#has become thief hacker hitter

[summersofsalt]

they’re a very distinctive trio

and a desaturated version for the road :)

[terapsina]

Now that the writers and actors strike is about to begin being felt (and as we wait for those greedy billion dollar companies who are refusing to negotiate fair pay and conditions to give up) here's 10 of my favorite (all around best) fully finished older series you should definitely check out if you haven't watched.

I mean it, these are the shows with continuously great writing and a satisfying endings that manage to actually deliver on their promises.

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1. Leverage - (containing 5 seasons, or 77 episodes) - trailer here.

Hitter, Hacker, Grifter, Thief and Mastermind. Heists and cons. Stealing from the rich and giving to their victims. They provide... leverage.

Meant for anyone who enjoys bad guys being the best good guys, who will burn down the lives of evil CEOs and then gloat in the background. Very satisfying.

Hands down the best example of a found family trope I've ever seen on screen. Barring none.

2. Killjoys - (containing 5 seasons, or 50 episodes) - trailer here.

Space Bounty Hunters. Another case of found family trope. Bisexual space princess assassin. Quippy sentient ship. Green alien goo. Evil lesbians (but like... in a good way). The warrant is all.

More seriously though, it's a story about three killjoys and the bounties they go after. Initially. And then they have to save the entire Quad from some very terrifying... stuff.

Contains one of the best friendships I've ever seen on television.

3. Orphan Black - (containing 5 seasons, or 50 episodes) - trailer here.

Found family trope but with clones.

Low level grifter sees a woman who looks exactly like her kill herself and plans to take over her identity long enough to cash out. Except then there's two other women who also look exactly like her. And apparently they're all clones and someone's killing them.

Enter a global conspiracy. Human experimentation. Lots of clone shenanigans. Some serial killings. And a few murders 💖.

4. Person of Interest - (containing 5 seasons, or 103 episodes) - trailer here.

Okay I'm beginning to see how I might have a found family trope issue.

Former CIA agent gets recruited by a reclusive billionaire computer programmer who developed a... machine that can predict acts of terror before they happen. But it also predicts 'irrelevant' acts of violence that will result in someone's death.

Unless someone interferes.

I'd really like to spoil some stuff to get you all to watch this one. But I'm going to maintain self control and just mention that early on they get a dog named Bear. Bear is a very good boy. Watch it for Bear.

Also for excellent commentary on rights of privacy, government surveillance and what does 'greater good' even mean? But mostly Bear.

5. 12 Monkeys - (containing 4 seasons, or 47 episodes) - trailer here.

The very best time travel show out there. What starts out as a confusing mess of causality basically exploding, by the end of the series all makes complete and total sense.

(when that final timey-whimey loop slid into place and revealed the entire pattern it was like a choir of angels started singing in the back of my head. It was freaking glorious).

Anyway, a man from a post apocalyptic future travels into the past to stop a plague from decimating nearly the entire world population.

He has the name of the man who released the virus and it's supposed to be a single trip. One trip. One bullet. Simple. Done.

Except then things keep escalating, and escalating until time begins eating its own tail and it might start looking like the end of the world might be a better ending than erasing all of time and space from reality.

Because when our guys screw it up, they screw it up GOOD.

And oh yeah... found family.

6. The Good Place - (containing 4 seasons, or 53 episodes) - trailer here.

A self-proclaimed Arizona dirtbag opens her eyes and finds out that she's dead and got accepted in the Good Place. Except that as soon as she arrives the Good Place starts glitching, and she really, REALLY needs to become a better person before she can be found out and kicked out to the Bad Place.

Luckily her assigned soulmate was a professor of ethics and moral philosophy.

One of the funniest, most thoughtful and clever comedies I've ever watched. Ever. The characters are delightful and by the time the final minute rolled around I had sobbed my heart out multiple times (which, as we all know, is a sign of the very best comedies out there).

As for the question of whether or not this too contains Found Fami- Yes! Obviously, yes.

7. Avatar: the Last Airbender - (containing 3 seasons, or 61 episodes) - intro here (couldn't locate the trailer but it's basically the same thing in this case).

The four nations lived in harmony. Until the Fire Nation attacked.

It's been a hundred years since the beginning of the war when two kids from the Southern Water Tribe find a boy frozen in ice and wake him up. A boy who's able to bend all four elements... though not very well.

Enter multi-nation flying road trip (thank you Appa, we love you most of all) as they try to find teachers for the Avatar and save the world.

Includes found family (shut up), amazing fight scenes, the most heartfelt and vivid characters ever, and the best example of a redemption arc actually done well.

8. Love Between Fairy and Devil - (containing 1 season, or 36 episodes) - trailer here.

This one gutted me. I'm saying this as a compliment. But it had to be said. Completely destroyed me. I just haven't been the same.

A love story between an Orchid Fairy and the leader of the Moon Tribe that starts out with her accidentally releasing him from millennia long imprisonment and then takes you through the caleidoscope of all possible human emotions (it's a body-swap comedy through the first part, then a romcom, then a dramatic romantic tale, and finally a tragic love story).

But it's such a satisfying slow burn.

And it carries this... humanity through the whole thing that makes it so visceral.

If you're a romantic who's very tired of instalove and characters dropping all their morals because 'ooh, attractive person' then you've got to watch this. Because this story does NOT take the easy road there.

(my more extensive rec for this series can be found here)

9. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - (containing 7 seasons, or 133 episodes) - fanmade trailer here (it was better than any of the official ones).

This series did so much. Introduced Ahsoka Tano, and made us love her. Gave names and faces and souls to the Clone Troopers (okay, it's the same face but you know what I mean), to a point where their endings during Order 66 destroyed me just as much as the ending of the Jedi Order. And somehow made me both love Anakin AND be a million times more angry with him.

There are some arcs in this series that might be a bit weaker. But there were some... god, there's a reason I love Clone Wars more than any other series or trilogy in this universe. And I'm not even a little ashamed to say it.

Must watch for Disaster Lineage shenanigans; for the vod'e; AND for the Jedi (who did their best okay? They always did their best 😭💔).

(and on the subject of found family... do I even need to comment)

10. Nikita - (containing 4 seasons, or 73 episodes) - trailer here.

A rogue assassin that escaped Division - covert government agency that takes recruits out of prison, fakes their deaths and then forces them to become spies and assassins - has come back to take it down. Brick by brick if she has to. With guns and explosives too when that works better.

Contains soooo many cool fight scenes. Is full of incredible characters you'll fall in love with (and hate with) very quickly. And most of all has an incredibly complex relationship of mentorship and friendship between two women that holds both great admiration and betrayal, real care and love as well as rage and hatred, forgiveness, mutual respect and an unbreakable kind of bond that so very rarely involves even one female character on TV, let alone two.

(as usual, found family tropes up the wazzoo).

-----

In conclusion. We all know there's going to be a large space between seasons of our favorite shows now (and some shows that aren't going to survive it). Let's fill that space with some excellent TV we haven't had a chance to see yet.

And direct the blame for the wait towards the right place (i.e. the studios).

[wlwinry]

okay so about that d20 leverage au that won the poll. we're gonna do this in bullet points bc it just works better for my brain i suppose (see tangled au for examples)

postcanon

several years postcanon

we're talking early to mid twenties bad kids

funnily enough fig dropping out did a great job of setting up this whole thing bc the premise relies on the bad kids, while still loving each other and being a team, eventually splitting off to do their own thing. and their various "own things" spiral into crime, and they lose contact with each other, only to all be pulled into the same job later and end up being a team again. yay!

but first. context

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW. leverage is a tv series that ran from 2008-2012, following the heists of the leverage team: a group of criminals, each the best in their field (hitter, hacker, grifter, thief, mastermind) taking down corporations and ceos and giving the money to their victims. it's really fun and has the best found family portrayal ive seen in A While

back to the bad kids

fabian drops off the grid first in true dramatic fabian fashion. by faking his death to escape his mother's abuse for good. and then deciding to be better than his father--by doing a better job of stealing than him. he uses his dexterity to his advantage and becomes one of the most dangerous art thieves in spyre. he's the thief

gorgug takes on a few security jobs for the council of chosen when his parents' ownership of the tree is threatened, to ensure they'll have the money to keep their home. this spirals, however, and to keep both sets of parents safe he ends up taking a few jobs on the...more dangerous side. and once you're in, it's hard to get out. he's a retrieval specialist utilizing his specific barbaficer talents--he's the hitter and the maker

the court of stars goes back on their word regarding adaine's payments. with an understanding of arcanotech and her foresight, she takes to siphoning money from the people and organizations who don't need it to ensure that the mordred mortage stays paid, lydia's PT is covered, and that bee applebees's (who moved into the manor midway into senior year) college stays paid. she also takes a few jobs and challenges to pay her own bills. the oracle is, much like in batman, the hacker

being the former chosen one of helio and the lead cleric of a new pantheon gives you a lot of connections, and kristen has always been good at filling in gaps and better at negotiating than people realize. if she needs to cut a few backroom deals, dig up dirt on some prospective allies, she'll do it. the system's failed her and the others before. why shouldn't she work outside of it? kristen is the fixer.

fig's music career takes off--and then the dawn family decides to go after and disgrace sandra lynn after fig makes it clear that she's coming after them for hurting her mom. fig digs more and more into her disguise and con-artist talents to get them to back off, and by the time she takes them down...well, fig (no cig figs) might not be onstage anymore, but she's given some very impressive performances, and she's ready to take a more hands-on approach when it comes to getting what she wants. fig is the grifter

riz doesn't want to take the council of chosen job. he doesn't. his mom's biggest fear was always him following in pok's footsteps, and he doesn't want to work for them after how badly they've failed him and his friends (his lost, missing, or seemingly dead friends), but...they pay well now. really well. better than PI work, and he figures he'll work for them for a couple of years, save up enough to quit, and then maybe try some adventuring of his own. this goes on until he gets a mission: steal a particular set of new arcanotech spell components. his team has already been hired.

his team is the rest of the bad kids

it's one hell of an awkward reunion. everyone is happy to see each other but no one knows what to say, so they focus on the job and try not to think about how this might be the last time they work as a team. riz definitely doesn't let himself think about it.

until it's revealed that this was a ploy by the council to kill them all off. the company they stole for was in on it, because the council promised to put them ahead of the competitors that the team stole from.

unfortunately, they forgot that the bad kids are Very Hard To Kill, and very dangerous when pissed off

riz leads the team in a very elaborate heist to take down the company who was in on the plan and humiliate the council of chosen. it works. it's beautiful. they're a team. heartfelt conversations are had. they fall back into old dynamics with a side of new skills, new goals, new experiences. they missed each other. they love each other.

and then they win. and it's time to separate--except they don't. because they've fought plenty of bbegs in their time...but maybe it's time to take down the enemies that the law can't (won't) touch.

the six of them are the leverage team, and riz is the mastermind.

[deconstructthesoup]

Some miscellaneous stuff for the Fantasy High Leverage AU:

After getting kicked out, Kristen got taken in by Ankarna and Cassandra, who are living their best country-lesbian vibes out on a farm together---a farm which eventually gets in financial trouble and almost gets shut down by a corporation, which is how the crew learn about Kristen's past before she was a hitter. The farm winds up doubling as a safehouse. (Also, Ankarna wears flannels and has a shotgun, and Cassandra does tarot readings at their stall at the farmer's market on weekends. They also have a little black cat, with no relation to Kalina.)

Despite all the rumors swirling around, the way Fig and Fabian met is surprisingly mundane: when Gilear moved from Portland back to London after he and Sandralynn divorced, Fig went with him, and she got enrolled in the same school that Fabian was attending. The two of them became fast and immediate friends, wound up becoming the most popular kids there due to their combined chaos and the fact that they were kind to those who needed it, and were pretty much inseparable from that point forward. And when Fig introduced Gilear to Fabian's mom, who'd been widowed for a while and was looking for someone stable... well, as much as Fabian complained, it meant that he and Fig were officially siblings. (They learned how to grift from Hallariel, who was a very well-renowned thief in her day. It's how she met Bill, after all.)

Fig is the sibling who's the "bad actor in a theater setting, good actor when she's breaking the law" type, though it's a bit more complex than that. She's amazing at coming up with a character on the spot, building off of the questions that people ask her, and remembering details so none of the information contradicts what she's already said, but she finds scripts "boring and restrictive," and always tries to put her own spin on things... which doesn't always fit well. She does get a little better at following a script of sorts when she's on the crew---at least, she learns to follow the plan.

Kristen hasn't gone by "Kristen Applebees" since she was fifteen---instead, the criminal underworld knows her by "Kristen Justice-Forester," referencing her adoptive moms. Mostly because that sounds generally more badass, but also because she really wants to forget about her old life as the church girl next door.

Gorgug's legal name is "Gavin Thistlespring," but he's been going by Gorgug since he was twelve---it was the name of his first ever D&D character, and it eventually became his hacker handle. (This is really because I just needed an explanation as to why a perfectly normal human in a world that's basically ours would be named "Gorgug." I do something similar for Fig in a lot of my AUs---her name's either just "Fig," or she's named after a character from a fantasy series that Sandralynn likes.)

Someone suggested that Kalina is the Sterling equivalent, and I liked it so much that I decided to make it canon---but instead of being Riz's former partner, she's his dad's old partner and mentor who was forced to help cover up Pok's death. She's not necessarily bad, but she does have a very black-and-white view of morality, and she's not a fan of Riz's new, less-than-legal idea of justice.

Adaine still has the Parker rep of being "crazy," but in a very different light. Rather than being a thrill-seeking ball of chaos who's an unpredictable wildcard in every way when the story begins, she's unsettlingly quiet, perceptive to the point where she can predict things minutes in advance, and acts seemingly without morality and with her own skewed logic. As she spends more time with the crew and warms up to them, however, everyone starts to see that Adaine is unflinchingly and unfailingly kind---and that once she actually warms up to you, she will talk nonstop about anything she's invested in, whether it be obscure history facts, thieving tips, or whatever show, book, or video game that one of the others has gotten her hooked on. She's just closed off as a defense mechanism.

Fabian is the sibling with a deep and personal bond with Riz---not that Fig isn't close to him, but Fabian and Riz shot each other when they first met, and you can't beat that. And while Fabian used to have a thing for Riz, he eventually realized that Riz wasn't interested in any kind of relationship, though neither of them fully had the words for it (because, y'know, this story still starts in 2008). Still, though, he considers Riz his best friend and vice versa, and once he's on the crew, he never dates anyone without introducing them to Riz first. And his affections tend to bounce back and forth between Gorgug and Ragh. Or both. Let's just say that Fabian's got the most romantic drama out of any of them.

Riz is still close with his mom, despite the fact that, as a lawyer and former cop, he knows that she probably wouldn't approve of what he does. He just tells her that he runs a private detective agency, which isn't too far from the truth---hell, it's their cover story, after all.

Fabian's father was the greatest thief in the world when he was alive, but that came with a lot of enemies, and that's not something that Fabian wants to deal with---not to mention, he's always been adamant about making a name for himself, and to not just skate by on the Seacaster name. If that means that he has to refer to himself as "Fabian Faeth," well... so be it. He reasons that it's Fig's last name. Not Gilear's.

Fig has never met her bio-dad before the story begins... but she does meet him eventually. There's a whole thing there.

Adaine does not kill Angwyn in her backstory. However, she does get to do that eventually, and it's cathartic as fuck.

[incomingalbatross]

Straw Hats as Leverage Roles

Luffy: Mastermind Captain. NOT the guy who forms plans but he IS the one who sets their goals and who brought the crew together. The one who gets to say "Let's steal an [x]!" while the rest of them pinch the bridge of their nose and try to explain that's not stealable (it is). On the ground, he's good as a hitter and an unexpected natural as a thief. CANNOT grift. CANNOT hack.

Zoro: Hitter. Plain and simple. Does not have a strict no-kill rule but does avoid guns because he's not good with them. Martial arts or (whenever possible) swords.

Nami: Thief and grifter, mainly. A little bit of an all-rounder because she needed to be able to pull off jobs by herself, but her main skills are breaking and/or conning her way into places and getting out with the goods.

Usopp: Hacker. Good with computers. Sniping is replaced by remote-access tricks and his electronic toys. CANNOT grift, don't listen to him when he says he can. Working on his fighting and thieving skills.

Sanji: Hitter and grifter as needed. Likely the one going in to pull other crew members out of bad situations, when they need some subtlety for that. His primary role, though, is still Cook — Luffy's crew requires good and reliable food in every universe. (His cooking can be used in cons but cannot be drugged.)

Vivi: Grifter, primarily. Their friend with legal contacts/resources who has a life of her own nowadays but is willing to help as needed.

Chopper: Backup hitter, but they already have a solid heist team at this point and he's primarily their medic. Generally hangs back unless there's a medical angle to his job, but everyone's teaching him bits and pieces of their skillsets as they go. (He likes hacking, and thinks thieving is cool. Awful at grifting but tries his best.)

Robin: Grifter with a side of everything. Like Nami, she's had to learn to do things for herself, but her main skill is ingratiating herself with other people who will fill the gaps in her abilities. Expert on art and archaeological history, of course — sometimes seems to know the contents of every major museum on earth by heart.

Franky: Hacker. Terrifyingly good at breaking the enemy's stuff or turning it into something completely different. Not good at subtle in quite the way Usopp is, but he knows electronics inside-out. Builds the team so many robots and drones.

Brook: Grifter with a side of hitter — was an excellent thief in his younger days, but doesn't quite have the flexibility he used to! (This team's a little light on thieves and high on grift, but what can you do?) Robin can get what she wants out of people, but Brook can get them to want what he wants. Pulls them in and connects with them, somehow without ever losing himself — he doesn't become the part, he makes them listen to who he actually is.

Jinbei: Hitter, with some experience of grifting and thieving. Was a solid mastermind for his old crew, but they didn't do the same kind of things as Luffy's crew. He's content offering support and the benefits of his experience now.

(Actual schemes are cooked up in group meetings, with Nami and Sanji taking the lead on proposing ideas, Usopp and Robin giving additional perspectives, and everyone else chipping in as relevant. Zoro only argues on questions of the crew's safety. Luffy listens and then gives the final say.)

[unloneliest]

talking about a role swap/somewhat darker au of original leverage with @asterlark & having an absolute ball in this bitch

parker (aka p@rk3r) as a hacker/architect of plans/manipulator of systems. in canon she's already a brilliant mathmatician, and the biggest change in this au is that rather than getting involved with getaway driving/car theft in upper elementary/middle school, she starts learning to code & hack. whether or not she continues her education past middle school, her learning is in her own hands & it's a choice she makes. she's still very isolated and singular, but somewhat less so than in canon—as a hacker, she's somewhat more able to find other people who are strange like her.

hardison as a grifter/fabricator/with some complimentary digital skills, though it's not what he specializes in. he goes by alec in this AU. much like this alternate parker, he just had slightly different formative experiences and landed on a different specialization—the people skills he mentioned learning going door to door with a foster family, his background in theater tech (is that canon?). creating a believable person out of nothing becomes the game for him, and a tool. he connects so well with others in canon, and that's the key unchanging piece here.

eliot as the thief. we see a bit of that with how he presents himself in the pilot as a retrieval specialist—but this eliot would have a big key difference from canon. he comes from a similar background of violence, but he got out before getting too involved with moreau. and that means he trusts his own judgement in a way he doesn't in canon. he trusts himself to discern others' trustworthiness and moral character. this is an eliot who can fight, but chooses not to—not just with guns. he looks, moves and behaves very differently in some ways, but is exactly the same in others. an equally high level of body control and awareness is required of both hitters and thieves, but with different ultimate goals/specifications—different form due to different function.

sophie is annie croy (of the beantown bailout job) in this au, and she's the hitter of the team. she's rougher around the edges, but equally as canny & insightful. she's very commanding; intimidating in the way the canon glimpse of annie croy is. she has canon hardison's grift difficulties as the team comes together—prone to overdoing it—in part because she knows she can just shoot her way out if things go sideways for her. she has none of eliot's qualms with killing, though.

in this AU, nate's not on the team. the treatment was approved for his son, but did not succeed, and he and maggie still divorce. in this AU there's no initiating event to drive nate's moral split from IYS, so there is no split, and one of the things he throws himself into in the aftermath is his work. but there's no one left he's close to who could keep him from crossing lines, the way we see him behave at his worst in canon. the nate of this AU is not a pleasant or good person.

in this AU, the team are somewhat less known to be lone wolves—they almost entirely work alone, but not entirely.

parker, alec and eliot get implicated, framed for the same job, when all of what they'd done was solo and none of them did the big crime that they're accused of. and it's a very out of control nate who's investigating the crime that occurred.

they team up in a just-this-once manner to escape the situation they're in, but when things get worse, they reach out to annie croy to join their crew. and the four of them click in a very unexpected way. they have fun together, and they kick ass. things come very down to the wire with nate, though they do succeed. there is no single mastermind, but the group works together in a much more equal way to plan, and it works.

tentatively, they make plans to work together again, & it settles into a more permanent group—one where they help people, much of the time, but sometimes they just do the ruining rich people's lives part without the "for the hyper specific benefit of individuals harmed by said rich people" part. nate is their biggest running villain.

sterling is the inside guy they have, when that's needed. he's the person nate's closest with at this point in time but nate is even acting in a way that's too much for sterling and it's enough to cause sterling to separate himself somewhat from IYS & occasionally work with the team. none of them still like him, but this time it's just because he's still an insufferable person even if they're in alignment.

ultimately, in this au, annie croy both kills nate & fucks maggie, and she's right for that. i support women's wrongs <3

[lucassinclaer]

i only need super minimal encouragement to talk about this soooooo ty @freetobeeyouandme lmao. been thinking about stranger things heist au again. and it got long into brainstorming territory so just... (waves hand vaguely) thoughts continue under the cut.

legacy families like the byers who never pulled high-end jobs, content in their little pond being small-time crooks incapable of understanding why jonathan, with all his flawless lifts and situational awareness, would try to reach above and start in on the big jobs.

joyce who met lonnie on a job and joyce and jonathan who protect will from lonnie's frustration when will turns out to be an awful thief who doesn't enjoy crime the littlest bit. (he does turn out to be quite the forger when the time comes, though.)

contrast with that the wheelers who are an all-american halfway happy law-abiding family whose eldest, nancy, walks eyes front into a life of crime to protect her friend and finds that it becomes inevitable, a sort of ceaseless need to keep going. who never wanted her little brother involved.

but apparently the wheeler siblings have some sort of crime beacon on them because of course nancy quite literally crashes into her brother trying to take down the same scumbag two towns over she is, although he looks at her like she's crazy when she lays out her plan and man, what her little brother has planned is actually pretty clever and much more subtle than the approach she was gonna take. they have ground rules, but she doesn't try to keep him from pulling jobs. she knows it'd be useless.

dustin is an incredibly bright kid with what may be a slight tendency to go overboard in the name of Science. he loves blowing stuff up every now and again, okay?! and also it's just criminal (heh) what some pharma companies do so he might be breaking into their headquarters and screwing with their formulas and contaminating their experiments until he figures out how to take them down permanently. sue him! (but please don't actually sue him, he hasn't found a great lawyer yet.)

lucas on the other hand was dragged into crime kicking and screaming. not something he ever wanted to do. (will will understand but then lucas kind of loses him when he did it anyway.) mike and dustin sort of kidnapped him into it, basically, when they were all still strangers, dustin and mike barely partners on this one con, and they'd needed a patsy who worked for the corporation they're stealing from. unfortunately they were still young and dumb enough to pick someone actually smart who trapped them in an office until they copped to their scheme at which point lucas demanded proof of their accusations which coincidentally was exactly what mike anf dustin were after. after that they can’t really seem to separate. he's turned into a jack of all trades, lucas sinclair - grifter, thief, hitter... even the occasional hacker. not the greatest at any, but good at all.

(we don't talk about erica who will one day give him a heart attack blowing up his whole carefully crafted alibi.)

steve, the getaway driver who hates his fucking job and is in it only bc there was p much nothing else to do until he finds people who show him there's a way to do it that brings him joy, when he knows what he's fighting for.

robin's a strange sort of grifter, not someone who immediately charms everyone in a room, but who knows how to make herself either invaluable or severely underestimated. she speaks like every language under the sun. like steve she has a certain aimlessness at first but unlike steve it's not due to having no ideas but more of a thing of having no options. until they're offered to her. then she's unstoppable.

max is out there somewhere being a thief different from jonathan, self-made and scared and on the west coast. but if they were to meet jonathan would recognize those gritted teeth and the hard work. it's not natural talent that made her so good at what she does but pure stubbornness.

el, on the other hand, is all raw talent and exploited for it for a long time when she's a kid. it's will who meets her first, who gives her an out, but when it lands him in trouble it's the other criminals who help her get him out. joyce, mike and jonathan develop an instantaneous protective streak for her. lucas isn't sold and dustin is mostly in love with her demolitions capabilities and nancy is hungry for the dirt she has on various government agencies.

[jamiesfootball]

Hiiiii i saw your doing the ask game and the Leverage au??? Ooooo I would like to know more please!!!

also I hope you’re having a nice dayyy :)

Hullo!

The leverage au is the thing I'm not writing except that I have, in fact, written a smidgen of already (see 'leverage au' in the tags below for more). The gist of it being that Ted, in an effort to save Henry, did some hinky stuff and fled the States with Beard at his side.

Once in England, they set up shop as a sort of consulting group. The kind that finds the right people and brings them together to fix problems for people who just need a little extra help. From the other side of the law.

Ted and Beard - sort of duo/split the mastermind role between them, with Beard originally doubling as tech support with code scripts he got from less-than-savory contacts

Rebecca - Grifter. Former Mrs. Manion but she assures everyone that once she's on the grift, no one will recognize her (she is correct)

Roy - the hitter. Old. He's been looking for a way out for a while, and since his niece was born he's shifted into mostly doing retrieval work

Keeley - Jewel thief, mostly, but she'll steal anything. She'll nick the wallet from your back pocket, then send you flowers and chocolate at the hospital after she's tased you and stolen your Rembrandt.

Jamie - originally brought in to act as extra muscle, and ended up being trained under Roy - though with strict supervision. Most of the team (except Keeley) were wary about whether or not he was a good fit for the team.

So my idea for the fic is that the story opens with The First Second Job, which is the original team gets together / they kill it job. From there the new talent - Keeley, Rebecca, Roy, and Jamie - make a loose agreement with Ted and Beard that they'd be okay staying on retainer for other jobs he might have lined up.

Unlike the OG Leverage team, there are a few snags along the way:

There is no big score that ends up paying for the whole team. There is a reasonable score on the first job, which lends to decent retainer that Ted can use to keep these four going along with them. Beard cautions him about using the same people every time, but ultimately goes with it.

This also leads to the awkward 'invoicing-of-clients' thing, which becomes more of an issue the longer they work together, as each of them is secretly a bleeding heart.

Jamie and Roy. Having two hitters on the team sounds good in theory, but in practice is a struggle, especially when they come from two different schools of thought. Roy is a threaten first and the last resort is that you hit them fast and you hit them accurately - you don't prolong the fight. Except Roy isn't that fast anymore. Jamie is, but Jamie....has issues. It's clear that wherever he's been practicing his craft, it's been a 'hit fast hit hard and fuck not getting hit back, just mow them down' sort of lesson.

(He learned from his dad. If that wasn't clear.)

The lack of a hacker on this team gradually becomes a bigger and bigger obstacle going forward.

Nate is this universe's Sterling, of a sort, and starts sniffing them out.

Rebecca, it turns out, does have a sort of secret agenda going, mostly involving her ex-husband Rupert.

Ted, it turns out, also has a secret agenda, mostly to do with why he left the States in the first place, and these people are essential to that part of his plan.

Keeley doesn't have a secret agenda, but she's also not really believing that this is all going to last and she's ready to bail at a moment's notice.

Roy can sense that something fishy is going on in the air. He doesn't know what, and his senses can't tell who it's coming from. He's. Really disappointed in these people.

Jamie had no agenda. He is the last to know that everyone else saw this coming : (

Now that is not to say this will be a bummer! There are lots of found family moments and bonding and people caring about each other and general seriousness! But the more I plot this out, the more the tone shifts to a more realistic-feeling world than the one OG Leverage resides in.

Right now the overarching plot would be a sort of extended version of Leverage season one, building towards the reveal that both Ted and Rebecca have conspired to create a scenario in which the team helps them achieve their goals. Then everything goes to hell in a hand basket.

Then they work as a team to get out of trouble. Together.

Even in my head this feels like it's going to be a loooooong plot. I'm already writing another loooooong thing. Which is why I tell people I'm not writing it.

Except for the parts I've written.

[thebahwrites]

TG ‘86/TGM  Leverage AU in which Mav and Ice are the only remaining members of the old squad but then a new insane job that involves destroying a huge corporation that’s killing a small town or something like that comes along and they need a new team, so Ice gets his ~old contacts Cyclone and Warlock into finding them a team of proper ~~experts~~ to team up with Mav again.

Character ramble under the cut but I’m just, shakes fist, THINKING SO HARD ABOUT THIS. Just this heist team-found family shenanigans of old criminals putting a wholeass team together and them becoming family.

And then we get, of course: - Iceman as the mastermind/the brain. Ice Cold plans, no mistakes. Maybe he’s not as insane as Mav but his plans? Flawless. - Maverick as the partner-in-crime/master criminal, of course. Man was a CIA cold war spy who simply “disappeared” at some point, never to be found. Became a legend where criminals were concerned. Dead? Alive? Impossible to catch. Some people might even believe he was D.B. Cooper and all. Man is just impossible to catch and does whatever he wants. Too chaotic. (Insert backstory.) - Rooster, Goose’s son*, as the hitter/muscle/brawn/physically trained bastard, the field specialist with a random bunch of skillsets (he plays piano? getaway driver? cook? sing?) that would make him a very decent spy if only he didn’t have a TEMPER, so in general he’s just VERY GOOD at everything else that doesn’t require direct acting or talking too much; *adjacent story with being Mav and Ice’s surrogate son after Goose’s death, etc etc - Hangman as the reckon/spy/grifter, man’s got charm for days, can play any part and has the lightest hands in the business, catch-me-if-you-can type. Nothing gets past him. Watch the hands, not the mouth might be his biggest trick. Getting him into the job? Was a job in itself. Renowned art thief/white collar criminal. Foster kid who got adopted into a rich family and learned how to act the part maybe?  - Phoenix as the thief, safe-cracker, stealth skills to the max, will break in and out of any vault, security code, lock and key. Will get in and out through any vent, limbo skills against safety lasers to the max. Also a proper martial artist. Ex-CIA who wanted to do good but turns out being like that doesn’t really help anyone. - Bob as the specialist. Phoenix’s partner in crime & best friend, the one who maps out the territory, her guy in the chair (and ultimately the team’s). He’s the one who knows the places, schedules, everything there is about their plans. Has NO social skills alright but he’ll have everything memorized to a T.  Don’t put him to directly interact with the targets, though. No sad backstory, he really just decided to Robin Hood the gig after realizing the insurance companies he tested security systems for were absolutely corrupt and screwing up their clients. - Fanboy as, of course, the hacker & gadget guy. The guy in the chair. He’s not the one to draw plans but he’s the one who help make it all happen, is a huge dork and knows way too much not only about pop culture but about pretty much everything culture. IT genius, definitely broke into the Pentagon systems and got himself into hot water. Payback was his saving grace. You know. The weapons specialist/assassin. The nickname comes with a reason. Mellow dude, another former CIA you don’t wanna piss off. The team hopes they don’t need to use his skills but you won’t get a better sharpshooter in the business. He usually sits with Mickey during their assignments and helps him out with the tech prep. - Coyote as the fixer, he didn’t start as Hangman’s partner but they did a lot of work together so they’re happy to be in the same crew together. Not a criminal as his main profession but he’s ‘the guy who knows a guy who knows a guy’, he’s got the inside, the networking, he can sell anything to anyone, knows everyone, is generally well-loved by the underground community. His main job? Family’s pawn shop. Ends up roped in because he cares about Jake and hey, why not. - Halo, Fritz, Omaha, Yale & Harvard as the guest-in-a-while with different needs to fill in. Omaha & Halo as the decoy/bait, being models as their actual job but they’re friends with Hangman! Fritz as another hacker, Fanboy loves him but their styles are just too wildly different so he brings him in when they need extra juice. Yale & Harvard as underground number runners, the counting cards type people that you DON’T wanna piss off, usually they run casinos to the ground and disappear.

Did I think too much about this? Yes. Did I actually think HARD about it? Yes. Am I considering writing? Maybe. If no one else does. I have even more ideas for the 86 crew. ANYWAY. Please don’t look at me.

[stories-me]

Potential Character for Mrs. Kelsey and Tumblr 9/21/2023:

Parker, the Thief of Leverage:

Background:

(Spoiler Alert! Watch out and take care!)

An expert thief, cat-burglar, pickpocket and safe-cracker, memorably referred to (by Eliot, the Hitter) as “20 pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag”. The product of an abusive childhood spent in several foster homes, Parker is awkward around other people and has a terrible understanding of social norms. Over the course of the series, she comes to regard the other members of the team as her family, and for the first time in her life, trusts someone other than herself. Sophie (the Grifter) and other members of the team have attempted to improve gaps in her social skills on numerous occasions, usually with limited success. As they become closer, Parker develops romantic feelings for Hardison (the Hacker), but her inability to properly express her feelings leads to a slow, awkward courtship. While emotionally impulsive, she can demonstrate great physical self-control in her work using acrobatics, strength, and concentration to her advantage. Parker was trained at a young age by expert thief (and recurring character) Archie Leach, and her obsessive focus on theft is to the point that her safe house is filled with gear and rappelling equipment to help her in various jobs. Parker is often sensitive to cons involving children, and at several points, the team’s other members were thrown into danger when she went off-script to ensure an at-risk child did not end up like her. In season 5’s “The Broken Wing Job”, she proves that she can handle problems on her own while the other team members are away and seems to be, with Nate’s guidance, developing her ability as a planner. In the series finale, Nate retires and leaves the team in her hands as the new Mastermind.

How she is like me:

We both have trouble fitting in with others (like I’m usually obsessed with fan fictions, at times), we’re both smart, and we’re both loyal to folks we care about. Also, we both focus on things that are important to us. By the way, I’m WORKING on fitting in with others.

Kelsey Notes:

Her “terrible understanding of social norms” can relate to the communication and social skills deficits associated with an autism diagnosis.

In the past you have been open about not feeling embarrassed until the recent years as you have progressed-

When someone feels embarrassed, they develop more motivation to be accepting of social rules that have might have been ignored in the past (i.e. realizing that its gross to fart and pick your nose in public)

In addition to your fan fiction obsession, sometimes you might let your emotions get the best of you- people are less likely to want to form a friendship with someone who is easily frustrated and raises their voice at others. 

Over the years you have progressed greatly in your ability to keep calm when in situations where small talk does not revolve fanfictions- because of this you have been able to maintain a successful zoom with your friends for quite awhile now. 

Accepting that you have difficulty in understanding social norms makes it easier for you to communicate with others that some social understandings for you are just an area of weakness. 

It does not mean that you are rude or that you don’t care, your brain is wired differently to where social rules and expectations are big picture concepts that require learning over time

Emotionally impulsive- you can relate to this when you are faced with problem solving situations that require you to wait for a solution.

 Extended time required for problem solving is difficult for you

            In these situations it is more difficult for you to control your emotions as you wait for a problem to work itself out

[magic-number-3]

Women in REDD

One week ago, Rose Allen was arrested. Again. Three days ago, a 'lawyer' in a bright red pantsuit and a slicked back ponytail makes her an offer; to use her thieving skills to become an asset of a top secret organization. The catch? She would become legally and publicly dead, taking a new identity as one of their agents. The woman makes it clear why she was selected. Rose doesn't have anything, or anyone, to leave behind. But the stranger has also done her research, and knows Rose has an abundance of untapped potential, if only given the right resources and pointed in the right direction This Rose's chance to finally make something or her life. Or more accurately, to make a new one.

One day ago, Rose Allen was announced dead. Agent Jasper is a Woman in R.E.D.D.

Starring

Amita Suman as Rose/Agent Jasper, AKA the Thief

Rhea Seehorn as Agent Snapdragon, AKA the Grifter

Lesley Ann-Brandt as Agent Heart, AKA the Hitter

Indya Moore as Agent Lace, AKA the Hacker

Becky G as Agent Fox AKA the Wild Card

[aiyexayen]

Ask game: 3, 7, 16?

from this ask game

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics? hm. i generally enjoy trying new things a lot, so from the inside at least it's harder to pinpoint this sort of category (outside of writing style analysis). but let's see. i know i tend to favour fix-it post-canon au settings and canon diverging explorations for sure. or else short moments of character study. i definitely favour established relationships (of varying kinds), rare pairs (except for wenzhou which is still such a strange exception i have no good explanation for), and the themes of home and family and belonging. if anyone else has any ideas/insights into things they find characteristic of my fics i'd love to hear it.

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of? i am still and forever proud of my cql/pern crossover au Qiuth with the jiang sect as a weyr, and i actually want SO MUCH to write more in that world and explore more of it. someday when the muse strikes again i sincerely plan on that. going through my posted works to see if there's anything else and sjdlkfsjlk not to be vain but damn i actually like most of my worldbuilding in fics where i've had to do any. XD it's so incredibly obvious how much my writing is just me cooking up my own feasts to enjoy and being glad to share in case anyone else likes them too.

16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)? well in the same vein as above, if anyone else ever dabbled in my (or similar) pern au 'verse i'd devour it. i can think of some other au's i'd love to read or just explore the concepts of in general that i am currently writing for that very reason. but outside of those, mm, i'm not sure if this already exists but i'd love to read a leverage-esque plot modern heist au of shl characters. ooh especially including a crossover with cql characters. that could be really fun. just think of the thematic lines re: growing up an outcast, getting pushed out of society, choosing to be outside of the world/law, disdain for extant systems, compulsion toward justice no matter what kind of person you believe yourself to be/to have become, reluctant heroes, reluctant criminals, second chances, lost and found family, building trust, learning how to function as a team/unit and exploring your strengths and letting others compensate for your weaknesses... oh no, don't let me think about that anymore. fuck. i thought about it. i can't believe i have to write an au now about post-tianchuang zhou zishu finding out jin-wang is responsible for the death of his brother and getting briefly tricked into masterminding a con against him by ulterior-motive zhao jing with a team of assorted criminals including but not limited to: grifter liu qianqiao, hitters wen kexing and gu xiang, thief han ying, hacker wen qing, and communications/gadgets expert wei ying, with appearances from forger xie-wang, informant nie huaisang, and mechanic/driver luo qingyang.

[onyxbird]

I posted 4,114 times in 2022

That's 1,685 more posts than 2021!

198 posts created (5%)

3,916 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bostonbakeddeans

@icannotreadcursive

@vickyvicarious

@party-gilmore

@original-missif

I tagged 3,371 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#q - 1,500 posts

#dracula daily - 370 posts

#leverage - 350 posts

#eliot spencer - 221 posts

#mr. quinn - 164 posts

#leverage aus - 159 posts

#the sandman - 126 posts

#cats - 111 posts

#leverage ot3 - 81 posts

#alec hardison - 69 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

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

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

895 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

#4

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

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

1,042 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#3

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

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

1,494 notes - Posted May 16, 2022

#2

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

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

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

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

1,706 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

2,406 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[displayheartcode]

NEW LEVERAGE TRAILER DROPPED

July 9th!

In this new iteration and new world, the Leverage crew have watched as the rich and powerful continue to take what they want without consequence. Grifter Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman), thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf), hitter Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane), and hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) have watched the world change over the last eight years.Since their last job, it’s become easier–and sometimes legal–for the  rich  to  become  richer  and  the  powerful  to  squash anyone  who  gets  in  their  way. To  address  the changes in the world around them, the team finds new blood in Harry Wilson (Noah Wyle), a corporate lawyer who is looking for redemption after realizing he’d been sitting on the wrong side of the table for his entire career, and Breanna Casey (Aleyse Shannon), Hardison’s foster sister who has a knack for computers, robotics, and getting into trouble.

[dailyleverage]

LEVERAGE 2.0

Series / Drama / 16 X 60

The Rich and Powerful take what they want… and the Leverage team is back to take them down!  Sophie Devereaux (The Grifter), Parker (The Thief), Eliot Spencer (The Hitter), and Alec Hardison (The Hacker) have watched the world change over the last 8 years.  It’s become easier – and sometimes legal -- for the rich to become richer and the powerful to squash anyone who gets in their way.  Sadly down one team member, they find new blood in Harry Sullivan, a corporate lawyer who is looking for redemption after realizing he’d been sitting on the wrong side of the table for his entire career, and Breanna , Hardison’s foster sister who has a knack for computers, robotics, and getting into trouble.

In this new world, our team will use their collective skills to take down a new kind of villain. From the man who created an opioid crisis from the comfort of his boardroom, to the woman who prefers to deport workers instead of paying them, to the shadowy security firm that helps hide dangerous secrets for a price... when someone needs help, we provide… Leverage.

[kane-town]

LEVERAGE 2.0 Series / Drama / 16 X 60

The Rich and Powerful take what they want… and the Leverage team is back to take them down!  Sophie Devereaux (The Grifter), Parker (The Thief), Eliot Spencer (The Hitter), and Alec Hardison (The Hacker) have watched the world change over the last 8 years.  It’s become easier – and sometimes legal -- for the rich to become richer and the powerful to squash anyone who gets in their way.  Sadly down one team member, they find new blood in Harry Sullivan, a corporate lawyer who is looking for redemption after realizing he’d been sitting on the wrong side of the table for his entire career, and Breanna , Hardison’s foster sister who has a knack for computers, robotics, and getting into trouble.

In this new world, our team will use their collective skills to take down a new kind of villain. From the man who created an opioid crisis from the comfort of his boardroom, to the woman who prefers to deport workers instead of paying them, to the shadowy security firm that helps hide dangerous secrets for a price... when someone needs help, we provide… Leverage.

PRINCIPLE CAST

Gina Bellman, Aldis Hodge, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Noah Wyle, Aleyse Shannon

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Dean Devlin, Rachel Olschan, Marc Roskin, Kate Rorick