#and ONLY not immediately trying bc Nate doesn't give the clear

[firebirdsdaughter]

I know…

… That I’ve already mentioned how amazing their relationship development is going from the pilot to the series finale, but…

Also can we talk about them going from the ‘we’re not friends’/‘bc you have so many of those’ conversation to ‘get them to the chopper, now.’

W/ special mention to the ‘Nate, I can take them.’ preceding it, as well.

#Leverage #I went on about it in the tags before #but s1 is def building that relationship #it's somewhat rocky and messy #but by the Davids Jobs #well like I said those two eps go to show just how close they've managed to become #and then s2 is all about locking it in #like I know it was bc of Gina Belleman's pregnancy #but I feel like Tara's introduction goes SO FAR to show off just how completely Eliot and Nate have settled into their thing #like you def see the seeds on that first job from Eliot's professionalism to just how he talks to Nate later #but the development from there to him being the one Nate calls on to get the others out #bc he knows Eliot will do it for them and for him #and just #Eliot being ready to fight too many people w/ too big guns to protect his family #and ONLY not immediately trying bc Nate doesn't give the clear #Sterling would have had to be let go from work for medical reasons very early on if not for Eliot's loyalty to Nate #their relationship may not have quite as many ups and downs as the others #or at least not in the same way #you see the roots early on and it's proper settled by s2 and just continues getting deeper #they're pretty steady which fits both of them and fits w/ what I was saying about Eliot in that other post #Eliot will follow Nate to hell and try to protect him from it #s1 develops the relationship and the finale sees it solidify even if they scatter #s2 shows us just how deep and absolute it is #in s3 it comes under fire but comes back stronger than ever #s4 gives you another angle at it and shows just how deep it's come to run #and s5 is about passing the torch #but like I said the loyalty doesn't go away and the thing they had can't be replicated #his charge may be Parker and Hardison but Eliot's still Nate's left arm if he needs him #and it's beautiful #Literal Crime Family

[masonscig]

heyy, explaining what i said about the N romance, sorry in advance for the long rant:

i played for the first time w my usual detective in a relationship with nate and thought the pacing and timing of everything was pretty weird. i think the 2 main things people were excited for were the love confession and the first intimate scene, and both of them felt very off to me. like, the detective can say they're in love with them very early, during the combat/ressearch scene, and they don't say it back LMAO... and to me that wouldn't necessarily be an issue if the reasons they couldn't say it were explored, but they're not and there's an option to go down on them/have them go down on you immediately after 😀 like right there on the grass! so obviously that's pretty odd and ooc in itself but there's ALSO the date scene in which they bang the detective on the pool table and leave right after bc they got a call from A to join them on patrol?!?!??

they do end up confessing their feelings in the end and it's cute or whatever but everything just feels kinda weightless. N was always constructed as a very intense and romantic character so idk what happened. i think this whole book suffered bc of the insane amount of branching and it's very evident in this romance, the scenes feel really choppy.

i ended up replaying it without being in a relationship and it was sooo much smoother, only having the option to confess in the end after they do makes a lot more sense and those s3x scenes should just have been saved for other books, period. i did really like the other routes, especially A's, but to me this one was a miss. at least the mc can opt out of everything and wait for the next book lmao

HIIII IM GLAD YOU SENT ME THIS <3 sorry i didn't get to it yesterday! and don't apologize for it being long i loved reading it !!!

god i knew that mc could say "i love you" and n could not say it back – and about the pool scene – and the later confession from n – but like. i didn't have a clear picture of the route itself, and it's coming together and ... not looking so good imo LMAO

what's crazy to me, is that mis/hka created SUCH a good opportunity for conflict in the n route, what with mc saying i love you and n not saying it back – as soon as i heard from a friend you could do that, i was FLOORED and i was so sure that n's route was going to be a favorite. and yet, she completely flubbed it by not giving consequences to decisions. i wonder why she gives players the options to do things that should cause conflict if she won't follow through with it?

part of me thinks it's because of the insane branching, like you said, but also i think that as much as she might try to write varying paths for the n romance, it doesn't turn out that way because she favors a certain type of mc and that's evident in every route i think? like of course there's no way to account for every mc out there – it's not on her if our specific oc doesn't quite fit in the story – however, if you're advertising certain aspects of n's romance like their secretiveness, their intenseness, their guilt, their struggle with humanity, etc etc, and how that would alter a romantic route, then you can't expect every player choosing him for that to just. be okay with random i love you confessions and mid sex scenes that are completely out of place both with the plot of b3 and the timeline of mc's relationship with n?

sorry i'm jumping all around the place (im so bad about that with answering asks LMAO) – but you picked the exact right phrasing: it's weightless. it just doesn't feel like the n romance we were promised from book 1, book 2, the asks, patreon, etc. i don't know what went wrong :/

and dude YES, i was so convinced that mis/hka was going to have each ro's first sex scene be in a different book to add more flavor to each route – and i figured this was going to be f's chance to shine LMAO and that she'd save n's scene for the next book! i thought so much of this book was going to be romantic without sex, but... god was i wrong. i honestly would've preferred zero sex on any of the routes because it just doesn't fit (i could've even justified n engaging in sex with the mc to like. distract them from saying "i love you")

sorry for the essay from me KMDFMKDFKM you've given me so much to think about !! ty again for the ask !!! <333

#yeah i've been talking to friends for days about what we're not happy with #and my n main friend has picked up on more and more stuff they don't like with each playthrough #normally i don't care if mis/hka misses in certain ways like making the characters say very ooc stuff #but when the *majority* of the route feels off? oof #asks #twc book 3 #twc book 3 spoilers #twc spoilers #n*fw #long post