#alec Hardison

[schrijverr]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, as a fandom we don’t do enough with the fact that Hardison is canonically the forger and he made Old Nate. Like he is skilled. And I feel we can make cute OT3 fics with that.

Like Hardison needing to make a fake in a genre, not a specific painting and having Eliot and/or Parker pose for him.

Or make it sexy (semi-failed) where he’s like “pose naked for me” and his partners are like “sure weirdo (affectionate)” and he thinks it’s going to be sexy, but live nude drawing isn’t really sexy, but it can be very intimate, so it’s still nice and he gets emotional about how much they trust him and how they can be vulnerable with him.

Or Eliot has banned screens and Hardison is pouting about it, but then he finds a notepad, so he settles in on the couch and observes Eliot and Parker being domestic and starts sketching them. (Maybe Eliot later finds the drawing and gets emotional about it, because this is how Hardison sees him, not a murdering monster, but this soft, happy cook).

Or he makes a little drawing of Parker and gives it to her, because he’s sappy. And he doesn’t expect anything of it, because Parker is more of the money as a gift kind of person, but then they need emergency cash, so he goes into one of her safes and it’s in there on pillow in a nice frame surrounded by diamonds, because that little drawing he made her is as precious to her, like im crying that is so soft.

Anyways, Hardison is the forger! The possibilities are endless!!!

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

The OT3: Hitter, Hacker, Thief.

"Live together. Lots of touching. Emotionally entangled. Doesn't sound like they're coworkers."

Co-created with @laser-tripwires

[brionysea]

hardison complaining when the team springs problems on him but then solving them anyway is such a mood. he'll get it done he just needs to be dramatic first

[reflectingiridescent]

There's gold in these tags:

#every time. every gd time it gets me #that once he sees sophie #he KNOWS he's lost #there's such an unrelenting throughline to nate's conviction of sophie's ability to get people to do what she wants them to #but he doesn't even realize for a long time that it's not her implanting ideas #it's her taking what's already there #he obviously desperately needs and on some level wants company #and sophie can get him to choose it #even when he's so deep in the darkness #it's e x c e l l e n t ( @danburys )

#Eliot coming in with “you know what I think?” as if anyone ASKED never fails to make me laugh ( @sonofashepherd12576 )

#sophie plays such a FASCINATING role in the pilot #she was OUT she got OUT #she gets back in the game for nate!! #SHE is the one who convinces nate to do it! #who comes up with the permission structure for him to keep playing his little games! #parker flirts with her! #eliot clocks her as a threat! #fascinating on every fucking level ( @princessarcastia )

#nate looks back at parker because she made that metaphor first #sophie and parker are already friends 🥰 #can you IMAGINE what they'd all get up to if they decided to do this thing without nate?? just agree man #for the good of the world #leverage #sophie is so phenomenally good at what she does btw #look at this!!!! they're all on his ass and she swoops in and convinces him with one implication of ill advised friendship #also something about sophie seeing potential in parker and nate being like “ALRIGHT…… you make a valid point” ( @brionysea )

#if you look really closely you can spot five actors freezing to death ( @laser-tripwires )

2024 Leverage Rewatch: 1x1 The Nigerian Job

sophie: *brings out chess metaphors* nate: *batting his eyelashes, twirling his hair* say less

[aardvaark]

everyones fave thieves

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

1x1 - "The Nigerian Job"

2x2 - "The Tap-Out Job"

2x6 - "The Top Hat Job"

2x12 - "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job"

2x15 - "The Maltese Falcon Job"

3x6 - "The Studio Job"

3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"

4x11 - "The Experimental Job"

[rotary-supercollider]

Average leverage episode

Victim: please mr. Leverage. They bought my orphanage and they’re going to sell all the orphans I need you to stop them

Nate “Leverage” Leverage: I think we can get you some… leverage

Sophie: I’m going to start a bullshit argument now

Nate: please dont

Sophie: it’s going to last the whole episode

Nate: 🙄women (laughtrack)

Hardison: alright this is our mark Mr. Monopoly. He owns 16 weapons companies and took in 100000 billion million dollars last year. He just got into the orphan business and on the weekends he plays puppy golf.

Parker: whats puppy golf

Hardison: it’s like golf but you use puppies

Elliot: I’ve seen it. (snifffs deeply) not fun

Hardison: this guys ruthless. we’re going to be exploiting his one weakness. He really likes having a lot of money

Sophie: how?

Nate: we go steal an abstract concept

*they steal an abstract concept*

The mark: hello. I was impressed by your ownership of an abstract concept

Sophie: we’ll give you 50 trillion dollars for the orphanage

Mark: Zamn!!!

Sophie: 😏 we got him

*1 day later*

Sophie: here’s the 50 trillion dollars (holds up briefcase full of crimes)

The mark: I don’t want your money any more. I have a new plan. I’m goijng to dress all the orphans in hot dog costumes and start a theme park

Sophie: 😦

Elliot: we’re blown

Nate: Sophie throw the briefcase 💼 in the lake

Mark: whoa!! Thats wet money

Sophie: I can give you 5000 more orphans. Meet me at this unmarked warehouse in 6 hours

Mark: awooga

Hardison: Nate do you have a plan?

Nate: not yet

*Fade to black*

Nate: alright the marks on his way. Hardison what’s your 20

Hardison: I need at least 30 minutes to finish this Lego Taj Mahal

Nate: ok I’ll stall

Nate (playing bit character): I cooka da pizza!! Ohhhh (drops full pan of sauce on the marks head instantly killing him) mamma Mia (walks into the sea)

Parker: guys we have a problem

*6 Bad Men materialize out of thin air*

Elliot: 😒I got this 👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊🤛🤜🤛🤜✊🩼✊🦶🦵✊🤛🚪🦶✊🦵🤌✊🦶👊🦵✊✊👊🎷👊👊👊

*the Bad Men disintegrate*

Elliot: shit hes here (dives into a trash can)

*the mark reaches the building. There are orphans waving at him from the windows*

Mark: ok I’m here to take the orphans

The police: SIR YOURE COMING WITH US

Mark: what?? This is a completely legal orphan deal

Police: theres no orphans here

*police man grabs an orphan. Hes flat. Flashback to Hardison setting up 5000 cardboard orphan cutouts*

Mark: but what are you arresting me for??

Police man: sir you filled all of city hall with gravy

*flashback to Nate filling city hall with gravy while wearing a T-shirt that says “Im bad businessman”*

Mark: you can’t do this to me!!

Police: (arrests him)

Nate: heh. You could say he got... Leveraged

Parker: i have autism

Everyone: oh my god Parker shut up

[ednygmasbowlerhat]

OT3 SHIPPERS HOW ARE WE FEELING AFTER THIS WEEK’S EPISODE???

the leverage ot3 is so amazing because each pair within it has its own unique and fascinating dynamic and then all 3 together have a third fascinating dynamic so the character depth is so good.

like parker and hardison have their adorable dynamic that gets tons of attention in the show so i don't think i have to explain but if i do, they are super playful with each other and so loving and romantic and hardison is always calling parker pet names and it's fucking adorable.

then you have parker and elliot, who are the two most emotionally stunted on the team, but something about being the two people who aren't "good" like the rest of the team (like basically the whole conversation they have while stuck in that like ice cave in the mountain climbing episode) is super deep. also, especially in redemption, i love how even though they pardison are not canonically dating eliot, parker is always including him in their future plans, like elliot will also get robot bodies with parker and hardison, etc. etc. like this is particularly sticking out to me in the most recent leverage redemption episode (the swipe right job) when parker is going on a rant about dating apps and elliot goes "we're in trouble" (about their covers getting blown on a job) and parker's like "no me you and hardison are fine" like hello did she just acknowledge that they're dating? more to the point though, i love how we see parker and elliot just hanging out and having like real, honest conversations, especially in redemption. i also love how they clearly spend time together outside of work - like the sheer number of parker and elliot noodle incidents is insane.

next up: elliot and hardison. holy shit they are so iconic. they are the big guy smart guy duo and it plays out in such a sweet way in their relationship. like even though he acts all exasperated, hardison really softens elliot up, for example, elliot complaining about the lucille song but then joining in in the first contact job. and then, at the same time, elliot helps hardison be tougher, think his really great speech in the rundown job where he convinces hardison that he is capable of stopping the terrorist attack and he like grabs the back of his neck and stares him right in the eye like he's donating his aura or something. but at the same time as encouraging him to be tough, elliot is still super overprotective of hardison, like when he instinctively grabs hardison and steadies him when he steps on the mine in that same episode, and i think that's so cute. speaking of the rundown job, the way that elliot and hardison are supportive of each other both in like a serious way and like a funny flirty way. as far as serious, in that episode, we have elliot literally jumping for joy when hardison figures out the sos car thing in time, and then of course as far as flirty and funny, you have the handshake when they're both staring at how hot parker is dodging lasers. btw the fact that they have a handshake too is just like the definition of their dynamic. i love it.

finally, all three together is super interesting because of how all of these dynamics come together. elliot is the scary looking dog who could fuck you up but is actually quite sweet and would rather nap with you on the couch. parker is the cat who takes a while to warm up to you but once she does she is super loving and sweet. and hardison is their genius golden retriever who is like the heart of the group and is always bothering the other two to play with him but secretly they love it. and they work together so well because they play off of each other's strengths and compensate for each other's weaknesses. it's just so fucking amazing ot3 5ever.

[thieves-never-say-die]

Disclaimer that I don't actually think the Leverage ot3 will go canon next episode, but if it did it would be funny if it happened as:

*the whole team including Harry and Hardison are gathered in their HQ* Parker: Let's go set up the next phase of the con! *kisses Eliot before she leaves* Hardison: Wait up babe! *also kisses Eliot before he leaves* Eliot: *grumbles and blushes but doesn't bat them away* Harry: So how long has that been going on? Sophie, Breanna, and Eliot: *stare at Harry in confusion* Breanna: The whole time Sophie: Don't you pay attention? Harry: *can't tell if they're fucking with him or not*

[liontalon1]

Anyone else curious about how they’re going to close this season? Normally we’d have a big bad or hints at something bigger in the background. Like Harry’s law firm and RIZ season 1, or Wilde and the hints at Astrid season 2. Even the og leverage had the build up to the season finale.

But so far i haven’t noticed anything that they’re leading up to. Not to say i haven’t loved this season so far, i have. But the only plot line I’ve noticed is Harry and Sophie getting back to the dating scene. And they’ve already done the date turned evil plot line. So what’s left?

That said they’ve never let me down before so I’ll wait and see. And hope we get another season (and maybe a Sterling appearance as a treat).

[wayiiseetheworld]

they helped the man getting kidnapped

"I'll be there in seconds if you need me."

hell yes, Eliot

that good looking man

gotta help them find money from an old bank robbery

"How about we say you go for a ride?"

Parker "buy me ten seconds."

she was in and out

faking old papers

I love it

I love it

I see why Nate needed the overalls

"Are you guys cops?"

"yeah the K-9 unit. the dog ate my badge."

fucking funny

Eliot dropping a box on Hardison's feet

and Making Parker laugh

Dalton having a gun on him

and basically saying, "I'm not a psychic. I can't communicate."

Tara shutting them in."

ohhhh it was taped for the show!!

now that is good

everyone now knows he is a fake

him getting arrested in front of everyone

the team watching from the van.

Parker staring at him

Eliot with his look

I love how much they say with their faces

them saying they can put the two in the same prison

Eliot, "let's go."

Nate making the woman feel better.

awhhh I feel for you Nate

Parker, Eliot and Hardison watching from the bar

Parker giving the brother money to give to his sister & the baby.

the brother hugging Parker back

awhhh that was a good moment

"wait a second, I thought you said all of Rand's money went into paying for his show."

"I thought you said he was broke."

"It did. He was."

Parker's face when Eliot asks where did the money come from? & did you guys find the stolen money?

Eliot being offended that they found the money without him

awhhh what a nice ending to an emotional start

[reflectingiridescent]

God I love talking about the storytelling that happens within cons on Leverage. For what it's worth, here's my 2 cents:

The noir detective/femme fatale dynamic is one that Sophie and Nate create together, and I'd argue that it's very slightly more Nate's fantasy than it is Sophie's. Support for this includes how Nate had a crime-solving duo dynamic with Maggie before Sophie was in the picture and how Sophie did not know he was coming in the pilot. We see her as he sees her. Nate also had a detective rival thing going with Sterling, also separate from Sophie. But Sophie absolutely understands the story she's in and is SUPER happy to play a part that not only fits her well (sexy, mysterious, criminal) but also compliments her abilities and acknowledges how smart she is (and that's the one thing about Nate - even on his absolute worst day, he will acknowledge Sophie's talents).

Sophie's very genre-savvy in general. She took the most care with Eliot's character for the murder mystery party precisely because he was the one most opposed to wearing a costume, which she did really try to assuage.

I actually would argue that every duo within the five in the og series sits in their own genre, and every group of three also sits in their own genre. I've never drawn this out in a way I find satisfying, but the OT3 are a slick superhero-esque procedural crossover. Hardison and Sophie are theater kids. Sophie and Eliot together are weirdly dramatically creepy. Parker and Eliot without Hardison are pragmatically dangerous. Sophie, Eliot, and Parker together without Hardison on Redemption are a pretty dark task force (the lamp reveal? come on). And so on.

But yes, Eliot alone is a kind of lone recovering ranger kind of vibe, which was only driven home by The Two-Horse Job ahahaha.

Notably in those Eliot-heavy episodes, Sophie often takes on the perspective of the fish out of water. She's not American. Nothing about her screams "small town life". And while we know now that she likely grew up blue collar just like Eliot, she doesn't take pride in that the way that he does. And that just feeds into the cowboy story, right?

Sophie's really good at designing characters for their cons. I'm thinking specifically of The Morning After Job, when Parker's seduction character is designed to be a rough-playing tomboy, which plays to Parker's strengths. If Sophie had been in that same role, she would have played that role differently for sure.

I read the choice of Nancy Drew differently for Parker. It's true that Nancy Drew is a younger detective who dressed like women of her time (I guess this would be the 1930s-1950s kind of arena), but people often older than her also routinely underestimated her intelligence and she almost died at least once per book because she was going after people committing some seriously messed up crimes. Also as far as classic American female detectives go, Nancy Drew is the go-to.

(And it's kinda cute that she had Hardison be all of the Hardy Boys in one, because that would be the male equivalent all-American detective.)

There's a longer version of this post where I go into how Sophie's femme fatale persona starts to fall apart pretty early on with the team, because that's not really who she is or who she is with them. But also because every single person on the team (Sophie included!) subverts their own broad strokes characterization in several ways. But when it's just her and Nate in The Frame-Up Job? The very general genre does seem to love them, doesn't it?

Saw a post about how Nate embodies Sophie’s noir romantic fantasies and I remember how Sophie always has a comment after the more serious romantic entanglement Eliot episodes (“The Two-Horse Job” and “The Studio Job” (she asks Eliot and his “no notes” line)) and I’m wondering if to her Eliot embodies the cowboy drifter romance stories. And now I’m wondering if that’s how she puts everyone into categories. Just whatever dramatic literary tropes they fill.

[cachow-it]

Parker “so I was talking to hardison last night about how I think we’re a polycule, and he was all, ‘yeah, sure babe’”

Eliot “…..”

[jourke-rourke]

Leverage (2008) // the gang x taglines

HI I'M BACK. Sorry for abruptly vanishing (again). I had sepsis (again). I’m home now though and have open Wi-Fi again so here’s our guys

[aardvaark]

the 10 lil grifters job episode of leverage is so fun. we get to see our team attend a costume party. sophie calls her seasoned criminal coworkers "whiny babies". the whole time everyone is only like 80% sure that nate didn’t commit first degree murder behind their backs. parker offhandedly mentions that she robbed imelda marcos, and she clearly has no idea who that is. hardison has been inviting himself to the oscars for years. there’s a huge amount of references to mystery novels, movies and tv shows, not to mention all the fictional detectives you can spot in the background. timothy hutton is playing nate playing ellery queen, a detective character who was played by timothy hutton’s late father, jim hutton. we get to see all of the team use their skills in very different ways: you can’t hack a house that was built well over a century ago, so hardison has to adapt; eliot has to beat people up subtly and in public; parker’s spidey senses (aka extremely good spatial awareness) allow her to discover secret passages; sophie gets to do the amateur acting gig she’s always wanted; nate has to figure out how a crime was done rather than how to do a crime. at one point, parker gets offered a threesome. truly one of the episodes of all time.