#nate ford headcanons

[leverage-ot3]

the bisexuality spectrum: leverage edition

parker: is bisexual as in she doesn’t really care about things like gender

eliot: can appreciate the differences between the genders because they are all hot in their own ways

hardison: similar to eliot as in he thinks the different genders all have their own attractiveness's

sophie: men can be distinguished but women are Hot. everyone is equal opportunity to seduce in a con

nate: attracted to men, women, etc but specifically tends to find himself in homoerotic nemeses

harry: was in a straight relationship for so long he forgot just how hot men could be until he joined the leverage team (eliot was his bisexual reawakening)

[leverage-ot3]

op: #nathan ford is not a nice man but he's the only thing standing between us and jimmy ford's son

Who wants a really sad Leverage headcanon?

Was re-watching the Gimme a K Street Job -- Season 5 Episode 5 -- and a couple of things stood out to me.

1) Nate says "Let's go steal some congresspeople", and then sends everyone on the team (except Parker, who's being a cheer coach) out to con one of their targets. But it feels like there's a profound mismatch in who gets which mark.

For the "not like other girls" feminist congresswoman who's inclined to dismiss cheer as worthless and demeaning, you need Eliot to come in looking like a man who very much knows what does and does not count as a sport, and be his tiny angry respect-women-juice self about how regardless of what you think of their choice of clothing they are working as hard as any other athlete and they deserve safety as much as anyone else. But instead they sent Hardison.

For the "Yes I am very busy and important; admire me" chairman, you need Sophie, who is better than anyone else on the planet at making you feel admirable when you're doing what she wants, and scummy and low when you're not doing what she wants. But instead they sent Eliot.

For the "Look I am trying, but I need corn subsidies or I won't be able to do anything else" newbie congressman, Hardison could happily have gone on an infinitely recurring series of fetch quests until he sees the place where they loop around and bottom out and every problem solves every other problem. But instead they sent Sophie.

2) Eliot struggles the most, so Nate works with him the most, but he doesn't help him out hardly at all; he just keeps saying, "So what's your next play?" and then revealing that he's already anticipated Eliot's next play and has all the materials in place to enact it. And of course, they do eventually get the dude on board, and it all works out, but afterwards, Eliot tells Nate, "I trust that some time soon you'll tell me why you had me slogging through all that when you already knew how to hook him."

And of course, knowing what we now know about how season 5 ends, it makes sense that Nate is trying to train the OT3 to work without him, looking for his replacement.

Except.

If the plan is to fuck off into the sunset with Sophie, then why did he throw Sophie into this uncomfortable not-my-wheelhouse scenario?

No, Nate's preparing the entire team to carry on without him. He's forcing them to learn how to plan, learn different ways of approaching problems, to think about bigger pictures and approach them strategically.

...

I think Nate just got the first diagnosis of the disease that's finally going to kill him. And again, we -- the audience -- now know that he's going to live for many years after that initial diagnosis. But he doesn't know that, at this point. He knows he's tested positive, and he knows it's eventually going to kill him, and he has no idea how long he has.

And in some sense, it doesn't matter how long he has. Three months or thirty years, that kind of revelation makes it stunningly clear that taking care of the people you love means making sure that they can take care of themselves.

So that's what he does: he throws them into new, uncomfortable situations where they'll have to grow and support each other without him, so that no matter what happens, they'll be able to keep going. Because he's not a nice person, Jimmy Ford's son, but by God does he know the importance of protecting your family.

[ageofthegeekdotcon]

The more I think about Eliot having autism, it starts to make both more sense and less sense...

[evasleveragefanshit]

Okay, here’s my favorite crack leverage headcanon:

The reason everyone ignores Hardison and just makes up identities on the fly is because they know they have to get there first if they don’t want him to stick them with the most ridiculous names imaginable.

I mean it’s already basically canon! The way Eliot grumbles about getting named *insert dr.who/ appropriately geeky reference*

But then we get to the other half of this theory. It’s a game. They’re all trying to one up Hardison. Nate says it’s immature and refuses to admit he’s playing but also took first place with “Gnar Slabdash”

[werewolfsmile]

re: "All I’m saying is the fact that someone isn’t talking to me about Eliot Spencer every second of every day is very unfair and borderline illegal." & tags - if you want to, can you elaborate on your werewolf!eliot ideas?? i’d like to hear about it!! if not all good tho :)

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Yes I would love to elaborate! (buckle up because i have Thoughts)

(wow this really got away from me so uhhh .... warning for 2k of ranting about Eliot as a werewolf?? list of headcanons under the cut)

From the moment I first met Eliot Spencer, I knew he was werewolf-coded. Aside from his insanely fantastic fighting abilities and the absurd amount of punishment he can take, there are many other factors that contribute to his werewolf status.

Eliot needs a pack Our boy is out here working on his own for years and look at all the good it did him! None! He carries severe trauma from his family life because he blames himself for how it all went down and doesn't think he'll be welcomed back. Plus something probably happened during his military days or early PMC days to put him off working with others. Could have been the pain of losing people all the time, could have been something more. Either way, Eliot working on his own is a defence mechanism - but a self-destructive one.

Wolves thrive in packs - like duh, they're pack animals. As my username suggests, I'm into werewolves and, by extension, wolves. I've done research for my own werewolf novels in the past, so I know that in an average wolf pack, each pack member will have physical contact with the other pack members on the regular. Like, several times an hour! (gosh if I can find the research paper this info came from I'll link it but honestly it's been years) That's a serious level of physical contact required to keep the emotional bonds of the pack healthy!

Flick back to Eliot. He loves to fight, he loves the violence and the pain, yes. He hates the killing and the blood on his hands. He actually tries to leave the assassin world behind after he meets Toby (which is before he meets Moreau, as per early dialogue in The French Connection Job). He bonds quickly with Toby. Show Eliot a little love and care and he's yours for life! He moves onto retrieval work, then somehow ends up working for Moreau.

Now, when we see Eliot and Moreau in The Big Bang Job, Moreau says, "You work alone." Which means that Eliot had that reputation when he came to Moreau. He probably only took contracts to start off with. But he accepted job after job from Moreau and was so good that he was highly respect and it's inferred he ended up as Moreau's top bodyguard/assassin. Why the hell would Eliot end up that close to a man who brings out all the worst in him? Because Eliot's a werewolf and no matter how toxic, Moreau fulfills the need for a pack bond that he's been missing all this time.

Fast forward to Eliot meeting the rest of the Leverage team. One job only - my ass. He saves Hardison's life after Hardison brought a gun to their little meeting - and we all know how Eliot feels about guns.

Wolves are designed to live and operate in packs. Eliot says it's one job only but is bonding with them all from the get-go. Werewolf trait confirmed.

Eliot needs physical touch Now, I know what you're thinking. Eliot canonically avoids physical contact with the team. He refuses hugs, especially from Hardison, growls at Parker poking his bruises (don't get me started on the growls), and shoves people (ahem Parker) out of his personal space. So why would he do all this if he needs physical touch??

Because he's one gigantic ball of angst and self-loathing and guilt.

Eliot doesn't think he deserves forgiveness or love or family, etc. That is a whole other rant, but he denies himself the physical contact he needs with others as a way of punishing himself.

However, as the series progresses, we see him become more comfortable with physical contact! He hugs Hardison several times, he doesn't move away from Parker, etc. Why? Because he's bonded with this team (ahem pack) and there's only so much he can suppress his instincts. The more time he spends with them, the more naturally the contact flows.

Eliot needs to protect others Whenever we get a scene of the team walking as a group, where is Eliot positioned 90% of the time?? That's right, at the back of the group. He lets the others walk in pairs and falls back to bring up the rear. He's keeping them all in his line of sight and constantly scanning for threats ahead, along with protecting the team from any rear attacks. It makes sense for him to do this given his military background, but it also makes sense for a werewolf to do this.

He's the only werewolf in the team. His instincts revolve around keeping the pack safe and protected, so he does that in the best way he knows how.

Not to mention how feral gets over kids!!

Wolf life is all about the pack and the family structure. Pups are integral to the pack's survival and future. Eliot doesn't have kids of his own. But that doesn't stop his instincts from blaring every time he interacts with a kid, be it on the con or off. He takes time out every time to help that kid in an attempt to calm the raging storm of instincts inside his body.

Eliot needs to feed others It's another werewolf instinct that rears its head when they're in the safety of their headquarters (ahem den). Protecting the team/pack from physical threats is just one aspect of taking care of them. Feeding them is the other major one.

None of these idiots can cook to save their lives - except Nate, but he's also drowning his liver 90% of the time, so Eliot has to compensate for that, too. The team can't operate at full capacity if they're not consuming good nutrition. So Eliot makes sure to feed them.

His humanity recognises that these are independent people - coworkers - and he can't control every meal of every day. But he can cook for them, once a week or once a job, which is just enough to satisfy his instincts that he's doing his part to care for them. Plus they love his cooking, and the praise he gets from it is an unexpected but pleasant bonus.

Eliot and team sports/kitchens This ties in with my first point about Eliot needing a pack, but all the times we see Eliot go super hard and get absorbed in the role he's playing are when he's on a team sport or he's in the kitchen. Both of these fulfill super important instincts for him - being in a team/pack and providing food for others.

Think about The Tap-Out Job. Eliot's playing a fighter but he's not pretending to be on a team. He doesn't get over-invested in the role. But what about when he's a baseball player? A hockey player? He falls into those roles hard because he's working with another team again, and this little werewolf is built for that environment. Same in The French Connection: the kitchen becomes his den, the students are his pack mates, and he goes hard at investing in them and protecting them. Never mind the personal aspect of Toby.

Same for episodes like The Fairy Godparents Job when we get a scene of Eliot teaching a bunch of girls self-defence. Team setting + protecting kids = happy werewolf instincts.

So, werewolf headcanons? I have a lot of different origin theories but the main one I like for Eliot is:

he became a werewolf either for a covert military op, or was bitten by Moreau (choose your own angst flavour)

if it was for the military, they were trying to engineer supersoldiers and he was deemed a failure; he has werewolf instincts all the time but only has enhanced strength, healing, etc on full moons

if it was bitten by Moreau, there's a psychic-style bond linking them, which is why he was so loyal to Moreau for so long, and also why he is so reluctant to go after Moreau

(wow this is too different theories already and i said this was my 'main one' whoops)

Eliot can only shift easily on the full moon; shifting outside of a full moon can only be caused by extreme stress and is ridiculously painful

he suffers an insanely high prey drive all the time and is so strict about his control because he doesn't actually wanna rip out the throat of Random Guard #3

he used to chain himself up for full moons so he didn't hurt anyone, but since the team found out about him, Hardison and Parker have taken it upon themselves to 'puppy-sit' him every full moon

this involves no chains but an obscene amount of dog chew toys. Eliot is never impressed. He also never chases or chews the toys. The video evidence Hardison has was obviously doctored.

Hardison and Parker found out the truth when a con went sideways and Eliot was trapped in a room with them during the full moon

he was terrified he was going to kill them - or worse, bite them - but his instincts recognised them as pack so instead he just tried to wrestle with them all night

Hardison had a major freak out when he discovered Eliot was a werewolf - it's one thing to be obsessed with sci-fi/fantasy, it's another thing entirely to see your best friend transform before your eyes

Parker was not even remotely phased, being all like, "pfft of course werewolves are real, I thought you knew that Hardison, you talk about your elves and orcs all the time!"

"Woman that is completely different and you know it!"

"What else do you think is fake? The tooth fairy?? Ha!"

Eliot is Done With Their Shenanigans

Parker only ever refers to Eliot as Sparky when he's in his wolf form

Sophie didn't actually know about werewolves before the reveal but she pretends that she did

Nate knew about werewolves before Eliot, he just chooses to pretend that they're Not A Thing

werewolves generally don't make good hitters, because the constant exposure to violence ramps up their hunting instincts aka they find it hard not to kill

of course, this doesn't matter if you're someone like Moreau who specifically wants killing machines and thus turns his top hitters into werewolves, to ensure loyalty and enhance his strength

the only other werewolf hitter not under Moreau's control that Eliot knows is Quinn, who most certainly did not pull his werewolf strength punches when they tousled in The First David Job

Quinn doesn't have a pack (werewolf or otherwise) and genuinely doesn't seem phased by this, which pisses off Eliot to no end

however, after they work together in The Last Dam Job, Quinn deems himself Eliot's Best Werewolf Bud and keeps popping up randomly to hang out on full moons, etc

Parker and Hardison are a bit weirded out (and a little jealous) of Quinn's attention initially, but soon get over that when they discover that two werewolves on a full moon absolutely play for hours like 6 month old puppies - especially with the tug rope

Eliot is Extremely Susceptible to belly rubs even in his human form, which is half the reason he pushes people out of his personal space a lot - his reputation would never survive anyone finding out

of course the entire team figures it out and take to ambushing him with belly rubs whenever he's being stubborn or annoying

belly rubs are also the only way he will relax enough when he's injured so they can treat his wounds

despite the incessant dog jokes, the ever-growing pile of dog toys, and the bowls labelled with "Sparky" and cartoon bone symbols ... Eliot absolutely adores the pack he's found himself in and wouldn't change them for the world

One of these days I will sit down and write a thousand fics for werewolf!Eliot! Till then, I'll just keep churning out the headcanons ;)

[leverage-ot3]

I feel like there is an alignment here...

nate- does not want to be famous, does not become famous

sophie- kind of wants to be famous, does not become widely famous (exception: becoming beloved first lady of san lorenzo and gets her face on a bill). knows that becoming famous would hinder her ability to con

hardison- wants to be famous for the meme, does not become famous (though not for lack of trying)

parker- does not want to be famous, does not become famous

eliot- does NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE want to be famous, frequently becomes famous

I've seen people talk about it before on here, about how eliot is good at virtually everything and that would be tired really quick if not for the fact that he doesn't show off about it (for the most part) and VEHEMENTLY does not want to be famous or acknowledged for those skills. he very much wants to stay under the radar, which is why it is funnier and a better running gag that he keeps getting famous against his will

bonus: parker and hardison continually use whatever power they have to make eliot's aliases famous. they keep entering his various aliases in cooking shows and stuff like that because they think it is funny when he gets all huffy about it (and they know despite his moaning and groaning he likes being able to do things he's good at that doesn't involve violence!)

so i'm re-binging Leverage and is it just me or does it seem like whenever they have to be celebrities for a con none of them actually become mildly famous except for Eliot

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

My headcanon:

Hardison and Parker are the only two that are allowed in Eliot's personal space unannounced.

He has to see Breanna and Harry coming- because if he doesn't- on instinct he might hurt them.

Sophie and Nate can be in his personal space- on a good day.

But Hardison and Parker?

They're allowed.

Parker can throw things at Eli any time she wants to. She can run her hands through his hair and steal his sweatshirts, shirts, and even flannels. Sometimes- Eli and Hardison catch her wearing his beanies. And she's always welcomed in his home. Day or night and he's never surprised seeing her there. (Sometimes when Eli brings a girl over- and he walks into his apartment and she's on his couch- he kicks the girl out.) Parker is more important than a one night stand. In the morning- Eliot has her favorites on the bar waiting for her. Eliot kisses' Parker's forehead or temple sometimes.

(Hardison isn't jealous of their friendship. Eliot is the only person he truly trusts with Parker.)

Hardison is one of two people who can take food off Eli's plate or fridge. (Parker is the second one. Duh!) He's also the only one that Eliot can sit and listen talk geek speak- if anybody else does it, Eli growls at them to shut up. He is also allowed in Eliot's apartment unannounced. Usually he comes with a movie and they have a guy's night. (Eventually Parker shows up and they end up snuggled on his couch.)

[delulubuthot]

Just finished rewatching leverage for the first time (haven't seen redemption yet) and i like to think that Nate and Sophie never actually left Portland, they stayed there because Sophie liked it (im probably wrong

[my-beloved-lakes]

Leverage Headcanon Ask Game

Send me an emoji and I'll respond with a headcanon about:

🗝️The OG team

🛟 The Lev. Redemption team

💅 Sophie Devereaux

🐺 Eliot Spencer

🍫 Parker

🍺 Nate Ford

⌨️ Alec Hardison

🔧 Breanna Casey

📜 Harry Wilson

💕Nate x Sophie

🥨 Parker x Hardison

🍩Parker/Eliot/Hardison

Feel free to specify if you want something angsty or fluffy

[leverage-ot3]

op: #ive been obsessed with black sails#really unsure about Parker's job but idk if she fits being a Mate#she would need a more hands on job#but rigger doesn't seem as important a role as she demands

@bobbiesquares and @goodomensguyagreed: 'bosun parker? they’re like a level below the first mate'

Pirate AU leverage

Captain!Nate

First mate!Sophie

Navigator!Hardison

Quartermaster!Eliot

Rigger!Parker

[cotyledon8]

💵 leverage agere headcanons

→ it’s never something they officially put a name to, although sophie and nate put an extensive about of research into it in bursts, even as they learn as they go. it’s just something that is sometimes.

→ board games and movie nights are a big thing they try and do sometimes, even as some of them still deny wanting to do such ‘family events’. board games always end up interesting when none of them are what can be called a good loser, or tolerant winner.

→ they never try and assign ages to anything, not wanting to complicate things into being uncomfortable; but there is still that established dynamic. nate and sophie take great delight in looking after their brats, sophie and eliot take turns being the smallest between them, and hardison gloats endlessly about being older than them both. it usually gets him kicked.

→ despite not having an established guideline and set way everything plays out, nate and sophie did come up with a set of loose, yet enforced rules for whenever any of them were feeling small; to drink enough water and eat enough food, get a decent amount of sleep, and that they’ll say something if they start feeling small during a con. it annoys the trio endlessly that they exist; even if the care is secretly nice

→ sophie brings home little trinkets whenever she goes off to do a job, or go travelling somewhere; she brings home gifts and such that always become treasured objects in the house

[ageofthegeekdotcon]

LEVERAGE team except its my hc on who would get what Yankee Candle :3

(can u tell I'm running out of things to yap about)

[werewolfsmile]

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

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

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

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

-- @scotchiegirl

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

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

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

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

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

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

[leverage-ot3]

additions from the tags:

@owl630: #i feel like parker's highest stat is dex and she's got low cha but other than that I agree

@faorism: Tbh parkers is likely dexterity but otherwise absolutely

@laser-tripwires: #i would argue charisma is parker's dump stat#but she's very good at rolling nat 20s regardless.

@emyrys: #eliot: dex then wis (1 pt diff max) then Con then Int and str tied then...#let's face it - eliot rolled perfect 18s across the board

@kittydesade: Hardison may have a 21 Int but he did not make Wis his dump stat, unlike Chaos. Cha0s? Ch40s.

@digitaldiscipline: Eliot: This is constitution erasure. I've been shot more than Nate has and wasn't a giant baby about it.

@kidsomeday: #my favorite show!#and you are absolutely correct#every single one of them also has wisdom as their dump stat#except maybe eliot#i love them all so much

just started watching leverage for the first time and so far my conclusion is that they’re like a dnd party but they all have charisma as their highest stat. it’s fascinating.

[gnar-slabdash]

Speaking of last names.... and I'm just totally spitballing here in the interest of getting some representation for something i wish I saw more of.....

My favorite headcanon about Sophie's name is that the reason she never admits to a "real name" is because after all of her different identities and all of her identity crises, being Sophie Devereaux is how she got the opportunity to really decide who she is and where she belongs, so she's decided Sophie Devereaux IS her real name.

Nate, meanwhile, his name is so very tied up in his history with his father, who he still loves but doesn't necessarily want to identify with. And when he got his dad a new identity, he put his mom's maiden name on it, wanting to tie both of them more to her history rather than the ignominious one that has Ford stamped on it.

When my parents got married, my mom felt a lot of loyalty to her family identity, and her family was really good at welcoming my dad in and making him part of the family too. My dad on his side had the opposite experience, his family was very controlling and very excluding and neither of them really wanted to continue to be part of that. So they decided what worked for them was, my dad took my mom's name. And you know what's fucked up? That was in the mid-eighties, and to this day I've only met like one other person whose parents did that, haven't ever met a M/F couple of my generation who did that, and definitely haven't ever seen it in media. It's weirdly isolating to never see representation of this one little thing. What the fuck is up with that? Is this one bit of patriarchy just THAT pervasive that the idea of just choosing whichever name works best for the couple is just unthinkable?

Right, so, I was talking about Leverage. Now I'm not saying Nate would ever in a million years be the one to SUGGEST it. And it would definitely take some arguing to come around to it. But I think in the end he'd acknowledge how awesome it would be to throw away the patriarchal demand to uphold a family tree he's trying to break away from, and instead take a completely fictitious name that became, through love, his wife's real name. I think it would be in the true spirit of building a found crime family based on what matters to them, their relationships to each other, and not having to do things the way they've been told they should.

Also I think they should force Sterling to officiate and have to be the one to stand up and say "I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Devereaux."

btw if you DO know of media where this happens or if you or someone you know has done it, I would love to hear if you're willing to share :)

[leverage-ot3]

bonus: