#Leverage essay

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

I bet the first time Nana meets Eliot- she sees the God fearing, flag wearing 18 year old boy. (The one that Eliot looks for in the mirror and can't find.) Nana doesn't see a criminal. Doesn't see a man who has blood on his hands. She doesn't see a warrior bleeding and crying out for mercy. Just a over tired, stressed, broken 18 year old- trying to prove to the world he's worth fighting for. That there's hope in saving him. Nana doesn't question Eliot's roaming eyes. Roaming eyes that are either looking for danger or looking for exits. The older woman simply smiles and pulls him to the kitchen. Makes him sit down and puts a mug of coffee near his callous hands. Nana doesn't react when she hears screams, moans, and groans at night. Nor in the morning does she make a remark about walking by the room and seeing Hardison and Parker next to Eliot on the twin bed. (Eliot is in the middle.)

I bet when Nana first meets Parker, she doesn't question her habits at all. Some how (Hardison, obviously,) has Parker's favorite candy and cereal. Some times, Parker will sit right in front of Nana with a brush and a hair tie. Nana will gently brush her hair while she plays with whatever child is in front of her. She doesn't slap Parker's hands away when she grabs extra food. And she definitely ignores seeing Parker sneaking into the room Hardison and Eliot share. (Nana saw it when they walked in- Parker feels safe with them.) In the mornings and the windows are open- she looks out to see Parker and Alec on a bedsheet curled up to each other. She smiles. Nor does she comment on missing things after they leave. Especially since a few weeks later- those things return outta the blue. Nana has no qualms when Eliot shows up with both Parker and Hardison behind him- Parker sick and Hardison injured.

"Sorry, Nana," Eliot apologizes, looking meek at coming to her place, "I can't get them to list'n. Can't get 'em to rest." And together- Nana and Eliot get the two trouble makers on the couch. She might not question the reason why Eliot showed up with the two. However she does give Eliot a sparing look. She see's the ragged, tired look. It doesn't take a whole a lot of brain power to know that the two so called trouble makers- got Eliot into the dog pile. (He was suppose to follow her into the kitchen- he didn't. She knows Parker and Hardison grabbed his wrist.) (What can anyone say? She has eyes on the back of her head.) (Eliot allows to get pulled onto the couch with only mild, gruff, complaining.) When she goes back to the living room to check on her charges- she finds Eliot in squished in the middle- being used as a pillow. (He's knocked out too.)

Nana doesn't mind Parker teaching her kids how to pick locks. Or watching Eliot teach them self- defense. She doesn't question it when she see's little four year old Becca with pig-tails- standing by the counter helping Eliot with breakfast. Nana hums when she opens the door on a Saturday morning and see's Eliot, Parker, and Hardison (though Hardison begrudgingly-) with a tool box. After all she had left a message to Alec that her sink was leaky.

Instead, she makes coffee and pulls out Parker's favorite cereal. She asks if They are staying for lunch and even dinner. Makes causal remarks about one of her more difficult children- and watches as Parker and her baby Alec go and find the kid.

None of them comment about Parker recruiting half of kids that come from Nana's house. They keep it hush- hush when neighbors stop by for a cook out. Many of the neighbors ask about the trio- and Nana only replies with a smile.

"They're my kids." She says fondly- watching as Eliot grills as Parker is poking and prodding the chef. And Alec is simply smirking as he's showing Isak how to hack.

I bet Nana treats Eliot and Parker like her family. Because they are Alec's family.

[independent-fics]

Now, you can take that as a gift, or you can take it as a curse. And that's up to you.

Eliot Spencer and Parker Doing the Things Others Won’t

Leverage (2008-2012)

04x01 The Long Way Down Job

05x09 The Rundown Job

[aardvaark]

sophie’s expression in the inside job when she notices & picks up parker’s bunny is so sweet. like yeah seeing a stuffed bunny amidst the extremely spartan, dark warehouse filled with knives is a little adorable and a little heartbreaking and so very parker.

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Eliot in glasses compendium.

(Jake)

(Alex)

[gotyouanyway]

“lindy was sooo evil” “justice for gothic paul and ricky” they were all friends they were all rich white kids living in rich white kids only land happily and willingly…. don’t be tricked into sympathizing with any of them just bc they were nice or smart and don’t pick just one to villainize while excusing the rest pleeeaassee

[leverage-ot3]

finally in the last stretch of the hbomberguy video and all I want to say is that I now want to make a “are they queer: leverage ot3 edition” video essay where I just ramble about their character developments and relationship progression over time

edit: obviously the answer is yes, which is expected given my url and entire Internet personality LMAO

[thesirencult]

WHY INVESTING IN YOURSELF WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

"The best thing you can do is to be exceptionally good at something," said Buffett. He added, "Whatever abilities you have can't be taken away from you. They can't actually be inflated away from you. ... So the best investment by far is anything that develops yourself, and it's not taxed at all."

- Warren Buffet

There is a reason people call Mr. Buffet the "Oracle/Sage Of Omaha".

Not only he is great at asset management and making the right predictions when it comes to the financial markets, but he is also very wise and offers great advice.

Investing in your own self is the only type of investment you can make that is absolutely safe and guaranteed to give you a return on investment that would satisfy you.

Knowledge is fuel. You are the vehicle.

We are living in times of abundance. Knowledge and data curation is the hottest skill someone can learn right now. That's what AI models like ChatGPT do. They curate useful data from trash. That's what you should also do with your mind. Throw out what's hindering your growth and feed your brain with nutritious food for thought.

We are nearing the "Age Of Abundance", the Golden Saturnian Age of our times. Don't fall into oblivion.

The resources are within a finger's reach. You are actually holding the most precious asset in your hands right now, that's how I reached you.

Whoever takes advantage of this situation will succeed.

Read books, articles, essays. Watch videos and documentaries. Educate yourself for free. If you have the ability to get a university degree for free, do it ! Don't fall in the trap of "degrees are useless". Instead choose to educate yourself in subjects that interest you and make you even more savvy. Invest in evergreen skills. Learn content creation, marketing and money management. Study philosophy to learn the art of critical thinking.

In the next 10 years we will all transform from 9 to 5 slaves to freelancers and one-person businesses. This is where we are headed. Notice all the lay-offs and how artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm.

Be proactive.

[wlwinry]

i was wondering why i so consistently feel like the leverage team could outwit the white collar team when the white collar team is shown to be incredibly competent and skilled. and like. part of it is that the leverage team just has more versatility and expertise in different areas rather than relying on a jack-of-all-trades mentality (not that that isn't incredibly effective) but i think a bigger part of it is scale.

the white collar team, neal and mozzie in particular, pull off some crazy impressive shit, but none of it is necessarily earthshattering. it changes the course of the lives of people immediately around them, and immediately involved, but there seems to be less of a ripple effect. it's like what nate worries about in the fourth season of leverage--there's always another bad guy. there's always another bastard in a suit. there's always someone greedy and selfish, a monster of the week. part of it is the procedural format and part of it is just that that isn't the white collar team's job. it's not what they're trained for. take down the bad guy.

and then you look at the leverage team, and a lot of it is monster of the week, but in the middle of that you turn around and you get the san lorenzo job. you get five people destroying every layer of protection around the worst of the worst. damien moreau is the bad guy, as recognized by every other goddamn bad guy. and it's hard as hell but they take him down and change the course of an entire country and possibly the international community around them, and that makes waves.

and yeah, there's always another bastard in a suit, but the longer the leverage team works, the more it spreads. the more people try and do what they're doing. hurley ends up joining leverage international. teams crop up around the world. even sterling moves to protect them in redemption bc of a: his connection to nate and b: the real measured difference they're making. it's why breanna idolizes them. it's why they're able to help two young people who have never committed crimes in their lives take down a downright evil music exec. hardison even steps back from the team to run multiple changemaking programs to do the work of fixing the system and the damage.

the scale is different. the scope is different. factor in that each individual on the team is already legendary in their own respects (cha0s is so terrified of double-crossing sophie devereaux that he fully tries to kill her, the "world's greatest thief" has been chased by nate ford multiple times and almost caught, other thieves refer to parker as the parker because she's just that goddamn good, hardison is rightfully known as a nightmare with a computer, and eliot spencer is eliot goddamn spencer) and...yeah. neal caffrey is incredibly skilled and peter burke is incredibly smart and they're a damn good duo. but the leverage team is a step beyond and i loooove reading fics where that comes into play

[sunshinetidings]

wdym "i meant it, nate. going after blackpoole, i wanted to hurt him for the way he hurt you" "and stealing the first david helped you and- it was- i don't know, it was like it was meant to be" im killing myself

[paperairplanesopenwindows]

Is Parker from Leverage autistic? (Yes.)

Anyway enjoy me talking about Word of God in television for over 20 minutes

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

I don't think we talk enough about how Hardison went from;

"I don't even know what you do."

To;

"S'up Eliot."

And the thing is-in both situations- Hardison was lax. When they first met Eliot was clearly annoyed and Hardison was just being his cocky self. By the time The Rundown Job happened, Hardison was comfortable enough to be in an elevator by himself hacking away. Knowing full what Eliot could do.

On the flip side:

Eliot went from;

"You are precisely why I work alone."

To;

"I have the best thief and the smartest hacker I know."

Which is say A LOT because Mason (Chaos) is around. And if I remember correctly- Hardison doesn't even think he's on par with Mason.

These two men grew SO much between getting to know each other and working together. Their trust for each other is so real it hurts.

And then you add in Parker and-ahh!- I don't even describe it. Because Parker went from being a lone and being almost fearful of working with people- to having utter faith in them.

Jumping without knowing if Eliot was there. And waiting for Hardison to go looking for her.

I think that's why Eliot's "Til my dying day." Is so- Aaaahhh!

I love them. They are a found family your honor.

[overly-hubristic-mad-scientist]

ok so given everything went well the the Bride’s Reanimation what exactly did Dan decide to do? Because while he did agree to her creation with the agreement that she would be his replacement Meg, she’s not she has a different brain and based on what we saw a different personality what will Dan’s reaction be if she’s not what he originally wanted? Will he get discontent and look for happiness elsewhere like he did with Herbert? Will he resent her for not being Meg? Even if she was similar enough for him there’s no guarantee that she would love him back, which is extremely understandable since he is essentially her parent. What if the Bride just isn’t into Dan at all and just wants a dad? Will he leave? Will he blame her? Will he blame Herbert? Will he just lose it and try to inflict harm (he’s not emotionally stable especially not when it comes to romance) I’m kinda curious to know what will happen

[renecdote]

i don’t go here but i’m intrigued, what is the van gogh job?

Okay first I must say: please go here Leverage is amazing, I recommend it to everyone.

Second: this is probably going to be a little bit spoilery for the episode, sorry 😅

The Van Gogh Job is an episode in season four where the team help a man who others are trying to kill to get a lost Van Gogh masterpiece. While the rest of the team take out the bad guys and look for the painting, the man tells Parker the story of how he found the painting and brought it was to the U.S. so he and his sweetheart could run away together. It's told through flashbacks to the 1940s, where the Leverage team actors play the roles of the characters in the story, which just adds to all the feelings because of the parallels between past and present and the layers you can peel back with the team dynamics and relationships.

Side note: they do the flashback thing again for the DB Cooper Job in season five, which is one of my favourite episodes of all time and somehow has even more feelings and delicious team dynamic parallels through the flashbacks. These episodes almost have mini historical AUs inside of them it's so fun.

The Van Gogh Job is just..... so many feelings. It's a love story, about forbidden love (a black man and a white woman in the 1940s), and taking risks for love (the past relationship but also Parker and Hardison in the present), and how love endures. For the present day team, it also has some important character development stuff for Parker re love and navigating unfamiliar feelings. I could ramble more but it would definitely be spoilers lol and might not make a lot of sense without the show up to that point as context.

The TLDR is: The Van Gogh Job is beautiful and painful and heartwarming and I 100% recommend watching Leverage for a good time filled with crime and found family.

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

A collection of Eliot's 'Dammit, _______'s over the years!

Honourable mention:

[chicknparm]

I am the only person on earth who is Normal about Taylor Swift.

[eradicatetehnormal]

Social politics online is so irritating because everyone is so shit at wording themselves. I'm watching a video By Ella Pastoral on how there's anti-blackness in the Gyaru community. The video talks about the origins and ideas behind Gyaru and how it has different subcultures. It brings up B-Gyaru and some other trashy-looking subcultures, and how people mischaracterize the movement as Japanese girls intentionally making themselves look ugly.

Part of the video is dedicated to this rant about a Twitter user who made an insensitive thread where they called people dumbasses for not understanding that it's all Gyarus that appropriate black culture and that the point of the tanning is to rebel against the pale skin standards of beauty in Japan. That thread was in response to a video of a Japanese girl with tan skin and box braids doing makeup.

The person in the video calls the Twitter user and the Japanese girl, or their actions, "anti-black," and it's just like, are they? The phrase "Anti-black" implies a malicious intention on someone or something's part. It is possible that the girl *thinks* she's paying homage to or appreciating black culture without understanding the wider implications due to the history of appropriation, assimilation, and how specifically, black women have been condemned for dressing, acting, and looking "black" while women of other races of flourished BECAUSE of looking, acting, and dressing that way. Bitches like Kim Kardashian.

This isn't me excusing her. The idea that Japanese people, or people of any other culture that isn't some sort of black culture, aren't racist for wearing blackface or stealing black aesthetics because they come from a different cultural background is racist, or at the very least it can help perpetuate racism because there's the implication that because someone is from a different culture they have no obligation to LEARN, and when a black person is offended, it's actually completely the black person's fault and not at all the foreigners fault for not caring to understand why they aren't being accepted by the people are supposedly trying to appreciate. I don't think Ella would disagree with me here. I assume this was the point of the rant section of the video about the aforementioned Twitter thread, but she's bad at articulating that and connecting it to a broader point because she's barely acknowledging the possible intent of the girl with the box braids, instead opting to call her actions anti-black.

When it comes to that Twitter user, their thread was insensitive. I do however, think they were responding to a specific type of person. You see, online especially, there is this type of person, who tends to be more liberal in terms of their politics. They LOVE Japanese animation and/or fashion aesthetics, but then they have a weird hatred towards Japanese people and don't even try to understand their culture. They're the type of people who think that Lolita fashion is meant to sexualize little girls. If this person is truly blasian (people lie about their race all the time online), then it's unlikely that they were actively trying to dismiss black people and may have only been using the "It's not all Gyaru" defense because they felt like once again, people were refusing to engage with Japanese culture and score few brownie points by calling something racist or fetishistic. Ella later said the person in the Twitter thread probably has a fetishization problem, but in light of what I just typed about, that feels dismissive. Oftentimes, in America, Asian people tend to group themselves together because socially they're put in the same box and the cultures were all treated the same. Bitches were all oriental up until very recently. So yeah, it probably hurts them as someone who's half Asian to see people dismiss Asian cultures and ideas as racist or fetishistic without addressing the nuances or looking at other aspects of what is being critiqued.

It's around the 20-minute mark that Ella really starts spitting. She talks about how some Gyaru girl's tendencies to tan their skin to black complexions and steal black hairstyles aligned with the false idea that Gyaru is meant to be ugly, is anti-black on principle. That using black aesthetics as a means of counter-culture against Japanese ideals is anti-black as it's insinuating that black people are somehow in opposition to Japanese people. These are great points, but I had to sludge through a rant with half points and a shotty example to get there.

Ella Pastoral isn't a bad channel. Quite the opposite, but I feel like she was being a bit internet-brained with this video, which is something no one is above. It is also worth bringing up that there are times when people are TOO defensive of one's culture that they'll use bad examples or straight up just defend racist behavior. Like, remember that Japanese comedian who came under fire for doing blackface? I once saw another Japanese guy who was RAISED IN AMERICA defend him because "He wasn't doing blackface. He was just parodying Eddy Murphy". Okay, bitch. Whatever you say.

Edit: I do want to preference that the rest of the video is fantastic