#backset blabbers

[just-call-me-zinnia]

I love the fact that the Leverage Crew is canonically absurdly rich and this is used to justify everything from advanced tech to Hardison buying a building. They found the infinite money glitch (robbing rich assholes on the regular).

[pokemas-conversation-repository]

[just-call-me-zinnia]

I refer to Leverage as the Bugs Bunny of the con/heist genre in that they kinda bend the narrative to their will but also they just literally are Bugs Bunny for corporate scumbags. You can't tell me this isn't the exact kinda shit Bugs would pull if he was a con artist/thief.

[just-call-me-zinnia]

Leverage plot!

The Mark: Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne.

The Con: Frame him for being Batman.

This is back in the days when Batman is still mostly considered an urban legend and the Gotham City PD is pretty unanimously in "if he is real, arrest him" mode. So Bruce turning out to be Batman would be very bad for him, his reputation, and his business.

The crew is split on whether Batman is real. Nate doesn't believe it, obviously, Hardison and Parker do, Sophie thinks its some gangster running a con to get their competitors out of business, Eliot also doesn't believe it.

So Bruce obviously isn't happy when he hears that there's someone out there faking Batman sightings and casting suspicion on him, so he goes out to figure out what's going on. This means that he leaves during a fancy party he was attending, that Nate and Sophie were also at for con reasons. Meanwhile, Parker and Hardison have to infiltrate Wayne Manor for whatever reason, which has unusually high security for just some rich dude's mcmansion, and because Hardison's a genius and Parker is the world's greatest thief, they accidentally discover the Batcave, only to run into Alfred.

While that's going on, Eliot is faking a Batman sighting only to run into the real Batman. He loses the fight because even though we are following the rule of "Every story with the Leverage crew becomes a Leverage episode" and Eliot is very good, there is no way he beats the goddamn Batman. He does recognize his fighting style means that Batman trained with the League of Assassins, though, because "It's a very distinctive style." Though, of course, Batman doesn't get any information out of him and Eliot is still able to get away.

Cut back to the Batcave, Alfred has Hardison at gunpoint because he's a badass but Parker was still hidden so he didn't find her. And since Parker is Batman tier stealthy, she drops down behind him and tases him. Team Leverage now knows Bruce Wayne is Batman for real. Meanwhile Batman is now aware of Eliot and, because Eliot talks to the others during the fight, is aware that he has accomplices. He's also suspicious of Nate and Sophie because they were acting very strange at the party. And, of course, he's heading to the Batcave so even if Parker and Hardison are gone by that point, Alfred still saw them. Which means Team Leverage/Batman Team-Up! The real villains turn out to be Wayne Enterprises' corrupt and greedy shareholders, who were using Bruce as a scapegoat.

[just-call-me-zinnia]

Somebody already said this but I wanna say it too.

Parker is great in Redemption because she gets to be Parker. In the OG series she almost always had Nate around to reign her in and the general attitude towards her was mostly "man, Parker is weird." But in Redemption she has freedom to go full ham and nobody can really tell her no. Like, she's learned when and how to reign herself in but the rest of the time she's as weird and out there as she wants to be. And everyone just accepts it as "Yeah, that's Parker." except for Breanna and Harry who are honestly treated as weird for not just accepting Parker being Parker as a normal thing.

[just-call-me-zinnia]

I think it's very funny and also very cool that a lot of Emma's traits in Z-A are kinda pulled out of nowhere but still feel like Emma. Like the cat smile and the Naruto run are not present anywhere in her original appearance or Masters, but I see them and go "Yeah, Emma would do that."

And, of course, one that wasn't pulled out of nowhere but is very appreciated, her mimicking Looker's thinking pose. Characters sharing poses is one of my favorite ways to show they have an emotional connection. It's so simple but so good every time.

[just-call-me-zinnia]

Mare based on my Z-A outfit. She'd never wear anything like this in canon, alas.

[just-call-me-zinnia]

Hi, what do you mean Alain is canon to the games?