#He and Eliot are happily married

[ottersandfandoms]

it’s almost 2 am and I can’t stop thinking about Quentin Coldwater

send help😭

[greaseonmymouth]

leverage s5 revised episode order

so it's my understanding that it's pretty much general consensus that s5 is setting up the ot3 endgame, showing us throughout the season how close they are and how well they work together and establishing their relationship the best way they can without the network realising, right? we see this in how they do historical episodes, always pairing Nate and Sophie but they've paired Parker and Hardison and Parker and Eliot, and in the present they've done Eliot and Hardison enough times. and so the finale, The Long Goodbye Job, is the final dot over the i to make that clear - Eliot, Parker, and Hardison die together in the fake scenario because anything else would be anathema, and they skip off into the sunset together as a three person Leverage team while Nate and Sophie skip off together as Out Of The Game, For Good

The Frame Up Job and The Rundown Job support this by showing us how well Eliot, Parker, and Hardison work together, how flawless a team (how thoroughly established an ot3) and by showing us Nate and Sophie as a thoroughly established married couple disgustingly in love and bickering and on the same wavelength

now I propose (and not just because of Eliot's haircut in The Rundown Job clearly indicating this episode should've come later in the season) that The Long Goodbye Job was not intended to be the series finale, and that The Frame Up Job and The Rundown Job were supposed to form a two-episode series finale directly following The Long Goodbye Job. soft epilogues, if you will

points to consider:

in both of those episodes, the other half of the team does not appear and is not even mentioned. it's not like the Girls / Boys Night Out episodes, where the episodes are mirrored and the team is working on related problems, and is then reunited at the end - these are entirely separate episodes featuring two independent teams

Vance to Eliot: "Hell, your girlfriend's already out of her cuffs." Nobody corrects him. Not Parker, not Hardison, and not Eliot. Ok this one doesn't prove episode order I just love this subtle ot3 confirmation moment

Sterling, to Nate and Sophie: "Now I know where you are. Call me. I'm hiring."

this was already funny as is, and we're presuming this is because Sterling hasn't found out where the team relocated to after Boston, but imagine if this is actually after The Long Goodbye Job? Sterling let them go. Nate pushed him and he came down on the side of thieves, and he let them go, and then couldn't find them but now he has and his frustration with the case and Nate and Sophie's casual disregard and the final 'I'm hiring'? It's been a couple of months since The Long Goodbye Job and this is the most fun Sterling has had in ages

but the ot3 half ok. so The Long Goodbye Job tells us that they die together and they live together, and they continue Leverage as a 3 person team. Give it a couple of months and they're in DC and they face a real life and death moment - and they live together.

and also, you get Eliot telling Vance "I work with them now" and then he limps bloodily off into the sunset squished between Hardison and Parker like the three of them are off to have some incredible sex

listen I just think season 5 makes so much more sense if we consider those two episodes as the episodes establishing the happily ever after epilogues after The Long Goodbye Job

also in Leverage: Redemption the very first episode we find out that Nate had a shady stash of paintings and materials and whatnot so what if that is actually a hint that Nate and Sophie did actually get back into the game, with Sterling, until Nate passed away and Sophie clocked out?

[gemini-forest]

I am very confused with many characters in your au. Do you mind introduce them?

Like introduce all of them? I'll do what I can, I'll do a TLDR.

Leo: new father, leader of the group, married to Jayden, adopted Casey Jr. Works part time from home looking over medical documents.

Jayden: New parent, married to Leo. In current timeline is on maternity leave. Works part time at the Mystic Library at the front desk.

Donnie: Happily single, works from home, sells his programs and tech.

Casey Jr: From a different future timeline. New big brother, anxious, has a cat named Bread. CJ is very sweet.

Raph: In a domestic relationship with Francis, expecting his first baby. Works part time in the Mystic Library in the kiddy room as an attendant. Loves kids.

Mikey: Married to Aiden, no kids, works as an art therapist.

Aiden: Married to Mikey, shy, awkward, but can be loud and honest around those he trusts.

Francis: In a domestic relationship with Raph. Pregnant with their first child. Works as an instructor for Brazilian Jujitsu, isn't doing anything major atm.

Karai: Doesn't know how she came back to life, is working a cozy job, enjoying life.

Splinter: Managed to prove and get his royalty money for Lou Jitsu films, his return regained his popularity. So he's living happily retired and old.

Vince: Francis' dad. Divorced. Works as a surgeon for the EPF. Knows, respects, and continues to educate himself about yokai. Has not told the EPF about the turtles nor the Hidden city because he ain't no snitch

April: Currently dating Eliot(has yet to appear so no log for him yet), works as a journalist by commission for both Hidden City newspaper and New York times. Earns good pay as well

Annie: A baby, oh baby, tiny baby, freshly born, small, precious.

[randoimago]

Hello! I really hope I haven't sent this multiple times today has been....a day.

Can I please request a gift request for my friend @3lectro-heart where it's male!reader x Eliot(stardew valley)and it's Eliot's reaction to reader calling him their "wife"?

Thank you, hope this works ^-^!

Calling Them Your Wife

Fandom: Stardew Valley 

Characters: Elliott

Type of Request: Headcanons

Notes: That’s so cute of you to request something for someone else! I’ll happily write this!!

Elliott

He does take a moment to pause when he hears you call him that. Does feel some amusement but he asks you to repeat what you said. At hearing that he didn't imagine it, he lets out a chuckle.

Doesn't really mind it, he wasn't expecting it, but he doesn't mind. If calling him your wife makes you happy then so be it. Does ask if you'd prefer him to call you something else? Or maybe he'll just surprise you later by also calling you his wife.

Now, if you two aren't married and just dating then he'll feel more flustered about it. He's not against marrying you, but speaking that out loud? Maybe you two should talk about this later to just see if this is you joking or if it's serious because if so then he'll need to make some plans. 

Or you need to make some plans since he's apparently your wife and so he'll just sit and look pretty while you do the work.

[loneberry]

Finally had a chance to see the film version of Ralph Fiennes's performance of T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, staged as a dramatic monologue. Eliot might be my least favorite of the modernists, but I admittedly have a soft spot for Four Quartets, having become obsessed with the poem sequence around the time I terminated a long psychoanalysis with Dr C. Right after my last session I took a transcontinental flight to Germany. In my backpack I carried a printout of the poem sequence and re-read it on the plane, weeping at the lines:

And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea.

Experiencing Four Quartets after re-reading Weil, I am struck by the resonances between Weil and Eliot's shared view that eschatological hope is ultimately a barrier to faith, for it is a consolation that amounts to spiritual logrolling--a scenario in which faith is repaid with salvation. (It should be noted that Eliot was a fan of Weil.) As Susan Taubes writes, Weil practices a "mysticism of atheistic purification", where the subject waits attentively, without hope or succor, renouncing even the desire for grace. Similarly, Eliot writes:

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting

.

.

This spring I found a used copy of Four Quartets at a bookstore in Portland OR. The inside cover included the following inscription:

The recirculation of the gift...

.

.

During the film I was thinking about Woolf and Eliot wandering through gardens, both haunted by what could have been but never was, a place I've christened the Garden of Counterfactuals.

In "Kew Gardens," Woolf writes:

“Fifteen years ago I came here with Lily,” he thought. “We sat somewhere over there by a lake and I begged her to marry me all through the hot afternoon. How the dragonfly kept circling round us: how clearly I see the dragonfly and her shoe with the square silver buckle at the toe. All the time I spoke I saw her shoe and when it moved impatiently I knew without looking up what she was going to say: the whole of her seemed to be in her shoe. And my love, my desire, were in the dragonfly; for some reason I thought that if it settled there, on that leaf, the broad one with the red flower in the middle of it, if the dragonfly settled on the leaf she would say “Yes” at once. But the dragonfly went round and round: it never settled anywhere--of course not, happily not, or I shouldn’t be walking here with Eleanor and the children--Tell me, Eleanor. D’you ever think of the past?”

Eliot writes:

Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind.                               But to what purpose Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves I do not know.

The Garden of Counterfactuals seems somehow related to Eliot's summoning of the spectre of a Rose. A garden of unbloomed phantoms. Or, as Woolf writes, “The real flower on the window-sill was attended by a phantom flower. Yet the phantom was part of the flower...."

[ninja-muse]

Another reading month that wasn’t my strongest ever, numbers-wise. My excuses this month?

Weather and latitude, since I get a good bit of my reading in while waiting for or travelling on public transit and it’s really difficult to do that when it’s dark, raining, or the bus is full of people because—did I mention the rain?

Me going “to heck with reading goals” mid-month and signing out 800 pages of history which I knew was going to take me weeks.

But eh, whatever. It’s been a very enjoyable reading month apart from that! I finally read my sixth/last Austen novel and I think it might be my favourite now? I absolutely see why booklr had a collected meltdown over the Netflix movie. No way could that set-up do the story justice. And I got my hands on A Restless Truth at last, and rediscovered my love of Alan Smale, and read my last of the Oseman novels also.

Watch for The Great Believers near the top of my December wrap-up, by the way. I’m nearly done and it’s good.

Persuasion - Jane Austen Anne Eliot dutifully turned down Frederick Wentworth but eight years later, he’s back in town—and courting a neighbour. - warning: misogynist society, agism, some fatphobia Hot Moon - Alan Smale Vivian Carter just wants her quiet Apollo mission. Unfortunately, the Soviets attack almost as soon as she hits orbit, and it goes downhill from there. - Chinese-American, Black, and Latino secondary characters - warning: blood, battle injuries Now You See Us - Balli Kaur Jaswal Three Filipina maids in Singapore find their daily injustices brought to the fore when a fourth maid is falsely accused of murder. Out in March. - Asian cast, 🏳️‍🌈 POV character, minor 🏳️‍🌈 character, Indo-Singaporean author  - warning: abuse, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia A Restless Truth - Freya Marske Maud has until her boat docks to catch a killer and retrieve an artifact, but she’ll need a team and a whole lot of creativity. - 🏳️‍🌈 protagonists, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, Black secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

Solitaire - Alice Oseman Tori’s life is boring and pointless and she doesn’t get why her friends care—or why everyone think Solitaire’s pranks are funny, not dangerous. - 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author - warning: accurate depiction of depression; suicidal thoughts, homophobic characters

Be the Serpent - Seanan McGuire Toby’s happily married and due for a break. Unfortunately, an old friend might just be the worst enemy she’s ever faced. - 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 author - warning: blood, violence, death of a child

The Collectors - Philip Pullman with Tom Duxbury (Illustrator) Two art collectors discuss some recent acquisitions with otherworldly provenance.

She-Hulk, Vol. 1 - Rainbow Rowell Jen Walters is rebuilding her life again when an old friend mysteriously returns—from the dead?

Currently reading:

Beneath Another Sky - Norman Davies A world tour of countries subsumed by the colonial West and the ways they’re rebuilding after. - warning: colonial mindsets

The Great Believers - Rebecca Makkai Yale is trying for a massive bequest to his gallery while navigating a relationship and watching his friends die of AIDS. Thirty years later, Fiona is searching for her daughter and reckoning with how Yale’s friend-group has affected her life. - largely 🏳️‍🌈 cast, Jewish protagonist, Jewish secondary character, Black secondary character - warning: deaths from AIDS, period-typical homophobia, including apathy and hate crimes

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories - major disabled character
 - warning: colonialism, racism


Stats


Monthly total: 8
 Yearly total: 136 + 1 
Queer books: 4 
Authors of colour: 1
 Books by women: 6
 Canadian authors: 0
 Off the TBR shelves: 1
 DNFs: 0

January February March April May June July August September October

[thekatebridgerton]

Pfft Elliot Bridgerton running off to compromise a sexy milf who is a literal plant goddess with two mischievous kids and is constantly fighting with his brother to spend time with his platonic soulmate Penelope. Like imagine him making the off hand comment that how he use to sneak into Pen’s room at night when they were younger and all his siblings stare at him in shock while Philly is happily intrigued while Pen holds Colin back.

He's so chill about it. Male Eloise is an intellectual who never lets things like proper calling hours and decorum to get in the way of sharing his findings with his best friend

Colin tries not to think about it but he knows Eliot is too close to Penelope. But I imagine the comment was made sometime during a family dinner while they were recounting something or other and El goes like

"the only woman bed I've ever spent the night at, was Penelope's during that month during her third season and that's because I was.... wait Colin why are you choking me"

Philly looks at Penelope like "Really?"

Penelope sighs "Kate put a ban on Opera related books in his house, so he would read them in my bedroom just to know what made Kate so angry about boring Opera and fall asleep in minutes"

"But that wasn't the only time I slept over, remember your fourth season... Colin stop choking me"

Male Eloise still doesn't get why falling asleep in Penelope's bed is a big deal. He still does it. Albeit Colin has tried kicking him out and the bed gets narrow with 3 people on it. But that's Colin's faut not Eliot's

In fact Eliot has invited Penelope to hang out at his bed to read too, she can fit snugly in between him and his wife. Philly has no probablem with sharing. Oliver and Amanda do it often and nobody gets angry.

"YOU DID WHAT"

Philly makes it worse by nodding "It's really not a bother, we have the space in our bed, and the kids... Wait Colin stop straggling my husband"

Maybe Philly should emphasize that when El invited Penelope to spend time with him and his wife in their bed he meant fully clothed and in the middle of the day. Although Colin would probably also misunderstand that.

Male Eloise is oblivious and his wife is also not very skilled in social cues so as a couple they don't get why Eliot's friendship with Penelope before they were married is seen as strange.

The entire Bridgerton family quietly tries to explain. But they only make things worse. Because both El and Philly think its merely a matter of wording things better and Colin doesn't have any reason to be jealous.

[lunaraindrop]

Quentin stumbled as he dropped out of The Underworld's portal.

Trying his best to step carefully and not trip, he took in the red flashes of lightning.

"Jesus, this is some spooky shit."

---

*Before*

As soon as he passed through the door that would have taken him to the Afterlife, he had been immediately pushed right back out by Hades himself.

Taking him back to Penny's office, Hades had given Q a Library book.

"Read this, and tell me what you think."

For seemed like both hours and minutes, Quentin perched different way, completely enthralled in this book.

This boy turned man's life, full of strife, struggle, and heartache, blossoming into one of the best, romantic, fun-filled lives he had ever seen. Found family, finding his soul mate, living happily into old age.

Despite him being a fantasy nerd like himself, so many things about this guy wistfully reminded Q of Eliot.

After reading, he closed the book with a sense of melancholy.

He was dead, now. He got to live a full, beautiful life with Eliot and their son, but he could never have that again. Unlike the guy in this book, who adopted five children with his husband, and ran a music store.

When Hades returned, Quentin held the book out.

"Umm, so, I finished reading? It was nice, but I'm not sure why you had me read it in the first place. Is there some-uh-lesson, or-or metaphor I am missing?"

Then Hades explained. Something happened that wasn't supposed to. The poor guy, who was promised a happy ending in his life's book, was cut short unexpectedly. He died young, in the arms of a friend.

"He tried to be brave, and sacrificed himself to save his friends."

Oh yeah. Shit. This was a metaphor.

Pushing that aside, Q got increasingly upset for the guy he just read about. Quentin did always connect with book characters.

"Wait, he died? How can that be? He's supposed to live into his 80's. He and his husband are supposed to be one of the first gay couples to get married in their state. They made history!"

"As it stands, Quentin Coldwater, unless there is intervention, he will be dead and stay dead."

"But that's not right!"

Hades actually smiled.

"Such conviction, for a man you don't know."

But Q did know. He had read his whole life's story. Despite never meeting him, he felt like a close friend.

"Perhaps something can be done."

---

Walking the squishy, disgusting earth, Quentin carefully searched the landscape around him.

The "thing that could be done" was to send Quentin back, alive and with his magic, to save the boy himself. Something about "righting two wrongs".

But if he failed...

If he failed, they were both dead. For good.

Quentin was still overwhelmed with the idea that he was alive again, and could just as easily die in this place without finding his charge.

He passed a trailer, and found someone on the ground in the distance.

Going down on his knees, he avoided the bodies of hundreds of...what looked like demon bats on steroids.

He knew what these were. They had been what crawled deep in the caves of the Forgetten Mountain in Fillory and Further. Juliet bats, Jane had called them, because their venom made a person appear dead, when in reality it paralyzed the victim.

Feeling for a pulse, Quentin sighed in relief when he felt a faint one.

He looked dead, but he was still alive.

Barely.

Leaning over his face, Quentin started talking as he prepared to heal him as best as he could.

"Umm, hi! You don't know me, but my name is Quentin. I'm a... wait, you're a Dungeon Master! Okay, okay, so, uh, I have been sent to be your, ah, Cleric. I'm going to get us out of here so you can get you diploma and kiss Steve Harrington, okay?"

Eddie, who couldn't move, somehow managed to widen his eyes.

Holding his hands in front of him, Quentin winced.

"Sorry, spoilers. You'll get to that."

Remembering how he learned to use his, at the time, unknown discipline to heal Teddy's scrapes and boo boos, Quentin concentrated on mending the wounds.

While he did not heal him completely, he did managed to expell the venom and help the wounds not be as severe.

Wiping his brow, he offered the bemused man below him a hand.

"So, Eddie, right? How the fuck do we get out of here?"

[faorism]

if they are straight silently going to ignore maria shipp's existence, i might just mentally rewrite things so she was always eliots mcsweeten and who he was assigned to lure as a friend as a govt in. she will rightfully be happily married to a big butch lesbian and maria will be mentioned exclusively as a bannano-esque "hey please arrest this guy, here's a whistleblower holding a package with all the evidence"

[asphyxiatedredherring]

for the hubbie/ons/bestie ask game — obviously I’m gonna ask about our mutual faves:

Ah! Thank you, and yes, I love them so much!

Ok, so I may have put too much thought into this, but like I said, I'm aroace, so it'll be interesting. And I'd love to know how you'd answer.

Husband: Obviously I'm getting married for tax purposes or something nefarious but I'll have to go with Eliot on this one because I hate cooking and he'd happily do all of it. He just seems like he'd be happy doing the domestic stuff and be calm and grounded which I am not so opposites working together I guess.

One Night Stand: My version of a one night stand is robbing a museum with Parker only for her to disappear mysteriously. It sounds fun, she would just jump off the roof and I'd never see her again, just be left with an amazing memory.

Best Friend: My boy Hardison is taking this spot while we argue over drinking eachothers orange soda. He would be an amazing bestie. I would reluctantly learn about computers and make him try some table top games rather than online, he'd be a great addition to my dnd party. So many movie nights too.

[trappergirl]

hi baby can i have the ship questions for the leverage ot3 and the character questions for our king john doggett?

added the read more!!! ur welcome beloved mutuals ❤️

when i started shipping it if i did: well i knew about them when i started watching cause of you but. maybe it was the 12 step job that really solidified it for me. just those hugs at the end, and eliot and hardison pretend dating with the sole purpose of helping her. love that episode

my thoughts: soulmates. made for each other. never seen a more literal use of the hands/head/heart trope.

what makes me happy about them: they care about each other so much. they're all obsessed with each other's quirks. also, comedic value <3

what makes me sad about them: that it's not like, properly properly canon? u know i haven't seen the revival yet but. let hardison and eliot kiss in 2023, cowards

things done in fanfic that annoys me: don't think i've read enough fic to have anything

things i look for in fanfic: realistic eliot and parker dialogue? i imagine they're not so easy to write well

who i’d be comfortable them ending up with: eliot and parker can fight over who gets sophie when nate dies of alcohol poisoning

my happily ever after for them: aren't they already practically married lol. i think they should buy & move to a ranch together

who is the big spoon/little spoon: i don't think either of them (esp parker. she's less of a spoon & more of a weighted blanket) are quite used to sleeping with other people. too many levels of self defense that don't allow that. but i think it really depends on who needs what at the moment. they are nothing if not flexible

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: uhm. heists. duh. annoying the shit out of eliot because they know he won't bite :o)

❤️

all the people i ship romantically him: i'm not answering this one. iykyk. it'd do mulder some good if they got a quick hate fuck out on that oil rig, though

how i feel about this character: i love him so so much. no words for how much. begging for u to take my hand wreck my plans that's my man etc

my non-romantic otp: dana his friend dana <3 if they had met at school he'd leave valentine's in her locker

my unpopular opinion: i wholeheartedly believe this man is a homosexual

one thing i wish had happened in canon: he deserves more. like, in general. i just want him to be happy. give my man closure.

my otp: (o:

my cross over ship: he needs someone passionate, and stubborn as hell, and driven, and maybe in need of mellowing down. he has a soft spot for those who need protecting. he is such a gentleman. do with that what you will

a headcanon fact: he loooves classic rock. he's such a dad. he plays it loud (not loud enough to bother the neighbours of course, and not on a sunday, and not between 2 and 4) and sings along. he does air guitars and uses a spatula as a mic. van halen, journey, zeppelin, all of those.

[romcombc]

Book Review for Miss Indecisive

A love triangle for the ages, Miss Indecisive by Eloise Eliot is a light-hearted romantic comedy that follows the tale of a fifth grade teacher who is just looking for love. As this was my first love triangle, I didn’t know what to expect but was definitely not ready for the emotional ride it took me on!

When it rains, it pours! Vanessa has been in a drought since she had her heartbroken by her ex boyfriend Brad. Now the skies have opened and it’s raining men! First, she is dumbstruck by the insanely gorgeous Interim Principal. Next, she is set ablaze by her roommate’s cousin at a pre-wedding event. Then, just to keep the rule of three alive, she is set up on blind date with the nicest guy she has ever met. What’s a girl to do? Determined to hold strong to her rule about not dating where she works (sorry Jack), and insisting on exploring the insane chemistry she is feeling for a certain doctor (sorry Josh), Vanessa is all in with Rishi and is ready to give love a chance again and chase her happily ever after. The problem, Rishi is already betrothed. Following Indian traditions, Rishi is set to marry Priya, bringing their two households together. Family is everything to him and he has been the good son and done what they asked, but is he willing to betray his heart, letting Vanessa go in order to appease his family. Just how much are these two willing to sacrifice to be together?

The ending had me cracking up and was absolutely delightful! While some points of the book were touch and go in terms of interest, the strong finish made the entire read worth it. I am excited to see there is a sequel and curious how things will play out for Priya and what will happen next.

[readingeliot-blog]

Middlemarch: Book VIII: Sunset and Sunrise

So we are finally at the sunset of Middlemarch (and sunrise?). All the storylines finally come together. Dorothea finally ends up with Will, and they kissed in a dramatic way. (Is that the only kiss in the book?) It's so bizarre to think that anyone would marry someone without having proper courtship. Kiss, and let's marry in a few weeks - is what people used to do it seems. Seems to work out for Dorothea however, and at the end she has a baby boy, for which reason Celia and husband finally soften and the family comes back together.

Lydgate dies young. Rosamond marries again, and has only bitter memory of her first husband. Lydgate never really achieved what he wanted to achieve professionally, even though he made a decent living in London, and his marriage never achieved a new high. Possibly the harshest treatment of a character by Eliot.

Bulstrode gives Stone Court to the wife, who then hired Mr Garth, who in turn recruits Fred Vincy to take care of it. Fred and Mary marry and live happily ever after, with three boys. The Bulstrodes leave Middlemarch. There doesn't seem to be any proper resolution financially to Bulstrode's past indecencies (?), apart from being forever shamed. But maybe that's the toughest punishment of all in Middlemarch.

It's quite interesting to see how Eliot treats all these characters. I guess not all marriages could end up happy, especially in this book, but Lydgate seems to be the most unlucky of them all. His decision to marry Rosamond seems to be his downfall for the rest of his life, that can never be recovered back. Rosamond herself seems to be doing well, and hardly learns a lesson. Fred Vincy, who is not as hardworking and skilful as Lydgate, obtains happiness in the end. What is Eliot trying to tell us, I wonder?

[leverage-ot3]

my heart didn’t beat

for years and years

no feelings, no love

no sadness, no tears.

I was empty and alone

and I knew it was wrong

but I knew I deserved it-

I hadn’t felt in so long

by fate or by chance

or by evil design

we all came together

and my heart whispered ‘mine’

he followed her anywhere

like a moth to a flame

and my blackened heart thumped

because I’d do the same

his brown eyes held compassion

his voice friendly and kind

like I was something to be cherished

like I was what he was looking to find

I didn’t get her at first

with her actions and odd quirks

but she lured me in slowly

with her awkward wit and her smirks

at one point in time

I’d have packed up and ran

but this time I held my ground

and my crusade began

no one could touch

these two that saw me

with hands that protected

that weren’t red and bloody

they lured me in slowly

like another complex con

with kind eyes and gentle touches

until my resolve was gone

sometime between the beginning

and where we stand now

my heart started to heal

and I made a firm vow

I’ll protect you till the end

till I’m old and grey

right by your side

till my dying day.

[party-gilmore]

So I've talked before about the growth we've seen in the team since the original series, and about how Eliot's is less obvious and CKane's interview to that effect about why Eliot's still pretty much in the same place he was before versus Hardison and Parker for comparison.

But the thing is yeah he's still in the same place, both physically and mentally, but that doesn't mean he hasn't changed.

I was sitting here thinking about why the Vibes felt so different, thinking about O.S. Eliot versus Redemption Eliot, and I finally put my finger on what exactly the difference was.

He's settled.

Like, the properly settled in kind of comfortable. At home.

We got to see this start towards the middle/end of S5 when he's really starting to make the brewpub his own, but even then it's that sort of exciting kind of new beginning - the start of a new life.

With Redemption, we see him properly settled into that life, life with a team, in a way that we never really saw as the five seasons of Leverage were him acclimating himself to idea: an idea he couldn't really even begin committing to fully until S4 with Moreau out of the way.

It's very much the vibe of Newlyweds Taking Their First Steps Into The Future vs Happily And Comfortably Married For Almost A Decade.

The spark is still there, but it's gone from a Hot, Flashpoint Burst to Slow, Steadier, Consistent Blaze

And I fucking love it.

[soft-october-night]

The Love Interests in the Works of Jane Austen: An Assessment

This is an "extremely scientific" and "thoroughly researched" ranking based on personality, money, family and connections, and is a bit of a blend between the book characterizations and the film characterizations (and is in no way only based on my own opinions). Here we go, grouped by book but not much else.

Edmund Bertram: absolute trash. His family has treated you unbelievably shitty since day one and not only has he BARELY noticed, he ALSO has treated you shitty. Will fall in love with someone beautiful and fun and when she dumps him will come crawling to you for a rebound. His passion for you is so lackluster that even the esteemed author who wrote about it barely spared a paragraph on your relationship. Has a job but only because his dad owns the land the church is built on. You’ll gain no connections or family by marrying him, since he’s literally your cousin.  0/10

Henry Crawford: There IS such thing as too much fun, and that is never clearer than in this man, who will try to seduce you as a game, freak out when his middling overtures don’t work and then try and seduce you “for really real” this time. You will definitely move up in the world if you marry him, and if you play your cards right it seems like his sister is also just REALLY into you, so see how that goes. Life will be pretty okay until you find him in bed with one (or more, who knows) of your relations. 3/10, 8/10 if you’re into that

John Willoughby: Will be like something out of a romance novel, you’re thinking he’s going to propose and then he just fucking ghosts you and embarrasses the fuck out of you at a party by acting like he doesn’t know you. Somehow marry him (congrats on the inheritance you must have, btw) and get ready to take a backseat to the whims of his aunt for as long as she lives. 1/10, at least you get to live in a nice house.

Edward Ferrars: Oh Edward. He’s a bit of a mess, isn’t he? Super kind, your family loves him, he made a bunch of stupid decisions in his youth that are coming back to bite him in the ass. He is loyal to an absolute fault, but you luck out when his fiance turns out to be a bit of a gold digger and dumps him when his mom disowns him. He doesn’t have a job and neither do you, but his family doesn’t wanna speak to him (lucky you!) and you’ll be happy and poor together if you two can work on your communication skills. 7/10.

Colonel Brandon: He’s got a nice house, the respect of his friends and the community, and he has a LOT of passion. He’ll give your sister’s penniless husband a job, dramatically rescue you from a rainstorm, make sure his dead girlfriend’s daughter is happy and taken care of even after your ex fucks HER over too, and is all around a pretty decent guy. Just. Uh. Maybe, kinda, sorta, needs to go after women his own age and is probably with you because you remind him of his dead girlfriend. 5/10 with the wildly inappropriate age gap, 9/10 without it.

Mr. Wickham: Please don’t. He’s a thirsty bitch who lives for drama and you think he’s fun until you find out he tried to sleep with one teenage girl and is making eyes at your fifteen year old sister behind your back. Marry him (through the grace of mysterious benefactors, cause he ain’t marrying anyone unless he’s paid the right price) and get ready for a life of being surrounded by military men in the north of England while your husband tries to fuck everything that moves. Work that out somehow with him and you might actually be happy. 0/10.

Mr. Bingley: He is a softboi who will do literally anything his friends tell him to do. He is SUPER rich, and marrying him will throw your sister’s into the path of other rich men and he is REALLY into you, but get ready to be sucking up to his sisters for literally the rest of your life. Unless he can ship Miss Bingley off to live with Mrs. Hurst, have fun trying to wage a war of barely concealed insults over the breakfast table every morning, and if you’re marrying Bingley I’m sorry but that is a war you just cannot win. He doesn’t have a job but he does have five thousand a year, and neither of you can manage money. You’ll love simply and deeply and be happy as any two can be. 8/10.

Mr. Collins: Last resort to rescue yourself from a life of being a burden to your parents until they die and then having to become a governess or something. Has a job but never shuts up about his boss. You will have to rearrange everything in your house according to his boss’ will. 2/10

Mr. Darcy: Is a anxious disaster who doesn’t know how to talk to girls at parties and needs to learn how say no to going out when he’s just not feeling it. He doesn’t have a job because he’s a landlord; he owns half of Derbyshire and has ten thousand a year, but turns out that all of that money and land can’t buy tact or charisma. Doesn’t know how to flirt and thinks he’s doing a great job (he’s not). He’ll propose to you out of the fucking blue one day by insulting literally everything about you, but don’t worry! Reading his letter unlocks Darcy 2.0. This patched version gives him humility, a personality, and he WILL gain the ability to rescue your family from utter ruin. Marry him and enjoy a life of luxury and witty ripostes, but beware! You ARE going to have to deal with Lady Catherine until the day she dies, not to mention Caroline Bingley’s barely concealed contempt every time you meet in polite company. Darcy 1.0 3/10, Darcy 2.0 8/10.

Captain Wentworth: Absolutely top tier. Has a job, has earned everything he has, including a fortune and the respect of his peers, superiors, and subordinates. His sister and her husband are practically the only happily older married couple you know, his friends are super fun and nice (even the dour one with all the poetry knows how to have a polite conversation). If you dumped him ten years ago on the advice of your almost comically shitty family yeah, he’s going to hold a grudge, but he WILL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU and the MOMENT he gets over his pride will do everything and anything in his power (including leaping the bounds of propriety!) to win you back. Based on his love, money, and connections you should RUN, not walk, into his arms TODAY and allow him to rescue you from your family and whisk you off to see the world on his ship, at least until Napoleon busts out of Elba. 12/10

Mr. Eliot: Will lose all your old schoolfriend’s husband’s money in a bad deal, has debts out the ass, might be trying to get with either you or the woman your dad has been flirting with for the last few years, you’re not sure. Is totally ruining the rekindling relationship you’re trying to get going with your far superior ex. He wants the land and title your dad has and will stop at nothing to get it. Marry him and you can move back into your old house (maybe? it’s a little unclear what with all the debts) but have every single cent your mother left you immediately put into some dumbass scheme. 1/10

Henry Tilney: another softboi who just wants to act in the school play while his dad and brother plan to ship him off to military school and berate him for not joining the football team. Bring him shopping with you to pick out dresses, spend long nights over tea chatting about books. Has a job, but again, only because his dad owns the land the church is on. Loves you even though you have some very strange ideas about his house, and will forgive you when he realizes you thought his dad either murdered or imprisoned his mom. If he can find the courage to tell his dad to fuck off and let him live his own life, expect a long, happy marriage of snuggling together in a window seat somewhere, sipping tea and reading. 9/10

John Thorpe: Trash bastard man. Peaked in whatever equivalent of high school he had. Shitty and rude to everyone, would post racist memes on facebook and start fights if he could, all while being shitty and manipulative and CREEPILY possessive of you. -2/10

Robert Martin: A sweet himbo farmer who just wants to love and worship you. He has a job, is pretty rich, and while his connections may not be above his class, he’s an earnest boy who wants to take care of you and be taken care of in turn. Marry him the first time, absolutely do NOT let your friend influence you against him, because who KNOWS if you will get a second proposal! (You will, he likes you THAT much.) Marry him and enjoy a sweet, simple life of exactly zero drama (unless your friend is around). 7/10

Mr. Elton: Trifling gold digging trash who doesn’t know what the word no means. Do not marry, unless you want to be censured by decent, hardworking people -1/10

Frank Churchill: Knows how to have fun, but you know there’s something more going on. He won’t let you see his letters, he sends out secret notes, then he smiles and tells you that everything is totally a okay. Another boy with ANOTHER overbearing aunt, only this one doesn’t know how to say no. Marry him if you’ve got the money, but he will always be longing after the poor girl next door that auntie wouldn’t let him married, and would have cheated on you already if she was into it. 3/10

Mr. Knightly: He’s your brother in law and you’ve known him almost your whole life, so that’s a little sus, but he is also the ONLY person in your entire life who knows how to tell you no (and you really, REALLY need to be told no sometimes.) He is extremely wealthy, but more importantly he’s kind and caring about people who are considered “beneath” him. He will break his weird no dancing rule to dance with your shy friend, he will ream you out for being shitty to unwed spinsters who value your opinion, and somehow has the correct read on everyone all the time. You will gain no connections by marrying him, since the two of you already have the exact same connections anyway, but the two of you should be content in a test of wills that will last a lifetime. You’ll be very happy as long as he doesn’t get super pedantic and start correcting you about everything. 7/10