Finale Spec/Wishes, pt. 6

Okay, I lied. I didn't feel like scheduling in case it tempted me to go back and add things to it. So, just consider today with three posts making up for the days I missed.

Last part for reals. If you need a recap on what this is, visit any of the parts mentioned:

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3 | Pt 4 | Pt 5

Cut to the beach. Callen and Hetty are arriving. Callen starts walking towards the beach when he sees some familiar figures…doing a choreographed dance. “Nell? Eric?” They both stop dancing and look over to him. Eric says, “Hey, Callen!” They walk over to him. It’s not lost on Callen that Hetty doesn’t seem surprised to see them, and they don’t seem surprised to see Hetty. But he’s so glad to see them, he gives them hugs. “What are you guys doing here?” Eric says, “What do you mean what are we doing here? We’re just hanging out at the sidewalk waiting on you.” Callen says, “No, I mean, here in general.” Nell says, “Well, Kensi called. Said there was a party we absolutely could not miss. Richie Rich and I hopped on a nice, private jet and here we are!” Eric nods. “Yes, to celebrate. I may have also paid for some things.” Callen says, “And you came dressed fancy, too.  Oh, wait. I should’ve stopped by the store to pick something up.” Nell grabs his arm and says, “I promise, you’re fine.” Eric’s cell goes off. He reads a text then tells Nell, “Okay, they’re ready.” Callen asks, “Ready for what?” 

They all walk closer to the beach. Callen is greeted by Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Fatima, Rountree, and Nate. He quickly notices they’re all dressed up. “What’s going on?” Eric chimes in, “Well, we were the distraction.” Everyone is grinning, and then Callen finally looks around behind him and realizes what’s going on. Deeks explains, “It’s exactly what you wanted. A wedding so top secret, not even the groom knows.” 

Callen is shocked. “I thought this was going to be an annual family celebration?” Kensi nods. “Oh, it is. It’s the year, it’s your wedding. One year, it might be Rosa’s graduation. Or Aiden’s wedding. Or…who knows?” Callen looks at Sam, who just shrugs and says, “I couldn’t stop them.” Deeks says, “Pssh, couldn’t stop us? Callen, my friend, I will give you three guesses as to who is responsible for all the origami crane decorations at the tables.” Callen continues, confused, “How did you do all this?” Kensi says, “Just a little quick planning. And we knew Hetty would show up, so we had an automatic officiant. Also, Nine Barnes made your cake. Some of the flowers may look like tiny guns but try not to overthink it. She was being kind of cheeky.” Callen asks, “Wait, where’s Anna?” Fatima says, “Don’t worry. She and Arkady are just waiting in place. It’s bad luck to see her before.”  Callen has yet another sudden realization. “Arkady. Wait, who’s going to watch Arkady? This is too much free range space for him.”

Everyone starts looking at each other. One of the things they didn’t plan. Nell offers up, “Um, well, how about Nate?” Everyone but Nate quickly agrees it should be Nate. He asks, “Why me?” Sam explains, “Well, you are an expert in human psychiatry.” Nate quickly replies, “Yes, human psychiatry. We still don’t know what exactly Arkady is.” Nell reaches up and pats him on the back. “You’ll be fine.” Sam looks over at Callen, “Come on. Let’s get you dressed real quick.”

Cut to: Callen standing at the altar, Sam and Deeks with him. Kensi and Nell are on the other side. Arkady walks Anna down the aisle. They exchange vows. They kiss. Cheers.

Cut to: later, the makeshift reception is going on. Callen and Anna are walking around, talking to people. They stop and chat with Kilbride who is having to duck out early to be on his way. Callen then looks over and sees the gang sitting and joking at a table. He takes a big sip of champagne from his glass. Anna asks him, “Are you okay?” He nods and mutters something about “Liquid courage.” He signals with a head nod to the table. Anna knows he wants to walk over there. 

Deeks is telling Kensi, “You know, maybe this is what we should be the Chip and Joanna Gaines of. Top secret weddings for federal agents.” Kensi says, “I don’t know how viable that would be.” Eric offers, “Look, if you need an investor.” Nell jump in, “Eric, this isn’t Shark Tank. I’ve told you about pretending that real life is just VC pitch after VC pitch.” Sam just shakes his head. “This was great, but maybe don’t quit your day jobs.” Deeks says, “Wait, Sam, you don’t want in? We could really use a fashion guy!”

Callen and Anna make their way over. Anna quickly tells everyone thank you, again. And they all congratulate them. Callen says, “Yes, I did want to say thank you, again.” Kensi interrupts, “It was nothing.” Deeks adds, “I wouldn’t say nothing.” Kensi concedes, “Fine it was something but something worth the something.” Callen smiles. He goes to say something, and it’s clearly a struggle. He looks down trying to psych himself into this. He starts, “I didn’t just want to thank you for this, though. I wanted to thank you for…everything. And I mean everything.” Deeks says, “We’ll miss you, too.” And Callen smiles but then shakes his head.

“This is hard for me to say.” He clears his throat. “But you should be brave with your whole heart.” He looks up at them, and says, “I always though I never knew who I was because I was missing things like my name, where I came from. But, even when I learned them, I still didn’t feel like they answered who I was. It took me a long time, probably too long, to realize that the part of me that was missing was a true family.” Deeks interrupts, “Grisha Callen, are you saying we complete you?” Callen just smirks. “I’m saying you are all a part of who I am. And thank you.” 

Nell jumps in, “You’re so close, Papa Bear.” Callen looks at her, confused. “What?” She continues, “You’re so close. You’re almost there. You can say it.” Callen looks at Sam, who quickly says, “Don’t look at me.” Deeks jumps in, “Tell us you love us.” Callen is shocked. “What? I think that’s implied…” They shake their heads. Kensi says, “You got this.” Eric adds, “Come on. Make this trip worthwhile.” Callen looks at Nate. “I think Nate would be the first to say that acts are really more important than words.” Nate comes back with, “But isn’t saying words that are hard a meaningful act in itself?” Rountree says, “You literally say it to Sam all the time. I’ve heard you say it to him at the shooting range or even when he hands you a pen.” Fatima adds, “Oh, that’s true.” Everyone is nodding.  

Callen looks over at Anna, who just smiles back him and squeezes his hand a little tighter. He takes a deep breath, looks at the table, and says, “Okay. Fine. I love you all.” Everyone cheers. Eric bursts out with, “I love you all, too!” Deeks says, “Hashtag same!” Everyone laughs. They’re hugging and laughing and exchanging “I love you’s” as the credits roll. 

in the hour or so it took me to draw this op turned reblogs off

Peace and love

FINALLY some good fucking feature ideas from the tumblr devs. tamagotchi renaissance now

Oh…. Well, it’s over for Crunchyroll I guess

op is posting from tamriel. or perhaps the lands between

mmm soob

One of the realest things someone said on the Internet

My work boots are the most expensive shoes I’ve ever owned.

Also the most comfortable. I chose them after trying on several different brands and comparing lifespan vs usage vs comfort - I needed them for a physically demanding job, not the weekend hiking trails. I could have easily chosen cheaper boots that would have lasted long enough to be worth their low price, but I know the Sam Vimes Boot Theory and knew weaker, less comfortable boots would make my life harder in the long run.

So when the outside edge of the heel started wearing down after three years of heavy use I went to the shop I got them from and said “hey this is a common problem for me with how I walk but now it’s affecting my ankles and knees and I don’t wanna have to buy a new pair, is there a way to fix this?”

The salesman at this very fancy upscale boot store said “oh yeah, there’s a shoe repair place that can give you some heel guards - it’ll keep the rubber from wearing out.”

So at 8am this morning right after my 9hr shift ends I went to the shoe repair shop and it is the most hole-in-the-wall, is-this-a-real-business-or-a-mafia-front, am-I-gonna-get-shot tiny cinder block cube I’ve ever seen in my life. I grew up plenty poor and love me a good hole-in-the-wall business, but going from upscale store to this cash-only repair shop gave me whiplash. Wasn’t expecting this when a guy who wears three piece suits to sell boots said it’s the best place to go.

The skinny kid behind the counter looks somehow 16 and 25 at the same time, but when I tell him this place was recommended he smiles and says to hand over my boots. I hand him the vaguely warm foot-smelling boots, and stand in my socks in the 3’ square entryway surrounded by every color leather polish you could buy and watch as he turns my boots around in his hands, sizes up a crescent moon bits of plastic, and unceremoniously hammers tiny nails through them before handing them back.

The heels are perfectly level again. I can walk without almost rolling my ankles. They don’t clack loudly on the pavement or feel different. This is gonna fix my knee pain. It cost $10.

This kid had every tool he needed within arms reach, worked fast and smoothly, I was in and out the door in less than 8 minutes, and it only cost $10.

I didn’t think anything could cost only $10 anymore. I’m so used to hyperinflation prices I was spiritually thrown back to the 1400’s visiting the cobbler in town square. This kid might have been that cobbler and just decided to never die.

I’m still reeling from the whiplash, and gobsmacked at the price, and thrilled I didn’t have to go buy new, worse work boots (cuz I don’t have that kind of money for a second pair, I’m expecting these ones to last a decade) and it feels like I just experienced one of the rare little chunks of magic that floats around our world.

Some spins on the "mostly male team with a token woman" trope:

The woman is trans and stayed in her old circle of bros even after transition

The woman is the only one in her circle of "girls" who didn't turn out to be a trans man

Sometimes I wish we would start calling out the performative radicalism on this site for the poser bullshit it is. "Remember, it's always morally correct to kill a cop!" "Don't forget to firebomb your local government office!" "Wow, it sure would be a shame if these instructions on how to make a molotov cocktail got spread around!"

Okay. But you're not killing cops or firebombing government offices. You are posting on a dying microblogging website to a carefully-curated echo chamber that has radicalized itself into thinking that taking the absolute most extreme position on any subject is praxis but that anyone discussing the most practical way to effect actual change is your sworn enemy. You do not have the street cred OR the activist cred to be talking about killing cops, babe.

(NO LONGER BOOPING EVERYONE WHO REBLOGS, THERE'S TOO MANY OF YOU)

be free!!