Sophie is highly suspicious of Maggie a
while. Not because of Nate, just
because. Because Maggie is Maggie. Because Maggie is good and honorable and
honest and Sophie is…Sophie is not those things. Sophie is a criminal and her thefts might not
have hurt anyone, but sometimes she thinks about little children with stolen
artifacts, about the look on her team’s faces when they realized she’d played
them, and wonders what the fallout pattern of her life looks like. Maggie surely doesn’t have to think about
that (Sophie is wrong about this) and Sophie cannot understand why someone like
that would willingly put herself in the middle of all this.
Sophie gets past this, of course. Maggie, she comes to realize, is just. Maggie.
She is good and honorable and honest, and just as furious and steely and
brilliant and cold-eyed as her ex-husband.
So obviously Sophie sleeps with
her. It’s a good fling, all intimacy and
affection with absolutely no romance, and Sophie is lying in bed when Maggie
bends down to kiss her forehead and say, “I hope things work out with you and
Nate. You’re too good for him.”
“Of course I am,” Sophie sniffs. “We both are.”
B: what I think is fucking hilarious
To be COMPLETELY clear, Nate gets Sophie’s
wedding ring engraved with ‘Your Name Here’ even though he knows! He fucking knows! He knows her real name! He knows all her titles and ranks and everything
(you’ll never tell me that Sophie isn’t actually
a British noblewoman okay) and yet!
Fucking! Your Name Here!
They have to pause the service so that
Sophie can stop laughing.
C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends
Sophie really wants to be in love, but she’s…she’s afraid of
the part between being strangers and being in love. It’s so vulnerable, putting little bits of
yourself out there one at a time and waiting to see if the other person is
going to slap you down. She wonders,
every time she sits down with a new person, what they would think of the real
her, and she opens her mouth to say “my name is Sophie Devereaux” and instead
some other name pops out. And in the
end, inevitably, she slips up, gets too comfortable and shows a bit of the
wrong self and…
Well, there she is again. Wanting to be in love and sitting down to
introduce herself and giving the wrong name.
D: what would never work with canon but the canon is
shit so I believe it anyway
Um…I honestly have no idea, so instead
here’s an AU I want.
I want a mutant AU where Sophie is a
metamorph a la Mystique, and her ‘Sophie’
face isn’t actually…her real face. Like,
she thinks of it as her real face. It’s
the face she always wears when they’re not doing a con. Even when they are doing a con she doesn’t like to depart too far from it. But when she was a kid she had a different
face, and she shifted whenever she could, into whoever she wanted, and then one
day she was standing in front of a mirror and shifting back and she…couldn’t
quite remember what color her eyes were.
Hazel, or mahogany? Black lashes
or brown? Did her skin have pink or
yellow undertones?
Sophie Devereaux wears a face assembled
out of her favorite features. She takes
a picture of that face, the moment she fixes it the way she likes it, and keeps
the picture beside her mirror so that she can always get it right.
The brew pub’s microcosm, at this point, is bolstered by layers upon layers of gambling. The old staff bets on how long new kitchen hires will last, and if you last out the first three months without quitting in a mild panic about what the fuck is happening here, you get formally inducted into the wider pool of bets. The three top questions are:
The date of Nate and Sophie’s wedding: the pot is a handsome $700 despite the relatively small bets placed and regularly reupped (it took them two years to properly exchange names and thirteen years to sleep together, don’t tell me it wouldn’t be an ongoing question)
Who exactly is dating whom, among their three bosses: there are a scant three people who put their money on a poly triad, and they’ll be splitting the $1100 between them when someone figures Eliot and Parker and Hardison out
No, Really, What The Fuck Is Happening Here: There is one person who put their whole paycheck on “fuck it, they’re fucking criminal masterminds, they probably take down governments in their fucking free time” after seven pints of Thief Juice, and they are walking away with a cool two grand if they can ever actually prove it
B: what I think is fucking
hilarious
So, the FBI thinks that Hardison and Parker are official agents. Like, the FBI is so convinced of this, so convinced of this, that Hardison actually discovers they have valid badge numbers–they are all but being paid by the federal government as part of their Portland white collar crimes office. Agent McSweeten and his partner have benefited handsomely from Hardison and Parker’s involvement, and they vouch for their ‘old buddies’ at every turn, to the extent that most of the feds they could run into in a number of cities (Boston, Portland, probably NYC) are like ‘yes, they’re undercover again, c’est la vie.’
Which is all well and good until Interpol shows up and has to work with the FBI on something quite unrelated, which results in Sterling tearing his hair out because “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY’RE NOT FEDERAL AGENTS THEY’RE CRIMINALS, OF COURSE THEY’RE CRIMINALS.”
The Feds honestly pity the poor guy. Damn, their people are good, their undercover personalities even managed to convince Interpol, damn fine. McSweeten tells Parker the story next time he sees her and she laughs for literally days.
C: what is heart-crushing and
awful but fun to inflict on friends
Eliot believes–no, he knows–that he’s going to die for Parker and Hardison. He’s actually pretty comfortable with this, but he knows that if he ever brings it up out loud, the pair of them are going to mutually implode. I wrote that into a fic, actually. Also, listen, we all know this is canon. “Until my dying day.” Eliot, please be a little less obviously worshipful of these people. Some of my Eliot Spencer feelings can also be found here.
D: what would never
work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway
I like to think that there’s a Leverage Mark II comprised of some of the kids they run into over the course of their jobs, I even wrote out like 2K words in headcanons for it. Members include:
Mastermind: Olivia Sterling,
from The Queen’s Gambit Job
Hitter: Molly (who now identifies as Matthew), from The Carnival Job
Hacker: Trevor, from The Hot Potato Job
Grifter: Widmark (Mark), from The Fairy Godparents Job
Thief: Josie, from The Boost Job
Client: Luka, from The Stork Job, whose little sister has been kidnapped
I just really want this, okay? I want to see them become the greatest criminals around under the tutelage of the Leverage squad and take up the torch when Eliot and Hardison and Parker decide to dial it back a bit and buy a restaurant somewhere.
(Related headcanon that Leverage habitually starts training up new generations and like in five hundred years humanity’s in space and the Leverage has an ancient oil painting hanging in their mess hall and whenever someone asks why they don’t transfer it to a hologram, the crew of the ship puffs up and declaims at length about their honored founder Harlan Leverage III and how they would never insult his memory like that! In the afterlife, Nate S C R E A M S.)
One of my favorite things about Leverage is when a bad guy points a gun at Eliot and there’s that moment of,”well, this is gonna be awkward for you,” that crosses Eliot’s face.
They always make a point to give us, the audience, that moment of knowing too.
ok so ANOTHER thing I love about Leverage is how seriously it DOESN’T take Eliot Spencer
because Eliot Spencer, taken at face value, is an absolutely generic white action movie/video game hero, right? has a Troubled Past, beats up armies of goons, cracks wise, hits on ladies, etc.
except that this show’s narrative turns every aspect of that character type into a punchline! not necessarily at his expense - but it goes out of its way to avoid the kind of reverence most testosterone-charged action media give White Male Badasses by sidelining him, refusing to let him play the hero, and making him comic relief most of the time, even when he’s being a Badass
in fact the only times the narrative does treat him with any sort of reverence?
is when he’s being kind. (which he does on a far more regular basis than most other characters of his type)
and that? actually makes him an interesting character
It’s always very telling to me that the two times his violence is given a non-joking, single-minded focus are the two times he has a loaded gun in his hand with the intention of using it. And what sells those scenes is Christian Kane’s acting, and John Rogers’ and Dean Devlin’s willingness to let the acting make the scene, and not music or filmography or anything else. Christian Kane’s emotional depth as an actor amazes me more every time I see him in a role, and his ability to convey more with a still face and speaking eyes than most actors can with their entire bodies would be unbelievable if I hadn’t seen him do it over and over.
The first time was with Nate and the Italian in the warehouse at the end of the Big Bang Job, when he tells them to go, and he picks up loaded guns without immediately emptying them. Nate, as well as the audience, know instantly that something is different, and the solemnity of that moment as a precursor to the (admittedly amazing and over-the-top) fight sequence is fitting. Following the fight sequence with the perfectly acted and filmed moment between Eliot and Chapman made it one of the best sequences in the show.
The second is in The Last Dam Job, when he threatens Dubenich and says that he’s thinking of saving his friend (Nate) a bit of trouble. At this point, we’ve seen him kill before. Once. And the quiet, as well as the shaking of his hand on the gun, makes the moment equal parts touching and terrifying, which I never thought I would say of a scene like that.
John Rogers and Dean Devlin created a masterpiece of a show with Leverage, primarily because they were willing to write a cool story with all the tropes, and then either subvert or hang lampshades on 90% of them.
Eliot Spencer literally could break Hardison’s elbow. Most people who know that would be just a little nervous. But Hardison is just I love you so much my grumpy murder friend.
alright buckle up motherfuckers, i’m about to school y’all about this wonderful show called Leverage.
let’s start with the premise: they’re a bunch of criminals who come together to work as a team and to “pick up where the law leaves off.” aka: they do illegal shit to legally take out the bad guys, i.e. framing/ruining the reputation of/revealing actual law-breaking by embezzling rich politicians, dirty cops, corporations doing secret shit on the down-low, etc.
each episode is a different bad guy they need to take down for doing something terrible, and each episode they come up with a different scheme to take them out. the team consists of: the hacker, the hitter, the grifter, the thief, and the mastermind behind all their plots. they’re all thieves at one point or another, they all grift, and they all contribute to the plan, but these are their Roles. i’ll go more in-depth on the characters in a sec.
now, i know what you’re thinking already: “wow bruh this show must be edgy af, being about actual criminals doing super illegal shit???” bUT NO. THIS SHOW COULD HAVE BEEN SO DARK BASED ON THE CONCEPT, BUT IT’S LITERALLY THE NICEST, MOST ENJOYABLE SHOW EVER.
it’s also SERIOUSLY unproblematic????? like to unrealistic levels. like Nate’s alcoholism is treated with respect and not just something he “gets over,” but despite his issues, he’s held accountable for when he’s a dick, Parker is pretty clearly neurodivergent and she’s never!! forced to be anything else!!!! anyway i could go on and on.
he’s the mastermind, he’s brilliant and the genius behind each of their convoluted plans. he’s a jerk sometimes, and grouchy, but he’s got good reason, and he NEVER crosses over into “angsty white man justifies his assholery because of his Issues.” he used to work for an insurance company tracking down criminals and thieves before A Thing happened and he became the Dad of a group of them. he makes bad life choices, so i relate. also his son died and he has a rad ex-wife and he struggles with alcoholism. we love him.
she’s the grifter. she’s a great actress but only when she’s breaking the law it’s a running gag. she’s terrible on an actual stage l m a o. she’s the Mom of the group, and she and Nate are lowkey flirting the entire show. she tells it like it is, but is v compassionate. sassy af. british af. would probably console you about your husband leaving you before stealing your rare artifacts. high-class which shows in the fact that she was primarily an art thief before joining the team. i wouldn’t trust her with my jewelry, but i’d tell her all my secrets, and tbh that’s the best summary of her character that you’ll get.
hooooooooooo boy. where do i begin to describe Eliot Spencer? wel, for starters, he’s the “hitter” of the group aka he beats people up when they can’t sneak their way in or out of a place. or when things go wrong. he’s super fucking badass oh my god??? like i’m pretty sure there’s maybe only one or two times in the ENTIRE. SHOW. that he can’t win a fight?? he also has a Super Secret Dark Past bc he used to be a hitman for hire, which he regrets deeply and is happy to have changed bUT AGAIN!! IT’S NOT A WHITE MALE ANGST THING. he isn’t obsessed with attoning for his actions and his scenes aren’t eaten up with Angst and Melodrama. he also has anger issues, but again, it’s not the same stereotype that you’re used to. he controls it, and he never takes it on on anybody who doesn’t deserve it (aka the bad guys). he gets around with women but he’s not sexist?? he cares about his partners.
also he’s a hardcore chef and will Fite You about food. anyway Eliot is basically the Broody White Man With Dark Past trope turned on it’s head. he’s lovable and sarcastic and could kill a man but would prefer to make you an Omelette Du Fromage or some shit.
this is my baby. he’s a nerd and a geek and I Would Die For Him. he’s basically everything that’s good and pure in the world. the epitome of a cinnamon roll. he’s sweet and gentle and wouldn’t hurt a fly–unless that fly is a corrupt ceo personally doing dirty business, in which case that motherfucker is going down with the help of his epic hacking skills. btw did i mention he’s the hacker? yeah. he’s super fucking smart and his sense of humor could rival the sahara desert in dryness. he always makes star trek references and he has a gr8 fashion style and he irritates Eliot to no end, lmao. #platoniclifepartners, tbh. did i mention he’s the sweetest person ever? no? he is.
she’s the thief, and predictably, she loves money and expensive things. tbh she’d probably stab you faster than anybody else on the team would (and has) but also she is smol and needs to be protected. she’s a killer rabbit. she’s an oddball and in the beginning, most of the others don’t know what to make of her, but they grow used to her. she’s nd af, probably autistic, and Does Not Understand Socialization. same, Parker, same. guess what? she’s never forced into acting like somebody she’s not!! when she has to be the grifter for the con job and interact with people, she’s patiently coached by Sophie, who never belittles or mocks her, and explains it in ways she can understand. she’s weird and i love her.
did i mention how unproblematic this show is? i did? well too fucking bad because i’m gonna say it again: this show is so unproblematic. like what i already said with Nate’s addiction and Parker’s neurodivergence, but wAIT! THERE’S MORE.
Eliot hates guns–detests them–and won’t use them, he’s like constantly grabbing the mooks’ guns and unloading them and tossing them somewhere and it’s basically a huge trigger for him. and it’s always respected. also there’s scenes where like in the middle of a job Parker has to change into a costume and neither of men who are attracted to her–Eliot and Hardison–sneak a peak at her. they both look away during that shit and there is like, never any gross sexist jokes about it. or other things. i love it. also any romantic relationship that develops takes season of growth and shit. there’s nothing particularly Gay, but while heterosexual, it’s not Het.
the recurring antagonist is played by Mark Sheppard, a character called Sterling, who is basically a lawful good Crowley.
also one time they stole an entire country.
Leverage is fucking rad, and the concept is amazing and it coulda been so edgy and shit, but it’s literally so pure and sweet and friggin hilarious and about a bunch of people becoming a family and you need to watch it, my friend. now.
like immediately go google a page to watch it i’m not fucking kidding do it.
And by the way, we did not have the slide-kick in the script. We showed up on the set, and I walked around the corner and there’s my actor like, sliding like a five year old on the floor going, “Oh, you know what we can do on this!”
kashinoha asked: #70. (67%) with Hardison/Parker/Eliot!
From this ancient prompt list, because I am the worst and it took me forever to get around to this. I just want everyone to be proud of me because I almost
went somewhere REALLY terrible with this prompt. Because the last episode of Leverage fucked
me all the way up and I remain vengeful about that. That near miss will be obvious.
The con had unraveled at light speed. Things had gone south almost as quickly as the
time Leverage Incorporated had stolen the maquettes
of the David, leaving Parker scrambling to adapt their plan and salvage as much
as possible. They’d managed to get the
files that would prove their target responsible a fistful of deaths revolving
around tainted eggs, but now Eliot’s earbud was fried.
Well.
He thought it was fried—admittedly he hadn’t devoted a lot of time to
checking in more detail. Between the
black eye swelling on his face (bone undamaged, bruising unlikely to occlude
vision), the blood seeping into his jeans from a nasty knife cut to his thigh
(missed the artery, unlikely to prove lethal, would inhibit full range of
motion) and the four cracked-hopefully-not-broken ribs impeding his breathing
(another hit would shatter them along the fissures) and, naturally, the fact
that he was tied to a chair (efficiently, they had practice), the earbud had
taken low priority. If it was fried, he
was going to murder Hardison with his bare hands, assuming he got out of this
with both hands intact.
Also assuming that the others got out of this
to be murdered, of course, which was
never a certainty when someone had the forethought to take their hitter out of
the equation. Eliot almost would have
been reassured if the target’s hired muscle (most of them half-decent, with a
small command structure of better trained mercs) was busy torturing him,
because if they were occupied with him, the others would have time to get
out. Instead, they had managed to knock
him out with a hard blow to the head (mild concussion, vertigo manageable for
motion) and left him here alone, tied up and out of play. But he was trying not to think about that,
because if he thought too hard about the kind of disaster that could befall
Hardison and Parker when he wasn’t there to take the hit for them, he got a
little lightheaded (possibly the concussion, more probably a mild anxiety
response). So the dead earbud had to
take a back burner to getting the fuck out of here and finding the other
sixty-seven percent of Leverage International.
