#osp Steven

[osp-originals]

Unfortunate Discovery

TW: emeto, brief food descriptions

———

It was supposed to be a fun night out. They had just finished the final day of shooting for a short film and gone to a nice restaurant, and now Lucas felt sick to his stomach.

Armando was driving half of the crew—himself, Penelope, Lucas, Steven, and Ethan—on the two hour drive back to campus. Lucas, being the skinniest, was stuck between Penelope and his brother Steven in the back seats. It had only been a few minutes since they had started the trip.

With every minute that passed, Lucas’ stomach got more upset.

I don’t get carsick, so it can’t be that… and I don’t have any other symptoms, so I don’t think I’m actually sick…

He tried to figure out what could be making him feel so awful.

Did I just eat too much? I don’t think so…

The pressure of his stomach against the inside of his abdomen just kept getting stronger as more minutes went by.

Did I eat something I don’t usually eat? Let’s see, steak, rice, no, those are fine…

He leaned back in his seat to try to get more comfortable. It didn’t help. He leaned forward. It didn’t help.

Avocado? I guess I don’t usually eat that much of it. That could be it.

He tried to lean to one side somehow. It didn’t help.

Nothing was working. He held his seatbelt out from his body, which helped a little bit with the pressure.

“You okay, Lucas?” Penelope asked, breaking from her conversation with Ethan and Armando.

“Yeah, my stomach just feels a bit…” he shook his head, trying to think of the right way to describe it. “…bad.”

“How bad?” she pried.

“Are you gonna barf?” Steven teased him.

“I might just barf on you,” he quipped back.

“Seriously, though, so I need to get off the highway?” Armando asked.

Lucas thought about it for a moment.

“Yeah, probably,” he answered.

“Okay,” Armando said with a sigh. “You better not ruin my car.”

“Are there any plastic bags or anything in here?” Ethan wondered.

“I don’t think so,” Armando answered.

Ethan checked the glove compartment as Armando took an exit to get off the highway. The GPS voice started telling him how to get back on the highway.

“Ethan, could you turn that off and change it to avoid highways?” Armando requested.

“Sure,” Ethan said. “It needs your passcode.”

Armando skillfully typed his passcode without looking at his phone.

While Ethan messed with the GPS, Lucas tried to figure out whether he was really going to be sick or not. The feeling was right at the point where he couldn’t tell whether it was going to stay the same and eventually subside, or get worse and make him double over.

If it gets any worse, I’m definitely going to throw up.

It got worse. His stomach started to turn.

“Pull over,” he mumbled.

“What?” Armando asked.

“He said pull over,” Penelope told him urgently. “I think he’s going to throw up.”

“Oh, shit,” Armando said.

They were in the middle of a three lane road with a decent amount of traffic. He looked around for an opportunity to change lanes.

Don’t barf in the car, don’t barf in the car, Lucas repeated to himself, trying to prevent it from happening with sheer force of will.

Penelope noticed Lucas’ face getting pale and his cheeks getting flushed. His stomach churned and gurgled more and more. He pressed his hand over his mouth.

“If you don’t want your car ruined, you better get over, Armando,” Steven warned him.

“I know, I’m trying!” Armando snapped.

He cut aggressively into the left lane. Someone honked at him, but he didn’t care. Penelope unbuckled her seatbelt and got ready to jump out of the car. Lucas did the same while Armando pulled the car over onto the shoulder.

As soon as the car stopped, Penelope opened her door and gracefully hopped out of the way. Lucas clambered over the seats and practically fell out of the car. He staggered forward a few steps, then braced himself with his hands on his knees.

He gagged loudly, but nothing came up.

“Come on, get it over with!” Steven yelled from the car.

Lucas wished it was that easy. The pressure was unbearable. He heaved again, but still, nothing.

Steven mocked his retching noises. That finally sent him over the edge. His stomach violently contracted, forcing a large amount of his dinner up his throat and onto the grass.

He tried to spit out the awful taste. He could hear Steven laughing in the background.

Another painful heave sent up a mouthful of half-digested food. He spat again.

“Do you think it was something you ate?” Penelope asked, now standing next to him.

“Probably,” he responded.

Mucus dripped from his nose. His face was hot with embarrassment. He wondered how many people were looking at him from their cars.

He gagged again, puking up only a small stream of mucus and saliva.

He took a deep breath, letting the spit drip out of his mouth.

“Do you think you’re done?” Penelope asked gently.

“Maybe.”

He stood upright. He still felt queasy, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was before. The pressure was almost gone.

“Yeah. I feel so much better now,” he told her.

“That’s good.”

[floralcavern]

Aromantic and/or asexual characters

EDIT:

New addition!

[arson-is-chill-actually]

So I was thinking about AvA and started breaking down core themes and tropes and stuff as one does (I watch too much OSP don’t blame me) and I started having this specific train of thoughts

“Alright, MC with crazy powers but has no idea how to use them, found family stuff, bio family is unimaginably fucked up, groups of four… why does this sound familiar all of a sudden?”

So I started filing through my mental cabinets and had a realization.

“Wait… wait, wait waIT WAIT NO NO FUCK NO ITS FUCKING STEVEN UNIVERSE NO THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH DO NOT GIVE SECOND THAT KIND OF TRAUMA ALAN OR I SWEAR TO GOD”

[mira-nicodiangelo-grey]

I can add more than the required 30 tags on here:

Charlotte LaBouffe

Hob Gadling

Raven Queen

Tessa Gray

Cordelia Carstairs

Jem Carstairs

Jace Herondale

Alec Lightwood

Victoria Sutherland from Twilight

Freya Mikaelson

The entire Winx Club band

Jafar from Aladdin 2019

The Trix from Winx Club

CHYKN from WITCH

Edmund Pevensie

Susan Pevensie

Amy Pond, the Girl Who Waited

Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl

Amara from the vampire diaries

Davina Claire

The Bat Boys from Acotar

Prince Zuko

Avatar Wan and his voice actor

Avatar Kyoshi

Avatar Yangchen

Catherine Parr

Katherine Howard

Jane Seymour

Catherine of Aragon

Anne Boleyn

Anna of Cleves

Sodapop Curtis

OSP’s Sun Wukong

Talia, Princess of Xeris

Opal from Steven Universe

reblog and put in the tags the prettiest fictional character to exist

[brain-empty]

so I'm watching random OSP videos and somehow I confused a "Troupe Talk" with a "Historical Hijinks" and had to take a double take cuz mf Steven Universe was on the thumbnail

[yourlocalcon-man]

You know, I was having a hard time really grasping the concept of The Merge^TM because all this time I thought it would just be Ozpin taking over Oscar, but now that we know a bit more, I realize it’s less a take over and more like fusion.

[thevoidiliketoshoutinto]

[autumnhortsnort]

ok i have advice for how to learn to recognize story structures. bcs i don't think the underlying issue is world building. i think it might be story structure and where you want to go with it.

first off: world building is only as important as you need it to be. good world building doesn't actually matter as far as story enjoyment goes. look at game of thrones; people loved that show even tho the world building is atrocious.

Also world building is generally better of it is built in service to the themes and plot so having a good idea of where you want to go will help a ton with the world building later.

As an aside this advice may not work for people that have a different style of writing than me. im more of a architect style writer but garden writers are very common.

garden style is usually more episodic, the author may have a goal but usually will meander their way to it. its just messing around with stuff that you enjoy/feels right. generally its pretty character driven.

architect style is heavily planned out before hand there is a goal/endpoint that the writer knows and is working towards. usually needs a pretty thorough timeline/outline.

garden style lends itself well to exploring characters and character dynamics. a ton of sitcoms are likely garden style writing, as well as adventure time, steven universe, and the first season of gravity falls.(i strongly suspect neil gaiman tends to write garden style as well). architect style is generally good for people that tend to get lost or stuck in a spot. or if your story needs structure.

but this advice is more for architect writing, and doing this made my writing more strongly architect style.

It is also batshit crazy.

Basically you need to find a piece of media with multiple iterations and shotgun all of them. Take a ton of notes. Note story concepts, character interactions, tropes, writing techniques and compare these between each iteration. Beaze and i did this with as many of the on screen tmnt iterations as we could get our hands on. We watched nothing but tmnt for 2 and a half straight days. If it works you will not be able to go back to how you watched media before. I can't read or watch a story without seeing the narrative bones poke through.

breadsword watched the entire scooby doo movie collection and went through a ton of the same stuff. You could definitely do it with the transformers iterations.

What you could also do is read through the odyssey and watch and compare it to Oh brother where art thou. Basically taking iterations/adaptations and seeing how the writers translate it into there own story.

other stuff id recommend:

gravity falls dvd commentary goes over the basics of how these kind of shows are written episode to episode, useful for tv and episodic writing in general.

study politics for the era you plan to set your story, and what events caused said politics. i like to watch videos on the orgins of fashions and the aesthetics of an era bcs quite often the things people wear, the architecture, and how they decorated their houses with reflect a ton about culture and current politics.

try to figure out what sub genres make up your story, is it a: workplace comedy? roadtrip odyssey? springbreak rager? College grads trying to complete an experiment? ect. Highly recommend osp trope talks, and folding ideas for discussions of story elements.

ultimately nitty gritty world building is for after you've got a good idea of what you want to do. it will usually hurts more than it helps if you focus too much on it in the early stages of writing.

When it comes to character building I'd recommend making them with plot useful traits first, then add backstory that explains those traits, and flesh them out from there.

Additionally building characters in pairs or trios is a good idea. give them traits that inherently lead to character interactions (good or bad).

been strugglin to do art related things involving my own creations that arent fandom related. I want to do something with my art and characters, maybe make a comic or animation, but I don't feel my heart in some places where I do in others. like, the alien platoon i have, i want to do something with them but I'm not sure what , truth be told. I'm not much of a story writer and I guess not having a story has been pushing me away from wanting to do more with them as a whole, even tho I really want to.

[snardart]

wooo my fav tactic is to post art dumps when no one is actiiivee other lady in the shipping sunday pic belongs to @outerhexe

[shattered-skys-system]

!FAIR WARNING WE CUSS A LOT AND USE CAPS!

anyway if you see RP shit don’t be surprised we run like 6 RP blogs-

WELCOME YOU LOVELY GOBLIN <3

INFO:

NON-BINARY- (forgot to update this-)

Demiromantic asexual

currently only aftea, tank, whitty, bill, and lilac vibe here

yes we use nepronouns if you don’t like em’ then go away

ANONS WE ARE (-1 because reasons):

wizard anon

weirdcore anon

blacksmith anon

bard anon

paladin anon

rouge anon

coffee anon

tea anon

BLOGS:

this one

@ask-a-silver-cloud-man

@sparky-bomb-boi

@ask-the-wizard-anon

@astral-plane-tomfuckery-anon

@royal-void-bomb​

@creature-of-shadow-and-light​

@a-killer-and-a-cake​

@the-funky-narrator​

@kyle-the-confused​

@spooky-everything​​​​

IF WE’RE RPING WITH THIS ACC:

height: 5′11″

Name: Lavender

origins: unknown

looks:

species: shapeshifting dragon/anon/dreamcorian hybrid

FANDOMS:

-UNDERTALE

-Friday Night Funkin’

-Invader Zim

-BATIM

-Pokemon

-Baldi’s basics ((even thogh it’s kinda ded))

-Cuphead

-Steven universe

-Spooky month

-Furry ((don’t judge))

-Madoka Magika

-A little bit of Cardcaptor Sakura

-AHIT

-That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime ((good anime))

-FNAF

-JSAB

-the smallest sliver of Spooky’s house of jump scares

-Kawaii stuff in general

-glitter force

-weirdcore

-dreamcore

-cottagecore

-Lofi

-ENA

-internetcore

-the second-smallest sliver of hazbin hotel

-TM v TM ((The Mitchels vs the machines))

-THE BACKROOMS

-BUGSNAX AL THE WAAAAY-

-OSP because yes

-DDLC

-No Straight Roads

-The owl house

-gravity falls

-Madness combat

-SPLATOON!!!

-Hollow knight

-OMORI

-restaurant to another world

-tohu

-become fumo

-epithet erased

-Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts

-she-ra and the princesses of power

-Centaurworld

-Soul Eater

-miraculous

-cookie run

-a few others that aftea forgot the names of

[thesportssoundoff]

Finally watched the fight card from Wednesday in full:

-Drew Dober turning into a kind of good lightweight is pretty cool. I don’t know if he’s always just going to be that reliable dude hovering around the top 10 or so but I’m enjoying how he’s basically turned a super basic gameplan based entirely around his strengths (size, pressure, power striking when the opportunity arises) into a full fledged top 15-ish run. I feel like Dober vs Felder would be a ball.

-The ballad of Beneil Dariush; he beat Thiago Moises and Drew Dober but got smelted by Alexander Hernandez. The dudes he beat are always way more impressive somehow than his weird losses.

-Speaking of which, Michael Johnson is the master of the “I was winning then I lost” strategy. He was casually piecing up Thiago Moises and then basically lost in the ONLY fashion he could’ve lost. I feel like Johnson’s always going to have one of MMA’s more mercurial resumes. He has wins over two Top 5 LWs and has lost to dudes like Steven Ray, Beneil Dariush, Thiago Moises and Reza Madadi. 

-I had OSP vs Rothwell as 29-28 Rothwell. Not sure if that’s a super complicated score. I had Lins vs Arlovski 29-28 Lins for whatever that’s worth.

-If you haven’t seen it, please go watch Omar Morales vs Moggly Benitez. A squirrely fight between a game as shit Benitez and Omar Morales who has all sorts of promise at 155 lbs. Morales’ kicking game is really good and after watching him for about five fights, I feel like what gives me hope for his future is that he has a tremendous knack for getting out of harm’s way when he’s flurrying. That’s sort of what did guys like Polo Reyes (and Moggly Benitez) in.

-I don’t know if it’s years of watching TUF/DWCS/regional MMA but the empty arena didn’t bother me much. I do wonder if the atmosphere is going to force coaches to have to adapt new terminology to hide combinations or if maybe coaches will speak even less and just let their fighters do what they want. It was pretty cool to hear Sijara Eubanks talking to her corner while trying to get out of a submission attempt. That sort of stuff is nifty. 

[typingtess]

NCIS: Los Angeles Season Ten Rewatch:   "Choke Point"

The basics:  When a SEAL is shot in his second job, Sam leads the charge to find those involved.

Written by:  Joe Sachs & R. Scott Gemmill   Joe Sachs wrote or co-wrote “Higher Power”, “The Dragon and the Fairy”, “Drive”, “Purity”, “The Livelong Day”, “Fish Out of Water”, “The Black Wind”, “Blaze of Glory”, “Core Values”, “Seoul Man”, “Parallel Resistors”, “From Havana With Love”, “Under Pressure” and “Ninguna Salida” (the season nine finale with R. Scott Gemmill) and “The Sound of Silence”.  

R. Scott Gemmill wrote/cowrote “The Only Easy Day”, “Brimstone”, “Breach”, “LD50”, “Found”, “Borderline”, “Absolution”, “Archangel”, “Tin Soldiers”, “Impostors”, “Cyberthreat”, “Honor”, “The Watchers” and both sides of the NCIS Los: Angeles/Hawaii Five-0 “Touch of Death” episodes, “Recruit”, “Free Ride”, “Wanted”, “Ravens and The Swans”, “Impact”, “War Cries”, both ends of the “Deep Trouble” season five finale/season six premiere, “Inelegant Heart”, “Praesidium”, “Traitor”, “Active Measures” (season seven premiere), “Blame It On Rio”, “Internal Affairs”, “Matryoshka” part one,  "Talion" (season seven finale), “High Value Target”/“Belly of the Beast” (season eight premieres), “The Queen’s Gambit”, “Under Siege”, “Unleashed” (season eight finale), “Party Crashers” (season nine’s premiere), “This Is What We Do” (episode 200), “Các Tù Nhân”, “Goodbye Vietnam”, “Ninguna Salida” (the season nine finale with Joe Sachs), “Hit List”, “Asesinos” and “Till Death Do Us Part”.

Directed by:  James Whitmore Jr. directed NCIS‘s “Legend” part two which introduced the OSP team before directing “Identity”, “Found” (written by R. Scott Gemmill), “Human Traffic”, “Empty Quiver”, “Plan B”, “Familia”, “Lone Wolf”, “Vengeance”, “Recruit”, “History”, “Battle Scars” and “Vendetta”.  He is the father of actress Aliah Seavey.

Guest stars of note:  Aliah Seavey as Kelly James is another actor making a rare role change in the series.  Seavey played Ameenah Shah in season one’s “Found” episode (she was the woman who left the cultural center after she figured out their terror ties).  She is married to Dustin Seavey, another actor with two NCIS: Los Angeles roles (Petty Officer Foster in “Vengeance” and Air Force Capt. Kevin Miller in “The Silo”).  Medalion Rahimi as NCIS Special Agent Fatima Namazi was in the last episode, "Searching".  Sabrina Revelle as Laura Garcia, Tommy Badger Brown as Jason Reed, Justin Paul as Brian Booker, Nicholas Hayner as Navy Seal Petty Officer Alonzo Garcia, David Chan as Nurse Steven Hong, Steve Fisher as Edward Morrison, Noelle Messier as Security Guard and Julianna Gamiz as

Our heroes:   Have Hetty back.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen:  Protecting Sam. Sam:  Protecting a SEAL. Kensi:  On fire. Deeks:   Oddly anti-lawyer. Eric:   Talks too much to Hetty. Nell:   Talks too much to Hetty. Hetty:   Listens to both her meerkats.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen:   Thinking of getting a pet. Sam:   Doesn't think Callen would do well with a pet. Kensi:   Going two for two. Deeks: Finding Highlights Magazines, Harry Potter wands and Amish porn in suspects homes. Eric:   Knows the difference between an aquarium and a terrarium. Nell:   Mops up after a weepy Sydney Hetty:   Spending a night out with the Jones women.

Who's down with OTP:  All is well with Kensi and Deeks.  Eric and Nell are struggling with their out of the office issues that have nothing to do with each other – Eric's job offer, Nell's mother.

Who's down with BrOTP:   The annual episode where Callen is the voice of reason and Sam's emotions are getting the best of him.  Of course, Sam's emotions are about a fellow SEAL.

Any pressing need for Harm and Mac:  No.  But I'm guessing Adm. Chegwidden wouldn't mind taking a swing at Reed and Booker..

Who is running the team this week?  Hetty.  

Mosley watch:  In some ways her lasting legacy - the office she had built - took some Hetty hits.

Fashion review:  Grey plaid button down shirt for Callen.  Black henley for Sam.  Kensi is wearing a grey v-neck loose fitting long-sleeve tee with stripes that dip with the v-neck.  Light blue light-weight sweatshirt for Deeks.  Medium blue short-sleeve button down shirt for Eric with a pale blue pattern, long pants too (Hetty should have said something).  Black dress with small flowers and a black blazer for Nell.  Chocolate brown suit for Hetty.

Music:   "I'll Go Blind" by The National Reserve is playing in the teaser.

Any notable cut scene: No.

Quote: Sam:  "Can we call anyone for you? A friend, family member?" Laura:  "His swim buddy is on his up from Coronado and my sister flies in from Denver tonight." Callen:  "That's good.  Well, if you need help, food, getting a coffee, hotel room…" Laura:  "I'm the wife of a Navy SEAL, Agent Callen." Callen:  "Understood." Laura:  "I'll be fine here." Callen:  "Yes, ma'am, and, uh, please keep us informed, let us know when he wakes up." Laura:  "Will do.  Thank you.  And Agent Hanna, hooyah." Sam:  "Hooyah, ma'am."

Anything else:  Two men are in an SUV with a near seven-hour drive ahead of them.  The passenger suggests a lunch spot along the way with the driver worrying about his cholesterol.  As they are driving through an area with significant construction, the vehicle takes fire.  The man in the passenger seat wants the driver to keep going but the gunfire directs them right to the curb.

The man in the passenger seat is armed and takes out one of the men firing high-power rifles at the SUV.  The driver seems to be surrendering to the gunman on his side.  Shot several times, the man in the passenger seat is badly hurt.  The gunman walk to the SUV.

Callen is amazed by Shetland ponies.  Sam talks about selective breeding but Callen is talking up an old movie, "The Valley of the Gwangi", a 1960's sci-fi western.  Sam begs Callen to get some sleep.  Fatima is in bullpen waiting for Callen and Sam.

The man shot in the SUV is Petty Officer Alonso Garcia, Navy SEAL.  He is moonlighting as security for a marijuana dispensary.  Garcia is in critical condition.  Sam asks if Garcia's CO knew he was moonlighting.  He did.  Garcia's wife is pregnant with the couple's second child.

Callen asks how much marijuana was stolen.  None – they got $250,000 instead.  With marijuana legal in California but still a federal crime, money earned by the dispensaries cannot be deposited in a federally insured bank.  It is an all-cash business.  Callen is aware of the regulations but not why the SUV had a quarter of a million dollars.  Once a year, the dispensaries have to pay for their license from the Bureau of Cannabis Control.  The SUV was going to Sacramento to pay it.  

The fee paid is based on the money made by the dispensary.  Crescent Bay Dispensaries have ten locations in LA.  Sam asks about moving the money in armed cars.  Worried about getting in a bad place with the Feds, armored car companies won't move the money either.  Retired or moonlighting military personnel is the best way to move the money.

Sam asks about leads – there are none.  The FBI and local law enforcement are looking into the shooting.  Callen is about to send Kensi and Deeks to the hospital as he and Sam go to the crime scene when Sam mentions that Garcia is a SEAL.  Instead, Kensi and Deeks are off to the crime scene, Callen and Sam are going to the hospital.  Sam wants everything Eric and Nell can find on Garcia – they should "hit this hard."

Kensi sees the site of the shootout as the perfect spot.  It is the perfect choke point.  Deeks agrees, it is a perfect check point.  The two review the idea of a choke point, the movie "Braveheart" and Deeks's Scottish accent.  While Deeks keeps quoting the movie, Kensi is looking around.  

Deeks was talking the FBI before dropping "Braveheart" quotes.  The FBI doesn't know much.  The driver could have been in on the attack or is a hostage.  Either way, the attack was quick and the gunmen were pros.  They picked up all their brass.  Not all – Kensi found a 5.56 NATO round.  It was in a sewer grate – the shooters either missed it or couldn't get it out.  She used Deeks's lunch toothbrush to get it from the gate.  Deeks is not happy – Bertie gave him that toothbrush.

At the hospital, Petty Officer Garcia's daughter Elena is drawing a get well card.  The nurse takes Elena to get a sandwich while Laura Garcia talks about her husband.  His first surgeries went well but he has a long road to recovery.  Sam talks about SEALs being team tough while Callen is sure he is getting great medical attention at the hospital.  Laura tells them her husband came to a few times but can't speak due to the ventilator.  He is conscious now.

Sam talks to P.O. Garcia as a SEAL.  Garcia's eyelids are fluttering.  Laura is worried but Callen and Sam recognize Morse code.  He doesn't know who shot him but spells out Jason.  Jason Reed was his driver.  Callen and Sam don't have any answers.  P.O. Garcia starts to have a seizure.  When he's resettled, he is out cold again and likely will be for a while.  Even when he wakes up, he may not be at full awareness.  The nurse is going to find the doctor.

Sam wants to help Laura.  Her sister is flying in later that day, Garcia's swim buddy is coming up from San Diego.  Callen offers food, a hotel room but Laura reminds him that she's the wife of a Navy SEAL.  She will be fine.  Callen leaves a card.  Laura Garcia offers Sam a "Hooyah."  Sam offers the same in reply.  Sam is angry – this is a SEAL thing.  Callen understands and promises there will be a time for that later in the case.

Hetty is sitting alone in the guest chair in the Mosley/Kilbride/Ochoa/Rogers glass office, staring at the structure's ceiling.  As Eric walks by, he notices Hetty in the office.  He wonders if this is her new office but it doesn't have to be because she has a great office.  He'd like that office, not that he wants her job, just that he'd be thrilled with her little space there.  Not that the space is little, she's little but not.  Hetty finally asks if "they are not feeding you?"  Eric thinks he's bulking up – his shirt is a little more form fitting.

Announcing the room isn't an office, Hetty sees the space more as an aquarium.  Technically, Eric thinks it is a terrarium since there is no water.  This goes over about as well as Eric's office space talk.  He notes that Rogers likes the office.  Hetty recommends a rock and a lamp for terrarium basking.  Hetty asks about Mr. Rogers.  These leads to a bad Mr. Rogers Neighborhood joke from Eric who really should have quit when he was well behind.  Updating Hetty, Eric tells her Rogers doesn't come into the office every day and does not tell them about his schedule unless they are on it.  Eric is going back to Ops.  Hetty calls him back and apologizes for her absence.  He was sorry she was gone for so long as well but is glad she is back.

Callen and Sam are in the waiting area of the dispensary offices.  Looking at the offices, Callen is amazed that the dispensary company likely has more weed on hand than he and Sam have brought in from illegal dealers in all their time together.  Callen and Sam discuss the fact that owning an hedgehog in California is illegal but now marijuana is not.  Sam really wants Callen to get some sleep.  Callen talks about getting a pet – which Sam thinks is a terrible idea.

Kelly James, who owns the dispensaries, brings Callen and Sam into a conference room.  She has spoken to Laura Garcia already.  James feels so helpless and they still can't find Reed, the driver.  Reed has been with the company since the fall, Garcia joined in January.  The two were not a regular team but did ride together a few times in the past.  James always knew something like this could happen – it is why she always had security – but she is sick to her stomach over what happened.

Callen asks who knew about the trip to Sacramento.  Just the Garcia, Reed and James – she doesn't share that information with anyone.  Sam asks about an assistant.  James has one and has a large staff but none of them are privy to the money runs.  She calls the driver and the security person the night before and there is a back-up team.  Both teams are paid for the whole week so she can call them at any time.  The drivers and the security person do not know how much money, if any, they are transporting.

Sam asks about turnover.  They dispensary does not have any.  It took James a long time to find the right people when the company started but she offers full medical, paid maternity leave.  She is not a stoner – they're legit.  She was a successful lawyer who left a good job to start the business.  Asked about the employees, James runs a full background check and offers access to Sam.  As for the driver, Reed has no family.  He is a good employee and a good driver.  James hands Callen Garcia's and Reed's personnel files.

Asked about the route the drivers take, James tells Sam that Garcia insisted the drivers take different routes every time.  She is not aware of the route the men were coming.

Kensi and Deeks are looking into Jason Reed.  Reed's roommate is a law student at Loyola Marymount so he won't help unless Deeks gets a warrant.  Deeks thinks lawyers are pit vipers.  Kensi wants to know why the gunmen took Reed.  Deeks thinks hostage but since they got the money, why do they need him?  Kensi points out there was no blood on his side of the SUV.  Deeks thinks he was easy to take – he wasn't armed and he wasn't a SEAL.

Kensi still thinks Reed is part of this, that he tipped off the gunmen.  Deeks tells her about the Alonso-mandated change to the route every trip.  After Kensi suggests Reed could have a tracker in the car, Deeks asks how does the tracker get the SUV to the choke point?.  Kensi thinks Alonso could get the SUV on the I-5, getting on and off the road a few times to shake things up.  What doesn't change – getting from the Crescent corporate offices to the I-5.  Roadblocks or impediments on the local streets could send the SUV right to the choke point.  Nell is coming into the bullpen.  Kensi would like her to check out if there were any road blocks – maybe illegal so Cal-Trans may not have them – between the Crescent offices and the highway.  Nell is on it.  She is also there to discuss the shell casing Kensi and Deeks's toothbrush found.  There was a finger print on the casing belonging to a Brian Booker, a career criminal with along rap sheet.  Kensi (who is "on fire!") and Deeks are off to check out Booker's work and home

Callen and Sam go to Booker's mobile home.  Callen knocks on the door. Sam is not waiting.  He rattling the bars on the door.  Booker leaves through a side window with Callen and Sam right behind him.  Cutting through some neighbor's driveways, Booker in back on the street with Kensi and Deeks arriving.  They chase him in the Audi until Booker jumps on a little motor scooter and drives down a very narrow area between homes.  Sam is waiting for Booker with a cheap surfboard.  Booker is off the scooter and in handcuffs.  Callen wants a dog – a K9 unit would cut down on the all the running.  "Not in my car," Sam says.  

Sam is not kind to Booker in interrogation.  Especially to a smirking Booker, who demands a lawyer and calls Sam a little bitch.  Sam walks out of the room.  Booker tells Callen he as Sam well trained.  Callen says the Navy trained Sam and that's the only reason he's alive.  Callen leaves too.

Deeks thinks everyone wants to hit Booker in the face with a shovel.  Kensi tries to calm Sam down and that does not go over well.  Sam doesn't want to be calm.  Deeks understands but Garcia and his wife need Sam to be.  Kensi and Deeks are willing to interrogate the "waste of skin," according to Callen but it is a waste of time.  He's not talking.  Let Eric and Nell search everything from his miserable life.

Hetty is pouring some tea when Nell arrives – Hetty asked to see her.  "How's Mom?" Hetty asks.  Triple bypass is suggested by the surgeons but she won't do it because why would she want to extend her life.  Nell understands she's scared.  Hetty asks if Nell needs to be with her mother.  The whole family was there.  Her mother threatened to leave the hospital if anyone but Nell's father stayed.  Nell tells Hetty her mother is the most stubborn person she ever met, "present company aside, obviously."  

Understanding how poorly her last remark landed, Nell explains it was supposed to be compliment to Hetty but it came out wrong and now she's apologizing because she's jacked up on enough caffeine to take down a wildebeest.  Linda Hunt's facial reactions to Nell’s rant and Eric’s office talk are why she is so good at this role.  Nell doesn't understand – she is a grown-up, she'd done some really "bad-ass things" in the job and the minute her mother talks to her, she's a kid again.  Sydney can't stop crying, so Nell has to mop that up.  Hetty asks Nell to sit down.  Nell is ready to work.  Hetty wants Nell to sit.  Nell perches herself on the very edge of one of Hetty's guest chairs.  Hetty motions for her to lean back.

Nell's tablet beeps.  The team needs a document uploaded.  Hetty tells Nell that family is "important in all its disguises and also very challenging."  Callen needs other info but Hetty is OK but they are leaving at 21:00 hours.  The two of them are going to San Francisco.  Hetty doesn't know Mrs. Jones but "some have told me I have been very persuasive at times."  Nell tells Hetty she doesn't have to help but she is glad Hetty is.  The two women hug.  Nell tells Hetty she loves her so much and how worried she was about never seeing Hetty again.  Hetty tells her only the good die young.

Deeks is going through Booker's belongings.  Among the highlights are drugs, unpaid bills, Harry Potter wands and Amish porn.   No weapons, no ammo.  Sam is worried that Booker can claim he sold the ammo to the gunmen and that explains the finger print.  That's reasonable doubt.  Kensi arrives.  She found a phone tossed in a bush right where Sam hit Booker with the surfboard.  Looks like a burner.  "Kensi comes up big again," according to Kensi.

Fatima joins Eric in Ops.  The burner phone was bought in a liquor store three weeks ago.  The liquor store owner has no record and won't share his security footage because, Eric thinks, he is likely selling alcohol to minors.  Fatima is will to talk to him but Eric has calls from the phone made to other pre-paid cell phones.  One phone has made two calls from the same location.  Eric is sending the address to the team.  Fatima is working to get the other pre-paid cell phones disabled.

On a rainy street, Callen and Sam are parked outside of the house.  Sam wants to just go in.  Callen wants more intel.  Kensi and Deeks arrive.  They checked around – no car in the driveway but couldn't see into the garage.  Sam is going in, Kensi and Deeks move to the backdoor.  Sam knocks on the door – the people inside start shooting.

NCIS, LAPD, SWAT, FBI and the REACT Team are all outside of the house.  Eric is trying to turn on the cell phone in the house but with no luck.  Kensi and Deeks tell Callen and Sam that everyone is waiting for Sam to lead the teams in.

The home is owned by an Edward Morrison, according to Fatima, who is working out of the taco truck.  It was left to him when his mother died.  The city's blueprint on the house is 90-years old.  Eric has no security camera footage – no one in the neighborhood has a camera.  Based on his background, Fatima does not believe Morrison could run the attack on the SUV or be one of the gunmen.  He's a loner.  Callen wonders if hiding the driver with a loner is the best way to keep Reed out of sight.  Eric wonders if Morrison is a victim.

Someone from the house starts firing at the taco truck.  Fatima is startled but Callen assures her it is safe.  With the REACT team going in the back, Callen, Sam, Kensi, Deeks and the FBI are in through the front.  The place is loaded with junk.

With the first floor clear, the team takes an outside stairway to the second floor.  Morrison is in a locked room, yelling he is hurt.  He's crying.  Callen tells Morrison to put down his gun and come out.  Morrison tells them he can't move his leg.  He's locked into the room.  Callen and Sam kicked down the door.  Morrison yells a white nationalist slogan before trying to shoot them.  It ends badly for Morrison.  

Callen was sorry Morrison died before they questioned him.  Sam is thinking more like a decade of excruciating pain before death.  Spitting on the ground, Sam talks about Morrison and the white nationalist mantra.  Deeks arrives with boxes of Morrison's papers.

In the boat shed, the team goes through Morrison's papers.  Everything from white nationalist propaganda to Highlights Magazine.  Sam thinks Booker was probably part of a white nationalist gang in one of his many prison stays. Fatima has receipts – Morrison was buying guns and ammo in Arizona in the last few weeks.  Callen feels like they are missing something.  Fatima talks about assault rifles and ammo.  Deeks wants to figure out who is running Booker and Morrison – two men without the ability to pull off the robbery.

Remembering that Garcia blinked Reed's name in Morse code, Sam wonders if Garcia was warning them about him, not asking about the driver.  Nell shows up on the TV screen.  Morrison was a truck driver at a company where Jason Reed worked.  Reed is behind all this.

Deeks asks if there are any white nationalist rallies planned soon.  There is one in Arizona in a month.  Callen asks if there are any gatherings by people who white nationalists would not like.  Fatima mentions an immigration rally at Pershing Square at 7PM.  The team is on their way.

Arriving at the rally, Sam takes the HellCat to the parking lot.  Nell contacts Callen – the organizers are shutting down the rally on advice from LAPD but the cancelation notice went out so late, people are already there.

In the crowd, Kensi is looking for sniper locations with Deeks.  She found a building where he could sit and take out people in the rally.  Arriving in that building lobby, a security guard tells the team the elevators are out – Reed wants to slow anyone who could come after him. 

Reed is taking selfies with the guns.  This allows Eric to make a spoof call from Booker's phone.  Fatima is Face-Timing with Reed, who is not happy when she introduces herself as a friend of Brian's.  Callen and Sam try to get close to Reed but the phone call has him moving up his timeline.

Deeks puts on a blanket found near an building vent.  Kensi asks him if he crazy.  Crazy is what he does.  Making sure he doesn't get shot is what he hopes she does.  Yelling lines from "Braveheart", Deeks gets Reed's attention – and some shots fired his way.  Deeks takes cover with Kensi, Callen and Sam all shooting at Reed.  Sam gets close enough to take Reed out with the butt of his rifle.  

Seeing Reed had at least a dozen weapons, Deeks realizes just how many people Reed could have killed.  As Reed leaves the elevator, Fatima is there to greet him.  Callen and Sam are off to see Garcia in the hospital.  Kensi and Fatima aren't paying attention to Deeks's thoughts are beer.  They're having tea.

Hetty arrives in Ops with the line "teamwork makes the dream work."  Nell is grabbing her go-bag, they are on their way to San Francisco.  Hetty is looking forward to their girls' night out, she tells Eric.  Then she's looking forward to a long chat with him about love, life, his job offer.  Eric is stunned – "how did you know."  "Night, night Mr. Beale," Hetty says as she leaves.

What head canon can be formed from here:   A solid episode where the team supports Sam's mission to avenge a SEAL brother.  A number of "what did we learn" segments with the marijuana dispensary business and white nationalists but well written so it didn't feel overdone.  

Thought the “what did I learn” moment didn’t get nearly enough attention - a SEAL having to moonlight for extra cash to support his family is not a good look for the Navy.  This sort of highly trained specialist should be paid a fair wage.

Kensi and Deeks did have a huge exposition scene where they explained what was going on for over two-minutes.  It was made better but the Kensi and Deeks jokes about themselves, their love for each other, etc. but that's another incident of a lot of telling and not showing.

Loved Hetty and Eric and Nell.  

Episode number:    Episode 20 of season ten.  236 overall.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Predictable Stories

I’ve seen this takedown of late GoT from Lindsay Ellis and Red of OSP, maybe also from Super Eyepatch Wolf too? Wouldn’t surprise me. Point is: I’ve seen it said really well that while following tropes so closely that everyone can guess your whole story from the beginning will probably bore some people, avoidance of predictable outcomes for its own sake is a really dumb thing to do with your fiction.

I entirely agree, but I wanted to talk about the positive inverse of this: When your work isn’t OVERLY predictable, and a reader or viewer predicts it anyway, that is excellent. When I was watching Steven Universe, and also when I was reading The Walking Dead, there were points where I finished consuming for the day and just before bed I started composing fanfic in my head. What should the team encounter next? How should they get out of this cliffhanger? What would bring good character growth, and what makes sense with the abilities we’ve seen from people so far? And then the next day, or next week, when I saw the next episode or chapter, something very similar to what I put together in my head was there on the screen, on the page. When this happens it is intensely satisfying. And it makes me want to see where you’re going next. It gives me a feeling that will invest me in your series pretty heavily. Even if all you cared about was marketability, this outsells shock from bad writing.

I dunno, I just wanted to mirror the What to Avoid hot take with my own Something to Strive For take. That’s all.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Truck carrying 7,500 pounds of 'slime eels' overturns on highway

Oregon police found themselves in a bit of a slimy situation when a huge truck carrying roughly 7,500 pounds of eels overturned, spilling them and their uhh....excretions?...all over the road and nearby cars.

SEE ALSO: This slithering eel video is both creepy and captivating

OSP @OregonDOT & @LincolnCountySO on scene overturned #Slime #Eel truck Hwy101 MP131 closed. #Cleanup on Aisle 101 pic.twitter.com/Z9s9XbQ247

— Oregon State Police (@ORStatePolice) July 13, 2017

The eels are technically a type of fish called "hagfish," which are an eel-shaped fish with no jaw or vertebrae that produce slime when distressed (hence the nickname "slime eel"). And they look like this.

A Hagfish is displayed in Portsmouth, N.H., . The virtually blind and eel-like creature, which measures about 30 inches, and which features small tentacles around its jawless mouth and pincher-like teeth on its tongue, is the world's oldest vertebrate.

Image: STEVEN SENNE/AP/REX/Shutterstock

AH! SHIT! 

According to police, no one was injured. But pictures and videos of the incident look like they're straight from some apocalypse horror movie where a natural disaster destroys society.

One eyewitness said Paul Thomas Anderson showed up with a film crew before clean up efforts were underway in an attempt to "save money on special effects" for his sequel to Magnolia.

(Just kidding.) 

WATCH: This garden is filled with 7,000 pinwheels

[ronkarpel]

Monte Bello Loop - Apr 2019

Monte Bello Loop – Apr 2019

It was a cold and rainy day… no really, it wasn’t raining, but the drizzle was so heavy it might as well was raining. It wasn’t terribly cold, but we expected warmer drier weather, so without proper cloth it felt cold. The cool weather was made the hiking easier and we finish the 20 mile 4000 ft in good time and good spirit

Poipu Beach and a rainbow. Note the old red…

[typingtess]

I caught up with the season finale of NCIS: New Orleans this weekend.  Pretty much the same finale set up of the prior two years, sans Sonja.  Someone on a boat was going to commit an act of terrorism on the New Orleans waterway (two seasons ago’s finale).  A powerful man used law enforcement agencies to impede Pride and his team (last season’s finale).  Feh.

The finale was a total waste of Lou Diamond Phillips.  Sorry they finished up with Matt Servitto (who I liked on The Sopranos).  Never liked Doug Savant and his appearance as a random powerbroker who was there and gone in two-hours makes the long fight to take down Mayor Steven Weber more interesting.

And the big cliffhanger was dumb.  Pride being shot is not the same as Gibbs being shot in the NCIS season 12 finale or the OSP team’s situation at the end of season nine of NCIS: Los Angeles.  Pride’s case was solved, the team was partying downstairs in Pride’s bar.  The other finales had not only the injured people where saving them was going to be difficult, there are still open aspects of the cases/missions/actions they were working.

And to get this back to @dominicvail ‘s original point, that Bakula “accent” comes and goes like the wind.  I think Lucas Black’s constant “accent” (along with Vanessa Ferlito’s New York “accent” - which sounds fine to me, everyone else has an accent) emphasizes Scott Bakula’s ever changing way of speaking.

Whose accent on NCIS NOLA bothered you? Because Lucas Black's is a completely genuine Alabama accent. I know Scott Bakula's is fake, but he dialed it back in later episodes. I think someone might've complained.

Bakula, i was talking about Bakula. A lot of Bakula shows have been aired in my house in my life and hearing the difference made it worse.