doctorcurdlejr:

I can be normal about things. Don’t look at my blog.

(via merthurogies)

canyourfavesurvivecastledracula:

Hacker

@would-we-be-friends-if-i asked:

Alec Hardison (hacker/tech genius, cinnamon roll, does NOT like heights but can deal with them if he must)

@pomrania writes:

The ones I’m uncertain about are Nate Ford and Hardison. Hardison mostly because there’s very little tech for him to use, thus his master-class specialty isn’t available and he’d have to be judged on more “normal” factors (although he’s also a skilled grifter).

@r0sequarks writes:

Hardison is definitely dead. He is not meant to go into the field alone. His grifting style is notable for getting him dangerously in over his head on multiple occasions. Plus, he’s out of his element with nothing to hack. My boy’s getting eaten. Probably at the shaving incident since I doubt he’d take the crucifix.

@darthlordcommie writes:

Hardison: He’s a hacker, he gets a bit too smug, his skill set is useless. Slurp slurp.

—————————————————

WRONG! WRONG! YOU’RE ALL WRONG ON THE INTERNET!

(intended lightly I love you all dearly)

I get where you all are coming from but like okay. Let’s break this down.

Yes, it is true that Hardison’s fatal flaw is overconfidence and getting a bit too impressed with himself. Yes he overcomplicates things. He’s a genius and he knows it and that gets him into trouble. But this is not going to be a problem for him in Castle Dracula because:

Hardison is the member of the crew with a healthy respect for the supernatural

(Yes, yes, Parker believes in the supernatural, but that’s not quite the same. Parker believes in the supernatural the way she does everything else - idiosyncratically.)

I’m surprised to see doubt that he’d accept the crucifix. Hardison, again uniquely among the Leverage crew, is godfearing. He’s the one getting qualms about stealing from a church - not Nate, whose church it is. There is no way he’d refuse a crying old lady bestowing a religious artifact on him for his protection - his Nana raised him better than that. Not only is he a Polite Young Man, but there are some things you don’t mess around with, and divinity is one of them.

And vampires are another! Hardison has two features that are going to offer him a lot of protection: he’s extremely culturally literate and he’s afraid of things that are scary. The others approach Dracula as a Mark; Hardison is the most likely to approach him as a vampire. If he were able to just nope on out of there he would. Hardison does not want to be here, doing this.

The cultural literacy is a bit of a double edged sword, because he might be operating off the wrong set of vampire lore, and if he comes in visibly armed against vampires Dracula will perceive him as a threat and kill him. This is where his tendency to go too far comes in - given the choice he would enter the Castle with like three braids of garlic around his neck and other unsubtle markers, and this would get him immediately killed. But if he only realizes he’s in a vampire story after he becomes a prisoner, when he lacks the ability to outfit himself, then his knowledge (and fear) becomes his best weapon of defense. He can’t get overcocky because there is nothing in here to inspire him own confidence. He’ll be too terrified to be smug. And that’s what’s going to keep him alive.

One of you speculated that Nathan Ford is the most like Jonathan Harker of the crew. I couldn’t disagree more. Hardison is. He’s intelligent, assured and proud of his own skills, afraid of things that are scary, inclined to shit-eating when the situation permits it, young and idealistic, madly in love with his autistic wife, [century of your choice] up to date with a vengeance, a polite and sweet-faced young man, godfearing, skilled in encryption and decryption, constantly referencing his favorite media, logical and methodical, researches everything, and is afraid of heights. There’s a reason I make Jonathan’s catch phrase “Age of the Clerk, baby!” The novel Dracula is a technothriller and to the extent it’s applicable in the late Victorian context, Jonathan is the Drac Attack Pack’s hacker. And not just because he hacks Dracula’s head off. Who presents the Documents and Backstory at the beginning of every Leverage episode? Hardison does.

All this to say, provided it takes him long enough to figure out that Dracula is an actual literal vampire that he can neither nope out nor arrive in full Blade cosplay, I think Hardison’s stay in the Castle plays out almost exactly like the novel as written. As I said, I very much don’t think he’d refuse the crucifix, so he won’t die shaving. He’ll absolutely panic like a rat in a trap before calming down. When he doesn’t get cocky he does in fact know how to play a Mark quite well, so he can play the game with Dracula well enough for his fear and discomfort to be funny. He’ll know he’s going to die and act accordingly. He’s gonna be real unhappy about that sheer drop but he will brave it as a matter of life and death. He is not going to go out to get devoured by wolves when he has the option of not doing that. There’s nothing to hack and a decided lack of orange soda, but you can’t have everything.

I seem to be in the minority here, but I actually do think Alec Hardison can survive Castle Dracula

(via tanoraqui)

arthurpendragonssassydaggers:

Something so special about the way uther was always addressed as “the king” compared to Arthur who was “my/our king”<3.

(via arthurslesbian)

adhd-merlin:

(via arthurslesbian)

letmebegaytodd:

tragedy enjoyers when even good intentions lead to ruin

(via arthurslesbian)

candlemouse:

I love how Merlin’s solution to any problem at all is to set things on fire

(via arthurslesbian)

aemelia:

maykitz:

our fates are entwined whether you like it or not you stupid bastard

(via arthurslesbian)

vigilskeep:

my favourite thing is characters who just met the person theyre literally going to be wildly in love with for the rest of their lives and theyre like “:/ they’re not all that” this is so embarrassing for u

(via arthurslesbian)

clementine-kesh:

the key to not fanonizing your faves is to simply become academia-brained about it. never make a statement about a character you can’t back up with at least three references to the source material

(via arthurslesbian)

pendovah:

Merlin & Guinevere (Merlin)

What are you going to do? Why does everyone seem to think it’s down to me to do something about it? Because it is, isn’t it? You have to show everyone that you were right and they were wrong.

(via arthurslesbian)

lauravian:

komihoyin00:

Just one word: same

Leon deserves a medal for staying sane around these two

(via arthurslesbian)