#He understands how important that relationship with Christopher is.

[buckleysdee]

I was mostly unconvinced by twitter spec that buck actually/also gets kidnapped but...

a. athena's "maddie" being edited in is definitely interesting and

b. Tim saying "let's just say he's going to feel even more abandoned by the time we get into episode 10" is...very interesting

[sibylsleaves]

the thing that really kills me about the Buck-Eddie-Chris dynamic is that it's not just that Buck is ALWAYS going to be there for them. It's that Eddie KNOWS that. It's that Eddie EXPECTS that. It's that he's had that expectation since before the tsunami.

He knows Buck loves them. He knows he loves Chris. He knows that Chris is and never has been a burden to Buck. He dropped his eight-year-old son off at his depressed best friend's apartment and said BYE HAVE FUN. like. that wasn't a request.

And EVERY time since we've seen Eddie entrust Christopher to Buck, it's never framed as a request. It's an expectation. It's a fact. It's an intrinsic truth he has never questioned. The will is obviously the most glaring example but the expectation is there EVERY time. it's in the way in 5x13 he apologizes TO Buck for scaring Chris. It's in s6 when Eddie asks Buck if Christopher is telling Buck his secrets, fully expecting that if there's something HE doesn't know about his son, Buck will. it's during the lightning strike when Chris demands to go see Buck and Eddie capitulates, because Chris's relationship with Buck is not something he can or ever will stand between. it's in the way in 7x01 Eddie says "Nothing. Not yet. I was kinda hoping...you would!" sounds almosttttt like a request but the way he says it very much isn't. It's "i do not know how to handle this so I am handing it off to you. BYE HAVE FUN."

Buck is not Christopher's dad. But he IS Eddie's coparent. That's pretty indisputable at this point. He treats him like one in almost every way. He doesn't just KNOW Buck will be there for Chris even when Eddie can't. he EXPECTS it.

And the thing is, Chris expects it, too!!!!! He called Buck in s5. He sat down with Buck and opened up about his complicated feelings about his mom in 7x01. Buck has been the most stable adult figure in Chris's life other than his dad for almost SEVEN years at this point.

The other thing is, I don't think Buck even realizes how important it is that they have that expectation. that they're ABLE to rely on him and trust him so intrinsically. that it's never been a question for either of them that Buck is supposed to be with them. HE knows he'll always be there for them, no matter what, no questions asked. ("I'm here, what can i do?") but I don't think he understands how monumental it is that Chris and Eddie both know that, too.

[kick-a-long]

so let me get this straight. elon musk retweeted or tweeted an antisemitic comment (because he's an antisemitic asshole from a very antisemitic country south africa) and he was critizised to the point that he took a trip to israel to like reflect and learn about how jews don't eat babies or whatever. but...

Ta-Nehisi Coates, an antisemitic asshole who's antisemitic dad also publishes antisemitic books just one's he's too lazy to write, says in person, recorded on video, without retraction.... that he would join in on the rape, murder, infanticide, and kidnapping of jews, if given the chance... and trevor noah (from very antisemitic country south africa) agreed whole heartedly and adding that it's like the american revolution.... which implies that isreal rode into gaza and lebanon ans was dictating how those countries operate and taking taxes which is WHAT IRAN DOES THROUGH HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH ALONG WITH THE RAPES AND MURDERS... but there's no media outlet saying that might be kind of fucked up and maybe they should apologize or some vague insincere bullshit... I'm sorry?

and also Christopher Columbus... THE symbol for Catholics in America (which is why we that monster even got his own day. literally catholics, the knights of columbus, wanted a celebration of how interconnected the united states and CATHOLICS are) the Christopher columbus with MASSIVE statues around the globe in portugal, spain, america, italy... that guy is now jewish, just like hitler, because .... he has some jewish DNA. and we are just disregarding his recorded actions, relationship to the church, his very catholic life, lifestyle, origins, and catholic life.

and all this during the jewish christmas/ramidan (because goyim don't know what the fuck our high holy days are even if that name alone should tell you exactly how important they are) ??

which idiots are these things for? who is watching the ta interview and saying to themselves, "boy i would love to read the book by the guy who loves murder and kidnapping and rape! what a leftist humanitarian!" or, "WOW! I hate christopher columbus I'm so glad i don't have to feel guilty as a christian that he was under orders by my church because he was obviously a jew going rouge. because i'm a leftist but also a devout catholic? which is a thing that is a totally consistent world view?"

Who asked for this? I don't think this kind of shit is even for antisemitic leftists anymore. this is for some kind of POC leftist white supremesist with white guilt but also an arab supremasist .... i guess that might describe one or two very mentally ill people but... like ... who? is this stuff to get rage clicks from jews? there aren't that many jews you guys. I have no fucking understanding of these people's world's view other than they hate jews. none of this makes sense in any other way than to attack and increase attacks on jews around the globe. it's so mentally confusing because none of these people are saying anything that benefits them in anyway, nothing that is smart or true, nothing that makes sense if it is not generated directly from the thought, "this will increase jew hate, so i should do it!"

these people are risking their careers, being hella racist about arabs generally and Palistinians specifically, making both jews and arabs less safe, saying inflammatory things they obviously spent very little time thinking about, for the chance to normalize antisemitism. what planet are these media orgs even living on? they don't sound like nazis, they sound like fucking delusional Qanon derps who are improving "the day of the storm" ironically like the segments they show on the daily show, with TREVOR NOAH.

it's like really... sad. like, these guys and scientist have wasted so many people's time and their own talents which people tell me they have i guess, but it's sad that this kind of libel from the media doesn't even make sense to people who don't live on twitter.

[mysterious-shelf]

all this new content and speculation and discourse has distracted me from equally important matters, namely the (platonic) eddietommy of it all … because the potential there is for their relationship this season??? so many possibilities and i’d eat up every one of them

eddietommy bonding over all things buck

eddietommy butting heads over who gets to spend time with buck

alternatively, eddietommy being sympathetic towards each other regarding buck time — tommy insists eddie spends more time with buck while eddie swears he’s fine (he’s not)

eddietommy, in the midst of the buck time drama, confessing that they miss hanging out with each other just as much; tommy was eddie’s friend first, after all!

this post because eddietommy should be able to exist independent of buck

tommy desperately trying to keep eddie from going down the same path he did 20 years ago and turning into a gerrard minion (this scenario has had me frothing at the mouth since the s7 finale. like you don’t understand i need tommy to beg)

veering into fic territory with this one, but tommy reassuring eddie that he is a good dad. bonus if he uses his own shitty dad as a contrast. bonus bonus if he’s angsty about it “do you even understand how lucky christopher is to have a dad who loves him like you do?”

(now this is very much fic territory but i want the last two points to be combined and turned into a dramatic scene where they’re both yelling at each other but they’re not really fighting and they both just break down in front of each other because big men being sad is like crack to me)

eddietommy performing michaelbobby-level shenanigans

eddietommy bonding over their army experiences

this fucking post about eddie’s potential reaction to tommy’s helicopter crashing

eddie just having someone else who he can bro out with and also be vulnerable with. 7x04 sets thier friendship up as one that’s so unique and intriguing and if it isn’t explored in s8 i will be pressing charges

[buddierecs]

5+1 things buddie recs

all of these are general audience, teen and up or not rated (no smut) make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

you're my whole house by: hammersmiths "eddie joins the PTA." word count: 11k important tags: love languages, fluff shower me with good times by: fallingthorns "father's day throughout the years." word count: 10k important tags: pining, getting together, established relationship, married, girl dads

knowing me, knowing you by: kiwibuckley "five times eddie was the better (boy)friend, and the one time he was the boyfriend" word count: 10k important tags: minor buck/tommy, jealous!eddie diaz, pining, friends to lovers, emotional hurt/comfort hey now, hey now by: fallingthorns "after returning to the 118, eddie becomes a full-time paramedic and ravi becomes buck's partner. eddie absolutely doesn't feel anything about that, not at all." word count: 10k important tags: getting together, fluff, humor, grumpy!eddie diaz every time i don't (i almost do) by: justhockey "five times eddie almost tells buck that he loves him, and the one time he finally does." word count: 7.8k important tags: feelings realisation, mutual pining, love confessions, first kiss wrap me in your love by: kiwibuckley "five times eddie uses a weighted blanket, plus the one time he doesn’t need too." word count: 16k important tags: therapy, touch-starved!eddie diaz, character study, getting together, friends to lovers, minor buck/tommy

hey, so my name looks good on you by: yimooyi "5 times eddie thinks ‘diaz’ looks good on buck + 1 time he does something about it" word count; 6.1k important tags: possessive!eddie diaz, domestic fluff trying hard not to act a fool by: arcanaphora "5 times eddie jokes to buck about marrying him + 1 time where buck doesn't think it's very funny anymore" word count: 9.5k important tags: didn't know they were dating, oblivous!evan buckley, near death experiences, idiots in love shapes and spaces by: prettyunhinged "five times christopher calls buck his dad to other people, and the one time he finally gets to say it to buck." word count: 14k important tags: christopher diaz has two dads, oblivious!buddie, buckley-diaz family, getting together i'm fine baby mama (but you knew that though) by: colonoscopys "look—buck’s not jealous, per say. he’s just a little confused as to how you can spend the past five years being best friends with someone, and then find someone new to replace him in the span of a couple of playdates." word count: 3.9k important tags: crack, pining, jealous!evan buckley, feeling realisation lafd-disaster boy (series) by: roger_that_sarge (different 5+1 things fics) word count: 39k important tags: friends to lovers, getting together, fluff in the refrigerator light by: justhockey "five kitchen conversations and one kitchen confession." word count: 8.4k important tags: mutual pining, roommates, family feels, friends to lovers (mis)understanding the assignment by: honestlydarkprincess "the one where eddie continuously misunderstands the assignment: five times eddie goes on a date with someone pepa sets him up with and one time he goes out the person he really wants." word count: 12k important tags: awkward dates, angst, mutual pining, miscommunication, getting together, jealous!evan buckley

[mclennonlgbt]

(JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER WAS DEFINITELY FOR PAUL – a compilation

A meaningful wordplay As you know, John attached great importance to the lyrics of his songs. He liked to smuggle in word games and hidden meanings. Let's look at a fragment of the lyrics of "(Just Like) Starting Over". It's time to spread our wings and fly Wings was Paul's band in the 1970s.

Don't let another day go by

"Another Day" is a song by Paul and Linda that was released as the A-side of a non-album single in February 1971. It was Paul's debut single, following the Beatles break-up in 1970. (Sidenote: giving credits to both himself and Linda, Paul broke up the Lennon-McCartney partnership, angering Allen Klein).

my love

"My Love" is a 1973 song by Wings. The single was viewed as Wings' first significant success.

2. The demos

In the first demo, John uses the word "walrus":

Everyday we used to make it love so why can’t we be making love – it’s easy. The time has come, the walrus said, for you and me to stay in bed again, it’ll be just like starting over

The walrus is a famous motif from Beatles songs. In the song "I Am The Walrus" (1967) John declares that he is the titular walrus, a year later in "Glass Onion" he stated: „And here’s another clue to you all – the walrus was Paul”. In "God" (1970) John sings: "I was the walrus." In an interview from 1969 or 1970, George jokes: „And if you are listening, I am the walrus too”. Regardless of which Beatles was the walrus, John is for sure giving us an interesting clue here.

As for „in bed”:

Here's another fascinating demo... This requires no comment. It's just that John suddenly referred to "Why Don't We Do it In the Road", a song by Paul from the Beatles era.

EDIT:

The whole fragment is:

Just take your clothes off honey, and stick your nose in money.. why don’t we… do it in the road?! (Laughs) A little hotel where we used to screw A little place down in Montauk Just you, me, the cook and the servants too

As @i-am-the-oyster pointed out (the screen is theirs) - it's a 17 minute drive from Paul's house in the Hamptons to Montauk Motel.

3. John explaining who the song is for

„I’m not aiming, I am not aiming at 16 year olds. If they can dig it, please dig it. But when I was singing and writing this and working with her, I was visualizing all the people of my age group from the 60s. Being in their 30s and 40s now, just like me, and having wives and children and having gone through everything together, I am singing to them! I hope the young kids like it as well, but I’m really talking to the people that grew up with me and saying: „Here I am now, how are you? How’s your relationship going? Did you get through it all? Wasn’t the 70s a drag? You know, here we are, let’s try and make the 80s good, you know, because it’s still up to us to make what we can of it. It’s not out of our control”. I still believe in love, peace. I still believe in positive thinking when I can do it. I’m not always positive but when I am, I try and project it”.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxPx2Tvf6A

Let’s point out that the song which convinced John to come out of retirement was „Coming up” by Paul. You want a love to last forever One that will never fade away I want to help you with your problem Stick around, I say

(…)

You want some peace and understanding So everybody can be free I know that we can get together We can make it, stick with me

BONUS (this is not evidence or premise, but maybe Paul understood that the song was addressed to him): Paul's reaction to the song after John's death.

„…Time passed. Paul locked the door of his home studio and played (Just Like) Starting Over, the first single from Double Fantasy. Top volume. For days”.

- Christopher Sandford, „McCartney”

EDIT:

(it's also @i-am-the-oyster's reveal): One Sweet Dream podcast did an interview where May Pang agreed with the host (JL)SO was for Paul and emphasised that it wasn't about Yoko -- it's a patrons-only episode so I can't link it, but it's April 2023, around the 1h29 mark).

I would take it with a grain of salt, though, because May (for valid reasons) dislikes Yoko.

As @paul-mccartney-official noticed, the stripped down mix of this song begins with:

When they were teenagers, John and Paul identified with their musical idols: John was Buddy Holly and Paul was Little Richard or Elvis.

This is Lennon talking about his and McCartney's meeting at Village Woolton fete:

It is possible that John refers to his youthful years in this dedication. However, there is also an option that he mentioned his former idols, because "(Just like) starting over" musically refers to the 1950s. It depends on you what you believe in.

[exhuastedpigeon]

If you’re new to 9-1-1 in s7 because Buck is bi now, first of all let me say welcome! Then let me say, please dear god go back and watch from season 1. This show is so character driven and to really understand who the characters are and what motivates them, you gotta watch from the start.

And I’m sure some people are going to say that I’m only saying this because I want people to see Buck and Eddie’s relationship evolve, but that truly isn’t why I think you need to watch from the start.

Even if you completely remove Eddie from the conversation about Buck’s character (which is honestly kind of impossible at this point, but I digress), you still need to start at season 1 to understand Buck’s character.

You need to see the Abby relationship and resulting growth and then heartbreak. You need to see what Maddie coming back did for Buck and how important they are to each other. You need to see the way Buck and Bobby’s relationship evolved. You need to see Buck’s relationship with his parents and how so many of his issues are rooted in a childhood where he only felt loved by his sister.

If you haven’t watched from season one you don’t understand his relationship with his job or with his team. You won’t really get how important firefighting is to Buck. You don’t know how he almost blew up his entire life to get back to the job.

If you haven’t watched from seasons one you don’t understand why Buck as a name matters so much to him. You haven’t heard him ask his parents to call him Buck. You haven’t heard him say “people who know me call me Buck.” You haven’t seen him almost die trying to save someone because he was born to save his brother and it didn’t work and when he found out it kind of broke him.

And all of that stuff is so important to who Buck is. All of that doesn’t even touch on his relationship with Eddie and Christopher. Two people who Buck has literally risked his life for.

Just… if you started watching because Buck kissed a boy, welcome to the fandom but please for the love of god watch the show before Buck kissed Tommy. You’re missing so much if you haven’t done that.

[singlethread]

It’s just so. Like Tommy is such a good love interest bc he is so sure of himself and he’s also fully willing to meet Buck where he’s at and he understands how important Eddie and christopher are to Buck and he’s so good at checking in and I just keep getting so emotional thinking about this relationship

[sepublic]

The core to Belos’ character is that he’s everything wrong with the United States of America. Why else is he a Puritan, a group of racist settlers who helped found the U.S. and contributed to the genocide of the Native Americans? Why else does he dress up like a Founding Father when not in papal robes, with a ponytail resembling a powdered wig?

Luz thinking he’s a great explorer, only to find out Philip is just an entitled asshole who takes credit from others to make himself look better, is a play on people IRL finding out that people like Christopher Columbus and Thomas Edison were assholes who stood on the shoulders of others. It’s a play on white mediocrity and how white guys do the bare minimum and expect to be praised.

Belos is a bigot whose entire motive and goals are based on genocide-level bigotry, and he refuses to unlearn any beliefs; Being a historical Puritan he is 100% racist and misogynistic and unlike Caleb, didn’t take the chance to grow out of it. He wants to believe he’s born special and better than everyone else, and that’s why he buys into white supremacy. The modern cop is the descendant of the witch hunter.

There is an explicit connection between the colonial genocide of Native Americans and Belos’ genocide of witches and demons, down to imposing a Christian misunderstanding of the local religion. He feels entitled to their magic but does none of the work to understand, nor does he cultivate a sustainable relationship with the land the way indigenous people do, hence consuming palismen.

He coined the term Savage Ages, with Savage having racist connotations. His fantasy is the Monster Hunter, the idea that it’s okay to dehumanize anything and even anyone that’s different to kill them. He believes in the Evil Races trope which is of course inherently racist. Belos treats Luz like his White Man’s Burden, a brown child who needs a White Savior to civilize (just as the U.S. kidnapped Native American children to assimilate), and then tries to kill Luz when she doesn’t go along instead of just. Leaving Luz alone or dragging her into the human realm with him anyway.

Belos makes exceptions to his religion when convenient, allowing himself to use magic but then demonizing those who do, just as homophobic Christians and Republicans do. Think of all the anti-gay politicians who are caught being gay; They’re not repressed victims, just hypocrites who think they’re entitled to special treatment. Philip didn’t rat on Caleb for hanging out with a witch for the reasons Pro-Lifers let loved ones have abortions; Caleb was important to him, and he’s not one of the witches Philip planned to murder. And even then he still killed Caleb for ‘crossing a line’!

The Puritans and other groups informed the Alt-Right in the U.S., as well as Evangelicals who rage about how something as innocuous as Pokemon is a Satanic influence (Yes this happened; The Conformatorium doesn’t seem so unrealistic after all, and remember that Dana’s father gave her a copy of Pokémon Red before he died that she latched onto). But like the Televangelist, Belos indulges in material wealth and glory via the glamour of Catholicism, because he’s not even consistent to Puritan values either.

He’s Trump, he’s Elon Musk, he’s Ron DeSantis. He’s the incel/mass shooter who fell down the pipeline, who feels cheated out of the promises of a white supremacist society and takes it out on minorities but not other white guys, because he thinks the system’s idea is fine it just isn’t working as it should, at least he’s better than those guys. He calls others NPCs because he wants to believe he’s born special and better and chosen.

Belos’ reaction to Caleb being with Evelyn was undeniably motivated by racial disgust at his brother for committing miscegenation and making Philip related to a savage in the process, it’s why he never brings it up because of the scandalous shame of it all. Belos hates those witches more than he ever loved Caleb, Caleb was never his priority or he’d have changed his mind; It had far less to do with ‘codependency’ and far more to do with white supremacy, perhaps Philip wouldn’t have minded Caleb settling with a human white woman. The issue being not Caleb leaving him but who Caleb left him for.

Belos thinks taming a wilderness and murdering its natives makes him a tough man because he’s insecure. He has a sniveling victim complex that can’t comprehend why minorities would dislike him, except that they’re mean. Belos epitomizes the U.S.’s racial and colonial violence, its white supremacy, and its global police narrative that decides the existence of another, independent world is an inherent threat to his own.

The conflict between Philip and Caleb was over racism, and so it’s black and white because racism is always wrong. Making it ‘nuanced’ would take away from the fact that the motives for real life racism are inherently nonsensical and insincere; Caleb wasn’t selfish for living with another culture on its terms, instead of staying in the racism village (The Gravesfield statues corroborate Philip being an adult when he arrived in the Demon Realm, according to the memory portraits; Caleb waited until Philip was an adult before leaving). Philip was not a weird kid, he was adhering to his social norms with games about how anyone different or actually weird should die, and he wanted to do this, he’s a Conformatorium prude like all the rest and let his fear of Evelyn justify and evolve into violence.

Even if he was weird, Belos isn’t telling other people they should fit in for their sake, he’s telling them they should just die (Unlike himself, because he’s ‘special’); It’s what he admits to the Collector in the finale about not bothering teaching them anything, just wiping them out. Belos uses magic only to kill magic and discards it out of disgust when he’s about to leave, but makes an exception for the life of the non-human he’s become.

And the choice for the villain to be a genuine Puritan makes sense, because this is a show about weirdoes, so who’s designating them as such and why? Luz has a conflict with the IRL system since the first scene and Belos symbolizes the system, his Puritan ideology marked the foundation for it and the U.S. Belos killing Caleb is just the cherry on top of his actual motives and what his character was always about, that’s why his death scene isn’t him lamenting about Caleb or how lonely he is, it’s him being racist and demanding special treatment for his race. A racist white man feels no guilt for the witches and demons he murdered, just his white brother and clones; He still keeps killing them too btw.

Deeming someone a lost cause and killing them instead of working to rehabilitate is un-Christian, because Belos is not secretly bound by his religion, he picks and chooses. His guilt is not Catholic, he is the Protestant belief in his own superiority. Belos isn’t just a Nazi, he’s an American racist, he’s the KKK; He’s a condemnation of American Values and Exceptionalism, and lowkey I think that’s part of the reason why Family-Friendly Disney canned TOH, because Belos is a condemnation of a major consumer base. Disney being more progressive than other companies means jackshit because it’s performative and the bar is in hell.

[coderooster]

Buck and Eddie plan to propose to each other on the same day (anniversary or coincidence). In preparation, they make the rounds to ask permission for the other’s hand, because even though it’s a bit outdated they feel it’s important for them as a couple to do.

Eddie goes to Maddie first. She’s over the moon, telling Eddie it’s about time and that he’s had her blessing since the day Buck came home raving about the insufferable new guy at work. She feels a little guilty allowing this because she’s been helping Buck plan his own proposal, but if anything, the fact that the two are planning to propose at the same time shows just how much they belong together.

Bobby is the other person Eddie asks. Despite not being related, everyone knows how significant Bobby is in Buck’s life, with their father-son bond being seen but unmentioned. Bobby initially doesn’t understand why Eddie is asking him so Eddie has to explain how important Bobby’s blessing would be to both of them. He happily agrees, fighting off tears of pride over the thought of his kid settling down with the man he handpicked for him.

Buck obviously asks Christopher first. It’s so important that Christopher is onboard with the whole thing, having had many similar conversations over the course of Buck and Eddie’s relationship to avoid anymore broken salad bowls. Christopher is ecstatic at the thought of Buck legally becoming his family, eagerly giving his blessing with an air of ‘you’re an idiot to think I would say no’ that only a teenager can pull off. Their conversation ends with an ominous remark from Chris that Buck better hurry up and do it soon, stemming from the exact same conversation being had days prior with Eddie.

Abuela is next on Buck’s list. Being the matriarch of the Diaz family, her approval would be significant for Buck’s family-oriented ‘nester’ of a boyfriend, who had struggled to shake the last few teachings from his upbringing. Besides, even though she moved back to Texas, Isabel is Eddie’s favourite Diaz outside of Christopher. She respects Buck for asking her and gives her full blessings on the condition that he send her a picture of the ring and a video of the proposal.

Finally, Buck goes to Shannon. Despite their tumultuous relationship, there is no doubt that Eddie loved her fiercely, comparing every subsequent partner to her until he got together with Buck. Because of this, Buck feels it’s important he let her know about his plans. He visits her grave, sharing updates on how Eddie and Chris are doing, assuring her he doesn’t want to replace her but explaining how he feels both he and Eddie are finally ready to take that final step in their relationship. He thinks the best way to honour her memory and her own relationship with Eddie is to ask for her blessing. While he knows he won’t get an answer, Buck swears he hears a whisper on the wind saying ‘yes’.

[sunflowerdigs]

It's important to remember that no matter what Eddie says about Christopher, Kim is only here for Eddie. He can't introduce her to Christopher and create anything long term with her because that would be sick. So, Eddie's pursuit of Kim is fundamentally about Eddie. It's about Eddie being able to live inside this fantasy where the parts of his relationship with Shannon that didn't work don't exist. But as the flashback showed us, Eddie wasn't capable of being with just Shannon without Christopher being the glue binding them together. So the absence of Christopher in this relationship with Kim is likely what is going to finally open his eyes to the fact that his relationship with Shannon wasn't that great.

I think that Eddie's real and thriving connection to Buck has made it more and more obvious to him (subconsciously) with each passing gf that he can't make connections with these women work. So, he has inserted Christopher into those relationships in order to give them a reason to work (I think Eddie truly believes that he wants Chris to have another mother figure). And the result has been an exacerbation of Christopher's abandonment issues. Eddie encourages him to get close to these women (even after admitting that he himself isn't as close to them as he should be, in Marisol's case, which was progress) and ultimately it's not enough, the relationship ends, and Chris is abandoned. Meanwhile, who is actually playing the part a wife would play in Eddie's life? Yeah, Buck. That's why he's Christopher's other guardian in the will.

Kim may be the cold bucket of water to Eddie's head because Eddie can't insert Christopher into the relationship. It's just going to be the two of them together. And after they fuck - what's going to be there?

It's confusing because this is about grief but it's also about Eddie's sexuality. And it's about Buck, which is why the show has inserted Buck into the center of the conflict, because Buck is the one person that Eddie has managed to integrate into his life with Christopher and also care about deeply himself.

I think the resolution to this story will be Christopher's grandparents taking him to Texas with them so that Eddie can figure out what he wants when Christopher isn't there to use as a buffer. What may happen is his parents may threaten to have Christopher removed because they feel Eddie is unfit, in which case, Buck becomes the legal guardian. And so, if they don't want to take it to court and have it on record that Eddie lost custody, Buck becomes the one who has to make the call about where Christopher ends up. And that could be the thing that rips him and Eddie apart. Or it could bring them closer together if Buck can talk some sense into Eddie and make him realize just how much his issues are hurting Christopher.

(And, honestly, I think they'll go that route because, ultimately, like Ryan said, Eddie knows that he can't introduce Kim to Christopher because the relationship is a delusion. Eddie isn't a bad parent and he loves Christopher very much, he's just all tangled up in his issues).

(Or, Buck will conspire with Eddie's parents behind his back to have his kid taken away and Eddie will, rightfully, be furious with him even once he understands it's the right call).

That would explain Ryan calling next season the "new phase" of Eddie's life. And that would explain why Gavin was promoted to regular, so that they knew they'd have him for this arc.

The cheating is the wildest part, but I think people are getting so caught up in being angry at Eddie over that and wanting to see him punished, that they're forgetting that this arc isn't about punishment, it's about healing and ultimately giving both Christopher and Eddie the tools to live their best lives. So, I don't think Eddie will end the season alone - I think he and Buck will make amends and Buck will spend the hiatus by his side, helping him clean up the mess. Just like Eddie helped Buck clean up his mess back in s3.

[jae-bummer]

The Epitome of Okay

Request: can i get a christopher bang and #12. thank yooou!

Prompt:

12) Your bias needs a fake partner for a family event. Are you up for the task?

Prompt list can be found HERE.

Pairing: Stray Kids Chan x Reader

Genre: Fluff

.

"Your sister hates me," you muttered, trying to adjust yourself in Chan's bed.

"My sister doesn't haaate you," he hummed from his pallet on the floor beside you. "She just takes awhile to warm up to people."

"She knows, Chris," you grumbled, flopping over moodily so you could face where he was laying. "I don't know how, but she does."

Your stomach felt hollow as you replayed the afternoon's events and how exactly the two of you had landed in this situation. It was nearly a month ago now that Chan had casually asked you over coffee if you wanted to visit home with him for his brother's graduation. After you had kindly declined, he went on to list the reasons why this was such an important thing.

Namely, that he had told his parents that he had a partner in order for them to get off his case about it.

"They feel like I work too much," he grumbled.

"You do," you had agreed knowingly.

Chan shot you a dirty look. "And getting into a relationship would help me take a step back and enjoy myself, but I enjoy myself just fine!"

"Oh yeah, sleeping three hours a night and being in chronic pain is a blast," you muttered, stirring your coffee with a straw.

"So you agree with them," he had smiled. "And therefore, you volunteer?"

And you had. During the ten hour flight, you tried not to think too hard about what you were actually doing, but Chan had made it difficult. Sitting beside you, he rattled off facts and memories of his family that he thought may come up in conversation that you should know. Granted, you were friends, so you had always had at least a surface level understanding of how his family dynamic worked, but now you'd really be put to the test.

It seemed as if as soon as you had set foot on Australian soil, the nightmare had began. Of course his parents were overzealous with excitement that they got to meet you, but his siblings? Not so much. His brother stayed pretty detached, while his sister could only look at you warily. You weren't sure where you went wrong. You had sucked it up and allowed Chan to hold your hand, let him put his hand on your lower back, and even kissed him on the cheek once. All things considered, you should've gotten an Oscar for your performance. It didn't matter if the simple skin to skin contact had repeatedly sent shivers across your body and caused your face to warm. You wouldn't examine that part too closely.

"Maybe we're not laying it on thick enough," you whispered more to yourself than to Chan.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" he chuckled. He rolled over to look up at you from his floor-bed. "More skinship is only going to make her make fun of us, Y/N."

"I'm not talking about skinship..." you said slowly, trying to gather your thoughts. "I'm talking about familiarity."

From the dim lighting of the mood lamps behind the bed, you could see Chan's face contort with confusion. "We are familiar with each other."

Taking a deep breath, you leaned over the edge of the bed to look at him more directly. "Physical familiarity, Chris."

"Why do those two words together make me blush?" he laughed nervously.

You rolled your eyes. "I mean, we don't act fluidly together. We're not used to cuddling, or holding each other's hands, or knowing how to act completely comfortable around one another."

"I get what you're saying," he nodded. "We don't know how to interact when we're sharing the same space."

"Exactly," you said, relieved he had caught up. "What did you think I meant?"

"It would be better if I didn't say it out loud."

You laughed, trying to maintain your courage. "Would you be okay with sharing the bed with me?"

"When you say it like thaaaat," he sang. "I'm not too sure if my first thought was entirely off base."

"I'm not trying to corrupt you!" you gasped. "Not like you need any help in that."

"I am the picture of innocence and purity, thank you very much." You didn't have to look at him to know he was grinning.

"Did those words burn as they were leaving your mouth?"

"Okay, first, rude," he said, finally sitting up. "And two, why am I getting into bed with you then?"

"I, uh," you said quietly. "Want to try something."

"Sounds not suspicious at all," he sighed. Throwing off his covers, he got to his feet, and moved slowly around the bed. Crawling under the blankets, he lay flat on his back, eying you skeptically. "Now what?"

"Umm..." you hummed, totally winging it as you went. "Roll onto your side?"

"Rolling," he confirmed as he faced you. Your bodies were so close at this point, it made the next action easier. Scooting forward, you nestled your body into his.

"Is this okay?" you whispered, refusing to look up. Your eyes remained level with his collarbones and you were going to keep it that way until you could tell your heart to calm down.

"Yep," he said a bit too loud. "Totally fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

You attempted to keep your breathing even, but it was difficult when he was breathing erratically himself.

"I...uh...I don't know what to do with my hands." His voice was a bit more rough than it had been previously.

"Do we cuddle? I assume you've cuddled before?"

"Of course I have!" he said quickly. "And I've had no complaints!"

"Then maybe, you know, we should try doing it?" you winced. You could practically hear Chan's gears spinning as he tried to sort things out.

Swallowing loud enough for you to hear, Chan wrapped his arm around your lower back and pulled you close, eliminating what little space there had been between your bodies.

Your face was now tucked into the crook of his shoulder, and god, did he smell good. Something musky with an undertone of vanilla mingled so well on his skin that you couldn't stop sniffing.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked quietly.

You were more than comfortable. You didn't know if you had ever felt this safe in your entire life. Chan had always been a protective friend who you admired greatly for his work ethic and morality. You had always kept any romantic thoughts at bay because of that. He was your friend, Chan. Not this wildly hot and respectful gentleman, Chris. You could never even fantasize about that side of him because it would never happen like that between the two of you...right?

"Very," you finally answered.

"I can see your point," he continued, his voice barely above a breath.

"My point?" you asked. Your head was swimming with every inappropriate thought you could imagine, not how the two of you had gotten there.

"How realistic can we be if we've never actually been this close? How can I act like I know how your skin feels on mine without actually holding you?"

"Right," you croaked. "This. Totally great idea by me. You're welcome."

You could feel the laugh rumble through Chan's chest. "Are you sure you're okay? If you're uncomfortable, we can-"

"Chris," you whispered. "I am irrationally comfortable right now."

"Oh," he said quietly. His fingers had began to move in small circles on the section of your lower back where your shirt had ridden up. "I was thinking..."

"I didn't see the smoke coming out of your ears," you chuckled.

"You'd have to look at me first," he said, a bit more seriously than you had expected.

Blinking up at him in surprise, you tilted your head back so you could actually hold eye contact.

"Much better," he managed. His voice was more gravelly than you had ever heard it before. "I was thinking maybe I could try something? But I need to make sure you're okay with it first."

"I told you-"

"No," he said finitely. "This is different."

The words you were going to say evaporated from your throat immediately. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," you confirmed.

"Okay," he repeated.

Tilting his head slowly down, the realization hit you. He was going to kiss you, and you were far more excited than you should be.

Moving your face forward as well, your eyes fluttered closed, waiting for the inevitable contact...until you felt the smallest kiss...

On the tip of your nose.

Letting out a surprise laugh, you opened your eyes again to find him grinning at you.

"I just wanted to see if you were really okay," he laughed.

"You absolute tease!" you groaned, embarrassment flooding you at his small trick.

"Can I try again?" he asked, biting his lip. You could see the amusement and hope bright in his eyes.

"If you must," you nodded.

This time, Chan moved much less slowly as his lips finally met yours. Catching your mouth and tilting your face upward just by the pressure of the kiss, you were surprised to hear a small groan slip from the back of your throat. Seeming to give him the boost of approval that he needed, Chan's hand moved from your waist to your neck. His fingers were a whisper against your skin as he chose that time to deepen the kiss. Pulling your bottom lip between his teeth, it was his turn to groan as he roughly let go and caught your mouth again. You had never been kissed like this. It wasn't casual and it wasn't fevered, but something more certain. Chan wanted you to know what this meant. He wanted to you to realize that if you were going to do this, you really would be. No more pretending. He was staking his claim here and now.

Trading kisses for what could have easily been ten minutes or an hour, you couldn't be sure, Chan finally kissed the corner of your mouth before withdrawing his face from yours.

"So maybe," he hummed, his voice the embodiment of positivity. "We don't have to fake it anymore."

[haven-of-dusk]

An interesting result of the...Buck/Tommy situation? Tevan situation? I personally don't love that ship name because it makes Tommy sound like a cute add on to Evan as a full name (which feels indicative of how their relationship has been written so far as well, but I digress). Back to the point, the Tevan discussion has revealed who is a Buddie fan/stan, and who is a Buck fan/stan who shipped Buddie.

And this isn't solely talking about the weird twitter people saying Eddie should die or be written out somehow so Buck and Tommy can adopt Christopher as their own, because that's a whole different level of wtf.

What I'm also referring to is a subset who say they only want Buck to be happy, essentially trying to say Tevan is fine if Buck is happy, but then when asked don't have an answer as to what Eddie's happy ending would be in that timeline. The utterance that maybe he could just settle down with Marisol, which I have seen, made me physically cringe at how little understanding it displays of Eddie's arc, the important parts of his character, and how fundamentally wrong it would feel to give Buck a whole self-discovery and self-actualization arc and then turn around to make Eddie's "happy ending" a random girl with which he has no chemistry, and his relationship with her actively undermines his arc up till now.

Like I get wanting Buck to be happy, that's valid, but it demonstrates how much of a Buddie vs just Buck stan one is if they're willing to disregard Eddie's ending entirely just because Buck would get a happy one. Eddie is not Buck's love interest, and part of what makes Buddie so meaningful to so many is that it's two well-developed characters whose arcs intertwine in an engaging way. If you truly love and ship Buddie, I'd be very surprised if you didn't love both of them as individuals. That's not to say you can't have one you prefer (mine is Eddie, if I haven't made that obvious before), but a casual disregard for the other makes proported love for the ship feel disingenuous.

And don't misunderstand, if the shoe was on the other foot and we were witnessing the Eddie/Tommy story right now, I'm sure there's be some alleged Buddie fans ready to toss Buck aside in favor of Eddie's happy ending. I would speculate it wouldn't be as numerous, because Buck is generally the more popular character, but I'm sure it would still happen.

I hope some part of that made sense. I just really do love both Eddie and Buck, and seeing people claim to love their ship and subsequently toss Eddie aside and disregard him deserving a happy ending as much as Buck does makes me...upset.

And to you magical people who are mutli-shipping Tevan and Buddie at the same time and coming up with alternative timeline happy endings for everyone regardless of how the triangle of sorts plays out, I salute you. I don't think my brain could handle that, but I respect that you can.

[aesthetictarlos]

I didn't complain much because I didn't like Natalia nor Marisol but tbh I've always thought they handled both break ups very badly, which leads me to think that they're really riding the wave of bad writing.

Natalia and Buck were so wrong for each other and it was clear but for some reasons (I still have to understand what reasons but it's not the point) they decided to make them a thing and the season ended with them kissing. (Which pissed me off and made me think of not watching season 7). And then we don't even know why or how they broke up, we just have Buck casually telling Eddie that they did because he had no one to go karting with. Which– okay??? It would have been nice to see Buck realizing (and telling her) why they didn't work.

And Marisol? She wasn't the best person on Earth but she wasn't that bad either. She treated Eddie and Christopher with kindness and respect. Then Eddie cheats on her and she has every right to be upset and break up with him but again, it would've been nice to see them talk about such an important thing like cheating on your girlfriend with the doppelganger of your dead wife??? Instead what they gave us was nothing??? She just disappeared, just like Kim. And okay, it had more to do with Eddie's struggles than their relationship but anyway... They just don't know how to handle break ups.

Which is why I'm so so so pissed. I haven't even watched the episode yet but I know, I know that the Tommy who broke up with Buck isn't the same Tommy who gave him a second chance after Buck shoved him back in the closet. He isn't the same Tommy who accepted to go to Maddie and Chimney's wedding a few weeks after their first kiss (and ruined date). He isn't the same Tommy who took care of Buck, who spent the night on the couch just to be close.

I'll never get over this I think.

[butterflyslinky]

On Tommy and Eddie's Will

Speculation of the week is that Tommy will find out Buck was named as Christopher's guardian in Eddie's will and that's going to be the crux of the problems between them.

There's no evidence for this speculation at all, but let's indulge for a moment.

Tommy knew coming into the relationship how important Eddie and Chris are to Buck. Maybe he doesn't know the specifics of the will, but I don't think he'd be surprised by it.

Even if Tommy finds out about it now, why would he care? That was an arrangement Eddie made long before Tommy was in the picture that has nothing to do with him.

But what if Tommy doesn't want kids?

We don't know that Tommy doesn't want kids. We don't even know that Buck DOES. Neither of them has ever expressed an opinion one way or another, and since they can't get pregnant by accident, it probably won't come up until much later in the relationship.

But even if it is the case that Tommy doesn't want kids...Buck doesn't have kids. I know people say he's coparenting with Eddie, but he's really not? He is at best a regular babysitter. At this moment, Chris has no bearing on Buck's relationship with Tommy.

The will, as of now, is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency thing. It means that IF something were to happen to Eddie, Buck would be named as Chris's legal guardian. That's a hypothetical scenario that is, admittedly, more likely to happen to Eddie than the average person, but it has not happened yet. (And even if it does, Buck will likely go through years of court in a nasty custody battle with Eddie's parents, which is a whole other can of worms and fodder for a good angst fic if anyone wants to write it.)

And even knowing that hypothetical, I don't think Tommy would walk away. First off, it's hypothetical and ending a relationship over something that may or may not happen would be really immature and silly. Second off, that's a very different scenario than the traditional "should we have kids" situation.

Chris is fourteen years old. Granted, due to disability, he's going to have high support needs and will likely stay with his family most of his life, but he's still only a few years away from being an adult. And Tommy knows and clearly cares about Chris a lot; there's no reason to think he'd have an issue with Chris remaining in his life even if there's no Eddie along with him.

Second off, there's a big difference between "I don't want to go through all the difficulties of obtaining and raising a child" and "I don't want to look after my best friend's teenage son after a (presumably) horrific tragedy." We've seen in the show how difficult having a child is for LGBT couples via Hen and Karen! It would be completely understandable for Tommy to look at all the trouble and heartache they went through and decide he can't handle it.

And third off, if a situation arose that would place Christopher in Buck's custody, Tommy would be able to decide at that point when it's actually a reality if he wants to be a part of that. He may decide no, he can't be a father under any circumstance, even one like this, and walk away. He might decide actually yes, he does want to be involved, and there's a difference between a baby or young child he has to help mold and the nearly-grown teenager he already cares about.

Point is, Tommy and Buck's relationship does not and should not center on Eddie. Yes, Eddie is important to both of them, but whatever problems they face should be about their relationship, not a what-if scenario. (And lbr, unless Ryan Guzman really, REALLY wants off the show, the writers aren't going to kill him off. And after seven seasons of Hen and Karen dealing with the trials and tribulations of adoptive children, I really doubt the writers would repeat themselves by having Buck and Tommy go through it as well.)

[buddierecs]

slow burn buddie fics

all of these are general audience, teen and up or not rated (no smut) make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

hurt locker by: bvckandeddie "after finding out shannon is pregnant, eddie enlists in the military. buck goes with him." word count: 77k important tags: military au, ptsd, evan buckley centric, childhood friends, friends to lovers, angst what a heart can do by: bvckandeddie "in which buck becomes the guardian of the daughter he never knew he had. together, they discover what happiness truly means to them." word count: 86k important tags: kid fic, friends to lovers, therapy, emotional hurt/comfort, feelings realisation swear it all over again by: charthur "the one where they go to couples therapy as bros, and then realise they're actually a couple anyway" word count: 29k important tags: therapy, idiots in love, getting together, pre-relationship this must be the place by: euadnes "the buck is also shot by the sniper au that no one asked for." word count: 75k important tags: injury recovery, guilt, panic attacks, mutual pining, angst, hurt/comfort next to me by: emquin "buck and eddie started off in different places but eventually they ended up in the same. eventually, they ended up in love. told from buck and eddie’s perspectives, a canon-compliant take on buddie and how they could realistically get together." word count: 93k important tags: character study, angst, fluff, friends to lovers, pining, sexuality crisis i want your midnights by: allyasavedtheday "in which eddie decides to rent out his spare room to help with mortgage repayments right around the time buck decides to move out of abby's place after some not so gentle prodding from maddie. it's a coincidence. or serendipity. or maybe just really good timing" word count: 36k important tags: roommates au, different first meeting au, friends to lovers, fluff, mutual pining finding our way home by: child_of_wonderland "eddie thought that dropping the news that he was leaving the 118 would be the hardest thing he had to do for at least a few months but then the universe decides to prove him wrong in the form of therapy, buck being buck, and more." word count: 48k important tags: therapy, anxiety, panic attacks, team as family, hurt/comfort, whump nothing left but you by: daisies_and_briars "in may of 2021, 25% of earth's population suddenly disappears. Including eddie. in may of 2026, they all come back. eddie finds himself suddenly in the middle of a world he doesn't recognize, where the people he loves most have changed significantly." word count: 27k important tags: temporary character death, grief, time skips, christopher diaz has two dads, based on the avengers blip i think i've been having revelations (and really weird dreams) by: the11thtardis "this is basically the story of our two idiots in love, understanding their feelings for each other at different times and being cute af in the process... also, christopher helps a lot." word count: 70k important tags: coming out, post season 7, pre-relationship, demisexual!eddie diaz, jealous!eddie diaz, catholic guilt