In the mastermind job, Eliot’s insistence that he’s good for more than just hitting people is 🥺 But add to the fact that this means what Nate said of him was that he just hits people (and flicks his hair)? 😭 Nate knows he’s better at more than just that, but what Eliot reads of Nate’s impression is nothing more than him as a hitter and that must hurt. ☹️

You know now that I think about it (and have rewatched some of the original leverage) the weird part about the writer-insurance guy saying that Nate Ford was always there with a pep talk isn't like, the pep talk part of it.

Nate can do pep talks. Sometimes the pep talk is him shouting "YOU CAN DO THIS" at Hardison to get him to land the plane, and it's not like he does them a lot but like, he has pep talked. And I could see that maybe while he was IYS and in a better headspace, he might have done those more often.

It's the idea that he was known for it that's a little harder.

Leverage: Redemption 1.08 — The Mastermind Job (The full gifset now)

Frank Farmer

So, the Leverage crew is trying to stop a dictator from taking back power in the fictional country of Zarif. Whenever we see said dictator on screen, he wears a small flag pinned to his lapel, which is probably supposed to be the flag of Zarif. Yet, in reality, it's actually just the flag of ... Spain 🇪🇸

the creators didn't come up with a fake flag for a fake country, they just said: Nah, it's fine, no one will recognise that flag, let's just use that 🤣

rewatching Leverage Redemption season one and like

Ik people were complaining (or at least I saw a couple complaints about it) about the fact the dude who wrote the memoirs could put people to sleep just by talking since it's "unrealistic", and it kinda is at the scale he can do it, but my dudes

I have had teachers in classes I enjoyed speak in a way I was exhausted just listening. Like it would be hard to stay awake in their class because they spoke in a soft, droning, monotone voice with little to no inflection. It's not to far off for me to imagine.

Leverage Redemption Log: The Mastermind Job

So... a Nate episode without Nate (im fairly certain that, between the pharma pricegouger and episode 1, this is our third Nate Episode) dealing with his legacy. Maybe maybe we'll actually steal that cure for Sam's sickness he lied about in the Long Goodbye?

--- So some d-bag is stealing all Leverages heists and making a schlocky movie script of it? (also Sophie wasnt in that heist, if this is meant to be the first heist but that is either a plotpoint of the Writer not having his stuff right, or an "actor too busy" issue) D-bag is standing in a warehouse with various relics (anubis head amongst them), "this is exactly what i need". My prediction: He's smuggling stolen goods, and is gonna pass off his stolen goods as props for a movie he's making to get them across country borders. --- Its an aniversary for Sophie, (unknown as of yet if its birthday, wedding to Nate or if its been a whole year already and its a death-iversary). Elliot is annoyed that he's getting shorted in the book version of their cons and heists. Parker is annoyed it gives her credit (understandable, she's pragmatic and understands that anonymity is a thieves greatest asset, being "legendary" is justifiably an insult in her mind) Ok, so someone is trying to take credit for the team, first guess would be Dubenich but he's sort of at the bottom of a cliff.

Sophie isnt in the book (which means the version of the heist where she was substituting Hardison is now a DOUBLE plothole) Its a "wedding aniversary. (was the most likely but i didnt want to stake a bet) Its a "first time insurance-frauding"-versary. --- Debriefing time. Guy doesnt exist legally, he's probably a corporate construct of a corporate construct.

So we have our FakeNate, (he looks... unimpressive), Guy doesnt even know his own stories, i'm gonna say "paid actor, bodydouble and/or patsy".

I like plan B. (turns out, Im wrong about parkers dislike. She thinks a reputation makes things too easy, its not about pragmatism its about spoiling the chase) I like that we're conning him by simply stating the blatantly obvious about how deep of a shithole he's dug for himself. --- Harry coming in as the "hero" of our story. And narcotic darts. Actually Breanna, the specific politics of the country might be relevant. --- Ok King "even I am sick of how many titles i have" wants him to steal a jewel from his ex-wife.

Oh nice, mastermind has enough human decency (and just little enough brain) to make things worse for Harry.

Ok so he's an accountant from Nate's old job and he (presumably) is trying to ensure that Nate's legacy is remembered in his own dumb way. Nope he's doing a messed up vicarious escapism thing instead, (darn and here i was hoping we were getting a likeable mark again)

--- So Harry is back to being tied up, but he has a taser. (Parkers favourite at that)

So obviously the accountants boredom powers are gonna be key to solving this. (never underestimate the power of boring competence,) Also the "wrong form" is definitly intentional, she's betting on it vanishing soon because she knows her ex-husband is gonna try and steal it. (its definitly a fake, she knows that it'll be stolen by her ex and even if IYS finds out that the display model is a fake... she'll claim its a distraction because she knows Zafir is coming to steal it so why leave the real one out when she can just put it in a safe.)

Sophie is confronting the accountant about the whole "did Nate never mention me" thing. --- Harry coming in with the "unionise the guards" scheme yet again by reminding the armed militia goons that the king is broke until he steals the jewel in an attempt to divide and conquer. (note, i dont think this is a good plan. Because it is only gonna make them shoot up the museum and steal the scarab by force... sure it'll prevent the king from overthrowing the democracy but its not ideal) Parker has baloons and is casing the jewels. (note: Baloons=helium, they are going to be used to keep the presure equal or something) --- Elliot going in for the Seduction Play. Oh bodyguard romance... classic, someone's been learning to cover Sophie's position in the inbetween. Unfortunaly, even a critical success can have its complications and Elliots orders to "put as many nobles in 1 room with you so your Ex doesnt Uzi you cause he needs the legitimacy the other nobles can provide him" means that the duchess of Hanover is being locked in that same room with him. (its gonna be up to John Utterson to save the day) --- Harry is getting the militia a nice retirement fund. (paid from the kings Swiss Bank account)

And the penny has dropped for the accountant. the accountant walks like a cartoon. Speaking of cartoons, Parkers helium voice. And the accountant is back to being kidnapped by Former-King Zafir the soon-to-find-out-he-is-in-fact-quite-goonless. --- At this point i feel the need to ask a question: Who is dumber. The accountant who decided to pretend he's Nate. Or Zafir, who thinks he's dealing with Nate Ford and decided to seek out leverage of his own free will despite being, well an autocratic dictator who intends to commit a bunch of warcrimes. --- Ok so the accountant isjoining the international branch as sort of a "Harry understudy". never thought i'd see a guy named Milton in a tv show without it being a Paradise Lost reference.

So, to recap: Porter developed a time-sensitive plan to turn himself into a god without having the necessary components to pull it off or the means to get them, blundered into (supposedly) getting them throughout Junior Year, encouraged the Rat Grinders to antagonize and therefore draw attention from the Bad Kids, chucked Seacaster Manor into the sky and sent dragons after the Bad Kids BEFORE verifying that he had the right name, didn't check if there were provisions against mind-controlled students disbanding the school, and hinged everything on a squishy Rogue so hellbent on killing Riz that she ran off to solo him in a gym full of lava she wasn't protected against. AND the whole thing might have failed anyway because Fig had already claimed Ankarna's domain.

...Good jorb.

Yeahhhh. Like, even if we don't judge him harshly for not knowing Fig had claimed the rage domain, there were still SO many blunders in this plan.

This one isn't a blunder but being a Pally/Barb and getting successfully parried in physical combat with a child wizard is frankly embarrassing.

He had no way to get the name if the Bad Kids didn't just happen to stumble into it. Which is wild because, in universe, Falinel is an obvious place to look for long forgotten info--Aelwyn mentions that when they're there for Fantasy Christmas. Why didn't they check there? They have a rogue with reliable talent and a wizard. They just weren't clever enough to have an idea that they Bad Kids offhandedly had between bits. All the work was about to be totally worthless if they hadn't last minute gotten it literally mid-battle (which it still ended up worthless but you know what I mean).

Sending Seacaster Manor airborn is such a wild ploy because, otherwise, they wouldn't have even known something was happening right away. And, being airborne, they got there way faster than anything other than a teleport would have done. Why not spike their bad baby milk so they pass out and can't deliver their votes? Or hell, just steal and destroy their votes! But nooooo. You had to get in your petty oracle dig on Adaine and get dragons involved.

Why did they show up, fail to get the name from Gorgug, and then just leave??? Try again until you get the name!!! You need it!!! What if the attack worked and all the Bad Kids died. Cool, now how are you gonna do the ritual? As far as they knew, no one could see them since they were invisible so why not take another 6 seconds and try again? Now is NOT the time to be stingy with spellslots!

Why was Kipperlilly ANYWHERE near that battlefield? She should have been in a secure room somewhere, ready to disband the school as soon as the votes were counted. Her getting killed was was entirely their own fault and the it was the height of hubris to not hide her. Literally she's a rogue. Hiding is her main skill.

And finally, Jace said that he actually told Porter that he couldn't just mind control a student and that's why they didn't do the plan with Mazey earlier.

So yeah. Maybe a part of the reason the Bad Kids didn't want to engage with Porter's philosophy of rage is because it leads to extremely half baked plans like this.

I'm so sorry

-

"It's a good plan, I'll give you that."

Leverage S04E16 The Gold Job.

It’s the way that Nathan Ford is BY FAR the least interesting character of the original Leverage five, and yet he’s the one who gets SO much backstory and context to himself. I’m literally watching the season 4 finale and I just don’t care that his father was murdered because Nate’s being incredibly annoying. Trying to be empathetic about a character grieving doesn’t even work for me here because his entire team is trying to make sure he doesn’t MURDER the man/men responsible for his father’s death and he’s not letting them in at all. It’s part of the reason I dislike his character so much. There’s hardly ever moments when he is genuinely vulnerable, not even with Sophie, who he is supposed to be in love with (yeah yeah, I know, they’re “friends with benefits” right now, but that’s not fooling anyone with eyes even without the knowledge that they end up together at the end). Nate is this mastermind of a character and it’s cool and intriguing for all of half of season before you’re scratching your head like, where’s the care for his team? He was kind to Hardison in the evaluation form and he didn’t want to make Eliot kill again, for any reason, but it’s so hard to appreciate his humanity when he’s spent the past three(ish) seasons on the verge of drinking himself to death, verbally bashing Sophie, and only being about the work. Sophie having a notebook full of moments when Nate put her or her ideas down isn’t funny or a moment of character growth. Nate doesn’t fully understands how that’s so shitty of him, as team leader, but also as her sexual (romantic?) partner. Every moment of Sophie and Nate’s relationship has to be fought for BY SOPHIE, and at this point, I don’t even know why she even wants him. He may be acting as Robin Hood and helping people, but he’s barely even a person while he’s doing it. I’ve never liked Nate, but making my way through season 4 has definitely given me the hardest time with remembering his redeeming qualities. Every time he’s vaguely misogynistic or acts like an immature man child when it comes to processing his emotions without alcohol (which happens: never), I question why he’s the main character, why my screen isn’t filled up with Hardison being the sassiest mf of them all or OT3 moments or Sophie conning the hell out of men who are led by their dicks and not their minds. When I’m watching the Nate centric scenes/episodes, I’m never wishing for more, I’m wishing the rest of the team was in the spotlight instead

The more I watch it…

… I definitely think the reason the Nate and Eliot relationship gets overlooked is that it’s very tacit and unspoken. These are two guys who do not discuss feelings, at least not directly, instead they just steadily… Fall into a pattern, they develop a system. The trust and loyalty between them isn’t spelled out in long speeches or discussions; it’s in the way Eliot starts to look to Nate for a cue if he should engage; Eliot allowing Nate to pull him back; it’s Nate never trying to force details of Eliot’s past from him; the way Nate only ever doubts Eliot once and then never again; the way Nate looks at Eliot after being forced to take a drink in the Bottle Job, or any other time; their conversation about the bank robbery in the Bank Shot job; Eliot being willing to kill for Nate; no matter how far on a bent he is, it’s in Nate never asking him to; it’s in Eliot and Sophie worrying about Nate’s destructive behaviour and his drinking; Nate telling Eliot ‘get them to the chopper’ rather than ‘get to the chopper’; it’s every time Eliot speaks out about a play or choice he doesn’t agree w/ and calling Nate out; it’s them sitting in silence in the bar; it’s the way Eliot falls in at Nate’s shoulder, or shifts in front of him in case of threat; it’s Eliot doing things Nate asks even when he complains; it’s Nate honestly responding when Eliot confronts him; it’s the Zanzibar Job; Eliot being mad Nate (and the others) left the baseball game early; Nate trying to protect Eliot from being forced to do the fixed fight; his panic at thinking Eliot’s been shot for a moment; Nate sounding for all the world like a proud dad during the country music ep; the exchange at the end of the cheerleading ep; them both harping on Hardison to tip the messenger; Nate trying to curb Eliot’s flirting; watching sports together; it’s the tiny glances they exchange or they way they sometimes move in sync.

Leverage Inc has no hierarchy, not really, not in the usual sense, but they fill their own roles based on their strengths and personalities. There’s no outright decision, no official acknowledgement, but they don’t need that. Nate and Eliot settle seamlessly into not just the roles of a mastermind and his loyal, trusted, and competent lieutenant and enforcer, but also something reminiscent of a father and an eldest son. They are actually one of the closest bonds in the whole crew (which is comprised of very close bonds, to be fair, but hopefully you get the point), they just do it so naturally and almost in the periphery that it can go unnoticed/understood very easily.

the five genders (hitter, hacker, grifter, thief, mastermind)

the reason (one of the reasons?) why Fukuchi does the things he does is the suffering his comrades had to endure during the war - similar to Gide's motives. moreover, Gide was looking for someone worthy of killing him, who'd understand him. it's kinda the opposite of how Fukuchi sees Fukuzawa now.

Fukuchi's sword allows him to "look" into the future. it's similar to what Gide and Oda's abilities do.

and of course there are also parallels between Fukuzawa and Oda that the untold origins is full of: working alone, killing people...

in season 5 ep 9 Fukuzawa says he sees the past, as opposed to Fukuchi, who, even if he sees the past, doesn't take it into consideration / cares more about the future. his words remind me of Ango and Oda's abilities

IDs in alt

Westminster City Council officials said they are "deeply concerned" by reports women's safety volunteers were arrested hours before the Coronation.

The Met said at about 02:00 BST on Saturday three people were arrested in Soho on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.

Among items seized were a number of rape alarms, the force said.

The Met said it "received intelligence" people "were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession".

Two women, 37 and 59, and a man, 47, were taken to a south London police station where they were questioned.

[...] Aicha Less, cabinet member for communities and public protection at Westminster City Council, said: "We are deeply concerned by reports of our Night Stars volunteers being arrested overnight.

"This service has been a familiar and welcome sight in the West End for a long time and have extensive training so they can assist the most vulnerable on the streets late at night.

"We are working with the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened, and in the meantime, we are in touch with our volunteers to ensure they are receiving the support they need."

the met police really went wild with the abuse of their power in the name of our new monarch yesterday, huh?

not least because according to other articles published on this arrest, the volunteers were wearing high vis safety vests with the fucking met logo on them.

i do not like when people say kaede would be a static protagonist if she survived the game like as if she wouldnt have 5 whole additional chapters for shit to be thrown her way and see how she'd change and adapt... plenty of writers have pulled off this idea with flying colors so idk why ppl say "ok but IN CANON kaede would just vote hope/despair in the end!" like LITERALLY WE DONT KNOW THATTT THOUGHHHH . shuichi was very different in ch1 compared to ch6 why is kaede exempt from this logic...............