Alec Hardison - Blog Posts

why does this feel like it would fit for parker and elliot with hardison as spotter?

anyone else see it?

Hardison: Don’t worry. We’ll watch your back.

Client: Oh yeah? Who watches yours?

Parker: *smiles*

Eliot: *appearing out of the shadows*

Eliot: *hair flip*

Eliot: *looks really cool*

Eliot: *another hair flip*

Eliot: That… would be me.

Flight Attendant: Please make sure all small items are secure!

Hardison: *grabs Eliot next to him and holds him tightly against his chest*

Hardison: Do you feel secure?

Eliot: I will hit you.

The Greatest Showman AU (I might write this)

Characters/Who's who:

Flynn- PT Barnum

Eve- Charity Barnum

Jacob- Phillip Carlyle

Ezekiel- Anne Wheeler

Cassandra- Lettie Lutz (bearded lady)

Jenkins- Constantine (the man with 1000 tattoos)

Nicole- Jenny Lind

Songs:

A million dreams: As kidsFlynn talks to Eve about all the dreams he has about their future. He shows her an abandoned house and they play around in it. Flash forward, Flynn comes to admit his love to her and she's done with finishing school. They get a home together in the city. He continues to talk to her about the future they'll have.

In between that and come alive, he looses his job, buys a museum and ends up turning it into a house of curiosities.

Come Alive: He's encouraging these people to be proud of their oddities. Charles Stratton is the first, followed by Cassandra, the bearded lady and the Lord of Leeds. Then that night during the show, there are a couple more acts. The trapeze artists, Ezekiel and a close friend Alec Hardison (this is foreshadowing for a oneshot I'm gonna write) soar through the air.

The other side: Flynn meets Jacob Stone, a rich man who writes plays and has his fathers inheritance. He offers him a drink and Jacob doesn't refuse. Flynn offers him a job, "take the key and see the other side." Jacob turns him down. "I'm okay with the uptown part I get to play. I don't need to see the other side." Flynn watches him go and stands to follow. "Is this how you spend your days, whiskey, misery, a lifetime of plays? No joy or laughter? I guess I'll lab it up to you~" Jacob joins him on the other side.

In between other side and never enough. He goes with Flynn to the circus and they end up in a boothe and comes fave of face wit a gorgeous, exotic man has he is flying on the trapeze. "Who is he?" "That's Ezekiel Jones, one of many trapeze artists. Though he is the best."

Still dumbstruck, he follows Flynn down the stairs and comes face to face with Ezekiel again. "Ezekiel, Alec, meet Jacob Stone. Hell be joining us from now on."

Ezekiel steps towards him, but Alec is staring him down. "What's your act, Mr. Stone?" His accent has Jacob even more dazed.

"I uh... Don't have an act." "Everyone's got an act."

Jacob manages to get the entire troupe to London to meet the queen. He still has connections even though he lost all his inheritance.

They met Nicole Noone and Flynn is awestruck by her. And maybe she can sing.

Never Enough- Nicole sings her opera about nothing being enough for her. Jacob stands with the troupe because he's come to respect them. During the part where she days take my hand. Share this moment with me, Jacob take Ezekiel's hand but drops it when people look back at them. Ezekiel walks away. (FYI they're back in America)

Before This is Me, Flynn I'd introducing Nicole to Eve. Then he brags to Eve's old family about being successful like her dad said he wouldn't. Then he leaves the troupe in the back hallways.

This is Me- Cassandra lifts everyone's spirits. They go into the room anyways. Then they go past the protesters outside the circus. The whole group going "I'm not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me" At the protestors. Then it's showtime. They're singing. Ezekiel makes eye contact with Jacob in one of the rooms above the seats. "I make no apologies. This is me" And that's stomped into the ground.

Before rewrite the stars, Jacob goes to meet Ezekiel at the playhouse. Ezekiel us trying to refuse the two tickets. Jacob shows up. "I wasn't sure you'd show up if I had asked." They go in and are walking up the stairs, arm in arm. "Jacob?" It's his dad. He insults Ezekiel and caused him to run off. Jacob tells off his dad before going after Ezekiel.

"Who cares what they think?"

"You don't get it." Ezekiel looks ready to cry. "You've never been looked at they way your dad looked at me."

Rewrite the stars: Jacob talks about rewriting the stars. Ezekiel and him are meant to be. "You're my destiny." He's trying to keep Ezekiel down at his level as they talk, but he keeps going up into the air in the trapeze. Ezekiel talks about how it's not easy. How they can't be together. "No one can rewrite the stars." They both begin to do the trapeze together, but at the end, they're nearing a kiss and Ezekiel pulls away. "You know I want you, but we're bound to break and my hands are tied. "

Before tightrope: Jacob is trying to talk sense into Flynn about staying and not going on tour with Nicole. He's not listening. He never listens. Flynn is staying goodbye before climbing into a carriage with Nicole to go on tour.

Tightrope- Eve sings about everything she's ever done, she's done it to be with Flynn. "Life's an adventure with a breath taking view. Walking a tightrope with you."

Before from now on, Flynn almost kisses Nicole, then he does and reporters catch pictures of it. There's a fire when Flynn gets back. Jacob is helping the troupe out, but realizes Ezekiel isn't with them and runs back into the burning building. Ezekiel comes back out another way. Everyone is frozen in place. Flynn goes running into the building and Eve screams for him to come back. The building collapses. Then, Flynn emerges from the fire, dragging Jacob with him. He's badly burnt and wheezing.

Ezekiel sits with him in the hospital.

Eve finds out about the kiss and their marriage is ruined.

From now on: The troupe finds Flynn in a bar. "If you've come to get paid, it won't happen." "Mr Carson," Cassandra says. "You've brought happiness into our lives... What more could we want?"

They sing about how they'll be a family from now on. Flynn goes to make things right with Eve.

Before the greatest show, Jacob wakes up and Ezekiel finally kisses him. "You're here."

Flynn makes up with Eve. It was hard for her, but she truly loved him.

Flynn comes back from the bank. They won't loan him anymore. Jacob laughs. "You being who you are, I asked for my pay weekly. I put it aside."

"I can't take your money, Jacob." Flynn now tries to be humble. Ezekiel sees through it.

"Why now are you being humble, Mr. Carson?"

They talk about it, but they won't be able to get another building.

"I can get us some land by the docks. All we need is a tent."

They greatest show: They sing about how it's the greatest show. First it'd Flynn as the ringmaster, but half way through, he turns it over to Jacob. He runs into the ring. "This is the greatest show!"

Flynn runs home to be with Eve.

That's it. That's my au.

Leverage Redemption Season 3 Trailer!

Premiering 17th April

You’re insane, I love you

LEVERAGE GRIFT TRACKER

I FINISHED SEASON 1! Shoutout to @grandma-waldo for the idea

Extra details in the parameters and the job list. I kept a list of all grifts in order they occur through season 1. If I thought about it before hand I would have draw a line between each episode but oh well hindsight and all that.

Any questions? Yes I welcome them and I'll try to answer them. Want to know why I split something? Just ask - there was definitely an overthought process to my madness. Any ideas on adjusting job titles? I want to hear it please. I invested too much in this lol but it's been fun.

Season 1 was tough in trying to decide what the jobs would be while trying to keep them broad and trying to think so I wouldn't need to add anymore come later seasons . Also me and excel nearly got into a fight.

I'm going to do the rest of the show but that will be slow coming. When I figure out how to make a master list with links, I'll make one. Since this is like my 4th post on the topic and there will be a bunch more to come

Surprises and Revelations

- Hardison grifts in intense spurts

- there was only 1 real royalty grift in season 1??? And it was hardison?? But there were 5 Southern Belle/Beau grifts

- Sophie was the first athelete?? Ik I already posted that but it still shocked me (Olympic luge)

- Parker interacts with people more than most of the team - she thieves in the shadows but she talks to people often as a misdirection

- FBI and just an ordinary person (Civilian) were the most common grifts of season 1 > not surprised since everyone played FBI in pilot part 2

- runner up was The Damsel. Plenty of times the team did the Damsel and Damsel's Knight grift together as a misdirection. But going "oh no I need help" to a stranger/mark was more popular

- Hardison and Parker were the most likely to play the Damsel card

(Sidenote: i thought about wanting to know all the scams the team calls out in the show. "Burn scam" "the cherry pie" etc. But I think someone has already made a list but I can't find it. Also my family might kill me if I restart the show - again. I was already getting side eyes for skipping back a few seconds to check out who was grifting when I wasn't paying attention)

If you've read this far! Thank you! Hope you have a great week!

First off, I didn’t realize that this didn’t get posted last Monday (woops), so it's late but hey, why not?

This week I moved away from MDZS and TGCF and got hooked on a few different fandoms. I was browsing and found someone recommending this Good Omens fic and I’m so glad I read it and am reall surprised I hadn’t heard/read it before! It is for sure a new all time favorite. Overall, I jumped around a few fandoms and I’m ending the week by (once again) becoming obsessed with Star Trek TOS/AOS fics (a.k.a spirk) and managed to find some new favorites (one of which I already recommended to my best friend). 

GOOD OMENS

🔹️ 𝙊𝙉 𝙀𝙎𝙋𝙄𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙂𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙋𝙃𝙀𝘾𝙔 (𝙊𝙍 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙏𝙊 𝘼𝘾𝘾𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙉𝙏𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔, 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙒𝙃𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙔, 𝙁𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙄𝙉 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝘼 𝙎𝙊𝙃𝙊 𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙆𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙍) [AO3] by 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙩𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙍𝙤𝙡𝙡 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Aziraphale x Crowley 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Explicit | 21 Chapters | 133.4K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: 1941 is the London Blitz and the year that MI5 really comes into its own with the new infamous ‘double cross’ system. The service keep tabs on suspects, root out enemy agents and try to turn them into doubles.

Anthony J Crowley is fucking great at this job. He can be sneaky, underhanded and damn ruthless but also charming and kind. It’s what makes him good at turning.

Aziraphale is just a regular Soho bookseller who loves his shop and books and good food and wine when he’s approached by a woman claiming to be MI5, wanting to recruit him for espionage. The poor man is too trusting and gets the shock of his life when he’s approached by a charming but dangerous-looking man also claiming to be MI5.

Crowley recruits Aziraphale to double cross a double crosser and Aziraphale takes to espionage like a duck to water.

Danger, hijinks, and sex ensue.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: A human au I didn’t know I needed! Somehow the author manages to blend everything really well into a human au while keeping everyone in character.

LEVERAGE

🔹️ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙃𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 [AO3] by 𝙗𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Alec Hardison x Parker x Eliot Spencer 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | General | 1 Chapter| 9.5K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: The woman laughs, her crinkling behind her silver cat-eye glasses. “You must be Eliot,” she says, cheerfully. “He warned me you were charming. Where is he?”

Eliot’s stomach drops as he realizes tat this a terrible fucking mistake, because this ain’t a random elderly woman showing up to collect cans or take up donations or whatever it is that elderly woman in weirdfucking places like Portland do. This is Hardison’s nana, and Eliot has just opened the door to the apartment--to Hardison and Parker’s apartment--like he lives there.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: When Hardison’s Nana visits Eliot ends up feeling like an outsider. This fic showed us Eliot’s insecurities and how he feels like he’s intruding but Parker and Hardison prove his isn’t true with the bonus of introducing us to Hardison’s Nana! (We need more fics with Nana.)

🔹️ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙊𝙈𝘾𝙊𝙈 𝙅𝙊𝘽𝙎 [AO3] by 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙮𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙯 [Tumblr] [AO3] [LiveJournal]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: Alex Hardison x Parker x Eliot Spencer 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Teen | 1 Chapter | 4.7K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: Five times Parker, Harrison, and Eliot lived out romcom tropes for a con, and one time they found themselves in one for real.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I love 5 + 1 fics and this was just so cute, especially because they don’t realize they are playing out romcom moments.

STAR TREK (TOS/AOS)

🔹️ 𝙒𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙈𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙂𝘼𝙄𝙉 [AO3] by 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙨𝙠𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: James ‘Jim’ Kirk x Spock 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Teen | 13 Chapters | 123.4K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: For the first time in his life, things are going right for Jim Kirk. He’s been promoted to captain, he’s getting the flagship, and he gets to hand-pick most of his crew. When he’s sure that it’s bound to mess everything up. There’s a catch, though; even though no one (Jim included) knows it, this is the very same Spock that Jim was best friends with as a kid.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: An amazing fic about what it would have been like if Kirk and Spock were childhood friends. The author has an amazing talent of writing everyone in character and making sure that you get hooked and can’t put the story down. I knew by the second chapter this was going to be a new favorite and by the time I finished had already recommended to one of my besties.

🔹️ 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝘾𝙆 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙀 [AO3] by 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: James ‘Jim’ Kirk x Spock 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Explicit | 5 Chapters | 24.7K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: What really happened on Ardana. It’s James Kirk, not Droxine, who Spock wants to woo.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: Basically, Spock tries to make Kirk jealous which may lead to them both finding out their attraction is more mutual than originally thought. 

🔹️ 𝘾𝘼𝙎𝙏 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 [AO3] by 𝙨0𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙧0𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣 [AO3]

𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎: James ‘Jim’ Kirk x Spock 𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘚: Complete | Mature | 7 Chapters | 42.3K Words

𝘚𝘜𝘔𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘠: Kirk saves Vulcan from Nero at high cost to himself. It falls to Spock to pick up the pieces.

𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘚: I thought this fic was really interesting because I don’t recall ever reading anything like this before. It was a really awesome fix it 

My all time favorite quotes of Hardison and Elliot showing support for Parker (S02E13 - the Future Job)

Tara: “He is good.”

Hardison: “He should be shot.”

Parker: “…cut off his arms. And his head. Yeah, I wanna kill him. Can we make that happen?”

Elliot: “Yeah, I can. I mean, I could…” (heavily implies murder)

Finally watching 3x01 of redemption and I loooove the Hardison and Eliot thing where Hardison will poke fun at Eliot, just generally tease him, right after Eliot’s just done this big act of violence - “there’s my special guy, how was your first day of school?” Because it’s very standard “teasing is their love language” but I think it comes from a place of Hardison poking the bear so Eliot will know his family isn’t afraid of him. Like, after Eliot knocks half a dozen people unconscious like it’s no big deal, there’s this characteristic reassurance from his family, this, “I know you’re still you.”

I like how leverage has a genius character and an autistic character but the autistic character isn't the genius character. the genius is a 22 year old black man with adhd who becomes an expert in anything you give him within 24 hours and the autistic character is a white woman who jumps off buildings for fun and once stabbed a man with a fork because he encroached on her personal space and sense of moral conduct

the grave danger job killed my grandma

AHH

okay but,, parker being the one to talk hardison through it the entire time, and calling him Alec for the first time

but eliot being the one to drag him out of the coffin and hug him tight

Eliot: Never do that again, man. Don't do that again. Hardison: I won't. I won't.

(is he crying too?)

and then afterwards, when hardison kisses parker on the cheek :(((

Hardison: You know I couldn't have made it out of that with you? Parker: Well, that's not true. Anyone can learn to hold their breath- Hardison: Thanks for not hanging up the phone.

I adore him

Once again talking about missed causal touches of the leverage ot3 in season 4 in “The Cross My Heart Job” Eliot puts his arm around Parker just a little as he’s leading her and Hardison away from the hospital viewing window at the end. And I think he nudges Hardison’s shoulder too to get them moving like!!

(Quick little gif I did just to show it so sorry about the quality but still!!!!)

Like!!! I still stand by something happening in between season 3 and 4. You cannot tell me otherwise the ease this ot3 has amongst each other this season even after arguing for half this episode about the last con

@werewolfsmile I’m tagging you because I know you’ll agree

Okay, somebody can correct me if I'm wrong- but at the end of The Nigerian Job, when the team was convincing Nate that they should keep doing what they did- Eliot's whole argument was Nate. Nate falling apart. Nate needing the chance. Nate not being able to walk away. Nate.

Then, suddenly Eliot became the whole team's body guard. (Something he's grunt and gruffed about.) Yet. Yet. Somewhere (I say it was The Iceman Job and The Inside Job,) Eliot's brain switched from protecting the team to protecting Hardison and Parker. (Again correct me if I'm wrong.) Suddenly his job became more about having Hardison and Parker's back than having Nate's back. Maybe I'm the only one whose noticed- but Eliot become more softer with both Hardison and Parker after those particular jobs. Sure he keeps that gruff, sarcastic wit about him but there's often tones of... protectivness(?) when he interacts with them. Almost like he's telling other people around them- whose in ear shot- that Hardison and Parker are his. Like he's possessive.

Now, I'm not saying Eliot just stops caring about the rest of the team. I mean- he beats up Sterling for Nate and in Redemption Eliot is following Sophie around a handful of times. Their are even times where he has Breanna's back and Harry's. But he seems to treat those situations like a case. He compartmentalizes those situations. With Hardison and Parker- he doesn't. It's like his brain won't let him. He sees Hardison and Parker and it's like- all bets are off.

And on the flip side- has anyone noticed that Parker and Hardison seem to be the only ones that know how to... defuse (is that the right word?) Eliot? Like even Maria couldn't get Eliot to relax in The Hurrican Job. (Of course that's probably because Eliot was hiding who he was to her.) But Eliot always seems to be more relaxed when he's around those two.

In The Iceman Job after when Hardison tries to hug him? Eliot wasn't really fighting it. (I would know- I do that to my brother ALL the time when he tries to hug me.) In The Inside Job- when Eliot went to attack that employee- Parker stopped him. In The Double-Edge Sword Job, when Eliot is furious because an abusive ex comes after a women that they tried to hide- it's Parker that calms him down. It's Hardison who pays off the bartender when Eliot attacks Sterling. It's Parker who is always by his side or close to it. It's Parker who trusts Eliot when their in the back of the van with Vance. (Yes, Parker trusts Hardison too, but Hardison is a hacker- not a protector.) It's Eliot who Hardison listens to when he's not confident. It's Eliot who grabs Hardison from the coffin. It's Eliot who crouchs behind Hardison as Parker flips around him. It's Eliot whose hands are shaking when he they have half a second on a bomb.

Eliot Spencer is Hardison's and Parkers. They own him. In the same way Hardison and Parker are his. He owns them. (Does that make sense?)

For the record- I don't know why I'm pointing all of this out. It's just interesting to me... I guess.

i think it’s noteworthy that parker finds a way, multiple times, to pretend to be with hardison in a con. she kisses him in the first david job, she pretends she’s meeting him to have sex in the wedding job, they pretend they’re getting a marriage visa in the zanzibar marketplace job, and they act like they’ve been making out in the jailhouse job. and i can’t think of a time that she’s done that with any of the others?? tell me if im wrong but i don’t think she’s fake-made-out with anyone else, at least.

i mean, parker stabs or breaks the fingers of guys who flirt with her or touch her. yet in the first david job she kisses hardison. in season one, when she’s still so resistant to touch and her heart is so guarded. its just for the con, of course. but a fake kiss, something she can easily write off - that’s all she can do at that stage. she can’t offer her heart, she won’t let herself get attached, and really it takes until the long way down job (ie season 4) for her to start accepting that she is capable of loving and being loved. in season 1, when she was entirely closed off, a fake kiss is all she can do with her feelings for hardison pretzels. she keeps taking the opportunity to kiss him or be together, without the consequence of Having To Talk About It and all the problems she knows would come with that. her method of coping with Emotions is to let herself get into a bunch of mini fake dating AUs with him lol.

i think its worth bringing up because ive mentioned how sweet hardison is with her, and we all talk about how much he cares for her and shows patience and understanding, but its certainly not one-sided! parker’s enamoured with him since pretty early on. her way of showing it is just different and somehow both far less and way more direct lol. they both put effort into figuring each other out and learning to be in a relationship, not to mention that trying to be capable of a healthy relationship with hardison is one of the biggest driving forces behind parker’s character growth. he’s so important to her (and they’re so important to me <3).

I adore them

(really in my feels about the ot3 because of the @powerpolyculeshowdown so here's some propaganda)

parker and hardison allow eliot to be sillier. more ridiculous. outragous, even. eliot sings the stupid ditties hardison writes special for him, and he rolls his eyes at parkers pokes and prods and the occasional "accidental" face slap, and eliot can express himself for what actually bothers him no matter how nitpicky, versus having to calculate what he should say. (he still argues with hardison that throwing in on a brewpub was a stupid plan given its risk, no matter how many times hardison claims it was always a gift for him.) eliot laughs more. real laughs; you can tell because his smiles look more and more like grimaces: the way his ma perked her mouth which his dad always teased her about (though it was his favorite thing about her), rather than the wide toothy grins eliot learned because he knows, tactically, they are best for charming. parker and hardison let him not feel like he's a monster. or... parker tells him she always thought the big bad wolf had a bad rap, and hardison says some stupid shit about monsterfucking being the hip thing the kids are into these days, anyway.

hardison and eliot allow parker to feel deep. it's food that tastes like a hug and it's gadgets made just for her and it's loving and being loved and it's being one another's real families. she doessn't want to run away, anymore. or... she wants to run but with her friends beside her. or... running cons is all she's ever wanted to do, and all she did, for so long. parker is good at it. she loves it. she loves that hardison and eliot love it too. but... feeling deep is also being deep. she's no longer just her piles of money because she is no longer afraid of herself. her past. the memories that hurt. the habits she thought she needed to grow out of but always missed. these habits, like bleeping sounds that arent words and hands move move moving. hands that were once made to stay now can fly because hardison buys her fidgets and designs some just for her and keeps locks in lucille for when parker feels like infinity and needs the vibrations of ticktickticks to bring her back to herself. and eliot lets her braid and unbraid his hair; he won't let her blow dry it, not yet, but... he lets her pet his hair while it's still hot, now. it frizzes his hair a little, and parker feels her pulse rush throughout the day knowing she did that to him. eliot and hardison kiss her knuckles when they burn.

parker and eliot allow hardison to be mean. vindictive. he is nicer than he needs to be. wants to be... what he needs to be is nonthreatening, for the most part, in many places. he knows what it means to be him: tall and black and queer and gaining muscle and too smart for his own damn good and so very, very tenderhearted. hardison loves so damn deep, and he cares so damn much, but part of caring (the other side of a coin) is not giving a fuck. it's the boiling point of rage and betrayal. the i need to walk away from this fight because you are dead wrong and imma about to say something imma regret, so go fix yourself. the im not gonna forget, im not going to forgive, and im going to get my revenge. parker and eliot would not have questioned hardison's joy at securing the capture of the men that put him in that damn coffin; they hold space for him to be fully himself with all his ugly parts and his petty parts and the parts that do bring hardison shame if he thinks about it for too long. they know he's not perfect, and that? that feels like safety and love and forever to hardison.

I’m crying 😭😭 he trusts them so fucking much

Watching The Corkscrew Job and just ...

Eliot trusting Parker and Hardison enough to go into a situation where he's about to have no oxygen. He would hear over the comms that they're facing down henchmen who are trying to stop them. He doesn't know how long it'll take for them to get air flow happening again.

But there's an innocent person to protect and he has faith in his partners. Faith enough to willingly risk his life time and time again - not just in this instance, but all the others we see over the course of the show. Because Eliot knows that Parker and Hardison will do whatever it takes to protect him, just as he protects them.

There's just something so profound about not even having enough air to draw breath - but it doesn't matter, because you know your partners are out there, fighting to get that next breath to you. And it might take longer than expected. It might not go smoothly, hell, it might not even work at all. But it doesn't matter because your faith in these people is greater than the instincts screaming for oxygen.

Eliot can't breathe without them. But he's used to that - he's been living this way for years already. So he holds his breath and trusts.

Okay but think of the comedic potential of the Leverage OT3 having been together for years by the time of Redemption, and at one point the others find out.

Breanna would be like "oh my god how did I not see that". Sophie would go "oh that explains a lot of things". (And yeah, it would also be on board for her to know, but one, it's been established that unconventional relationships are kind of a blind spot for her, and two, Parker is weird enough and Eliot's act is good enough that it would help throw her off the scent.)

(Harry wouldn't care much probably.)

And the possibilities of how it could happen. Like. Hardison is up in space, Eliot and Parker are doing something for a con, they see someone coming, Parker is like "quick, let's make out", and throws herself on Eliot. Eliot is like "no, not the lips", but he goes along with it, and then when they're in the clear, he's like "why do you always bite my lips? you didn't have to bite my lips", to which Parker replies "I was playing a character. Clara is a lip biter", and Eliot goes on an angry rant about the whole thing, but also the others overhear it, and Breanna checks in like "Eliot always says it? how often do you guys make out on cons?" and Parker goes "Eliot's not talking about the cons."

OR Parker is upset by something, and leaves the room, and Eliot goes after her, and when he doesn't resurface for a while Breanna goes after him, and they're kissing, and Eliot shouts at her to get out, but she's like "Okay. This is not cool. Eliot, you're super scary and I can see you're pissed at me right now, but I gotta call Hardison," and they're both like no, you don't have to do that, but he's already on call, and Breanna tells him everything. Eliot is facepalming and sighing the whole time. Parker is just like "what? they had to find out eventually." And then Breanna finishes, everyone is dead silent, waiting for his reaction, and Hardison is like "So y'all wasted my time with this? [five-minute rant about how busy he is]" Breanna is flabbergasted. "So Eliot makes out with your girlfriend and that's your reaction?" So Hardison just goes "Damn sis I better damn hope that when my girlfriend is upset our boyfriend would go and comfort him. Get yo act together." He hangs up, camera cuts to Breana, her face frozen while trying to process the information. Then she just goes "HOLY SH-" [commercial break]

which fucking queer sat down in the writer’s room for leverage and wrote the rundown job huh ??? HUH ???

why is hardison fist bumping his “best friend” about how hot his girlfriend is ?? why is eliot grabbing hardison by the back of neck, pulling him in with the most intense stare ever, and then doing the verbal praise equivalent of making out with him ??? eliot is an obviously traumatized self reliant prickly bastard, and yet he decides to throw away his crutches and completely rely on the other two for support ???

god take me now. leverage writers had absolutely zero business drenching this episode with all this polyamorous energy in the year of our lord 2012– hell gay marriage wasn’t even federally legal yet. they knew exactly what the fuck they were doing and i am kissing them on the mouth for it.

Ok I just finished rewatching The Rundown Job and so far I have -

The most ridiculously peacocking display of competence porn. What do you mean "'sup Eliot." What do you mean "who needs luck". Where is your damn shame? Where is hundred more episodes of just like this? 10/10 worth every watch.

'I've got a hacker *enter bf*, and a thief *enter gf*'

Only Parker noticing 'too many cops'. It's such a cool detail throughout the show how observant she is just offhandedly, unlike Eliot who observes actively.

Parker pretending to promptly fall asleep as soon as they're in the truck, only to have the handcuffs off in seconds.

"What do they say about me? I hope they gave me a cool nickname." I'll bet all the kudos on my most popular fic that he hacks into his own pentagon file regularly to make up his own nickname.

"Hell your girlfriend's already out of the cuffs" *Parker smiling and sliding them off* AND IT'S DIRECTED NOT TO HARDISON, HER EXPLICITLY STATED BOYFRIEND, BUT AT ELIOT, THEIR BOYFRIEND.

Putting Hardison in those glasses. Those damn glasses. I need a glass of water jfc it's hot in here

'For better or worse, we change together'. Aaaaaand that's on wedding vows.

"I'll drive." "Hold on." "Exactly." "No, I mean hold on. (Our gf is a former gateway car driver)". "Oh. Oh you mean. Yeah."

The hand on the wrist and eye contact and saying 'I'm not afraid. I got the best thief and the smartest guy I know chasing this guy'

HAND ON THE BACK OF THE NECK AND PULLING CLOSER 'HEY LISTEN TO ME YOU'RE THE SMARTEST GUY I'VE EVER KNOWN HARDISON I NEED THAT BRAIN TO GET ME TO HIM. GET ME TO HIM'. Screaming crying frothing at the mouth et cetera et cetera

Figuring out the job TOGETHER

This is Hardison. Hardison likes his personal space. These are Parker and Eliot. Parker and Eliot also like Hardison's personal space.

The eyes on each other's lips during unlocking doors and saying thank you

'Kiss for luck?' the sequel: love boogaloo

HACKING THE MF CAR HORN WITH AN SOS THROUGH A MOBILE PHONE

"BOOM MY BOY THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!" first of all that's his boy so jot that down

Also side note this episode shows the fascinating way Hardison uses his brain and I wish we saw more of it because it's fascinating how he derives what he does from the few bits of data he gathers

"He's on the train!" "Yeah well so am I." "When you pick him out of the crowd-" "No. I'm ON the train! 🙄 Never mind..."

Two good ole boys behind the wheel 🎶 chasing the target and their gf in a million dollar car 🎵 two good ole boys-

*Hanging by her fingertips from a running train roof almost mashed into pulp by signage" WOOOOOO HOOOOO

The way Parker picks him out, not by using thief sense, but mastermind sense that he's immune -> got vaccinated -> pain in the arm. Brilliant way to pick someone out from a crowd while not raising panic

Keeping him talking till she takes the briefcase that he HANDCUFFED to himself right under his nose. How? Well, she's Parker.

"I kept one diamond. Sorry." I love her

Finally "kiss for luck" the trilogy comes to an end

*casually endangers self* "Fire is the only thing that kills it right?"

"Don't do that to me, I can't lose you. Do you understand? I can't lose you. Don't scare me like that. I can't-"

Eliot Spencer: *Barks 'Alright!' at the guy touching him to literally patch up his bullet wound.* Also Eliot Spencer: *ditches crutches so he can lean on his girlfriend and boyfriend*

"I work with them now." Would you like to stay for dinner? "Honor among thieves? Something like that." WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER??!!!

"I don't do hospital." "I told you, he takes getting shot very lightly." Uh huh, you know what I smell? LOVE. In the air! Might be some blood from those bullet wounds too ig.

What a show.

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

*takes a deep breath*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, somebody can correct me if I'm wrong- but at the end of The Nigerian Job, when the team was convincing Nate that they should keep doing what they did- Eliot's whole argument was Nate. Nate falling apart. Nate needing the chance. Nate not being able to walk away. Nate.

Then, suddenly Eliot became the whole team's body guard. (Something he's grunt and gruffed about.) Yet. Yet. Somewhere (I say it was The Iceman Job and The Inside Job,) Eliot's brain switched from protecting the team to protecting Hardison and Parker. (Again correct me if I'm wrong.) Suddenly his job became more about having Hardison and Parker's back than having Nate's back. Maybe I'm the only one whose noticed- but Eliot become more softer with both Hardison and Parker after those particular jobs. Sure he keeps that gruff, sarcastic wit about him but there's often tones of... protectivness(?) when he interacts with them. Almost like he's telling other people around them- whose in ear shot- that Hardison and Parker are his. Like he's possessive.

Now, I'm not saying Eliot just stops caring about the rest of the team. I mean- he beats up Sterling for Nate and in Redemption Eliot is following Sophie around a handful of times. Their are even times where he has Breanna's back and Harry's. But he seems to treat those situations like a case. He compartmentalizes those situations. With Hardison and Parker- he doesn't. It's like his brain won't let him. He sees Hardison and Parker and it's like- all bets are off.

And on the flip side- has anyone noticed that Parker and Hardison seem to be the only ones that know how to... defuse (is that the right word?) Eliot? Like even Maria couldn't get Eliot to relax in The Hurrican Job. (Of course that's probably because Eliot was hiding who he was to her.) But Eliot always seems to be more relaxed when he's around those two.

In The Iceman Job after when Hardison tries to hug him? Eliot wasn't really fighting it. (I would know- I do that to my brother ALL the time when he tries to hug me.) In The Inside Job- when Eliot went to attack that employee- Parker stopped him. In The Double-Edge Sword Job, when Eliot is furious because an abusive ex comes after a women that they tried to hide- it's Parker that calms him down. It's Hardison who pays off the bartender when Eliot attacks Sterling. It's Parker who is always by his side or close to it. It's Parker who trusts Eliot when their in the back of the van with Vance. (Yes, Parker trusts Hardison too, but Hardison is a hacker- not a protector.) It's Eliot who Hardison listens to when he's not confident. It's Eliot who grabs Hardison from the coffin. It's Eliot who crouchs behind Hardison as Parker flips around him. It's Eliot whose hands are shaking when he they have half a second on a bomb.

Eliot Spencer is Hardison's and Parkers. They own him. In the same way Hardison and Parker are his. He owns them. (Does that make sense?)

For the record- I don't know why I'm pointing all of this out. It's just interesting to me... I guess.

I still can't get over how Eliot and Hardison do their "secret" handshake- even though Eliot is miffed that Hardison ate his sandwhich.

I still can't get over how Parker calls Eliot "Sparky," and he's scared enough to rip open his apple- because he actually thinks Parker somehow got a razor blade in it.

I still can't get over how Eliot tells Hardison that he won't help him if he goes to far with "Ice Man," and when Hardison calls him out on it- Eliot blames Parker.

I still can't get over how Hardison comes to Eliot when he needs help brushing up on wine.

I still can't get over how Parker goes to Eliot when she's looking for something to love and he teaches her to love food.

I still can't get over how Parker is allowed to poke and push Eliot.

I still can't get over how Hardison riles Eliot up and it's just reflex for Eliot to say; "DAMNIT Hardison."

I can't get over how they became a little family all on their own.

I adore them

Evolution of Eliot/Hardison hugs over the years.

And the one time that Eliot really needed a hug:

Leverage S02E08/S03E10/S04E01/S04E07/S04E10/S05E09/Leverage Redemption S01E16/S02E06.

I suddenly woke up stupid early on my day off with multiple weird random aches and pains and a revelation about the Leverage chess metaphors.

They’re all wrong.

Look, I obviously adore the white knight/black king motif, and it works really well for that very specific discussion of Nate’s shift in morality and position at the opening of the series. But the show as well as I and other fans have then tried to take that equation and apply it to other jobs and to the crew as a whole. This is fun and awesome, but I believe you’re going to get it wrong every time if you start from the white knight/black king line. 

Because in all other situations, Nate is not the king.

Couple important things about kings in chess: 1. They don’t move much. They can only move one space at a time, and for most of the game they stay in their own little box, well guarded by other pieces. This is because 2. When the king is checkmated (threatened with capture and no possible escape), it’s game over. There is no more hope. This is the sole requirement for losing the game. No matter who else is in play, if the king is down, you lose.

This is NOT how Nate operates. Yeah, he makes the plans, but he doesn’t just hide in the office while everybody else carries them out. He’s almost always right up in there playing the most obnoxious guy you’ve ever met or smashing windows or something. And if Nate gets captured, it’s not game over, in fact, it often isn’t even a PROBLEM. Let’s look at a few times that happens, just for fun: - In The King George Job, Nate’s getting beat up and Eliot slightly panics and is about to run to help, when Sophie says “NOPE, don’t do that, I can fix this without blowing our cover” and saunters in at her leisure. The jig isn’t up and she’s not even particularly concerned about him getting punched. I love it. - In the Maltese Falcon Job, Nate sacrifices himself to save the team. This is a classic thing to do in chess and chess metaphors, but, I cannot stress this enough, you cannot sacrifice your king. That’s just called LOSING. -In The Long Goodbye Job of course the whole con is structured around Nate getting caught. I guess this one kind of makes sense because the whole point is to look like they HAVE completely lost, but then at the end it appears that Nate’s going to secret prison and everyone else is escaping WITH the black book, so they STILL would be losing Nate but winning the job. 

So if Nate isn’t the king, who is?

Hardison.

Let’s look at our points about kings again:

1. Doesn’t move as far or as quickly: Yes, Hardison ALSO gets out there and participates in the cons, everybody does. But Hardison does stay in the background more often, because that’s where his power is. He does the behind the scenes tech stuff and the remote stuff, he can wreck your shop without showing up through the power of the internet. He also does the forgeries of identities and objects, which are also done in his own space. At the same time, he has less physical power and less range – you don’t want him in a fistfight, or a gunfight, and his grifts are notorious for being a little… uh… interesting. So he has limited physical range and power but at the same time… .

2. The game is over if you lose him. That far-reaching behind the scenes power is absolutely vital for 90% of the jobs. He does the massive amounts of research and hacking legwork needed just to START a job, even before you get to actually completing the job. You are pretty much dead in the water without Hardison. But that’s just from a practical standpoint. Losing Hardison is also a crisis from an emotional standpoint. He’s our moral compass and our sweet baby brother and when Hardison gets in trouble there is no “well he’ll be fine for a few minutes” and no “well he kinda had it coming.” No, when Hardison is in trouble everything else grinds to a halt and everyone comes running. (See: The Experimental Job, The Grave Danger Job, The Long Goodbye Job.)

So like, yes Nate is in charge. But the king isn’t in charge on a chessboard, the king is just a piece with a very unique role, which Hardison fills much better than Nate does. So, now that we have our real king, who are our other pieces?

Queen: Parker. This has nothing to do with her dating Hardison. The thing about the queen is she can do a little bit of everything – she can move in any direction, making her the most dangerous piece on the board. Parker’s whole character arc is about learning all the different roles and how to access the whole playing field. She’s the only one who plans and executes an entire episode-length job by herself (okay, with a little help from her girlfriend). Plus, the other cool thing about a queen is she has a built-in transformation story – a pawn that crosses the board can become a queen, which Parker mimics by initially being dismissed as “the crazy one” and ultimately becoming the mastermind.

Knight: Sophie. I know, I wanted Eliot to be the horsie too, but this makes more sense. The knight’s deal is that it’s sneaky – it’s the only piece that can turn corners – and it can jump over obstacles. Sophie’s whole philosophy of grifting is that she shouldn’t need to know about safes or security systems, she should be able to bypass (jump over) all that by insinuating herself with the mark (being sneaky by playing a character to get behind enemy lines)

Rook: Eliot. This is the straightforward one – it goes in a straight line. It also literally represents the castle walls. It’s also so, so fucking helpful to have around, I fucking hate losing my rooks. It’s your solid right hand man, basically. Is this a little reductive of Eliot? Absolutely, but I’m jamming five complex characters into five predetermined boxes, it’s not all gonna be nuanced. And I think Mr. Punchy would like being seen as the fortress that everybody depends on, and to let all the nuance go under the radar. That’s where he likes it. 

Bishop: Finally, here’s where Nate is hiding. While the rook can only go straight (lol), the bishop can only go diagonally. Nothing can be straightforward for the bishop, he always has to come at things from an angle. Like, you know, constantly looking at all the different angles of a situation and finding the right angle to come at a mark from. Also, the bishops sit right in the middle right next to the king and queen. I don’t know that this is historically accurate, but when my dad taught me to play he told me that was because the bishops were important councilors to the rulers, they were the ones who had important wisdom that would tell them the best plan of attack. So the king here isn’t necessarily the one making the plans – that’s the bishop. And finally, apparently the bishop is called lots of different things in other languages, but we’re operating in English, which means it makes Nate a priest, and that makes me happy.