#Back to Tommy and buck

[supercalime]

Just thought about sharing this frame right here

Do with it what you will

[weewoo911]

Buck taking grainy, zoomed-in pictures of every single helicopter he sees and sending them to Tommy like “dis u babe? 🥰”

[lovetommyactually]

SURPRISE! 🎉🎈

[styxhuntress]

The way Buck is treated is absolutely heartbreaking.

On the surface yes, maybe the 118 does look like a found family unit. And most of them have a good family bond with one another. But not with Buck. (Long rant below the cut)

Buck has the biggest heart out of anyone on the show. He is constantly going out of his way to help people. This is particularly prominent with Eddie, but he does this for so many characters.

He lets Hen, Eddie and Chim stay with him during the lockdown, never asks them to help pay rent, and then later lets Albert stay with him with no complaint.

He is constantly babysitting Chris and later Jee while their respective parents go do other things, and while he clearly loves spending time with them this is definitely a massive favor on his part because babysitting kids is hard work.

He is always there to support them when they need it.

He’s the one that prompts them to check on Bobby in season 1.

He is there for Chim as best he can when Maddie leaves.

When Maddie shows up at his apartment in Season 2 he doesn’t get angry with her for essentially breaking into his home and helping herself to a bottle of wine. And instead helps her settle down with a safe new job and becomes her shoulder to cry on during this period.

He drops everything when Eddie asks for his help, when Eddie mentions issues with childcare and paperwork for Chris Buck introduces him to Carla.

When Eddie has to bring Chris to the station Buck calls ahead so Bobby can get permission.

When Eddie gets shot Buck takes over Chris’s care without prompting.

When Eddie has issues with parenting Chris he calls Buck for help and Buck helps.

When Eddie has a meltdown and takes a bat to the wall, not only does Buck drop everything and run to help him, he also goes further by taking eddie to see the kid they saved the day he was shot.

Whenever Eddie needed anything Buck was there.

When Eddie desperately needed a sub letter so that he could move Buck went and took over the lease.

When he found out Eddie was moving he went and did what he could to help him despite being devastated.

Whenever anyone needed anything, Buck was there. And Buck was always happy to do it.

But when Buck was feeling abandoned after the embolism no one reached out, instead Eddie dumped Chris on him under the pretense of getting him out and about and stop moping for the day.

When Maddie left, no one thought to ask Buck how he was doing. Instead they focused entirely on Chim. And when Chim punched Buck no one at any point stood up for Buck, instead going on about how Chim is under a lot of distress right now as though Buck isn’t also feeling the loss and worry of his Sister up and leaving.

When Buck filed the lawsuit they almost all immediately went and put all the blame on Buck. Hen was the only one to point out that they were all Buck had, that he had no other family outside the 118. Despite that they still punished him, Eddie taking his anger out on Buck because the lawsuit meant Buck couldn’t bail him out and he couldn’t spend time with Chris and never once saying he missed Buck too. He was pissed because Buck couldn’t drop everything and help him. He was accused of being reckless and impulsive and using their own issues for his own gain and for being selfish and stupid and exhausting despite the fact that he was being treated unfairly. He was hurt, and alone and just needed a hug.

When Buck found out about Daniel and distanced himself from Maddie, Chimney started borderline harassing Buck trying to get him to talk to her, despite a) Buck having had a major bombshell dropped on him, getting his entire life put into a new perspective based on this information, and finding out why his parents treated him the way they did and so needing to process, and B) Buck repeatedly setting boundaries and saying he needed space to process and he’d talk to Maddie when he was ready. Chimney completely ignores Buck’s boundaries as though what Buck needs or wants doesn’t matter because Maddie is upset and wants to talk to him, and only her desires and emotional well being have any level of importance and despite asking for space she literally ambushes him at work to force a conversation he is not ready for. And no one else tries telling Chim to leave Buck alone, and then Eddie only has a half assed conversation with Buck despite being his so called best friend, where he basically dismisses Buck’s feelings and tells him he’s over reacting.

When Eddie was leaving and Buck was upset he was repeatedly accused of making it about himself, being selfish, unreasonable, unsupportive and a jerk when he literally just found out from nowhere that Eddie made a down payment just overheard his best friend basically dismiss their friendship (“I have no ties here, everything that matters is in Texas”) he gets judged and berated for being upset, as though he’s not allowed to have feelings, and when he tries to apologize for his snarkiness gets once again berated and when he finally tells Eddie that he took over the lease and thus he can move, aka the ultimate supportive action, not once does Eddie apologize.

When Buck breaks up with Tommy no one bothers to really check in with him on a deeper level, instead they dismiss his wants by stealing his phone so that he can’t call him and then no one brings it up again despite him clearly still being devastated for every following episode.

When Buck gets SA’d by the therapist he is immediately getting made fun of, and accused of being a manwhore and essentially blamed for being assaulted. No one ever, not once, bothers to wonder if he’s doing alright.

And when Buck is still waiting for Abby to come back rather than being supportive or anything like that he gets laughed at for living in his girlfriend’s apartment and being dumb enough to think she’ll come back.

When Eddie gets a new friend he immediately starts spending all his free time with that friend and never inviting Buck, even if they were planning something Buck would enjoy, instead asking if Buck can babysit (his kid is 14/15 at this point and just because he has CP I still think he can spend a couple of hours home alone. He’s not bedridden or anything.) and basically ignoring his supposed best friend in favor of his shiny new friend.

Whenever Buck needed anything he was laughed at, belittled and dismissed. They constantly take advantage of his kindness. Buck gives and gives and gives to them and gets nothing back. He is only wanted when he can be useful and when they need him. They take and take and take and the second Buck needs even a small amount of empathy or help he gets accused of being selfish, needy, exhausting, of making everything about him, of overreacting. He is essentially told, over and over that he is not allowed to have feelings or boundaries. He is not allowed to need help he can only give help. He is only valued when he can do something for someone else and godforbid he ever ask for the same consideration because otherwise he’s being needy. He makes everyone else his priority and never is he anyone’s priority in return.

Until Tommy anyway, he finally had someone who would take care of him, who acknowledged his feelings and showed him they were valid, who clearly adored all of Buck and never asked him for anything and indulged in his quirks and who was happy to be there for him, who complimented him and who overall clearly adored Buck. Even before they were dating when Tommy saw that Buck clearly was feeling left out he went over to his place to apologize, despite not actually doing anything wrong himself.

I seriously think that if Tommy saw how they all treated Buck he’d lose the delusion that they are basically a family really fast and promptly get pissed on Buck’s behalf. He’d also do everything in his power to help Buck realize that he matters as a person.

[sherlocking-out-loud]

can we talk about how Eddie "clicked" with Tommy and started hanging out with him all the time and not once tried to include Buck? not even for trivia night - that Buck would surely love (and Tommy definitely wouldn't mind him joining) - because he needed a babysitter that night and his girlfriend was not available.

and then Tommy noticed how Buck was feeling excluded and went to talk with him to clear things out. and they had an honest, open, adult conversation about it.

there's such a stark contrast between Tommy and Eddie's way of dealing with Buck and I just wonder if it was on purpose (to showcase the boyfriend/partner dynamic vs the best friend/sibling dynamic) or if it was just a complete accident.

and with Tim Minear? either option is just as likely.

[bucksaiga]

This is completely self indulgent but if you care, enjoy.

[bvcktommy]

"orpheus, i can forgive you. there is not a soul alive who would not have looked back."

[cinematicnomad]

was lou supposed to say that????? (x)

[whatohitsonfirewelp]

You know what? I don’t WANT an awkward double date. I don’t WANT buck coming out and people having the ‘I know’ reaction or the ‘is it Eddie’ reaction.

You know what I do want?

I want Buck panicking over what to wear for the date. I want Buck flopping on his bed like very teenager after their first kiss all giggly and happy and touching his lips because he kissed a boy

I want Buck smiling every time he says Tommy’s name because maybe it isn’t forever and maybe he’s not even looking for forever anymore but he’s so happy and he’s so light and being with Tommy feels good

I want Tommy to keep calling him Evan, because before Buck was Buck he was Evan and Evan deserves to be happy to be treated so softly and lovingly and Evan deserves to be free.

I want Buck to be happy. To be happy and free and queer in the way we all deserve.

[loulou-land]

Thinking of gremlin Buck who keeps stealing Tommy’s shirts and hoodies 😔

And Tommy just wants to wear his favorite shirt please.

(Bonus: it’s even funnier if Buck’s been breaking into his house and stealing them after the breakup lol.)

[moeyoon]

them :)

[epiphainie]

i get so mad at tommy because i get him so insanely well. the comfort of drawing back to your solitude, being so aware, too aware, of your insecurities but compartmentalizing all of that, minimizing the depths of your own feelings so it, theoretically, hurts less when it all comes crashing down, showing an inch of your heart but scurrying away at sight of first threat... but god, you need to bare your soul and your beating heart at the feet of buck, man. you need to tell him with words - words with no deflection, no condescending, no bite - what you feel and want and need. buck's a creature spiraling and hurtling through all of this, he literally cannot recognize the sincerity of your actions because he's never truly had it. you need to stay, come back, tell him something that's gonna make him stop for a second and have his moment of oh

[lovetommyactually]

"my boyfriend is so cute ehehe"

[bucksboobs]

Make up scene where Buck says “I’m bisexual. Kinsey 3, maybe 2 or 4 I don’t know it still confuses me a little bit but the point is. I’m bisexual. You know that. I know that. And you might be the person that made me realize it but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you over every man or woman in the world because you’re confident, hot as hell, you make me feel safe and comfortable and n-not just because you’re my First but because you’re you. Because you’re Tommy Kinard and I love you.”

[tommykinardbuckley]

You got to kiss the boy.

[azaharinflames]

Listen, putting aside the main topics for the episode (Eddie was a decent father again, thank God; Hen, baby, you deserve so much better)... I just want to say I am annoyed.

Because, well, I honestly have a theory on why they're doing this, but the way Buck has been treated this whole season, but especially since breaking up with Tommy, deeply annoys me.

They keep pushing him aside. Keep invalidating his feelings. Keep diminishing them. Keep using him as the butt of the joke, keep putting him in a position where he is alone. And I know this might seem like an exaggeration and that in this episode it was mostly played for laughs, but this has been an ongoing thing, and it annoys me.

Now. For my delulu time.

I think this is the show's not-so-clever way of showing how unbalanced Buck's life can be without Tommy in it. How Buck needs someone in his corner, someone who will listen to him and validate him the way Tommy did through all of 805.

In a way, this feels almost like a continuation of what was introduced in 805, except showing us the other end of the spectrum. Making a point that it is Tommy the one to take care of Buck after he's taken care of everyone (see also: 811), that it is Tommy the one to listen to his rambles and actually listen to them, that it is Tommy the one Buck can go to at the end of the day.

Again. Might be me seeing things. But I also think the show is not exactly subtle in this, and this is a way for the audience to 1. miss Tommy and 2. deeply appreciate once he comes back and he listens to Buck, and acts in the way we all want someone to act for Buck.

I guess what I'm trying to say, with my clown shoes on, is that the show is indirectly showing us just how much Tommy is Buck's person.