IS TRYING TO PUT ONE ON?

I know they’re panicking but still

Nate really does just throw things at hardison and then Hardison goes like WHAT I CAN’T DO THIS and then he does it.

HOW is Hardison THAT talented it’s ridiculous

WE all talk about Eliot being hyper-competent in everything when Hardison is literally right there

Not to say that eliot doesn’t deserve attention because he does and I love him

I LOVE ELIOT OKAY

I’m just saying Hardison deserves more credit

HOW DID THEY NOT HIT ANY CARS WHEN THEY WERE LANDING? THERE ARE CARS RIGHT THERE? ANd then there’s suddenly no cars in font of them when they land ? It’s all deserted?

HARDISON IS SO GOOD THOUGH

How did they set up a party for “Dave” so quickly?

WHY DOES NO ONE LOOK TO SEE WHO DAVE WAS YELLING AT?

Everyone is so done with Hardison and honestly? Fair. He might’ve saved them, but he also screwed them over earlier. It came in handy, but still.

I really could not give less of a shit about the Nate Sophie storyline in this episode. In most of season one really. It’s all shitty and annoying

FINAL THOUGHTS: 8/10. Points off for people not acting like people. Points off for the shitty Sophie/Nate stuff. Extra points for Eliot being Eliot. (There will always be extra points for Eliot being Eliot). Extra points for Hardison’s badassery. Extra points because I liked Parker in this episode. Extra points for nerd girl. You go nerd girl. Points off because I literally remember nothing about this episode except for Hardison being awesome, the office scenes, and the fact that there was a plane crash. Why were they on the plane? No idea. Can’t remember.

Sam count: 3/5

IYS count: 2/5 (Am I remembering this wrong? I felt like there were more? Then again, I’m only 5 episodes in)