#eliot enjoys getting to be a Little Weird

[2nd-mushroom-circle]

save me aromantic eliot headcanons. aromantic eliot headcanons save me

[aardvaark]

leverage rewatch: s1e1 "the nigerian job"

i love that nate’s very first line is threatening to punch this guy in the throat, said while day drinking alone in a bar. really sets the stage for how broken up he is at this moment.

on the opposite end, hardisons first line is insulting the tech for this heist lol. immediately clear this team is gonna be a problem (affectionate) for nate.

eliot’s first line is said to somehow both commend and mock hardison ("you’re not as useless as you look") and that is a pretty good look into their dynamic for the whole series lol.

hardison and parker’s very first on-screen interaction is hardison being enamored with her (and eliot teasing him about it) <3

hardison telling eliot "i don’t even know what you do" is a fun little line because it starts to show how much the team actually know about each other before this heist. like, nate knows a decent amount about all of them, and they know a bit about nate. but hardison knows nothing about eliot, and eliot’s (previously mentioned) first line also implies that if he does know anything about hardison, it’s probably not much either. im gonna elaborate on this in a separate post before i get off track lol.

parker’s first *mention* comes before she’s actually on screen, when nate is looking through the files of the team he’s gonna work with and says that "parker is insane". people have pointed this out a bunch of times before but this is a really perfect first mention of her because we will spend most of her arc throughout the series showing that this isn’t really true! by season five, she’ll get to finally "respond" to that introduction of hers - "they said i was crazy, but i never was. i never was". and it’s really interesting to see nate go from being the person who calls her insane to fully trusting her with leading the team when he’s gone.

i still think about the giant sheet of glass that parker lets fall to the ground in the first heist lol. are the people on the street okay

also love the "why the f-" [cut off] line that parker gets. i think that's the closest we get to one of the main characters saying fuck?

nate calling them children in the first episode. ironic for a guy who did NOT set out to be a father figure to these weird criminals who are gonna follow him around for the next five years.

parker being the one to introduce the chess metaphor my beloved <3 shes very perceptive! and she also just knows that "crime is fun" and nate's bound to enjoy it lol.

hospital scene from the extended pilot <3 how come eliot's chained to a chair instead of a bed like the rest of them? anyway, i wish more people watched the extended pilot because in the season 1 finale when eliot shoves the hard hat on hardison's head, you should know that he's getting petty revenge for when hardison shoved eliot's head into the roof of the cop car in this scene.

nate saying there's "payback, and if it goes right, a lot of money" for eliot and "a lot of money, and if it goes right, payback" for parker, he's got their (current) motivations nailed already.

parker and hardison being like "yeah sure lets go get whatever a 'sophie' is" vs eliot asking lol. but he also evidently follows regardless. yeah thats pretty much how nate's gonna be, sorry eliot, you'll get used to this.

i find nate and sophie's first scenes so sweet. he watches her terrible acting but from his expression you'd think she was gonna win an oscar. and when she sees him in that alley, she's trying to continue being the cool and mysterious femme fatale but she's clearly so happy underneath - he came and found her! he sought her out! he's playing her side now, and that changes everything! (and one day soon she'll realise - oh shit, this changes everything. but tonight she's just over the moon). i know they're very much not the fan favourites, but u gotta admit that their interactions in the pilot... chefs kiss!!

in the next scene at hardison's apartment, (btw, rip hardison's awesome pilot apartment which we never see again), sophie is dressed down and intently listening and taking notes which is fairly unusual for her. but not out of character necessarily - when she mentors parker in grifting later, she encourages parker to take handwritten notes.

"that's an odd thing for you to know" "that's an odd place for you to be" (eliot and sophie's lines). he picks up on her suspicious knowledge and she challenges him right back. and he immediately knows to only trust sophie about as far as he can throw her.

i wish we got to see a little of sophie meeting the others! but there's no time and it would be an unnecessary scene. i like that their introduction to sophie was her awful acting though, because that will always be their first impression - not of an incredible grifter, but of a much sillier and more genuine version of sophie than we otherwise see for most of season one.

parker laughing at hardison's joke is also adorable.

no comments on the eliot + nate pool table scene, because @laser-tripwires has already written an incredible analysis of that interaction here. :) !!

actually the only thing i will mention is eliot saying that they all know about nate's kid dying - that's very important. nate wouldn't want them to know his vulnerabilities. even if they just pity him... well to him, that might be worse.

eliot saying "incoming" about sophie walking over is also really funny to me. referring to her like she's something dangerous, and he's joking but he's not wrong!

okay where did sophie get the "black king, white knight" line from? she was not there when parker said that. maybe everyone speaks in chess metaphors in the leverage Crime World.

[deangirlsstuff67]

Dammit

Eliot Spencer x Reader

Summary: You want to get to know him better, you end up getting to know him much better than expected.

Warnings: cock warming, anal, anal play, fingering, cum play, squirting, dirty talk, language, fluff, period sex

Authors Note: I’ve started watching leverage and let’s face it Christian Kane is amazing ;) hope you enjoy my venture into this fandom as much as I do !

—————————————————————————

The hitter.

Eliot sees himself as nothing but broken. The shit he’s done and people he’s hurt have stayed with him throughout his life.

Lone wolf.

He’s past has lead him to becoming a hitter for his crew. In a twisted way he sees himself as the protector of the group.

You met the crew when your ex boyfriend conned you out of your entire savings. You couldn’t believe that they got every penny back for you and exposed him for who he truly was. That’s how you met Eliot.

Your broken prince.

The moment his blue eyes locked on you, you knew you were fucked. Problem is he doesn’t get close to anyone besides his team and even they don’t know him that well. Eliot flirts and chats you up any chance he can but he doesn’t go farther than that, you could fuck him all day long but you want more.

You want to show him he’s wrong and there is absolutely nothing wrong with him or his past. You always had a deep love for strays. You could have left when they had gotten your money back, instead you stayed. You stayed because in a weird way they are a family which is something you’ve never truly had.

Guess you’re a stray too.

Your room shares a wall with Eliot’s room. You’ve been taking full advantage of that as much as you can and tonight is no different. Mother Nature brought you your monthly gift a few days ago, for reasons unknown you become a needy, horny mess when you’re on your period. Tonight is no different.

And you aren’t shy about it either. Letting the moans and whimpers be loud enough that you know Eliot can hear you through the wall.

You’re on your knees with a thick dildo, you bought one you assumed was close to his size, sliding in and out of your asshole while a vibrator is buzzing on your bundle of nerves. You aren’t sure when he’s resolve finally snapped, didn’t hear him come into your room to see you in your current situation, it wasn’t until his hand pushed the one holding the vibrator down harder that your eyes snapped opened to see him starring down at your dripping pussy.

“Dammit.” He said it as a whisper but it sounded like a promise all the same.

His voice tips you over the edge into pure bliss. Thighs tremble, his name leaves your lips as your body sags forward and into his strong, hard chest. He’s there, he catches you, but he doesn’t stop. Desire has taken control of him. The vibrator is still snuggled against your clit at his hand, his other one snakes around your waist and down to the dildo still deep in your puckered hole.

“This what you wanted sweetheart, all those nights I’ve jerked my cock off to the pretty little noises you made, were they all for me?”

You don’t respond, fuck you can’t even if you tried so fucked out because he’s here and this isn’t a dream anymore. He grabs control of the pink dildo and pulls it out to the tip before slowly pushing it back in to watch your hole take every last inch. He repeats the action, never speeding up, your body is building towards another orgasm quickly.

“Fuck that’s hot, imagine if it was my cock instead y/n,” his voice is wrecked, control barely hanging on by a thread, “imagine your tight, little hole being split in two by my thick hard cock while you sink down in my lap, my fingers deep in your pussy with your legs spread wide across my thighs, this pretty cunt dripping all over my lap making a mess.”

A whimper is all that comes out.

“I think we should do that, don’t you? See how much your swollen cunt can take. She’s drooling for me baby girl.” His finger strokes through your folds and that’s when he finds the tampon string. You honestly figured it would gross him out and he’d leave. Instead Eliot growls in your ear and pulls until the tampon is removed, throwing it into the waste basket by your bed, he replaces it with two thick fingers pushing into your soppy cunt. “Oh sweetheart, you kinky little minx, now we are going to have some really fun.”

—————————————————————————

Eliot is a kinky bastard, for some reason you never figured that to be true. Makes sense now that you think about it, though that’s hard currently given the position Eliot has you in. He kept his word, you have his hard dick stretching your tight channel full while your back is pressed against his chest.

“Look at you sweetheart, so cock drunk for me while you keep my dick nice and warm.”

He’s large fingers are slowly working your well used heat over with every drag over your g spot, “fuck y/n I’m going to cum just from the mess your creating on my lap and this tight little ass squeezing me so good.” He growled in your ear as another orgasm rips through your exhausted body.

“Eliot I don’t think I can take anymore.” Heavy panting in your ear indicates he’s close, cock twitching inside you.

“One more sweetheart, I need to feel you milk my dick one more time before I fill you full of my cum so it’s leaking out of you for days.”

“Oh fu— u— ck, yes baby,” you start bouncing slowly on his dick as his fingers rapidly fuck your cunt, lips kissing every part of you that he can, “so deep inside me.”

“That’s it sweetheart, fuck yourself on my dick.”

“You’re close, I can feel you squeezing my fingers.”

That’s all it takes before your body goes rigid as the best orgasm of your life washes over you. Eyes roll in the back of your head, Eliot’s name on your breath.

“Fucking hell, such a filthy fucking girl.” Growling in your ear he grabs your hips and starts pistoling into your asshole. Doesn’t take long before you feel the warmth of his cum filling your insides. The feeling brings another smaller orgasm for you, that’s when you feel it, like you’re peeing on his lap. Looking down you watch your pussy gush onto Eliot.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry… I… i… sorry…”

“Wha-,” coming down from the best orgasm he’s ever experienced it takes him a moment to understand what you’re saying. Looking over your shoulder he chuckles as he brings a hand to play with your messy pussy again, “you didn’t pee y/n, relax.”

His fingers move with skill and precision as he quickly makes you gush again.

“Mmm… that sweetheart is your pretty, tight, warm, soft, filthy little pussy telling me she enjoys what I do to her.”

You watch in amazement as he easily makes you leak cum over and over again. Groaning in your ear each time because not only has he never been with a woman who squirts before but your ass is squeeze his sensitive penis every time it happens.

“You’re a squirter baby girl. Messy, filthy, dirty little hole for me to play with whenever I want… because I’m never letting you go again.” Nippling on your ear lobe he whispers with a growl, “you’re mine y/n.”

—————————————————————————

Kinky? Yes.

Dirty? Yes.

Dominant? Fuck yes.

Tonight you’ve seen them all and now you have the great pleasure of seeing the side no one else has in a long time. The sweet side of Eliot. Softly he picks you up and carries you to the bathroom. Turning on the shower he leads you inside.

He doesn’t do anything but wash you up and hold you as he massages your sore, wore out muscles in the warm water spraying down.

Nothing is said between the two of you. Just soft touches and lingering looks. Finally, as you’re looking into his beautiful ocean blue eyes he speaks, “I meant what I said, you’re mine now sweetheart. I should have done it months ago, I was scared. But now, fuck y/n I couldn’t walk away even if I wanted to. Please say you’re mine.”

You smile up at him and bring your hand to rest on his chest, “oh that’s cute El, cause I’m pretty sure you’re mine not the other way around.” You laugh as you stand on your tip toes to give him a heated kiss. Eliot backs you against a the tiled wall, drawing one of your legs up so he can have easy access to your cunt.

“Oh sweetheart, that’s a dangerous game you’re playing.” His fingers ghost over your tired core causing you to moan. You’ll be sore in the morning and walking funny, but you don’t care. This man is yours and you’re about to own every part of him.

“Bring it on baby, I’ve always enjoyed playing with fire.”

—————————————————————————

Taglist:

@bitchykittenconnoisseur @jayhalsteadfan-2417 @spnaquakindgdom @yvonneeeee @deansimpalababy @nancymcl @syrma-sensei @tspmoff @idontwannabehere78 @foxyjwls007 @leigh70 @senjoritanana @neii3n @multiversefanfics @supershygirl @impala67rollingthroughtown @justwhisperingfantasies @ladykitana90 @maggiegirl17 @jamerlynn @mostlymarvelgirl @kimxwinchester

[thegeeksideofsr]

Positive

Summary: Eliot finds a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom after getting home late from a job.

A/n: I know this gif is from season one and he's holding a thumb drive, but it fits the story kinda. El may be a little out of character, but I tried. Enjoy!

***********************************************

It's been two weeks since I took the test. The positive symbol staring back at me.

It's in a drawer of the bathroom now. Buried under hair brushes, hair products, and a box of unopened condoms.

The days seem to go by in a blur. Going through the motions of survival while trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant.

Man, that's weird. My dad might have a heart attack. He nearly had one when he found out about Eliot and I. He was so angry at first, but he's been getting better about it.

I called Alice once the timer went off. She came over and held me while I cried.

She, Kate, and Deklan have practically put me on maternity leave six months early. They all are so supportive and wonderful, but the ones I want to be here and supporting me aren't.

I've had time to come to terms with it. It's still strange to know I'm carrying a baby, but I want them, even if I'm not completely ready. They are going to be amazing.

This morning I looked up some midwives in the area, found one, and gave them a call for an appointment.

I know the general time it happened, but I still want to be sure.

Once the appointment was made, I tucked into the couch to watch a movie. Under the warm blanket, and with the emotions from the last three days taking over, I drift of to the white noise of the movie.

A hand caressing my face, and a kiss to my forehead wakes me up.

Moving slightly, and opening my eyes a little, a form next to the couch comes into blurry view.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Eliot whispers.

"Please tell me you're really here, and I'm not dreaming again."

"I'm here. And I ain't planning to go anywhere any time soon."

I pull myself up, and finally look at him clearly.

He looks tired, and his hair is a little shorter, but he's still my Eliot.

I untangle my self from my blanket and launch into his arms, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist, my face pressed to his shoulder.

He catches me with ease. He tucks his face into my neck, his own arms wrap around my ribs and waist as we hold onto each other.

"I love you," he whispers, his scruff harsh against my skin.

"I love you, too."

With those few words the dam breaks.

I begin to sob, uncontrollably as he holds me.

"I missed you so much, darlin'. I got you."

I cry harder at his words, hoping that he won't change his mind when he finds out about the baby.

A deep breath to calm down, triggers a reaction I wasn't expecting.

I pull away from him, bringing a hand to cover my mouth and nose.

"What?"He asks, concern written across his face. "What is it?"

"You smell," I sob out.

He chuckles as my comment as he wipes tears from my cheek.

"I know. I need a shower, and some sleep."

I nob and take a few more deep breaths to calm down.

He leans back to his feet, and stand up. He holds a hand out to me, I take it, and he gently pulls me to my feet, then leads me to the bedroom.

I sit on the bed, legs tucked up under me, watching him as he strips, tossing his clothes in the hamper.

Nothing seems different. No new injuries or scars. Just a huge bruise, going from his shoulder, down his back to his ribs.

"What happened?" I ask. "To cause the bruises. Those aren't from a fight."

"Parker and I went up to the summit of this mountain, looking for a guy who got lost up there. We ended up falling into the same hole he did. We got lucky though."

"He didn't make it, did he?"

"No. It was deliberate. We got the guy that did it, though."

"That's good."

Clad in just his underwear he walks to bathroom, leaving me on the bed. The water comes on a moment later.

He comes back to the door way, eyebrow quirked and smirk.

"Wanna join me?" He ask.

"Absolutely."

I jump up and strip as I head to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind, gaining a wicked chuckle from Eliot.

We climb in the shower, the hot water soothing. We both wash up, washing the others hair, and each other, before rinsing off, and enjoying being together again.

I watch as he stands under the stream, washing the stress away, wondering how I'm going to tell him about the baby. Then his gaze turns to me.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks, moving a strand of wet hair from my face.

"Huh?"

"You have that look on your face. Like there's somthin' botherin' you."

"I'm fine, El. It can wait."

"So there is somethin' on your mind."

"Yes. But it can wait until you are rested and settled back in."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

He doesn't look convinced. I try changing the subject by kissing him, which works wonders. Kisses always distracts him.

He leans into the kiss, arms wrapping around me and pulling my body flush with his.

We both get lost in each other. Hands travel as we reacquaint ourselves with each other, slowly building up to a long awaited reunion.

It's bliss. Until, his hand came to my breasts and squeezed slightly. No more then he had ever done before, but this time it hurt so much that it pulls a gasp and whimper from me.

I pull away from him completely, stepping back and wrapping my arms around my chest.

I close my eyes, not wanting to look at him.

"Baby. What was that? Did I hurt you?"

His voice is so soft, barely audible over the water.

"No. Just surprised me."

"That was more then surprise. I know how you sound surprised when I touch you, and when your hurt, and that sounded like hurt."

He closes the gap between us, his hands coming up to hold my head. He gently turns my head to look at him.

His brows are knit together, and eye round with worry.

"What happened?" He asks again.

"Nothing."

I pull my head from his hands, and leave the shower, grabbing my towel from the rack, wrapping it around me, and leaving the bathroom, latching the door behind me.

Pov Switch

Eliot sighs as the door clicks closed.

He turns and shuts the water off, then climbs out of the shower, and grabs a towel from the closet. He dries off, then wraps the towel around his waist, then rings his hair out over the tub, then starts brushing his hair out.

He racks his brain for any reason that she might be acting this way.

She was fine when they left for San Lorenzo, and the quick visit when they got state side. She knew that if something happened she could call, but she didn't.

And she never minded when he touched her, normaly she encouraged it. But this time, she flinched like it hurt. Yes her breasts get tender during PMS, but not this bad.

Nothing was wrong. Nothing he knows about.

He lets out a low growl, as he slams his brush down on the counter.

He has to take care of his hair, or it with become a fluffy rats nest.

He digs through the drawers, searching for his things, finding them after taking half of the drawers contents out. He sets what he needs on the counter, then starts replacing what he took out.

As he shoves them back in, he uncovers a piece of plastic, caught up with hair ties and combs. He picks it up to inspect it. White, with a pink cap, and on one side, a small screen with the word positive on the display.

The world stops, and his heart drops.

That would explain it. The tenderness, the odd smell sensitivity, and the question dodging.

She's pregnant. With his baby.

He stands on shaky legs, his hand shakes as well. His gaze holding fast to the test in his hand.

A baby. She is pregnant with his baby. And he is torn.

She would be a good mother, calm and sweet, but stern and fierce when needed.

But him? He was damaged and dangerous. His job was to hit people and lie. But at least Moroe was gone. One shadow of his past gone.

He sets the test of the counter to wash his hands from the trash, then grabs it again and opens the door.

He finds the woman who holds his heart, and now mother of his child, sitting on the bed, clad in one of his shirts as the brushes her own hair out.

"When did you find out?" He asks.

"What?" She looks up at him, looking like a dear caught in headlights.

He holds the test up to show her. Her eye move from his face to his hand, blood draining from he face.

"How did you find that?"

"Was lookin' for my hair stuff, found this while puttin' stuff back. Baby, when did you find out?"

Her eyes well up and flutter, her chin quivers.

Eliot crosses the room to sit next to her on the bed.

"Talk to me, please," he begs.

"Two weeks ago," she says, and the dam breaks.

His heart drops. Two weeks, and she didn't call.

"Why didn't you call me? You should have called me."

"You were on a job. I didn't want to distract or stress you out even more."

He sighs and pulls her into his chest, holding her head as she sobs.

"It's okay," he whispers. " It's gonna be okay. I promise. Just breathe."

"I'm sorry, Eliot," she sobs out. "I was gonna tell you, but I wanted to wait for the right moment."

"It's okay," he whispers. "Come on."

He gently pulls her with him to lay down on the bed, her head resting over his heart, their arms wrap around each other, her breathing slowly calms.

"Do you even want kids, Eliot?" She murmurs.

He squeezes her, the rolls her onto her side or lean over her, hand caressing her face.

" I never thought about it. Not before you." He starts. "I have never had the kind of life that would allow kids. I've done things that I'm not proud of, and-" he hesitates.

"What?"

"Our last job, the one that took us out of the country."

She nods.

"You got so distant. I thought you were going to end things between us. You all kept me in the dark."

"I'm sorry, darlin'. We just wanted to keep you safe. I think that is the only thing about you that your dad and I can agree on."

She huffs a laugh.

"After we broke Nate out of prison," he starts. "A woman came, and she black mailed us to take down a crime lord. Said we had to or she would kill us, and you. I had to protect you from her, and him."

"Him?"

He breaks eye contact.

"I used to work for him. I did terrible things for him. I got out eventually, was lost for while. Then got hired for a job, and met Nate," he looks back to her. " And you."

She smiles.

"I don't deserve to be a father," he starts. "To have anything so pure and innocent. But I'm selfish. I do want them. Do you?"

Her body relaxes as she nods, a new wave of tears begin to fall from her eyes.

"You really want this?" She asks.

"Yes."

POV Switch

Relieve floods me.

He want the baby. He's not leaving

He looks happy, a smile making his eye crinkle, and dimples appear, tears slide down his cheeks.

I bring my hand to his face, taking my turn to wipe the tears away.

"We're having a baby," he whispers.

"We're having a baby."

***********************************************

[lillytalons]

The whole leverage team are theater nerds but only Sophie would admit it. She knows what she is.

Nate would have claimed it was just part of his job and to be the best he would be good at it, but he had too many silly hats for me to believe him. He loves causing problems on purpose, especially for the kinds of assholes he would have had to help at IYS. He also knows the more baffling he is, the more he can get away with, which is a dangerous thing to learn but he mostly uses it well.

Hardison wouldn’t have completely denied the theater kid allegations, but he’s more in the d and d range and doesn’t think he’s as silly as he is. He’s a little too sure of his skills (he is a genius in every other way) but especially at the start it’s a fun challenge and he has mentors that are better than him for probably the first time ever. He has the most fun when he thinks he’s on their level of skill or embarrassing the mark.

I don’t think Parker knows what a theater kid is, but being told to be silly and over the top rather than contained and invisible was definitely a turning point for her. Though I think she pretends through most of her life anyway so pretending to be someone else doesn’t register with her in the same way. She still doesn’t really have a metric for how weird something is but it’s got to be fun to try to cause awkwardness instead of how she used to accidentally create it.

Eliot. Eliot would NEVER have been a theater kid, but my man plays the silliest wild man in wilderness roles you’ve ever seen and even fixes his hair for it, he loves it but wouldn’t admit it on pain of death. He enjoys getting to scare stupid people with stupid things, but also extra flirting is always fun for him. Plus I gotta think part of him likes the roles where no one has to get beat up.

Breanna I think like the grift the least, but she’s determined to do her best and beat Hardison so she’s learning, she does best when she’s being herself but I think she’s learning to loosen up and have fun. She doesn’t have the vibes but she’s got the skills.

Harry is funny because I fully believe the closest he got to theater pre redemption was like maybe a debate team? (And whatever happened with Mardi Gras-he probably got a little flamboyant any time he was drunk and had an excuse to be like that) but he took to theater kid vibes like a fish to water. Harry is always having a great time, even when he’s about to die, and at least part of that is the removal from his corporate persona and the relief of doing actual good. Plus Sophie and team are gonna egg him on, he finally has friends who support and love him and also only judge him for actually evil acts, not silly acts like wearing a bad wig.

[onyxbird]

The Bridgeport Cat Café

New Leverage AU, based on this video of someone from a cat café account introducing their cats and describing what types of crime they (allegedly) engage in:

Hardison bought them a cat café instead of a brewpub.

Parker thinks it's a great idea. As soon as Hardison shared the idea with her, she started planning out the incredibly elaborate system of climbing structures, catwalks, tunnels, and hidey-holes at both cat and human scale. Hardison wasn't able to implement all of her ideas, especially not before the rest of the team arrived, but he managed a lot, including purchasing the rest of the building the original café occupied and expanding into that space.

The renovated café quickly becomes known for the fact that it is both the physically largest cat café any of the patrons have encountered and that sections of it essentially double as an indoor play structure for both kids and adults.

Hardison, as someone with allergies himself and knowing Leverage would want to bring clients here, poured a lot of thought into the cat-free and "allergy-friendly" side of the café, where patrons can enjoy all of the café's food and beverage offerings, watch the cats, and even climb a limited portion of their signature human-sized "cat tree" while remaining separated from the cats by enormous windows. The two areas are served by separate ventilation and both have thorough air filtration. The cat-free side quickly becomes popular with the remote-work crowd who like to bring their laptops and watch the cats without any actually climbing on them and their work materials. (There are also customer-free portions of the building the cats can retreat to and optionally view the customers through glass.)

Eliot and Sophie, of course, say the idea is absolutely insane. Sophie's mostly ticked off about the unilateral move to Portland and them taking on the extra burden of a (weird, niche) business (although she makes little secret of being charmed by many of the cats themselves), but Eliot is particularly incensed about the difficulties of trying to run a café that's full of animals. "Running a good café isn't child's play, you know. You planning make food on site with cat fur everywhere? You think the Health Department's gonna stand for that? Sure, you can probably get away with some kind of automatic coffee machine and prepackaged food, but that ain't a café, that's an animal shelter with a damn vending machine."

His complaints trail off as Hardison steers him into the (newly renovated) kitchen, through the airlock-style double doors from a hallway not open to the cats, each with an automatic air curtain to keep cat fur as well as cats from slipping through. The other side of the kitchen has pass-throughs and doors directly to the cat-free side of the café. The gleaming new espresso machines are already in place, along with other basic kitchen equipment, although Hardison comments that he's still researching the best ovens and layout for baking all of their pastries on-site (the printouts and notes on his research are already bundled up and ready to be "spilled" on top of the materials for their next job, in front of Eliot).

The kitchen also features several plexiglass tunnels so that cats can watch the action in the kitchen without contaminating the space. Eliot will never admit, even under torture, to making squinty eyes and kissy noises at the cats that come to hang out with him while he cooks with no other humans around to see, especially when prepping pastry in the wee hours of the morning before anyone but the cats is awake.

Finally, Nate regrets having turned Hardison loose with free rein to pick the Portland HQ. When he suggested a restaurant or something as a front, he assumed he knew the limits of what that could entail--in hindsight, he's glad they didn't end up operating out of a Medieval Times* knock-off. He's performatively grouchy about the cats, yet never seems to chase away the ones that mysteriously end up on his lap during job planning. There's one particular "shoulder cat" that seems to love nothing more than riding around on Nate's shoulders during a briefing, occasionally punctuating particularly passionate sections with supportive meows.

Another quirk the café becomes semi-known for is the prominent lost-and-found counter where patrons can try to reclaim items that have vanished from their pockets, as the cats at this establishment seem to be oddly prone to pickpocketing...

*Consciously or not, Nate is on some level aware of how much Hardison and Parker would enjoy watching Eliot "joust."

[chrisfriel]

beginners guide to dying 040724

rarely post non photographic stuff but this moved me today

In September 2023, Simon Boas was diagnosed with throat cancer. Aged just 46, he was told the disease was terminal, and that it would ultimately take his life.

Over the following year, he knitted together his reflections on life into a book - A Beginner's Guide to Dying. The book is set to hit the shelves in October. It will be a posthumous publication.

In what he expects to be one of his final interviews, Simon spoke to Emma Barnett on the Today Programme, offering his reflections on life and death as he moved into hospice care.

My pain is under control and I'm terribly happy - it sounds weird to say, but I'm as happy as I've ever been in my life.

I used to think I'd rather be hit by the proverbial bus, but having a couple of months knowing this is coming has really helped me both do the boring 'death-min', but also get my thoughts and prepare myself, and feel so accepting of what's to come.

It's been such a great bonus, actually.

The book is called A Beginner's Guide to Dying, but really what I'm trying to convey is how enjoying life to the full kind of prepares you for this.

In some ways I was lucky that my life and my career have taken me to quite a lot of places where death is more a part of life than it is for us in the West.

I spent my life as an aid worker - quite a lot with the UN - and I've lived in places where death is something that not just exists in the background, but is imminently possible.

I spent three years running a UN office in the Gaza Strip. I spent a lot of time in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and I've been working in Ukraine. Seeing people there for whom death is such a part of life - they lose children, they don't know where the next meal is coming from - has really helped me.

I've also been a Samaritan for the past four years. In some cases you are on the line while people end their lives, so I think death has been more a part of my life than for many people.

It does us all good to think about it.

That's not in a gloomy way… by kind of realising it's inevitable and it's a part of life, it actually throws life into perspective and helps you to enjoy it more and prioritise the important things.

My family are about to go through the most difficult thing in their lives. My lovely wife, Aurelie, and my parents… are well surrounded, and I hope that my cheerfulness in the leaving of life might perhaps help them in the next few years…

All our lives are little books - but they're not someone else's complete book. You're a chapter or a page or a footnote in someone else's life and they are going to keep writing beautiful chapters when you are gone.

And those green shoots can grow around grief and put it in perspective. I hope people will think, "I'm glad I read that - Simon's story". And just because it's over, doesn't mean it's gone.

You don't need to have been a politician or a mover and shaker or an aid worker or anything in life. All of us make a huge difference.

I love this quote from George Eliot's Middlemarch:

"The effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistorical acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

All of us make a huge difference in life. I love the idea that most films about time travel revolve around changing one tiny thing in the past, and of course they come back to the present and everything is different.

If you project that forward, you can change huge amounts of things into the future.

All our tombs will be unvisited in a few years - all our actions will mostly be unremembered - but the smile you gave the checkout lady or the kind words you gave to a stranger in the street could still be rippling forward.

We all have that opportunity and it's a huge power. And I want everyone to realise how special and precious they are.

I love melted cheese. Unfortunately I haven't been able to eat since Christmas. The chemotherapy killed my taste buds and the radiotherapy killed my salivary glands.

So, sadly, melted cheese and all the things I loved are off the menu.

However, I've been given full permission by my oncologist and my hospice team to enjoy as much Muscadet and as many cheeky rollups as I want - and I shall certainly be indulging in those and spending time with my family.

I'm sort of - not looking forward to my final day - of course that's the wrong way to see it. But I'm kind of curious about it, and I'm happy and I'm ready.

As Julian of Norwich said: "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."

FULL INTEVIEW

[the-starry-seas]

My fellow Leverage fan! I have a question! Star Wars (specifically TCW era) Leverage au, who are you putting in which role on the team?

ooh okay I'm thinking 👀

Mastermind is Windu. That man is bonkers frickin smart and having had to handle Jedi and politicians and Force powers for so long? This team is a cakewalk, he's on vacation, he's enjoying himself. Critically lacking in family/Catholic trauma but he's having such a good time that I can't hold that against him.

Grifter is Obi-Wan. He has the perfect combination of looks (those eyes do half the work), steady temperament, gremlin behaviour with little provocation, and YOLO-ery to pull off just about anything he sets his mind to. (Briefly considered making him the hitter due to his canonical propensity to remove people of their limbs.)

Hitter is Jango. He's got shit to work out, he's good at what he does, and he'd look great with long hair. Surprisingly like Eliot in that he's got a circle of female acquaintances that he learns things from. Arguably never been one to try to atone for the shit he's done, but also arguably has the daddy issues thing down pat. Also at some point Eliot should have Obtained Child and this is my opportunity to make that a reality (kinda).

Hacker is Tech. Because I love him and also because look at him. He's the best at what he does! And he's already part of a weird renegade clone unit so he's got some team-oriented skills and is used to being up to weird shit. It's like taking a collie to a sheep farm, he's got a job and he's very good at it and he WILL be doing it.

Thief is Quinlan. His experience as a Shadow makes him good at finding things, and getting into and out of places unseen. Also I think canon Quinlan would really love the brain-puzzle of the lasers and locks and all that. He switches out museum exhibits just to give the curators a crisis over Who Did That. Also I think he'd get a kick out of jumping off buildings.

[bisluthq]

10 fave books you ever read?

woah this’ll be hard but I’m gonna try. Not in order of how much I like them but just these are 10 books I can reread a lot and I love:

Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I don’t actually know why I love it so much - I used to say the queerness but I’m not sure it’s JUST that because there are gayer books I love less - but it’s so deeply weird and so immersive and such a fun concept and I love immortality plot lines actually and I love the idea of reinvention and I love how she wrote this. I’ve read it quite a few times and I always find new things to love in it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I just love Oscar Wilde - he’s so funny - and again I love immortality as a trope. This book gets dark but because it’s Wilde it’s also SO fucking funny and while it’s not an entirely original concept because you’ve got Faust myths/stories and all, it’s definitely inspired a lot of things.

Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry. Remembered about this because Fry loves Wilde so much but this is one of my favorite autobiographies ever, probably just my favorite. It’s self aware and acerbic and mean to him but somehow feel good and silly and also very, very deep. It covers so many very challenging themes super delicately and it doesn’t try to send clear messages beyond “it gets better” and so many funny, funny lines and funny, funny moments are mixed in with really awful things and I love that because it feels like… life. It also walks this fine line between romanticizing childhood and being like “this shit sucked ass” and that’s difficult. He didn’t get this as right in his two other autobiographies - I still enjoyed them because he writes well but I fucking deeply connect/ed with this book. I related to the queerness and the burgeoning mental health stuff and he deals with both those themes more explicitly in the next two but because they’re more explicit they’re… more his own life story right and Fry and I have lived pretty substantially different lives and the next two start talking about celebs he knows whereas this is just the portrait of a very confused, very gay, very smart kid. I love it.

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. This is one of the fucking funniest things that I’ve ever read and I have taken so many lines from it and use them (my favorite being “my oldest friend, in terms of age not length of friendship” lol and people ALWAYS laugh when I say this about Linda but I stole it from this book) and I just find it really fun and camp and silly and I love it. I had to buy a second copy because the first one I had I read too many times and it was a crappy paperback so it started to fall apart.

Middlemarch by George Eliot. I find this one of the most romantic classic books ever. People almost never agree with me because it’s less explicitly romantic than Austen or any Brontë book or whatever but I love Dorothea and Will and I love that it’s not just about them. I love that Dorothea has a whole little personal journey to go on before she finds the right guy and the right guy wouldn’t have been right if she’d met him right away lol. I love the way this book deals with soooo many things beyond the romance too: class, religion, money (separate to class), politics, feminism, etc. I just love this book. I do also find it crazy romantic.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood. Crazy random lol, kind of like The Spellman Files levels of random, but I find it so immersive and well written and interesting. I love how each of the wives have a different voice but Wood does tie it all together. I love that each character - from the wives to Ernest - is so well formed. It has so many gorgeous lines. I can read it so many times and find new things to like.

Disobedience by Naomi Alderman. My mom very pointedly gave me this book when I was a teen and I think she realized I’m queer. I do connect with it strongly in terms of Jewish themes, queer themes, and I love tragic love stories lmao or like people being stuck. I’ve read it loads.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I hate admitting this because it’s kind of basic now but this book was one of the most surprising, page turning things I’ve ever read. It’s clever and has messages but it’s also plot driven. I love how horrible everyone is. There’s genuinely no good person in this book and I fucking super enjoy that. They’re all terrible and deserve each other but maybe the world is terrible and we all suck ykwim?

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney. Again, I hate saying this because it’s kind of basic but I love/d it. I love how it communicates millennial angst, it felt like it spoke to me on a number of levels, it’s not perfect at all but it’s sexy and weird and unlike some of Rooney’s newer/later stuff it feels like it’s very much a matter of what YOU read in it rather than what she wants to tell us. I love all four characters although again everyone is fucking terrible but I think that’s what I love about it. I find the sex scenes, which are VERY awkward, very sexy. They’re well written and immersive but also so strange and I kind of feel a lot of sex is like that - it’s not bodice ripping, it’s weird people clinging to one another and finding comfort. Again I also love things where the love part is super complicated and in this it is. No one knows what they want. Me too kings/queens! Idk what I want either!!! I also love how it’s written. I feel in later books she sometimes tries too hard but here it’s… minimal and yes you can see her influences but it feels inter textual rather than pointed.

Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes. Lmao this book is so fun. Again, I love that it’s funny and that everyone is a bit terrible and I don’t think it’s saying something very profound except that romance is silly and complicated and I like how the main character is nameless and kind of a self-insert while also being sooooo deeply specific and fundamentally unrelatable. I feel like it walks a very fine line between being a book you can fantasize being in (at points) and being a book but very specific people (which it is).

I definitely have more but here are 10 random books I’ve loved and have reread a few to a lot of times!!

[aardvaark]

leverage rewatch: s1e2 "the homecoming job"

ah yes, the title i always get mixed up with "the reunion job". my brain goes "homecoming" -> some american high school thingy -> probably that episode at a high school right? but no, this is the very pro-military episode that every american tv show seemingly has to do at least once lol smh

i love sophie’s audition scene. weirdly i actually guessed that it would be for some kind of cleaning commercial when i was first watching (she’s dramatically saying "i want to be cleannnn!" but i was thinking "hm, yes, ‘clean’, i bet this is a joke about an overly dramatic reading of a cleaning product ad". and then they revealed it was about soap). which probably speaks to the weird way my brain works, but fortunately my brain is apparently in sync with how leverage works lol. p.s. is the fact it’s a "soap ad" and she’s acting melodramatic a joke about soap opera style acting?

also re: her terrible audition scene, leverage creator john rogers has a cameo as the casting guy.

and third thing about that scene (wow i’m 3 mins in and already off track) i do love watching comedic sophie scenes. like her delivery of "peggy killed her first husband" (peggy being the character in the ad about soap) lmaoooo. this scene reminds me of gina bellman’s character in another show, "coupling" - personally wasn’t a show i enjoyed, but i could appreciate how funny she was.

the guy eliot punched in the throat still falling to the ground while he answers the phone lol.

the idea that parker a) doesn’t have her phone on silent/turned off/away from her during a heist and b) that she would answer the phone during a heist even when a security guard is around, is very funny to me. and she still gets away evidently, so apparently that’s also a completely valid choice for her to make.

sophie saying "don’t you trust us?" to eliot & laughing about it lol. next season she’ll be a bit genuinely offended that eliot doesn’t fully trust her, but she doesn’t know it yet.

hardison’s old nate painting!!!!! iconic. and hardison really is gifted.

"short version or long version?" "short" "short" "shortest" pshhhh poor hardison

first time eliot says "it’s a very distinctive…"

first time hardison gets pushed off a roof (actually, sophie is the first to get pushed off something against her will by parker, which happens in the pilot episode)

i like how sophie’s voice changes a little, even when her grift alias is also british, even when she doesn’t really *need* to do a different voice. there’s still very much a baseline Sophie Voice and then many other voices for each ‘character’ she does. which gives the impression that the Sophie Voice is also just another fake accent (& technically that’s true according to john rogers - in the beantown bailout job, when sophie’s fighting the guys who attack nate in his apartment, her accent changes a bit and apparently that’s supposed to be a hint at her real voice).

when nate’s acting up and eliot says they’ll just finish this job and split up again, they all agree but look so disappointed and sad :( only known each other for a couple of jobs so far but none of them really want it to be over.

it’s adorable that hardison & nate watch parker’s theft. with popcorn, might i add. nate specifically walks over to watch and asks if she’s started yet. it’s sweet that he seems to find parker’s work sincerely impressive, i guess he’s spent years tracking her down and it makes sense that he’d see all the skill that goes into making the theft of something so major (literally stealing a law!) look so effortless.

parker being able to sense that money is real vs counterfeit lmao.

eliot, smiling sarcastically: "hey, what do you got going on? you and hardison? what is it, like a creepy contest??" lol. and hardison looking annoyed vs parker still smiling (she’s having the best day ever bc she found so so much cash)

parker’s "i bought a plant" (bc hardison suggested it earlier) is soooooo adorable i love that moment so much <333 she doesn’t seem to quite know how to say it, she just blurts it out, but he gets it. he’s always understood. agh my heart!!

nate buying a t*sla lol - godddd it meant something very different back then

them all being surprised at the car for 0.0001 seconds before agreeing it’s a midlife crisis and making fun of nate again. love this family.

[fictionadventurer]

I happened to see a good chunk of the Netflix Persuasion. I can't give a complete review or analysis or whatever, but I have thoughts.

This movie has some very pretty colors. I like cool color palettes, what can I say?

There was one shot of a purple sunset where I was like, "Oh, I could live in this picture."

The aesthetic was so trendy I couldn't take it seriously. The clothes were that 2019 Little Women cottagecore vibe with lots of poorly-fitted textures and layers and colors. I laughed out loud at the Big White Text announcing LYME or BATH, because it's such a specific vibe.

I tried to detach from any notion of it as an Austen adaptation, and just enjoy it as its own movie that just happens to take place in a history-flavored fantasy world where everyone uses modern speech. Because sometimes those stories can be fun. It still didn't work.

Because it mostly just confused me. It was this weird mish-mash of genres and tones that didn't really blend together. Oil and water. It was Pinterest and Hallmark and Austen and College Humor and Instagram and Feminism and it's all felt like it came from completely different movies.

It was trying to be a sincere period drama love story and a goofy parody at the same time and it just didn't work.

Like, there were some sweet moments in it. Anne talking about poetry to Captain Benwick was rather nice.

But then you've got things like the weird octopus-sucking-my-face story Anne tells at Lady Dalrymple's. Even that could have worked okay in context, because Mr. Eliot jumps in and turns it into a metaphor about identity, which helps to cover for Anne's awkwardness and shows that he's willing to help her out. But then they keep bringing up the octopus as a sort of pet name and it's just so weird and doesn't fit with the rest of the story.

I've gotten ahead of myself so I'm going to backtrack to some specifics.

Mary Musgrove was excellent. Spot-on. I love how she's visibly younger than Anne. First adaptation I've seen that emphasizes that.

It was interesting how they emphasized the Mrs. Clay storyline. It actually sparked some interesting thoughts about the differences between the male social climbing of the sailors (shown in a positive light in Austen) and the female social climbing of the marriage-seeking ladies (shown in a more negative light).

I've never had a clearer picture of why Mrs. Clay matters so much to Mr. Elliot. Even in the book, it's a bit muddy, but it's crystal clear here. Mr. Elliot telling us his schemes straight-out did have the benefit of making the story very easy to follow.

I've got to back up again.

They completely altered the Anne/Wentworth storyline by mixing around all the plot points.

After they go to Bath, Wentworth seeks out Anne, says that they haven't had a chance to talk, and tells her how he always admired how good she was in an emergency. And this was before the staircase scene. I was extremely confused, until it hit me--this is a dream sequence! This is how Anne wants it to play out, but then she'll wake up!

But no! This actually happened! Wentworth says all this very sincerely and passionately, leading up to him declaring...that he wants to be friends. (At least there's context for "We're worse than exes--we're friends.")

It completely alters the trajectory of their relationship. Instead of jumping from the passion of hatred to the passion of love, Wentworth has gone to the other end of the pole--friendly indifference. He likes Anne and is totally okay with her marrying someone else.

I think they changed it so Mr. Elliot could be a serious contender in the love triangle. Wentworth has let her go--can she find happiness with someone else? I'll admit it's an interesting change, even if it's not Persuasion.

But it also seems like they're trying to make Wentworth a Suitable Love Interest for the Twitter Generation. Wentworth gets weirdly bristly with Mr. Elliot. Then Wentworth apologizes because Anne is a strong woman who doesn't need his protection. He tells her she should have been able to be an admiral. He's being mature and letting go of his resentment and wishing her well and showing that he doesn't like Regency Gender Roles. It's like they're shaving away his character growth in favor of a bland Nontoxic Relationship (TM).

But then Anne likes Mr. Elliot because he's bad? He openly talks about how he's trying to wreck her father's relationship to get the title. He insults her family. And she likes it.

This version of Anne holds her family in contempt. She doesn't like them or how they treat her and she openly disdains it. So she connects with Mr. Elliot. But the book Anne seems sad for her family--she doesn't like their behavior because she wishes they could be better people. She has compassion while movie Anne is resentful.

Persuasion is all about restraint. This movie is all about lack of restraint. People speak bluntly and say what they think and openly insult people. It's a completely different culture from the usual Austen movie, because it's modern culture. Which emphasizes how little we value good manners and restraint.

It's also weird how in changing the story, they also turn it into a generic rom-com. There's a more blatant love triangle between the good boy and the bad boy. Wentworth is starting to fall in love with Anne, but he's got an opportunity to advance his career, and he has to decide within a few days, oh no! It's textbook romcom plot points.

There was another point that I'll probably think of later.

EDIT: Oh, I just remembered! I think it was that the movie was so interested in the vibes and emotions of each individual scene that it didn't bother to try to stitch them together in a coherent whole.

The ending kiss looked 1000% like the cover of a cheap romance novel.

And the final moral of "don't let anyone tell you how to live your life" feels so simplistic and selfish and weird.

Overall, I'm not angry. I'm just confused. It's not the type of movie to arouse any kind of emotion other than "Huh???" And maybe a bit of regret that they couldn't have done better things with the interesting bits.

[lightthewaybackhome]

I'm having a terrible time with Leverage:Redemption. I enjoyed the first two episodes, but honestly, everyone feels like a cardboard cutout of themselves. Parker seems weird not because she is but because she's supposed to be. Eliot feels way overplayed, over acted, not like Eliot. He doesn't feel right at all.

Harry Wilson is hardly anything. Where is the found family? Where is the perfect balance between humor and heartbreak? Why are we even trying without Hardison?

And the cons? There's little danger. Some of them are just dumb. And there are no gut-clenching moments where you wonder how this is going to play out? I have not once wondered if everyone would get home safe. Most of it I'm watching through sheer willpower. I'm not having fun.

I fell in love with Leverage the minute I started it. It was all these lost and lonely people finding their souls, healing, and growing together. I don't know what this is.

[freneticfloetry]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Will I ever get enough of these? No? Thanks to @liminalmemories21, @strandnreyes, @welcometololaland, and @reyesstrand for the tags!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

45. RIP to the lost works of my OG fandom, published on a ship board/archive that no longer exists. (I still have most of them, they just won’t be seeing the light of day. Like ever.)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

368,184. (Again, RIP to all those now-unpublished words — with them I’d be somewhere around 800k.)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

LOL So glad this question is phrased the way it is. Right now, I’m only actively writing in 911 Lone Star fandom, though I have a WIP in Magicians fandom that I fully intend to finish. Historically, I’ve written in about 40 fandoms (36 on AO3), most with a single fic. Thanks, Yuletide!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ashes and Flame (Every You and Every Me), The Hunger Games Trilogy (I get a kudos email for this one at least five times a week. How are people still finding and reading this little fic?)

Lost in Translation, The Losers

Deck the Halls with Daddy Issues, pre-film Avengers MCU

Big Girl Pants, New Girl

Shells of a Long-Ago Lifetime (Faces That Once Were Mine Mix), Supernatural

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

99.9% of the time, absolutely. Comments are my biggest motivation — the serotonin section fuels my muse. If people take the time to tell me they read and enjoyed a fic (especially if they tell me why), I like to at least thank them for that. There have been times when Real Life has been Happening A Lot and comments on the more popular stuff have gotten by me, and I feel weird about going back months after the fact to respond — that Hunger Games fic, for instance, has a couple pages of unanswered comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Posted, probably Of All Our Yesterdays. I am typically an Angst with a Happy Ending writer without fail, but the boys of the Black Dagger Brotherhood don’t do typical happy, and Phury is lowkey the angstiest of the bunch.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I’m actually gonna say scenes from an unfinished story, because I think Quentin Coldwater having this happy ending, the way this one happens, is the biggest fuck you to show canon and its creators that I could possibly craft.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I recently got my first hate comment! I posted about it, but I’ve also left it up in all its glory.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do now! Not that I haven’t in the past — I wrote several het scenes for my very first ship, and Quentin and Eliot had some delightful married kitchen sex we picked up right in the middle in What Baking Can Do — but I feel like Tarlos has really helped me unleash my inner smut writer. My smut from Carlos’ POV has a lot of feelings (LOL), but the stuff I’m writing from TK’s POV is a little sillier and dirtier and more fun. With feelings.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do love me a good crossover. Outside of canons I’ve crossed that exist in the same universe (We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, in Jessica Jones/Luke Cage fandom, plus And to All a Goodnight, for two Jennifer Crusie books), I once wrote tens of thousands of words of a ridiculously plot-heavy Roswell/Angel crossover that will forever hold a soft spot in my heart, a randomly cracky and super angsty Supernatural/Grey’s Anatomy, and a minor character-focused Supernatural/Sarah Connor Chronicles, Requiem, that I still sort of love a lot.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

That Hunger Games fic has been swiped a few times. Weird.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, the Hunger Games fic — it exists somewhere on the internet in Dutch. And that one, the SPN/TSCC crossover, and an old Dexter fic, Dinner and a Show, have been podficed.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! An old friend and I once cowrote ~25k of our idea of fluff, which was basically hijinks, smut, and torturing our leading man with a boom box and Billy Joel.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

For ships that I’ve written… Hmm. I think, before I wrote to build a home, I would’ve said it was a tossup between Tarlos, Queliot, Chlollie, and Jules/Robin from Troubleshooters, but now there’s just no contest. Weewoo Husbands for the win. For ships in general, Tarlos still tops the list, alongside the ones I mentioned, the OT3 (Eliot/Hardison/Parker), Arthur/Eames, Phedre/Joscelin from the Kushiel’s Legacy books, Frank/Karen from the Netflix Marvelverse, Aidan/Sally from Being Human US, and my MCU crack cube of Steve/Nat/Bucky/Sam.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

God, this is such a throwback, but it’s probably Adagio in B-Flat, the Sherlock music porn murder mystery I half wrote and got hopelessly blocked on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, I’d say, especially banter. And understanding characters, I guess? I’m good at making characters sound like themselves, whether they’re speaking or internalizing. And, I’m now proud to say, plot. That’s something I wouldn’t have dared to claim this time ten years ago.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oof. Brevity. I have completely lost the ability to write short (and, by extension, to the point). I’m also the slowest writer in the world, thanks to my tendency to edit every sentence within an inch of its life.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

My Lone Star mutuals are laughing right now. Clearly I hate it. 😊 I’ve written three fics that feature Spanish, two sort of significantly, and all my old Firefly fics have some Mandarin in there somewhere.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OG Roswell. So much OG Roswell. Michael/Liz, specifically, with a side of Kyle/Isabel.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It almost feels like cheating, since it’s my most recent fic (and the only one I’ve published so far in my current fandom), but I’m so stupidly proud of to build a home. Carlos is such a touchstone character for me that writing him was oddly therapeutic. And I think I’ve said this before, but writing the two of them together was like the evolution of the clarity I found writing Queliot, which was the first time I’d really explored a ship in fic where I loved both halves of the pairing even close to equally — it helped me unearth my Carlos and who he is in my heart, but it also helped me uncover the true depth of my love for TK.

No pressure tagging @orchidscript, @heartstringsduet, @never-blooms, @rmd-writes, @walkinginland, @paperstorm, @mixtapestar, @catanisspicy, and @alrightbuckaroo!

[writinglittlebeasts]

nine people tag

tagged by @rickie-the-storyteller

RULEZ: Answer these questions and then tag 9 people to play too!

i will tag (gently; that's a lot of people): @unhingednovelist @rmgrey-author @tabswrites @karolinarodrigueswrites @void-botanist @outpost51 @camillenrose @moonluringfrost @at-thezenith

and i am. Rambling. in this tag game, so i'm gonna throw it under a cut lol

Three Ships

see, when i'm not thinking about these things they fall right out the back of my skull, so i have nooooo idea. ... and you know what that means !!! 🤪🤪🤪

quentin + eliot from the magicians! they are my everything; they invented love and when i think about them i want to scream and cry and throw up. don't have any other details, if you know you know if you don't get well soon

julia and kady and penny from the magicians! the arrangement doesn't matter! i also have a fun au where both pennys are alive at once and in the same polycule, and initially it's super weird but they get over it. julia and kady have everything, they were forced together but stayed together on purpose, their history is so tumultuous but they care so much about each-other. kady and penny's romance feels rushed but when they decided they were doing it they were great and i was totally on board (+ rewatches have made a lot of the rushed-ness make sense in character

fen and margo from......... the magicians! this show was sooo committed to making fen an accessory character to margeliot (i refer to margo and eliot together this way because it feels wrong to separate them) that they crushed her character into a little box and still, Somehow, she and margo have like Allll of the chemistry, it's ridiculous. i think about the scene where margo tells fen that if eliot dies she'll take care of her every day. i languish under the knowledge that fen's destiny being textually intertwined with margo's was never romantic to the writers the way it was romantic to me. the king's wife and the queen who also happens to be the king's best friend slash qp??? it's sooooooo good.

Currently Listening

in the interest of naming a song instead of just saying i've got reads with rachel running in the background, lp's lost on you but specifically this version is one of my most listened tracks this year i think. it's like, right underneath francesca, it's so good

Last Movie

i watched nimona a couple of days ago and puss in boots: the last wish this morning <3 i read nimona aaaaaages ago (ought to read it again) and i was so excited for the movie. i'm still thinking about it. nimona my friend nimona. puss in boots was fucking gorgeous, also, it was So pretty

Currently Reading

i FINALLY finished paris daillencourt (my beloathed) so i guess i'm back to reading ninth house and house of leaves alternately. though i might bounce around a little and read whitesmile instead because baccano! is one of my favorite series and it's just been sitting on my shelf, driving me nuts because i didn't want to add another book to my, like, (at the time) 3 current reads

Currently Watching

i'd say the rain but i really don't like it so it doesn't count lol . i've been catching episodes of sailor moon while my roommate has been watching them, though, and i've been enjoying that!

Currently Consuming

basically just arizona green tea. it never stops (the arizona green tea)

Currently Craving

absolutely nothing lmao . inspiration for original stories.

[heidiamalia]

oooo 10 and 11 for the fic recs??

okay so i had to do a lil digging for these lolol i apologize for the wait

10/ a fic that isn't prose [poetry, text fic, etc]

after a length of time searching i found the script-formatted fic where crowley and aziraphale create a podcast after the not-apocalypse and i mean -

it's great.

it's a new craze by attheborder

CROWLEY: I try not to make a habit of gratitude, but I must give our appreciation to everyone out there who’s been listening and subscribing to The Ineffable Plan.

AZIRAPHALE: Ooh, yes, we’ve become quite popular, haven’t we?

CROWLEY: Yeah, just hit number eight on the advice charts … No advertising at all.

AZIRAPHALE: Mm. How … miraculous.

CROWLEY: … Aziraphale. You did not.

Crowley and Aziraphale are very possibly the people least qualified, on the entire planet, to start up an advice podcast. But what else is there to do when the world isn’t ending anytime soon, you’re technically on indefinite sabbatical from your lifelong careers, and you need a plausible excuse to spend more time with your best friend who you’re definitely not, absolutely not, maybe just a little, actually maybe overwhelmingly in love with?

i do very much enjoy how thoroughly in you get with this one. we're stuck to the sidelines with the rest of the listeners tagged on twitter and whatnot, watching certain spirals come out and the plot thicken. their voices are so real in my head throughout, without any moment of doubt. i think i laughed right from the summary and didn't stop.

11/ a fic that brought you aboard a new ship

now this line isnt exactly fair because the show itself brought me aboard the ship - the gifsets and the pacific rim comparisons and the long metas to being in sync with each other really introduced me. but the first fic i absolutely remember reading for the ot3 was this one -

safe as houses by thecanaryfalls

Parker and Hardison comfort Eliot, in their weird multimillionare-convicted-felons-who-are-planning-a-life-with-him kind of way.

Set right around The Rundown Job.

this is that middle of the night, quiet and soft piece where you can hear how loud someone's shifting on the couch is -

like does that make sense.

the bit of early early dawn where its too soon to speak up before the birds but you still wanna have that sleepover conversation moment where you have to reassure your best friend you're always gonna be there.

this was that. this is where it was so so solid for me.

ask me about the fic rec meme!

[hagatha-christie]

September books, though at this point these posts are purely just for me

The bad:

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot - shocking amount of racial slurs for a children's book

Sovietistan by Erika Fatland - technically didn't finish this one. It's a shame because it was SO interesting and I enjoyed reading about Central Asia bc I know nothing, but Fatland is so rude about every single local she comes into contact with. Constant descriptions of bad teeth, people's weight, how nasty the food was, and how backwards the attitudes were. I get it's kind of a strange/unique region but it was gross to me that her narration, apart from when she discussed history of the region, was very much "wow look how weird and exotic these people are! I'm so glad I live in Norway where it's CLEAN and people aren't WEIRD." Only made it through the Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan chapters which is a shame bc this could've been great if she was just not an asshole!!!!

The okay:

Uncharted by Alli Temple - was truly expecting nothing from this Kindle Unlimited pirate adventure-romance series with a stock image cover but it was actually not bad? Fun, pulp-y plot and I finished it in about 5 hours

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner - a serviceable romcom about two soccer players who fall in love. I read Wilsner's other books (one was fine and one I hated) so I feel like saying this is my favorite isn't saying much, but it was cute.

The Lost Spells by Robert MacFarlane - the draw here isn't so much the poems (but they're fine!), it's the beautiful watercolors

The good/great:

spellbook for the sabbath queen by Elisheva Fox - a really beautiful but sparse poetry collection that has stuff about identity and environment and difficult familial relationships and sexuality and Judaism. This is her first collection and it definitely feels like one, but not in a bad way. I'll def keep an eye out for more of her stuff

Ararat by Christopher Golden - a recommendation from a friend and it had some GNARLY kills but was another book that was very much My Shit. Also had a great ending

American Journal: Fifty Poems For Our Time, edited by Tracy K. Smith - a really great poetry collection especially if you're just getting into poetry and are looking for new poets. There's enough variety that there's something for everyone in there!

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen - these poems were so fucking weird that i was immediately in love. Idk what else to say other than "strange and lovely"

Rouge by Mona Awad - speaking of strange! If you're into skincare this is especially fun, I'm glad I got a facial BEFORE reading this because otherwise I would have been mildly unsettled. I love that thing Awad does when the character starts to lose it and the narration goes off the rails

Bestiary by Donika Kelly - I mean this in the best possible way, what the FUCK. "You grow. You are large./You are a 19th century poem." but also "I have never known a field as wild/as your heart." Hey Donika what if I throw up everywhere

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan - some great characters and also a couple of plot points that were so upsetting i started laughing and then had to put the book down for the night because it was the most tragic possible thing to happen. (almost) every single character in this book is a total asshole and I love them all!!!!!!!! Maybe not technically "great" but one of those books that felt like it was written just for me.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - an all time favorite I reread because I was sad. Sandra Cisneros is one of those writers that makes me feel incredibly seen and I was having a bad day so I read this in one sitting and it helped a little