I think Leverage has a really neat take on the concept of revenge.

Because a lot of times, revenge gets framed as this inherently immoral act, like it doesn't matter how evil the person you want revenge on is, it doesn't matter that stopping them is a net positive for the world, revenge is just bad and wanting it makes you bad.

But I think that a lot of the problems with most revenge narratives come from the fact that the person/people seeking revenge put too much importance on getting revenge, but there's not enough catharsis in the actual act of taking revenge. They end up left with a whole lot of left-over righteous anger, and no acceptable targets left to vent it on. That way lies the bloodline ending feuds of greek tragedy and the like.

But Leverage says "No, actually you're right, that guy is absolutely terrible, he does need to be stopped and his victims should be awarded the catharsis of revenge." But then, instead of taking the easy way out of having Hardison siphon all the money out of their accounts, or sending Elliot over to their house with a baseball bat, they complicate the revenge plot. Instead of walking the easier path of the quick and unsatisfying revenge, they insist on poetic justice and dramatic irony and the complete and utter, very public destruction of the worst people in the world.

That's why I think Leverage feels different to, say, The Count of Monte Cristo, or other revenge-centric stories. They go the extra mile to tailor their revenge to the target, and give them Exactly what they deserve.

This is a good point but I want to expand on it because it's not just that. Also because I've watched and rewatched a lot of Leverage thanks to my fiancee, and had time to think about it.

The key thing about how Leverage handles revenge is a repeating theme you see in Nate's client meetings. The way these unfold sometimes implies that there are situations where they just have Hardison hack a bank account to fix a financial problem, but those aren't the kind of jobs that get a full episode, for obvious reasons. The ones that are stories worth telling are the ones where the client doesn't just want simple vengeance or to be made whole - they want to ensure the bad guy can't hurt others. As a rule, the Leverage team only takes a job that we see if it will do more than just inconvenience one Bad Person.

The show specifically highlights situations in which the goal isn't 'this person suffers' but 'other people's suffering will be prevented'. They can't solve systemic injustices, but they can take down individual bad actors and, in doing so, draw attention to the underlying problems. Even if larger bad actors (like corporations) aren't fully dismantled, they are often forced to issue public apologies, pay restitution, etc. - and their dirty laundry has been aired out with the implication that this will impact how they move forward.

Leverage: Redemption underscores this by exploring the other side of the coin - what does it take for someone who was a bad guy, but upon whom no vengeance has been taken, to make up for what they've done? And the answer, articulated repeatedly, is: do the work. Personal suffering is not redemptive; trying to make the world better is redemptive, and it's never-ending. Redemption isn't about grand gestures but about persistence, self-reflection, and humility. It's about more than just the individual who wants to be redeemed; it's about their impact, knowing or not, on the world around them.

Leverage understands that revenge isn't a tit-for-tat game, that an 'eye for an eye' approach doesn't actually tackle the root of the problem. The Leverage approach to revenge is emotionally cathartic not just because of the delicious dramatic irony and poetic justice, but because it creates a pathway towards fundamental change, and the hope that such change might be possible.

(and also sometimes Parker just gets to kick a neo-nazi off a moving train for fun.)

Parasite by Mira Grant is the true origin of the "Would you still love me if I was a worm" meme. I said what I said.

One of the harshest things about the No Fandom situation in the codex alera world is that I actually NEED about 50 outsider pov stories about Tavi/Kitai like IT'S SO GOOD

Imagine what the soldiers in the camp must have thought when he was Scipio ?? The heads Kitai must have cracked to have people not just assume she's a whore or the captains kept woman or something

Or the court having to adjust to Empress Kitai and her casual disrespect of Octavian

Or when Tavi was still in the academy having this beautiful woman coming out of his room all the time

JUST!! I NEED THEM ALL!!

Velveteen vs The Masterpost

When I was in high school, I stumbled across Seanan McGuire’s series of “Velveteen vs.” stories, staring Velma “Velveteen” Martinez, a former child superhero with the power to animate toys, who stumbles from one misadventure to the next. Taking place in a world where superheroics is run almost entirely by a single corporation and child heroes are put through some of the worst abuses of child stars, the series features fun characters, worldbuilding, and relationships, and of course, cool fight scenes. In true comics fashion, it ends on a rather open-ended note and, as far as I can tell, she hasn’t written any stories since 2017, but most of the main arcs are tied up and I definitely recommend you check them out!

(I became obsessed with these stories after finding them. An example of me getting into comics before I actually got into comics.)

(Thank you to https://broken-engines.blogspot.com/ for compiling directory of story links I could borrow for this post.)

1. Velveteen vs. The Isley Crayfish Festival
2. Velveteen vs. The Coffee Freaks
3. Velveteen vs. The Flashback Sequence
4. Velveteen vs. The Old Flame
5. Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots, West Coast Division
6. Velveteen vs. The Eternal Halloween
7. Velveteen vs. The Ordinary Day
8. Velveteen vs. Patrol
9. Velveteen vs. The Blind Date

Keep reading

For those of you still following along, there are now several new Velveteen vs. stories on Ms. McGuire’s Patreon (a real bargain!). If you have not yet signed up for / renewed her Patreon, remember to do it from your browser, not from mobile, as both Apple and Android take hefty financial cuts from your patronage—which can be avoided by the browser sign-up.

https://www.patreon.com/c/seananmcguire/posts

Also, Subterranean Press is putting out a fancy edition of the first books!

Surprise! You’ve been Isekai’d into a D&D World… but it’s specifically a 3.5 Edition D&D world and due to a weird Glitch in the system you have been assigned not just a Base Class, but also one of that edition’s weird and wacky Prestige Class as well! Spin this wheel to see what you got!

(I added a short little summary for each Class explaining the basic gist of it. Although obviously you can also look them up to get more detailed info)

Cabinet Trickster. Guess I’m a doppelganger now. I can work with that.

“I was done.
No. That wasn't quite right. I was a hundred miles past done, cresting into the Fjords of Nope, heading for Fuck-That-Ville.”

Antimony Price, Seanan McGuire, "Magic for Nothing"

Nick sending a telegram asking for the Abhorsen in "The Creature in the Case" is entirely the right call given his situation but considering he's best friends with Sam there's an element of calling your friend's mom to say 'this party is scary can you come get me'

he was practically around the block, it was fiiiine

One of the most important things to unpack and unlearn when you’re part of a white supremacy saturated society (i.e. the global north) and especially if you were raised in an intensified form of it (evangelicism, right wing politics, explicit racism) is the urge to punish and take revenge.

It manifests in our lives all the time and it is inherently destructive. It makes relationships and interactions adversarial for no good reason. It undermines cooperation and good civic order. It worsens some types of crime. It creates trauma, especially in children.

Imagine approaching unexpected or unacceptable behavior from a perspective of "how can this be stopped, and prevented" instead of "you’re going to regret this!”

Imagine dealing with a problem or conflict from the perspective of “how can this be solved in a way that is just and restorative” instead of “the people who caused this are going to pay.”

How much would that change you? How much would that have changed for you?

Please.

i was talking to my mom about cardassians and said something along the lines of ‘what must it be like to be a cardassian civilian. like abstractly knowing the rest of the galaxy thinks of your species as ‘the evil ones’ and kinda sorta knowing your government runs labor camps and torture prisons and is a military empire, and it’s a huge deal for everyone else in the galaxy, but you just like run a restaurant so it’s not a big part of your daily life, so you just like, go about your day and make soup and don’t think about it’ and then halfway through my sentence i actually heard myself and then had to go sit down for like ten minutes. like sat down in a chair and stared at the floor for ten minutes

Responding to escalating clashes between civilian activists and militarized immigration authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump administration any pretext for what they’re already doing and will keep doing no matter what. “Angelenos—don’t engage in violence and give the administration an excuse to inflict all the damage they have been inflicting carte blanche for months on end,” said Bass, adding that Trump and his team are just looking for a reason to respond with violence, as they would have done whether or not any of this happened.

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