things to love about leverage:

msbricolage:

  • it’s a ~family~
    • honestly, hardison, eliot, and parker are basically three of the most competent five year olds you’ve ever seen, they’re constantly dickin’ around in the background as nate does his dramatic rendering of their case and sophie pokes fun at someone
    • i’m watching the tap out job rn and there’s that scene where eliot gets parker to take down hardison in some mma-style moves (which he TAUGHT HER in what, idk, their spare time, THEY HANG OUT, CANONICALLY, BY SEASON TWO) and the parker’s got hardison in this triangle choke hold just grinning up a storm while eliot basically preens and nate and sophie continue to go over the case. 
    • it’s like ‘long-suffering parents’ and ‘my crew is more or less at the emotional stage of toddlers’ and everyone accepts this and it’s great
  • alec hardison. C’MON. sweetest pile of sunshine you’ve ever seen. he NESTS. he buys houses and apartments and paints portraits of old man nate for their illegal business and just waits for the rest of the crew to come find him
    • except in season two where he buys out nate’s place and becomes his landlord, in like, a passive-agressive move to get nate back in the game. that’s like, next-level nesting
    • oh man should i have started this bullet point with spoilers? SPOILERS GUYS FOR well, basically this entirely too long list of things i think of while i rewatch leverage 
  • hardison describing events in nebraska: other white people doing white people things 
    • actual words from actual alec hardison’s mouth “i can hack a satellite, i can hack a level three nsa clearance, but i can’t hack a hick”
      • I CAN’T HACK A HICK
    • hardison is the person u introduce to ur grandma and then find out they’ve become texting buddies alec hardison’s heart is literal gold
    • he ALWAYS explains things, all the tech stuff he’s doing, even though no one can keep up with hardison and his massively huge brain, he’s a beautiful, heart-of-gold genius who wants u to know the real him
    • everyone should be more like alec hardison t b h
  • eliot spencer cutest l’il loyal companion who can and will beat up anything threatening his crew and who refuses to let the fam jam die by totally obliquely saying “i’ll quit this crew when i quit this crew”
    • no worries bby we know u love them
    • they all care about each other SO MUCH
  • there’s a line every episode where nate says “let’s go steal us a _____“ 
    • and it’s always ridiculously improbable things like “let’s go steal us a jury” or “let’s go steal us a hospital” which i mean, how nate, how are you going to go STEAL A BUNCHA PEOPLE??
    • spoiler alert!!! they always do it!!!
  • eliot and hardison are so annoying endeared with each other. for the record i mean, they are honestly annoyed to be endeared with each other.
    • they argue over  e v e r y t h i n g
    • they bicker because they’re IN LOVE
    • leverage: where all the criminals love each other and hate everyone else
  • okay i realize i just talked about eliot and hardison but LET’S TALK THE OT3 THAT IS HONESTLY THE OT3-est U’VE EVER SEEN
    • pretzels!!!
    • haridson and parker paying off the bartender so they can watch eliot beat up sterling!!!
    • eliot lowkey teaching parker like a small, fighting protege!!
    • eliot telling parker it’s okay to not be like nate and hardison because sometimes u need people who can do the hard stuff, make the tough choices and live
    • all the times eliot hugs hardison and is like, annoyed by it? like he hugs him then he SCOWLS like, no man, or sometimes he just hugs him and it’s GREAT
    • the entire fifth season, i swear to fucking god that season was just the writing team being like “imagine ur otp” and running with it
  • they’re always teaching each other stuff, like, they’re all specialized in this One Thing except once they become a crew they just share that One Thing and now they all know All The Things, because a crew that fights together stays together
  • and like, they’re all such weak bad guys, it took them ONE GOOD DEED the v first episode with nate and they’re suddenly like “yeah, now we gotta do ALL THE GOOD THINGS” except they still struggle with it but THEY WANNA DO GOOD okay, this crew was so weak to the light side it was like a small nudge and suddenly they’re rescuing orphans and giving half their life’s savings to charity
    • elliot getting diverted from a con to help rescue an abused kid
    • parker despairing over not being able to get a guy’s body down the mountain because it’s what “nate and hardison would do” and she’s so distressed because she just wants to be good
    • hardison…well, honestly, hardison used his powers of evil for good from the get go, he funded his nana’s hospital bills, but have i mENTIONED THE NESTING that happens once he finds his people
    • it’s like, they all kind of understand that there’s a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ but it’s such an arbitrary thing, and so often the guys that are supposed to be on the good side are actually corrupt, then it’s like sure we’re technically criminals, but we’re criminals who can do good things right, i mean, the world is nuanced place and people are complex, and half the show is devoted to these people learning that, learning it for themselves and not just because old man nate ’i have a problem with control’ is in their ears telling them, they all understand that they get to do good things and the struggle to do so, on their own and by their own standards is SO GOOD because they want to SO BAD, i mean, once again, A SMALL NUDGE AND THEY’VE BECOME THE GOOD GUYS
    • i guess nate learns that good guys aren’t always good guys and that he’s a thief and that’s O K
    • (the other half of the show is competency porn i stg)
  • sophie “do i really have to give that priceless piece of art back how about no” devereaux
    • nate: “sophie yes”
    • sophie: “okay but wHAT IF I DIDN’T”
  • parker “i’m learning how to interact with humans and their emotions”
    • parker “i’m going to become a kick ass grifter”
    • parker “i’m uncomfortable with emotions but i’m going to go at it anyway”
    • AND SHE BECOMES THE CRIMINAL MASTERMIND AT THE END
    • SHE’S SO AWESOME OKAY SHE LEARNS
    • [omg right i said spoilers right]
    • but honestly parker is such a great character she’s badass and complex and she loves to learn new things!! she’s a little rocky with them at first but she wants to try!!! she stole the hope diamond because she was bored!! parker is so bad ass and lovely i love her
  • i gotta be real with y’all the ot3 are so endearing i love them so much, sorry old man nate and sophie-is-that-even-my-name, but parker/eliot/hardison have my heart

okay now i gotta stop i only meant to do some quick bullet points while i rewatched but this is from like, five episodes, if i kept this up it would be a NOVEL

  • BUT WATCH THIS SHOW IT’S BRILLIANT

innytoes:

innytoes:

Listen I have zero headcanons or plot for a Leverage OT3 highschool AU, I just have a burning desire for Eliot driving around his boyfriend and girlfriend in a beat up old car and Nana being awesome and Parker being Mysterious and also maybe like milkshakes??? Flannel and sneakers??? Cute teen dates??? Someone please save me.

-Eliot charming the shit out of Nana with his ‘ma’am’ and appreciation for Good Food.

-Parker not officially going to school, she just picks a class or two she wants to follow because Archie said she should learn to blend in with kids her age. She steals the teacher’s roll-call list and adds herself to it. 

-Eliot 100% the quarterback. He is also Very Popular with The Ladies and some of the other players are like: HOW DO YOU GET SO MUCH ASS ELIOT and he is like: TRY TREATING WOMEN LIKE PEOPLE JACKASS. (He doesn’t even get around half as much as people think, because he is Respectful and even when he does have sex he never tells.)

-Hardison takes ALL the computer classes. He finished all his assignments on the first day and spends the rest of his time hacking and programming and messing with the school’s system so bullies actually get in trouble and kids who have accessibility needs are suddenly getting the funds and help they need. 

-Parker tried out for cheerleader and it went about as well as you can imagine.

-Lots of very cute late night dates at all-night diners with milkshakes and Eliot arguing with the fry cook and Hardison charming the waitress but only because he wants to distract her from Parker sneaking behind the counter to top up their milkshake.

-Hardison being very understanding Eliot doesn’t want to introduce him to his dad like: is it the boy thing, the black thing, or… And Eliot is like: no no no it’s the my dad is an asshole thing and I don’t want to subject either of you to him but I want you to meet my little brother his name is Jake he’s really smart you’ll like him.

-All three of them have tried the yawn-and-arm-around-the-shoulders move and only one of them was succesful. (Eliot. And only half the time, one time he nearly poked Hardison’s eye out.)

-Parker stealing her boy’s clothes and accidentally becoming the centre of attention because wearing the quarterback’s letterman jacket Means Something so she makes Hardison switch with her and that just causes more gossip and meanwhile Eliot is bitching at them like DID NOBODY THINK THAT MAYBE I’M COLD WITHOUT MY JACKET DO YOU SEE HOW MANY LAYERS I WEAR IT’S NOT A FASHION STATEMENT DAMMIT HARDISON GIVE IT BACK.

-Nana has totally taken Parker aside and told her if she needs anything, she can always come to her. Parker fled because of Emotions but also has totes dropped by the house while Hardison was out to 1) get advice from an adult who was not Archie and 2) eat all the homemade cookies.

-Eliot takes the other two camping. It goes about as well as you can imagine.

-Hardison and Eliot seeing Archie with Parker when they’re arguing about a job. Hardison very carefully tries to question her about who Archie is (’nah, Archie isn’t my dad, he has a Real Family’), if he’s bad-touching her, and Parker being ‘???’ until Eliot is like: IS HE HURTING YOU BECAUSE I WILL PUNCH HIM and Parker being like: oh lol no, Archie knows I would stab him if he tried to touch me. =D He gave me a knife! 

-They’re still not entirely sure about who Archie is so they track him down and threaten him just in case. Archie makes up some kind of story about being a mentor and being all: I’m glad Parker made friends who will threaten adults for her.

-Who gave Parker a skateboard who thought that was a good idea she is riding it along the edge of a 10 story building. 

-Laser tag death match, winner gets to pick the movie/food/sit in the middle of the snugglepile.

-Weirdly invested and inappropriate-life-advice-giving guidance counsellor Sophie Devereaux who may or may not be a con-woman laying low for a few years.

-Econ teacher Nate who will explain the economy and the market and also how marketing schemes and con-men work and if you ask the right questions at the right time and distract him BOOM your lesson is now a history of epic heists class.

innytoes:

Do you think Hardison, who is well-versed in fanfiction and fandom tropes, ever stops to look at his life and is just like: omg.

Undercover at a coffee shop? COFFEE SHOP AU. Parker, please let me make you a coffee so we can have our very own meet-cute. 

They have to get out of town fast and end up at a shitty little motel. Eliot opens the door and growls. Parker shrugs. Hardison stands on the treshhold, fist to his mouth, and gleefully whispers: there’s only one bed.

Fake dating? He is here for it. Fake married? HELL YEAH BABY they will be so married nobody will doubt their marriedness. 

Parker doesn’t understand why he’s so excited about the tattoo shop next door to their clients, a flower-shop being harrassed by a big property developer who wants their building. “Do you want a tattoo?” she asks. No, babe, it’s just this fandom thing… “Oh it’s one of your make-believe about make-believe things.” Um… yeah.

Stuck in a snowstorm? Not as great or as sexy as fandom made it out to be.

Hardison meaningfully saying: and they were roommates and being annoyed that nobody answers.

He’s still waiting for the ‘undercover as a stripper’ episode. He’s ready. For whoever it is. He has outfits. He has nipple tassles. He has the whole Magic Mike choreography down just in case it’s him, okay?

That time Parker steals an entire busload of orphans through the power of Haagen-Das and he’s like: this is not how Accidental Baby Acquisition Fics usually go but okay, that’s cool.

Hardison saying Eliot shouldn’t try and seduce someone to get information out of them, because ‘Sam will kill him if he tries anything’ and everyone being like WHO THE HELL IS SAM.

Giant Fandom Nerd Hardison living his best fandom life, okay?