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hey ao3 can you like give the extra $38k you made from this month’s funds drive to charity

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every day tim minear furthers my agenda of eddie being maybe four years older than buck AND still having been a very young father at maybe like 19 or 20. how, you might ask? well, timelines don't exist, you see. and they're definitely not supposed to make sense. we're operating purely on vibes. shannon's tombstone was prepped by some random props guy who was like "hmm this checks out". buck's hospital bracelet? a flirty wink for oliver stark. actually, it's 2021 in the 911 universe. sometimes it's 2024 and then it's 2025 the next week and then back to 2022. hen's birthday lasted two days. chris is fourteen but sometimes 17 and sometimes 12 years old. eddie is a late 80s / early 90s baby. buck is a 1990s millennial but in a different way than eddie because buck grew up on hannah montana and eddie has no fucking clue who that is. bobby is 60 but then he's 55 and sometimes it's like he should be in a home by now. chim is doing acrobatics at 55 because he's also 43 like maddie who's also 38. both buck and eddie remember blockbuster and neither one of them has ever watched glee. tommy is still around 48 pushing 60. buck and eddie are in love and very much a fertile age

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i beat myself up for not knowing enough about my special interests a lot but then i remember the average person off the street has no idea what the carboniferous is and i feel better

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- Isn’t that illegal? - What? No, no, it’s not illegal.

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"After receiving a tip about a family of Burrowing Owls on the eastern edge of Cheyenne, a photographer rushed to the location in late June. The owlets seemed nearly ready to leave their burrows. Over the years, the photographer has perfected a method using a GoPro on a small tripod, set to take a photo every 5 seconds. They leave the camera behind, allowing the owls to feel comfortable. The challenge lies in the long wait to see if the effort pays off. This shot was taken on June 28th."

📷 Peter Arnold

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day 1 at the communal puzzle club: i see a puzzle with a sign next to it that says "please help with our communal puzzle" and i say to myself "don't mind if I do" and did the whole thing

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What if I said that bobbys death wasn’t poorly written and was a good move actually.

First of all he might not be dead in which case all of this is a moot point but walk with me.

In my opinion, the fact that no one major dies in this show is a serious set back for it. The leads get into these horrendously perilous situations and there is a never a doubt in your mind that they will be ok. That’s not interesting story telling, that’s cozy. And cozy is ok and allowed, and definitely has a place. Even in an action packed procedural to be fair. But at the same time, what ends up happening is that these characters suffer a lot with no lasting effects or consequences on the narrative. Remember when Hen’s son almost died?? And then was just fine?? By season 8, the bombastic emergency no longer hits. There’s no stakes. It’s the supernatural problem. They kept upping the ante but didn’t heighten the consequences with it.

And as I said, this has a place. My uni lecturer described this concept as “cozy murder”, where stressful and bad things happen, but in a palatable way with a narrative resolution, and no major tragedy for the protagonists. This usually applies to detective/mystery shows but I think it works here too. If they choose to bring Bobby back, the show will continue to lack stakes, but will be a fun source of comfort. It was still thrilling and exciting to watch Athena land that plane even though I knew she would be okay. The conflict is not revolving around IF the characters will survive, but HOW. Which is also valid and fine and good.

However comma, if they choose to keep Bobby dead, this changes the game for the show is a big way. Now they can kill people, now their cast can revolve a little more than it does. I want to compare this death to George’s death in greys anatomy. Frankly it was unnecessary and they could have just written him off because the actor was leaving, but they chose to kill him for the plot. I’m sure many people hate this choice, and when I watched it I was shocked and saddened by it too. But it was narratively interesting, it had an effect on the other characters, it drove the story forward. It meant that greys anatomy could revolve and change its cast, while still honouring its original characters. It also introduced stakes into the show where Meredith was dead on the table for two hours before being magically revived. Now if you get attached to a character, there’s a level of danger and intrigue there, will they make it?

The same goes for 911. It’s been 8 seasons of the same cast, and the last few seasons have grown a little stagnant. Characters aren’t growing the way they used to, the 118 is a coherent family unit that lacks internal conflict in a lot of ways. Basically everyone is a bit too happy. (Disregarding the Buck and Eddie situation, but this isn’t about that). Killing Bobby opens narrative possibilities: who will be the new captain? How will they adjust after his death? How will Buck cope now that his closest friend and his father figure are gone? How will Athena cope?

Bobby was kind of…done, and he should have had the chance to retire and live until he was old, but at the same time he died saving his family, and saving the world. It was tragic and beautiful. He had been given the chance to grow and be happy, and even to reconnect with his mother, and now it is his time to go. It wasn’t poorly written, it was a shock on purpose to gag the audience. And are we not gagged?

Of course it’s a huge tone shift and game changer for the show, so it’s still up in the air if they will choose to follow through, but I think it opens the story up to new possibilities and pathways. This could be the beginning of so many arcs, or characters understanding the finite nature of their lives, of reckoning with the danger of their jobs in a new way. This is something that happens to first responders, it should be able to happen on the first responder show.

I think season 7/8 have been such a reset for the show, they are exploring things they would have never explored earlier in their run, and spicing things up is good for the longevity and continual good quality of the show.

But I am in two minds about this and worry they will chicken out.

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it should be socially acceptable to roll around on the ground groaning in pain . it wouldnt help get rid of the pain but i would feel a little better about it

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Clean it up hiro….

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I spent a good chunk of my weekend scrambling to finish this comic. I hope you like it. I was really trying to push myself with the colours.

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in loving memory of my favorite shirt