Parker

Name: Buttercup

Age: 18+

Contact: butteredcups

Character Name: Parker
Canon: Leverage
Canon Point: Post-series
Appearance: Blonde, 5'7", slim and athletic.
Age: Vaguely late 20s/early 30s

Character snapshot: Parker is canonically the world's greatest thief. She can break into any vault or museum and is intimately familiar with everything from 70s-era bank vaults to cutting-edge security systems the world over.

An orphan whose childhood was spent bouncing around the foster system, she was severely under-socialized and struggled with expressing emotion. Though never mentioned outright on the show, and almost certainly never diagnosed or treated, the writers/producers have mentioned in DVD commentary that she has Asperger's syndrome.

As the 'thief' of the Leverage team, Parker spends her time cracking safes, jumping off buildings, crawling through air vents, and loving every second of it (maybe not the air vents). Though she still has trouble with socialization, she has undergone significant emotional growth and has a soft spot for Santa Claus and children.

World description: The world of Leverage is ostensibly the same as the real world: modern-day Earth with no fantastical or supernatural elements, apart from a tendency for things to always turn out all right for our heroes in the end, often through a highly improbable string of coincidences and luck. The story focuses on the Leverage team, a group of grifters and criminals brought together by an 'honest man' to put their skills to good use helping ordinary people fight back against the corrupt and wealthy. Leverage uses their skills in grifting, hacking, hitting and stealing to expose corruption, get ill-gotten money back from the rich to compensate their victims, or straight up frame the Bad Guys in order to take them down.

People like that, corporations like that, they have all the money, they have all the power, and they use it to make people like you go away. Right now, you’re suffering under an enormous weight. We provide...leverage.

History: Few specifics are known about Parker's early life. We do know that she grew up in the foster care system and lost her brother at a young age, something she still blames herself for years later. At one point, her foster father admonished her for stealing back a stuffed bunny that had been taken away from her, telling her to be either 'a good girl or a better thief.' In response, Parker stole the bunny back and blew up the empty house.

Parker became a car thief at age 12 and was a getaway driver before that. Her mentor when she was young was Archie Leach, a master thief, who taught her his own skills. Though she admired Archie and he was the closest thing to family she had after the death of her brother, he never introduced her to his biological family.

Prior to joining Leverage, she worked alone as a thief, stealing everything from art and jewels to cash and designer shoes. When she, along with the other members of what would become the team, were hired for a job, she was initially wary and resentful about the idea of taking orders and working with other people. But she and the others soon realized that not only did they work well together, able to do more than any of them ever could on their own, they also enjoyed actually being able to help those who needed it as well as the thrill of getting back at their initial client after he double-crossed them. Thus the formation of Leverage Consulting. Initially based in Boston before moving to Portland, the team worked local jobs as well as others all over the world, fighting back against the rich and powerful and 'picking up where the law left off.' Over the five-year series, the team also grew close, with Parker in particular slowly developing a romantic relationship with Hardison and finding, for the first time, people who accepted her and loved her for who she was.

What are your character’s mental/emotional strengths? Parker is a quick thinker who can focus intently when needed. She spends her free time casing bank vaults and contemplating the best way to steal priceless artwork; this hyperfocus makes her very good at her job and prepared to develop plans to break in or out of any place at a moment's notice.

Over her five years as a member of the Leverage team, she has made great emotional strides; while she still struggles with empathy, she's made friends and clearly cares about those close to her (her team) and those she identifies with (such as children trapped in the same kind of bad situations she grew up in). Seeing the way the team cares about her, each other, and the people they work to help, she's learned to do more than just watch her own back. She's not only able to trust her teammates to look out for her, emotionally and otherwise, she's also both allowed herself to be vulnerable with them, and even put herself at risk to ensure their wellbeing, and the safety of others who need her, in a way she never would have done for anyone before.

What are your character’s mental/emotional weaknesses? She is neurodivergent and thus struggles with social interaction, though these challenges were amplified significantly by her upbringing in a chain of neglectful and/or abusive foster homes. She reacts badly and sometimes violently to unwanted contact, particularly men hitting on her.

Though the series likes to suggest that Parker is incapable of feeling, or only feels anger, this has never been true. Even in the beginning of the series, she is clearly ecstatic to be doing her job, and annoyed when she doesn't get paid. However, she can behave uppredictably, and may not react the way others do or necessarily know how to express or regulate her emotions. Though she's progressed greatly on this front by the end of the series, she's a passionate person (just not always passionate about the things others may be passionate about) and can be quick to succumb to anger, fear, or joy alike.

What events or circumstances in your character’s past have impacted them the most? When she was very young, her brother was hit by a car and killed. This very early trauma is something that she still hasn't entirely processed decades later.

Her experience in the foster care system left her unable to relate to others, and she became convinced that she was somehow broken.

Parker: No. You put these kids in the system and odds are they're gonna... they're gonna turn out like me.

Hardison: I like how you turned out.

Her relationship with her mentor, Archie Leach, both taught her how to be a master thief and solidified the impression that there would never be a place for her; although she saw Archie as a father figure, he never adopted her or even introduced her to his family.

What? Taken her home like a real daughter? This is my wife, Marilyn. My grandsons. I love them dearly. They think I'm an accountant. What was I supposed to do? You know Parker. You know she wouldn't fit in. God, she doesn't fit in anywhere.

Joining the Leverage team proved to be a turning point in her life. For the first time, she found a group she could actually belong with, people who understood her and came to care about her deeply. Dedicating her life to helping others allowed her to develop empathy, and having a team to rely on, for the first time in her life, allowed her to show vulnerability and learn to trust others. In the first episode, she's ready to take her money and walk away from the others forever. By the second half of Season 2, when Sophie temporarily leaves the team, Parker is visibly distraught and uncomfortable with her absence, unable to settle without her and frequently calling her for advice and encouragement. By the end of the series, however, she's able to accept Sophie and Nate's leaving the team, not because she doesn't care about them, but because she's grown to the point where she feels confident and secure without them.

Over the course of the show, she made friends, explored interests outside of stealing, and learned to identify and express her emotions and relate to others. She looked up to the others as role models, even when it was hard for her to follow their example.

No! This is what we're supposed to do! We're supposed to get him back to his wife! Nate would do it, Sophie would do it, Hardison would do it! They would do the right thing! I want to do the right thing!

Pursuing a relationship with Hardison - on her terms, and her timeline - both allowed her to be emotionally vulnerable in a safe environment, with someone she could trust not to move too quickly, and also allowed her to experience what it really is to care about someone, and to allow someone else to become an important person in your life, with all the risk and uncertainty that means.

What impressions do others tend to have of your character and how do those impressions differ from who your character truly is?

Nate: Uh, yeah, I’ve chased all of them at one time or anoth-- Parker? You have Parker?
Dubenich: Is there somebody better?
Nate: No, but Parker is insane.

With a reckless, thrill-seeking attitude, an obsession with thieving, and a lack of social skills that makes it hard for people to connect with or even understand her, Parker is often judged as 'crazy' or 'insane.' She may even come off as psychopathic or sadistic.

You know, I'm really starting to like tasing people. Is that a problem?

She has a unique view of the world, often leading her to make connections or make remarks that are apparent non-sequiturs, and she is an adrenaline junkie, with no apparent fear of leaping out of windows or off balconies or base jumping off the tallest buildings in the world.

Despite this, however, and despite her canonical fondness for tasers, the truth is that she is neither an insane psychopath nor a magical pixie dream girl. She can be incredibly perceptive, constantly observing and taking in more than she ever lets on. For the most part, she seems to be perfectly happy with who she is, delighted with her own jokes and never happier than when she's in her element, breaking into bank vaults or stealing priceless artifacts. However, she also realizes that she's different from the people around her, and despite her usual self-assurance and solid knowledge of who she is, that realization does worry her sometimes.

As she becomes closer to the team, she strives to understand them, to follow their moral lead, and to cultivate an identity as more than just a thief. This manifests in different ways, from asking Sophie for relationship advice ("You know that thing you do when you fix whatever I’m doing wrong?") to seeing Hardison's passion for video games and Eliot's passion for cooking, and seeking to emulate it.

Teach me to like stuff.

As a thief, she's spent years learning how to blend in with a crowd, to disappear, to become whoever she needs to be to get her in the door. Nearly every con with the Leverage crew had her playacting in different roles, from an FBI agent to a cheerleading coach. Despite the acting skills she's cultivated, however, she's always most comfortable as herself, dropping the facade the moment she's out of view.

What motivates your character? Primarily, not letting down the people she cares about or letting them come to harm. This can be anyone from her friends to strangers she's just met, in the right circumstances. She also adores the challenge of a locked vault, and will steal for the sake of stealing, everything from pickpocketing to high-stakes burglary. In a setting like this one, depressingly void of rare art museums, she's likely to start out by breaking into any building she can get her hands on, just to prove she can do it. Hopefully this love of puzzles and challenges will transition into an interest in helping solve the mystery of the town.

How does your character handle crisis or adversity? It depends on the situation. She thrives on the thrill of the chase and the challenge of escaping by the skin of her teeth. However, when she's facing a challenge outside of her skill set, she can be quick to panic or despair. She has always had a tendency to lock herself away (emotionally or physically) when she's out of her comfort zone or doesn't know what to deal with something, particularly when it comes to processing trauma or feelings. Though she's gotten a lot better about this, especially with Hardison and to a slightly lesser extent Eliot, it's likely that the high trauma-to-safety ratio of The Village will have her falling back on old habits sooner or later.

Skills, abilities, and physical weaknesses:

Excellent thief with an encyclopedic knowledge of (Earth) security systems/safes/bank vaults, and how to defeat them
Expert pickpocket
Utterly fearless with amazing gymnastic/acrobatic skills and physical self-control - regularly crawls through air ducts and bungee jumps off of rooftops, and can do backflips through a web of motion sensors without setting them off.
Training in MMA from Eliot

Physical weaknesses: She weighs about 116 pounds soaking wet. Though she is fast and quick, and has some training in martial arts, she could still be easily overpowered by sheer size/strength.

Inventory: Just what she's wearing, and a small, pocket-size lockpicking kit.

What aspects of your character are you most interested in exploring in a horror setting? She learned the hard way that she could only rely on herself, and did so for years; it took a long time for her to learn to trust anyone else to have her back, and she still struggles with asking for help. Anything that throws her back into that space of feeling like she's completely alone, or forces her to be vulnerable and have to trust someone other than Hardison and Eliot, could be really interesting.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how she does in a small community where she runs into the same people over and over, rather than a large city or worldwide setting where she can rob someone blind/stab them with a fork/otherwise completely salt the earth between them before running off and never having to worry about seeing them again.

What is your character’s mental state upon entering the game? As stable as it's ever been, honestly. Post-series, Parker's come to peace with Nate and Sophie leaving the team for good, something she would never have been able to deal with a year or two earlier. She and Hardison have been dating for about a year, with a solid, healthy relationship, and with both him and Eliot there, she has all the emotional support she needs.

Of course, she is not and will never be 'normal' in the conventional sense; she still struggles with social interaction, particularly with those who don't already know and understand her, and she doesn't open up easily to strangers.

What unsettles and frightens your character? What sort of encounters would chip away at your character’s psychological stability? Parker genuinely believes in the supernatural and conspiracy theories, and would be extremely susceptible to cliched supernatural encounters like rattling windows, spooky howls, etc.

She relies on her own skill to stay alive, and hates feeling weighed down or as if she's at risk of being trapped.

Quick and light. That's how I survive. You slow me down, you kill me.

Of note, she has no apparent fear of height or death-defying speeds, and trained herself out of her fear of the dark by having herself buried alive as a child.

Emotionally, losing Hardison and/or Eliot at this point would honestly feel like her whole world had crumbled. Just the idea of someday losing someone for good is enough to make her contemplate isolating herself entirely.

How do you… care? You know, when you know that people, people that you like, that, someday, they'll die?

Seeing someone die, especially someone she knows, would be traumatizing, and losing someone she really cares about would be exponentially more so.

What horrifying events or genre elements would you like to see utilized in the game? Though I love the horror genre, I do think that it's important to give characters a breather sometimes. While I'm not looking for carnivals and bake sales, I find that without characters having at least some time to process the trauma and horror between events, or a break after a longer string of Bad Shit, they can become broken and unplayable. The ability to bond with others, play up the comfort part of hurt/comfort, and (if gradually) attempt to make some progress or regain some control over their environment is an important aspect of preventing characters from being broken entirely, at least for me.

That said, I would love to play with a variety of both more subtle, unknown 'something is wrong but it's never specified exactly what' horror as well as more in your face horror - zombies/people coming back Wrong/people being forced to kill their friends comes to mind. Anything involving facing old traumas and fears, forcing strangers to work together to survive, characters needing to sacrifice themselves or each other, and anything that encourages good old hurt/comfort is A+.

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