#but i've got leverage on the brain and eliot would be excellent

[kiralamouse]

Leverage: Redemption & Dracula

Look, it's not my fault that I was listening to @re-dracula and realized that Christian Kane would make a spectacular Quincey Morris. And then started imagining Aldis Hodge as Arthur Holmwood, because the way they play off each other. And then started imagining that it was instead a fusion universe with Eliot Spencer doing the Quincey role and Alec Hardison (... wait, it's another AH as AH, kismet!) and here's what I've got so far:

Eliot as Quincey Morris, Quintessential Cowboy (self-evident connection)

Hardison as Arthur Holmwood - Hardison's good at the kind of earnest naïveté and honor of our romantic hero, and also good at missing half the action because unrelated obligations call him away. :P

Parker as Jack Seward - Here's where I'm starting to warp the matchups a bit. I considered Parker for Lucy and the rest of the trio as her suitors, but let's face it: 1) Parker is never gonna be a sweet ingenue, 2) Parker interacting with Renfield et al and having trouble understanding the motives of both neurotypicals and neurodivergents alike, and missing behavioral hints? Perfect.

So I decided to ditch Lucy as a romantic interest. (Let the trio be romantically interinvolved as in Leverage.) Instead, random previously unnamed foster child of Nana's is going to be Lucy Westenra the vamp victim. Hardison/Holmwood would still likely have the strongest connection, and Parker/Seward would be a good awkward devotee and Eliot/Quincey would be a good paternalistic protector.

That leaves a great opening for Breanna as Mina Murray. Someone also closely connected to the Lucy character, someone very clever whom the others both rely on for research and shelter re: field work.

(Breanna's SO can be Jonathan. We can invent a new SO if we like. I ship Mina/Jonathan too hard to accept some other relationship here, especially since none of the Leverage crew scream Jonathan vibes.)

Sophie as Abraham van Helsing - Someone with a lot of intelligence, diverse experiences, tragic personal life but warm found-family relationships? Check. Also a mentor to... okay, too many characters to be a strong parallel to the Dracula canon, but it works for me far, far better than the Leverage!Jack coming back as a Dracula expert. Or really any broad-range expert who plays parent to the whole group.

Harry as Peter Hawkins - There is a lawyer RIGHT THERE in the Dracula text. Someone to be a wealthy backer only distantly connected to the narrative. Or possibly in this version more actively connected.

That's the only fusion stuff I'm committed to, but I do have an evil idea for Drac himself.

Nate as Count Dracula II. In this version, Nate was missing and presumed dead but turned out to have been vampired and, Natelike, destroyed the one who destroyed him and then drank and sulked. Without a support network, it probably wouldn't even need Eeevil Vampire Corruption to make Nate go supervillain.

Anyway. I was pleased with how the character/relationship correspondences worked. I'd love to see if anyone else enjoys it.

[mj-spooks]

Wait, I don't think I've asked this one before. Leverage Crew, as different aliens in media? I'm also trying to think of any aliens other than from star wars, star trek, or dr who which aren't insects.

I’m gonna level with you, anon, the only alien-centric thing I’m super familiar with that isn’t one of those three is Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Which, for the record, Sophie is so totally a Royal Tangean. Did I just date myself? I think I dated myself.

OH wait also Futurama! :D

Hm. Okay that’s five franchises and five members, so let’s do one from each. Admittedly I’m only on the fringes of fandom for Star Trek. So that one might be a reach. Also it’s been a long time since I watched Buzz Lightyear.

Sophie is a Royal Tangean, the same race as Mira Nova. Specifically a Royal, because there was a difference between the Royals and non-Royals, species-wise. That’s a whole other thing to unpack, not why we’re here. The Royals from my recollection are a bit snotty, a bit entitled (they are royals, after all), but obviously Sophie is a Rebel™ just like Mira. She’s got class and all, and she likes the finer things in life. But she also doesn’t want to sit around on her arse having things handed to her. She’s got poise, she’s very good at politics, she’s charming and seems very open. But she has hidden depths. Sophie would totally run off and join Star Command against the wishes of her royal family for the sake of adventure.

Obviously Hardison being Hardison, I can’t resist using Futurama for him. He’s… A Nibblonian. Yes, like Nibbler. Adorable, highly intelligent, a little chaotic, and absolutely capable of pulling the strings because people underestimate him. He also has a great sense of humor, and gets annoyed when people don’t take him seriously. No one knows how powerful he is, and most of the time that suits him, because it’s easier to work when no one’s looking. But he’s absolutely in charge and responsible for things most people could never even fathom. He’s also (not so) secretly soft, and loves attention and cuddles. This is not a joke I am 100% serious with this comparison. I am not taking criticism at this time.

Again, I don’t know much about Star Trek. I grew up sort of passively watching TNG with my mom, and I’m aware of the basics, but that’s about it. So this is gonna be very Basic Bitch. But, uh, Parker reminds me a lot of Spock, sometimes, so I could totally see her as half-human/half-vulcan. I know it doesn’t always come across that she’s a very logical person, because her logic isn’t what most people consider logic at all, but she had a weird childhood, okay. Most of her decisions are based on what passes for logic according to her brain. She can be very detached, when she needs to be, and has excellent problem solving skills. She often needs things explained to her when they involve things like emotions and social skills, and doesn’t always inherently understand even her own feelings. That said, she’s very clever and has a playful side that can come as quite surprising to someone who’s only known her through work. She has that raw intensity thing going for her, too.

I’m going to cheat a little with Eliot, okay. Sorry not sorry. Technically all races in Star Wars are alien races because it takes place “a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” no matter how human they look or if they have no apparent non-human traits. But it’s fine, because what specifically Eliot is isn’t what’s being established here. No one will ever know, because Eliot is the most Mandalorian mother fucker I’ve ever seen. Found family trope? Check. Highly skilled in various and sometimes obscure forms of combat? Check. Sometimes surprising and unexpected knowledge and skillsets? Check. Strictly bound to his own code of honor regardless of things like laws and social conventions? Check. This is the fucking way, my guy. Also you can’t tell me he wouldn’t be all over that sweet ass armor and having a helmet he couldn’t take off.

Nate… I mean, it seems like a cop-out to use Time Lords. But, like. Nate is such a Time Lord? Specifically, I could very strongly make an argument for Nate being an incarnation of The Doctor. Just rebellious enough to go against the status quo, right, because starting up Leverage and working outside the law to find justice is pretty equivalent to “Fuck you and your snobbish no interference policy, I do what I want, also I stole a TARDIS ahahahaha.” He’s got a dramatic sad past where he lost everything that mattered to him, he drowned in his sorrow and loneliness, he uses work as a coping mechanism to distract from his angst, he runs from his emotions and consistently fails to confront them, he minimizes the importance of the people in his life to try and make it hurt less if he loses them… Like. C’mon, man. He’s two inches to the left from being Nine or Twelve.

I want points because none of these are insects. Well theoretically Eliot could be but WE JUST DON’T KNOW.