#I am a Strong Eddie truther

[djosephqueery]

[nqueso-emergency]

Lmao not our dear og truther claiming WE are delusional because we’ve taken Tim’s interview as confirmation of Lou being in Season 8.

So. Let me get this straight. We cannot celebrate when we read a quote from the showrunner which confirms Lou is coming back and BT are going strong because obviously we are wrong, the article didn’t mean to say that and we are dumb as rocks, so obviously we were unable to properly understand. media literacy and all that.

Buddies, on the other hand, are all gifted, and are able to read between the lines. For example, when RG says: Eddie is a straight man, Bobs are smart enough to understand he really means: don’t worry bestie boos, Eddie is as gay as a rainbow during pride and I am the number one buddie warrior. I am getting you that season 10 wedding.

Wow. What a privilege is to be in the same app as them huh.

They took the word of some Frankenstein article by fucking SkyNews as confirmation that Lou was fired just weeks ago.

They are pranking themselves atp

[laylawatermelon]

70.6 - 7.07 Speculation/ Buddie Meta

I am a writer y'know hehe

So, Buddie is happening.

Now let me explain.

Bi buck always existed, but the problem is that most of his consistent emotional relationship one could argue realistically romantically has been with a man he's known for years.

But has always been bi yes, but he's also been in love with his best friend for a really long time.

Friends to lovers where Y'all at? I see y'all madney truthers

Anyways I understand but what has kind of been bothering me is the fact that Buddie the ship has been abandoned/negated as not an important past of the puzzle for bi buck realization despite the fact that Eddie is physically present throughout his entire relationship/storyline.

I could argue that because they're mirrors to each other (corny soulmate type shit is perfect for network tv) this is the best way to ease people into it.

Buck and Eddie are the two beloved firefighters (and respective sex symbols). They have an appeal for the straight audience for that reason.

Lou already spoiled it but he's only here for a while.

There's been almost blatant explanations and dialogue that leads to the fact that this relationship is going to directly lead into buddie one way or another.

Tommy has from the beginning suspected that Buck (I'm calling him Evan in my head in regards to him and it's so weird 😖) and Eddie have an unusual relationship or that Buck is in love with Eddie at least.

(MY attention? is the biggest example.)

My prediction is that their mirrors of each other, the parallels, and red flags pop up too often now.

I know they're still writing the show and are likely watching audience engagement and ao3 (I'm watching you Tim ik you're here I'm new but ik you got shooters out here) for where to go with the story.

In Eddie's (frankly oddly portrayed) plotline is related to his Catholic guilt and his nonexistent relationship with Marisol (no last name?). As the episode maybe suggests they don't know their partners well enough.

Shame to Eddie because it's been months in universe like come on man. In Buck's it's literally been a few weeks, and most of the time Tommy spent with Eddie and not with him.

I like them as a couple and find them affordable. I can't quite bring myself to ship them or be as enthusiastic as others and that's okay.

I still admire the relationship they have and won't bash others for enjoying it.

Hell they still have Taylor and Buck enjoyers and maybe even Abby (i assume I haven't met any honestly).

The reason why I'm a bit confused on why Buddie isn't being all that embraced as a vital part of the storyline is because in a way it is.

I think it spurred the writers on to lean into it heavily due to the actors chemistry and portrayal of the relationship.

Now I'm not saying he wouldn't be bi regardless, because he's always been written that way.

His interactions with worm guy, a gay married couple, Carlos (who I've been waiting to say this but I can't hold myself any longer is Latino, shorter than him, brown eyes, dark hair - Eddie lite/he had a bit of a type aka cute guys.)

I clocked him flirting with him with his cute fact spilling as a way of affection because I do it to to people I love. (🤗i love my ADHD rep!) When he saw him look at the girl he became more platonic in his interactions. Then there was Eddie.

And Eddie honestly is the biggest part of the puzzle.

Yes he likes Tommy, and I don't deny he likes strong confident (suspiciously Eddie shaped 😂) guys.

He has always been attracted to strong personalities regardless of gender.

I do think he did pursue him and I think because Tommy is gay he recognized the flirting Buck does with both men and women as that, flirting.

Eddie doesn't count cause he has a whole can of worms he gotta figure out himself.

If Buck had consistent scenes with an out queer man on the show he'd have been at least clocked. (Eddie was kind of in the way with Josh and the Dispatch crew/his gaydar pinged a lil around him)

I've been saying that now that he's canonically bisexual and it's a known fact, you can't deny he's quite literally been flirting with his best friend the entire show (as a coparent??? Idk man they both said they skip steps/impatient 🤷🏾‍♀️).

When new fans watch it it's obvious, when older fans recall it it's either enlightening or redefining that relationship regardless.

The red flags that are coming up is Eddie's statement of moving too fast and Buck literally moving to fast with his second date (i assume idk how in world time works it's a tv show 🤷🏾‍♀️) being his sister's wedding.

Realistically I know you only invite people to events like that if you're fully committed to each other for a long term thing.

I'm not saying that he's on his wheel but in a way I'm tilting my head at some similarities of Tommy and his past relationships and Buck's tendencies.

Buck will be Buck.

Tommy knows him as Evan, and calls him such.

Which didn't get me wrong cute or whatever but rubs me there wrong away, because we know he prefers Buck as it's his chosen name for a reason. It's defined him and been contextualized and even accepted by his parents.

I believe in calling people the name they choose to be called and I just don't like when that's ignored.

It also doesn't help that he continues to call him that in an episode called You don't know me (you can Even tie it in to Marisol No last name) that deals with identities and lack of knowledge.

Buck has spent most of his remaining twenties with that identity and has defended it so the casualness of him calling him that unnerves me.

It's meant to close the distance and be portrayed as romantic but it can also be interpreted as him seeing Evan, not Buck when with him.

But I did see a post that changed my perspective on calling a name with love instead can recontextualize the meaning of it and I found that sweet and fitting. In that case I can swing either way about it.

If it does make him more accepting of that side of his identity that's great that he's beginning to heal from a path when his name/personhood was used as a weapon or item.

But, I also still feel a bit iffy that it's not interchangeably used with Buck because his family and everyone he knows calls him that. Even his previous romantic partners did and I didn't mind him being called it but I would like it if both names would be used as that is the new part of him where Evan exists as well.

Also narratively they spent too much time on defining his name and what it means to him and everyone around him to not show the importance of his identity being acknowledged in a new unfamiliar relationship.

(whew i think I'm just mad at the writers or this may just be on purpose who knows 🤷🏾‍♀️)

I'm getting to the meta I promise I'm just finally processing what's been plaguing me about this relationship and i gotta let the monster out

That would also explain why he doesn't know the ADHD rants that Buck blabs on about.

But then again the episode is called you don't know me and they weren't even friends he just jumped into a relationship.

(ps you can just start dating someone and learn as you go I'm just saying 🤷🏾‍♀️)

The biggest problem with their relationship is that he's in love with his best friend.

He literally only began to open up and flirt when he realized that he wasn't a romantic threat to his family.

(Which trifling Buck! Your man can't get wined and dined?? He deserves love too!/j)

He literally relaxed/his shoulders open up when Tommy assures him that his son still loves and idolizes him and that Eddie still likes him and he's irreplaceable in his life.

After that's secured he begins to make his move and become more flirtatious (cough sexually open cough) to this confident man in his kitchen in the dim lights and glowy atmosphere.

Damn I'd kiss him too 🤷🏾‍♀️ (if I was a guy ofc)

I also didn't like the parallels of Buck being left (which has happened with his female love interests) and then Buck still having to reach out.

I don't think Tommy is bad for Buck, but I'm still not convinced that he's 100% good. But then again he's been here literally a two episodes and barely any screentime.

And the one he does makes it seem like he's interested but not too invested.

(which makes sense and I will elaborate a bit later in the meta speculation)

The Tommy that everyone is talking about exists solely in fan spaces and head canon and that's why I think I can't get into it. The facts of him are plain in the show but in the fan spaces he has a different image.

Which valid, once again he's almost a blank sheet of what we wish a Buck gets and deserves in a love interest but that's what he is as of now. A blank-ish sheet. Kind of like a projection sheet for movies.

Tommy seems like a caring partner and sure of himself. He's shown himself to be funny, considerate, and as unhinged as the rest of the 118 (ah the fruity fire badasses).

Also i wanna point your Buck likes em a lil older sometimes haha

But back on topic, I can see Tommy being like Natalia (which makes sense as that storyline could've been used) In the fact that he sees that the space in his life is occupied and respectfully backs out.

My meta for 7.06 is this.

Tommy helps out somehow. Buck is ecstatic rightfully so.

They kiss dance and are cute.

The family is very welcoming, the 118 is still loving, but then he sees something that affirms his suspicions.

It's a normal scene for us.

Either Buck is taking care of Chris and then talks to Eddie.

He sees the look in Buck's eyes and the fondness there. He looks at Eddie and sees the same on his face.

He notices how they work together and laugh, them at the family and life he's built all around him, and decides he can't be apart of this. There's no space for him.

It feels too real too fast and he'll only end to heartbroken because he's just interested, not invested yet.

So he gracefully bows out and let's him know that he has enough love in his life if he'd just look for it.

(i also found out he used the word interested in the cafe scene where i recognized it as the ana date. Also Buck was wearing a white patterned shirt and i had a heart attack because it wasn't great the last time he wore it 😬)

Then it leads into ghost of a second chance.

(now imma say this i will be posting more specs about the these episodes I'm just on my buddie storyline juice rn)

This is now Buck trying to salvage/figure out what went wrong and maybe try to contact him again.

In the case of Marisol it's safe to assume they break up, the reason why isn't clear.

It could be related to his sisters disapproval of their relationship (as they're supposed to be coming out did the show forget??) or apprehension towards her as they've been raised/watched him grow up.

They know what makes him happy.

For ghost a second chance I didn't have much buddie assumptions but I'm pretty sure that one is more in relation to other members of the cast most likely and maybe Buck trying to salvage his relationship.

7.08-10 isn't complete so who knows🤷🏾‍♀️ how they must switch it up for more drama?

But I will say, we gotta dive into the Eddie of it all.

Y'all thought I forgot about him?

The bi Buck storyline isn't complete without Eddie either romantically or platonically.

In real life their queer storylines were always interchangeable and they're both feeling out the GA and fans reaction.

Buddie not going canon doesn't make sense because realistically it's one of the biggest ships and the most talked about things for the online fans.

It's a good reason many fans started (me included🙋🏾‍♀️) and stay (if the beautiful found family didn't hit it for them).

The way that they were both discussed and Ryan is fine with Buddie still kind of matches his character honestly. Demi Eddie is a head canon and honestly Eddie would only be comfortable with dating a man at this stage of his life if it's someone he loves already aka Buck.

There could be other reasons but as a Buddie warrior truther (as they named it which is still so insane) as his old interviews alluded to the fact that he loves Buck so much he can't really see himself with another guy he just met like that.

He also maybe wanted a easier storyline as he had always been a bit of a heavy character.

For women it's easier as he's raised to do it and it's "natural" or right for him to do so.

His parents said it, the church says it, God says it so it must be right.

He loves commitment, has said he's a nester and constantly yearns for a family unit.

The only family unit he knows of it feels is acceptable due to his upbringing is man, woman, child.

Not that he's homophobic cause duh, HenRen is literally there, but his standards and pressure doesn't even let him fathom it for himself.

It's also likely if the demi part is true, he's highly unlikely to be like Buck and view others sexually and even realize he's able to have a family/relationship with a man.

I suspect no Buddie this season. I actually hope and pray for it.

Because from both a business and story point it's best to keep the will-they won't-they into season 8 to keep viewers engaged/tuning in and not to rush the story and get some really good emotional moments.

I won't lie I miss the angst we got in the other seasons and as a result the show's identity with Eddie has faltered a bit.

I didn't love episode 5 but I didn't hate it. I still enjoy the show and if they feel a bit unusual it's okay.

There were still some great moments in it.

Eddie's character is now happy but as a result he's also somewhat unfamiliar (that speaks to the whump heavy storylines he has) as he seems less mature. You can argue now that he has a stable support system he's able to let loose because he knows his needs will be covered.

That's also a great point and easy way of showing his development.

His Catholic guilt now that it's been introduced will have to be deconstructed as he will have to redefine his life, what he's looking for/allow himself to be and dare to dream of a life not given to him by someone else or pressure.

This season he's only just started to accept things that make him feel good (which for now is Marisol) and be open and honest about it.

I can argue it is a great sign of improvement of his character.

A bit ooc portrayal yes, but the message of looking deeper still applies.

This can apply to Buddie probably leading through the next half of season 7 by being ramped up and then going full speed ahead season 8.

At the time though since they're still writing they may take a hard right turn and keep it platonic (😭).

But what would be inevitable is Eddie's coming out/self discovery arc that isn't tied to the church or sense of duty.

Which yay! More self discovery I love the message of finding yourself lasts throughout your life and due to life's unexpected events you can change to be a better version of yourself all the time.

We got bi buck (which evidently was influenced by Eddie in some way) now let's free Eddie to even if they didn't do it for Buddie (once again😭😭😭).

Now that I've got it mostly off my chest I'm definitely gonna do an analysis of the parallels and the way it's played pt.2 (and more as seasons passed cause Ryan and Oliver 😘 muah 10/10 no notes).

Okay bye.

[tevanbegins]

Random musings I wanted to share with my fellow Buck x Tommy stans. Read and humour me, please. 😉

So being in this 9-1-1 ship war is kinda making me feel like we are in the film 'My Best Friend's Wedding.' Here's my analysis of the movie and how it is relevant to the whole Buck-Tommy-Eddie conflict in the fandom:

Julia Roberts' character Jules represents the B*ddies, Cameron Diaz's character Kimmy represents us Bucktommies, and the hero Michael represents Buck who is caught in the middle of it all.

So in the movie, Jules (B*ddies) tries every trick in the book to sabotage Kimmy (Bucktommies) and split her and Michael (Buck) up. But all her desperate attempts are ultimately in vain, because Michael truly loves Kimmy, and the film ends on a happy and positive note with Michael and Kimmy getting married and Michael and Jules staying best friends (or should I say buddies, pun totally intended 💀) as they always were.

You know where I am going with this rambling right? (Also, please watch the movie if you haven't. 😁) Below are a few noteworthy points and takeaways from the film:

• Kimmy came later in Michael's life, but there was practically nothing to hate about her and there was no denying that she was great for him. So, even though Jules thought Michael was rightfully hers because she had been a part of his life much longer and tried to paint Kimmy as the villain, she failed because Kimmy was never the bad guy in the story as she was hell bent on making her out to be.

[Takeaway: Finding your true love in someone doesn't always need a long history of acquaintance or friendship with that person. Also, the new person doesn't automatically become the wrong choice for endgame because of the lack of said history. Neither is the BFF entitled to your romantic affections just because you've been too close for too long. Platonic soulmates can be a thing too.]

• Kimmy never tried to undermine Jules' significance in Michael's life as his best friend. Even though Kimmy and Michael got their happy endgame, the film didn't dismiss the importance of Jules and Michael's friendship.

[Takeaway: Buck's thriving romance with Tommy is not a threat to his friendship with Eddie and vice versa. Both relationships are different and are beautiful in their own ways. In fact, Buck and Tommy's love story began with Tommy clarifying that he understood his deep bond with Eddie and so he never intended to get in between that.]

So, my point is, Buck x Tommy being endgame is never going to reduce the significance of Buck and Eddie's friendship. It will always be important because it is beautiful, and if the Tevan romance is hampering certain people's enjoyment of B*ddie, that is because they can't look past their desperate want of a romantic/sexual relationship between those friends. They themselves are sending out the message that Buck and Eddie's friendship has zero value if it doesn't end in a romance, that the multiple years/seasons of developing a strong bond between those two is useless if they don't eventually fuck.

The difference between us Tevan stans and those B*ddie truthers is that we accept and acknowledge how important Eddie will always be to Buck even if he falls in love with Tommy, whereas the BoBs so badly want to believe that Tommy is a villain because he is the cockblock to their delusions (pardon my language). If Buck-Eddie's friendship in and of itself genuinely mattered to them, Tommy's arrival would never have ruffled their feathers. So they can whine and cry foul all they want, but nothing is going to change the fact that Buck x Tommy is as beautiful and important a romance as Buck x Eddie is as a friendship on the show, just as the message in the movie depicts.

To conclude, I have faith that Tevan will keep rising and flourishing and winning over all the stupid hate! Hope you'll enjoyed my little piece of romcom-inspired wisdom!

[bellabrady]

I need to vent this to someone and idk why but i just feel like you’ll understand me idk but….

I’m terrified about next week’s episode… like I feel like there is so much within the fandom that is hanging onto next week’s episode being a definite thing on whether or not buddie will go canon, and it’s been stressing me out seeing all of the discourse… I have so many strong feelings about the idea of Tommy (who has always pissed me off as a character from the Begins episodes) and how so many people just suddenly out of nowhere love the guy and compare him to Buck and Eddie when there has literally been barely anything comparable to the two of them as characters since he’s been back. Not only that, but the theory of Buck and Tommy being a thing as a potential for Eddie to come to terms with his feelings doesn’t make me feel comfortable— Not in a “omg i just want Buck and Eddie to jump into bed with each other and call it a day” because i don’t… I just know us queer people are still only seen as tokens half the time, and I’m worried that if they pair Buck with a guy (while Yay for bi!Buck) who is a character that A) is from his past, and B) is for some reason all of a sudden adored by a bunch of people (for reasons i will never understand)… I’m afraid they will just put he and Buck together and call it a day, and just keep Eddie and Buck as “brothers” when that is such a disservice to both of them… If Buck does become confirmed as bisexual, I have no issue with him exploring his sexuality with other men who aren’t principal characters because that won’t have any bearing on the finality of buddie as a ship, but I’m afraid that by putting Buck and Tommy together will somehow be ABC’s way of saying “Eh this will do” because of the way so many people have suddenly jumped onto the bucktommy train.

On top of that, the idea of getting jealous!buck would make me happy if it weren’t for the fact that it’s Tommy, and I am terrified that the writers are trying to wrap him up in this glittering duct tape bow and say “we’re not going to give you what you’ve been asking for for 6 years, but we’ll give you this cheap knock off” due to the speculation that Eddie will somehow reaffirm that he sees Buck as just a friend being the catalyst for Buck exploring his sexuality with Tommy.

It would be painful as a longtime buddie truther, but it would also be painful as a genuine fan of the characters because i feel like that would ruin everything they have built together over the past 6 years, and it would be a cop-out because they don’t want to go that route, even though they are the ones who have set up buddie in this context on so many different occasions…. sure a lot of buddie moments can be real things that happened in platonic relationships, but the framing and subtext has always been this will they/won’t they dynamic, and it feels so icky to me for them to make Buck Bi, and have him NOT end up with Eddie.

And I know people are quick to point out Ryan and Oliver in these recent interviews and everything as some sort of evidence towards buddie canon, but I would think a lot of us have been in this carousel long enough to know that if the possibility of a popular queer romance on a show is one of the BIGGEST marketing tactics that shows use. I’m not saying that Ryan and Oliver themselves are queerbaiting because of how much they’ve supported the buddie fandom over the years, but something in me feels like a lot of their PR appearances lately have been to intentionally cause speculation so that they don’t lose the buddie portion of the viewers when they rip the rug out from under us…. (again not blaming Ryan and Oliver AT ALL because they have no say)

idk if any of that makes sense and im sorry for like the novel i just wrote in your asks lmao but i just needed to get that off my chest and you are one of the few people I have seen who also seems to dislike Tommy’s character, and could maybe possibly see where I’m coming from with my anxiety on this whole thing because it’s been making me spiral lately….

it’s just this ship (as i’m sure it is to others) is really important to me and seeing the online support of a bucktommy romance as a means of getting buddie worries me that the writers will take that as people wanting bucktommy canon and just giving us that as consolation for not giving us buddie and that breaks my heart because i have such a deep connection to both Buck and Eddie in different ways, and i want to see them and their relationship done good service, and frankly none of the theories i’ve seen surrounding it have been anything i want to see with them because i hate tommy, and don’t want him of all people to be the reason we get screwed over.

hi there! you pretty much described exactly what i've been feeling and i 100% understand and feel your anxiety. most people have been super excited for the next ep but i truly feel like it won't go over well for us (though i'll gladly be pleasantly surprised). i even had to log off twitter for a bit because thinking about all the potential ways this thing with tommy could go was giving me legitimate anxiety (yes i'm aware that's not an entirely normal way to feel about a tv show, but sue me, i'm mentally ill)

i feel like i also haven't really been able to enjoy 911 twitter, tumblr, tiktok etc anymore because so many people, like you said, just jumped onto the bucktommy train and i hate it for so many reasons. i just wish everybody was as keen on ignoring that guy as i am.

so yes, i completely agree with you and i definitely relate. i'm glad you felt like you could vent to me and if you ever wanna DM me so we can share our anxiety a bit, please feel free! <3

[bigassbowlingballhead]

keeping buddie aside (i am buddie canon truther btw) 911 really brought the whole buddie revolution upon themselves... literally none of the women Eddie and buck are paired with have complex multitudes...like the show writers write them with one dimensional personality...Abby was part of the main cast in season 1 yet she appeared so bland, never taking part in buck's life and just general lack of layers...shanon could literally come with "the wife who left and will leave again" title and that would still tell more about the character than the actual character....ali was literally....not there lol...and ana's personality is literally being the perfect stereotypical wife-woman (who's literally not a wife and is a very respectable VP of a school) to the point that we never really got any meaningful conversations bw Eddie and ana neither intimate scenes...her character was presented as SO blind that Eddie literally had to run to buck for comfort...taylor is one of the only love interest who as a person of her own is interesting... she's strong willed and knows what she wants to do and how to do it...but it's obvious buck and Taylor cannot work because buck is literally "save before it becomes a story" and Taylor is "make a story" ....Natalia is yet again bland as fuck and Marisol...well Marisol can fuck off...my point being maybe the fandom wouldn't have demanded so strongly for buddie canon if the show writers had written the female love interest with well any layers that would've allowed people to take heavy interest in these characters as opposed to these characters presenting... well..npc characteristics...also another reason is also the feeling portrayed by buck and Eddie. I have never felt any sort of devotion come out of buck or Eddie for their partners...not the way I have seen love in Athena/Bobby, chim/Maddie, Karen/hen 's eyes

I have never felt any sort of devotion come out of buck or Eddie for their partners...not the way I have seen love in Athena/Bobby, chim/Maddie, Karen/hen 's eyes

you make a lot of strong points in here, but this really stands out the most because yeah, even with Taylor who arguably has the most story and development of any of buck/eddie partners. not like we've seen with them with each other

the well/ladder.

[martyreasemymind]

A lot of Harringrove shippers and Billy truthers give Nancy the anti treatment, that same anti treatment that comes from Steddies/Eddie fans and somehow, they have discourse posts about calling it out from said fandoms. It has to be said.

Everyone is entitled to get critical of her an d other characters they dislike. That is okay. However, there's that and then there's this constant vibe in which she's demonized and vilified for almost breathing - for instance, i've seen some posts in which they acuse her of physically abusing Steve using the S1 fight scene as their only back up for their take. Of all the things she's problematic for, she was on her whole right to do that.

While i don't care about her, something about that does not sit well with me. Matter or fact, these fans taking the exact anti role on characters like her, whom they project their own personal bias and internalized sexism, is a whole setback of these exact invalid takes Billy and his fans get by existing, that was quite strong around 2019 till 2022 in my opinion.

I think there's definitely a lot of truth to the statement that many billy fans are willing to throw other characters under the bus for the sake of minimizing his behavior, with nancy being one of the premier victims. this is especially frustrating b/c it plays right into the accusations that antis often throw at us, proving them right.

i'm obviously a billy fan (and far from a nancy fan), but this pattern of minimizing his violent behavior (b/c even though it came from a place of deep pain, even though it doesn't make him a monster or an abuser, it was still cruel and unacceptable) by villainizing a female character who, by all accounts, has done nothing but act as most other teenage girls (an already villainized part of the population) would given the circumstances, is quite concerning.

I think a lot of billy fans consider themselves more compassionate and appreciative of nuance than the rest of the fandom which, while very possibly true, leads them to think that they are somehow immune from holding discriminatory beliefs themselves. misogyny is just one example that i have observed, tho it is perhaps the most salient.

I am not here to say that nancy never did anything wrong or questionable, or that she would not have things to work on if she was a real person, but this misconstruing and demonization of her character for the sake of elevating billy's is exactly the kind of sexism laced abuse apologia that antis often yell about and is, quite frankly, a fandom example of the excusal and whataboutism that allows abuse culture to thrive.

someone like billy would not benefit from being told that the things they did to other people weren't 'that bad', or that another person was 'worse' than them so therefore they shouldn't feel guilty or try to improve (calling them irredeemable or undeserving of help wouldn't benefit them either, to be clear). that is not how build self-awareness and acceptance. and it certainly isn't how you heal from the abuse that drove you to do those things in the first place.

[someforeignband]

I MADE THIS AT THREE IN THE MORNING WHEN I WOKE UP FROM A NIGHTMARE THIS IS MY MAGNUM OPUS

here is what i have to say about the st characters and how they identify sexuality/pronouns wise (like if they HAD THE LANGUAGE FOR IT and LACKED INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA OK let me live) (if u don’t like it feel free to argue with the wall)

steve: he/him bisexual (lemme fight for myself here,,, lots of people have said he/they bisexual and i see that, and i hear that, ok? i just think that however steve expresses his gender, whether it be fluid in any way or not, he would still use he/him pronouns. i hope this makes sense)

robin: she/they lesbian

nancy: she/her bisexual (im sorry to all the lesbian nancy truthers out there. i just think one would not be with Jonathan in ANY WAY if one was not at least a LITTLE bit into men. sorry again to my lesbian nancy truthers:// )

jonathan: he/him and somewhere on the ace spectrum (i won’t explain this you can argue with the wall)

Dustin: he/him straight (STRONG ally tho. ok , literally the strongest ally)

Mike: he/they bisexual (IF mike wasn’t such a piece of fucking work, and worked through his Whatever He Has Going On, i think he would understand the motivation to treat will like SHIT comes from a place of internalized homophobia and just Mike-ness. MOREOVER, the way the kid is obsessed w eddie and looks at eddie…. come on. also i think the way mike dresses and expresses himself on the gender spectrum would be interesting to examine like ‘oh maybe i don’t fully feel like he/him suits me’ and - yeah ,,, mike stinks)

Lucas: he/him straight (bi wife energy tho)

Will: he/him gay (duh)

Max: she/they bisexual

Eleven: she/her bisexual (im holding out for a sexuality crisis when el works through Everything She Has Going On, caused by the one and only max mayfield. Meleven over Mileven every time)

Billy: he/him gay (this man is GAY AND OBVIOUSLY struggling with some serious internalized Issues, which would make him probably resort to the hyper-masculine route and explains why he looks like he wants to devour steve whole)

Argyle: he/him straight (another strong ally sorta coming out of left field but a STRONG ALLY NONETHELESS)

Eddie: they/them queer (LET ME JUST SAY, i am a queer/gay eddie truther until i DIE. i think eddie is exclusively interested in people who identify on the masculine end of the gender spectrum, mostly men. if eddie had the language i FIRMLY believe eddie would identify as non-binary, and one can not be gay (in the mlm sense) if one does not identify as a man. MOREOVER, I think the way eddie expresses gender is rooted in a more fluid and punk/metal sense of fashion which is SIMILARLY rooted in fluidity of sexuality and gender (EVEN IF all the douches that like it nowadays are homophobic/transphobic and just the worst) (I don’t know if this makes sense but it makes sense TO ME)

Chrissy: she/her lesbian. (duh)

If you don’t agree or don’t like it pls argue with the wall, constructive discussion in the comments only pls:)

[occasionallykettle]

if you lost hope in byler after vol. 2, just spend 10 minutes on the tag #byler proof. that alone will restore your faith in byler.

also, consider how much more impactful byler would be in season 5 compared to season 4. if it is an endgame couple, we would want as much build-up as we can so that some of the toxic milkvan shippers can't go after the duffer brothers about byler being rushed. at this point, milkvan shippers can't even complain about byler having 0 build-up or it not making any sense, since we are lucky enough to have 4 seasons of build-up to it.

if you want more evidence, then i want you to know that the duffer brothers want will to be the centre of season 5, and how terrible would the viewing experience would be if we had to see will sulking and being miserable all the time.

the duffer brothers are incredibly intelligent, i don't think we give them enough credit for how well they write stranger things. i have highlighted in a previous post about how excellent the duffer brothers are at foreshadowing, and i meant it. they will put in the tiniest details, however when what they foreshadowed actually happens, it becomes so obvious and we are all like "why didn't we think of that before?", and the duffer brothers have actually foreshadowed byler the most in vol. 2 (in my opinion). they literally had a shot of all the canon couples standing next to each other - jancy, jopper and byler - and el, the independent badass, standing by herself at the front.

if you think you got queerbaited after vol. 2, know that the duffer brothers have no reason to queerbait. we already have robin, a gay character, and frankly one of the main ones in both season 3 and 4. if they were to queerbait in order to get a larger audience, they wouldn't have robin be gay (this is assuming that they want to be able to air stranger things in a larger variety of countries). also, they would get a lot of hate and accusations of queerbaiting if byler happened in season 5 and they are fully aware of that.

the duffer brothers wouldn't stop byler just because there are milkvan fans that would get pissy. that makes no sense. will and mike being gay (i am a mike gay truther but i will still respect you if you are a bi mike truther, tbh i'm just a "mike kisses boys" truther) is NOT new, it's been both implicitly and explicitly stated from season 1. it just makes sense for them to get together in the end, so it's not like the duffer brothers are making byler happen just because byler fans want it. and the duffer brothers are not afraid of making the fans upset - they were probably fully aware that eddie was going to be a fan favourite, yet they still killed him off. same with alexei.

also, the byler tag just keeps growing and growing and growing. as more byler proof is uncovered day by day, the general audience is beginning to realise that byler will be endgame and more people are joining us as a result of it. and then even more byler proof is uncovered.

byler is one of the most strong ships that i have ever seen in a fandom - they have so much proof that backs them up, the strongest relationship and so much build-up. byler will happen.

[sheisfilledwithsecrets]

screencaps courtesy of @stephysource

upside down you're turning me - an anachronistic, aggressively pop steddie playlist

if - janet jackson /// into you - ariana grande /// lose my breath - destiny’s child /// like an animal - the donnas /// upside down - diana ross /// la la - ashlee simpson /// kiss of life - kylie minogue, jessie ware /// till the world ends - britney spears /// physical - dua lipa +bonus track s&m - rihanna

(keep reading for thoughts/lyrics)

many apologies to eddie munson. i too enjoy metal (yay, more people are discovering dio!) but i’m going through a big pop phase, and wanted a mix that matched that and one of my current hyperfixations.

if - janet jackson (eddie)

definitely in the back of eddie’s mind when he kept pushing the stancy If I was your girl boy, oh, the things I'd do to you I'd make you call out my name, I'd ask who it belongs to If I was your woman, the things I'd do to you But I'm not, so I can't Then I won't But if I was your girl boy

into you - ariana grande (steve) ’who hasn’t had gay thoughts?!’ - steve harrington, probably I'm so into you I can barely breathe And all I wanna do Is to fall in deep But close ain't close enough 'Til we cross the line, yeah, yeah So name a game to play And I'll role the dice, hey

lose my breath - destiny’s child (eddie) i am a hanky code truther. can steve keep up? I put it right there, made it easy for you to get to Now you want to act like ya don't know what to do After I done everything that you ask me... ...Can you keep up? Baby boy, make me lose my breath

like an animal - the donnas (steve) the answer is of course yes Feel my breath on your neck And my fingers in your hair Get it up, I can't relax Don't hold back You know I want it bad Oh oh oh, I can't say no I lose control 'cause with you I'm like an animal

upside down - diana ross (eddie) yeah, eddie is in love Upside down Boy, you turn me Inside out And round and round Instinctively you give to me The love that I need

la la - ashlee simpson (steve) as is steve  You make me wanna la la In the kitchen on the floor I'll be your French maid When I'll meet you at the door I'm like an alley cat Drink the milk up I want more You make me wanna You make me wanna scream I feel safe with you I can be myself tonight

kiss of life - kylie minogue, jessie ware (eddie) steve, a former lifeguard, performed CPR and saved eddie. this happened. If you only knew (Every time I get a little taste of it, I die) You could only see (I'm in the moment, it's so sweet that I could cry) Give me the kiss of life

till the world ends - britney spears (steve) ‘for your modesty, dude.’ also, since eddie lives, they fight the apocalypse together You notice what I'm wearing, I noticin' you're staring You know that I can take it, To the next level, baby... ...See the sunlight, we ain't stopping Keep on dancin' 'till the world ends If you feel it let it happen Keep on dancin' till the world ends

physical - dua lipa (eddie & steve) lovers who fight vecna/001/henry together stay together All night, I'll riot with you I know you got my back, and you know I got you So come on (come on)... ...Let's get physical

*bonus track* s&m - rihanna i SAID i was a hanky code truther! Oh, I love the feeling you bring to me, oh, you turn me on It's exactly what I've been yearning for, give it to me strong And meet me in my boudoir Make my body say ah, ah, ah, I like it (like it)'Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it Sticks and stones may break my bones But chains and whips excite me

[mmtions]

ajdjsjsh GIVE ME EVERYTHING…. in specific though the boxing ring pwp pls. I’m only human.

hahaha ilysm but yes i will eventually write smut for this fandom and I want like... like canonically we know both buck and eddie deal with anger/strong emotions through boxing. so uhhh. what if one evening eddie takes buck to his gym to work off some anger, because i am indeed a s6 buck breakdown era truther. and what if they uh... just end up rutting on the mat. what then.

-

“You’ve spent this past year looking out for me. Looking after me,” Eddie self-corrects, like the difference is important. “Now let me look after you the best way I know how.”

Buck looks around with a sceptical eye. “I thought you were done with fight club.”

“Well it was this or therapy,” Eddie says, bouncing on his toes with that same impish eye. “And I don’t have a doctorate in psychology, so. This is what I’ve got to work with.”

wip game

[megslovesbooks]

Ok. Some spoiler filled thoughts now that I have(n’t) slept.

Below the cut because it got long. I apparently have a lot of thoughts. Haha! Better to post them here than to talk to my coworkers for 8 hours today about a show they don't watch. >.>

That first rescue was heckin icky, it’s been a while since they’ve grossed me out like that.

I’m so interested in this shift with Hen. I know it must have been easier with you Eddie because they were already friends, but it feels like maybe she’s reached the end of her ‘I just have to stick it out and then things will go back to normal’ rope and honest, legit. Hen and Bobby have been the most together of the group lately and that starts to wear eventually.

I actually really like Greenway, I think he could bring some good conflicts, and so far I like him as a person.

Oh Eddie. Ooof. I have known for months that you were going to break my heart but I guess we’re just going for it full tilt here. This montage is so good, the deterioration of his cheerful exterior is so painful. And I love how direct the show is being about the fact that he’s not ok. Everyone can see it, he’s out of places to hide.

Kitchen 2.0 huh? Oh boy.

This truck rescue! Y’all! It’s so good, it looks great, the action is on point. This show is at its best when it’s using these big beautiful action sequences to also further character plots and I thought this was a stellar example. It’s a fantastic intro for Lucy (we’ll come back to her), it sets up what I’m assuming will be Buck’s core struggle this season in a very short amount of time, and it was just fun. It’s too 10 rescues for me I think.

Josh. WTF bro???? Yikes. I've always been a little torn about Josh, sometimes I'm really rooting for him, and Maddie likes him so much so that's important, but also... I was re-watching the beginning of season 2 a few weeks ago and was struck by how kind of terrible he is to Maddie on her first day??? Like, is that how you treat all new dispatchers? I also didn't love how he handled the Claudette/May stuff, he didn't even try to hear what May was saying and basically told her she was making it up so...that's terrible. I don't know. I'm finding it harder and harder to like him, and the way he handled this thing with Eddie was NOT GOOD. Like, I get the baseline of what he was trying to say, there are protocols for a reason and maybe there was information that Eddie didn't have that could have put someone at risk, but Josh's reaction was so territorial, like jesus dude, back it up. I wish it had been Sue who had come to talk to Eddie, because she's so much better at speaking hard truth with honesty and understanding. But I suppose she'd also probably have a better idea of how not ok Eddie is, because she's really good at reading people, and the point of this scene was to isolate him even further. Still. Ugh.

Lucy. Listen. I kind of love her. Do I think she’s going to be an agent of chaos, 1000%. Am I wild about the very poor choices Buck is about to make, no. But she’s a strong character, she’s cocky and a little bit defensive and has the potential to have a lot of depth. I think maybe she’ll succeed where what they were trying to do with Lena failed (I also love Lena, I just think they were trying to execute something with her character that maybe didn’t quite work). I am honestly looking forward to Lucy way more now than I thought. I’m also an Arsonist Lucy truther now. I think she’s absolutely got that in her. Lol!

The bar scene. God the bar scene. There is A LOT happening here, all at once, and I love that. We’ll start with Eddie. He’s really upping his isolation game, which in itself is probably enough of a clue that he absolutely should not be back in the field yet. I’m going to be think about his downward slid in this episode all week. Ouch. Love getting more group fire fam scenes, though it is painfully obvious that there are gaps. They’re all just trying so hard to be normal and it’s not working. Which takes us too...

Buck and Lucy. Ok. I totally understand that this is super dicy territory, and I just want to say that these are my thoughts but I in no way want to say this is the only way to see things, or even that I'm right. This absolutely has the potential to become a really slippery slope, both for the characters and for the show, I think how they choose to handle this story line could either be really well done or really upsetting (on a 'what are you doing to this character' sort of level) For me. From what we've seen, I'm not mad at the show for what's happening here. I don't think it's out of line for Buck's character and I don't know Lucy well enough yet to really know, but she seems like she likes what she likes and she goes after it. I do kind of wish we'd seen Buck tell her he has a girlfriend and gotten her reaction, I think that might have cleared some things up for me, but until we see how the next steps are going to play out I don't want to make my mind up about her character. (except for the the fact that i fully believe she could burn a building down. lol) Do I enjoy watching Buck make some truly terrible choices in this episode? No. Do I understand where they might be coming from? I think so. I dunno, we'll see where it goes I guess, but for the moment I'm willing to trust the show and go along for the ride.

Drunk Buck and Hen. My MOST BELOVEDS.

Eddie and Chris. EDDIE AND CHRIS. They are hands down my favorite dynamic on this entire show and my god did the show not disappoint. I'm just heartbroken over them, not just in this scene, which was so rough, but also because there's not way we get out of this thing without both of them having a very bad time indeed and I hate hate hate that for them. What a beautiful beautiful scene. Chris is growing up so much, he's so smart, and I'm hoping this scene indicates that we're going to get more of his thoughts and feelings on things in the back half of this season. One of my favorite things about 5a is that after the big reveal about Chris's worry at Christmas, you can go back and see the little steps that got him there. But I'd love more open conversation with him in 5b and it sounds like we're going to get it. And oh oh Eddie. The acting across the board in this episode was stellar, but this scene (and the final scene with him and Bobby, we'll get back to that) really stood out to me. I thought Ryan was just achingly good in this scene with Chris. Oh man. This is gonna be so rough y'all.

Oh Buck. What are you doing son? I do want to see him and Taylor break it off this season, I don't think they're good for each other, but oooooof bud. This is not the way to go. When this goes sideways its going to be so ugly. I'm not looking forward to that.

For me, without doubt, the best scene of the episode was this Bobby/Eddie. It's incredibly painful to watch, and just so well done. Everything about it, the writing, the performances, the lighting the MAKE UP (god Eddie looks about three seconds away from throwing up all over Bobby and Athena's floor) I said this in some tags last night and I'll probably talk about it more because I'm obsessed with it, but the thing that kills me the most in this scene is how totally blindsided Bobby must be by Eddie's turn at the end. Bobby and Eddie have always understood each other so well. Eddie shows more vulnerability to Bobby than anyone (at this point I think even Buck, for while Buck knows Eddie inside and out, Eddie-as far as we know-has only ever cried in front of Bobby. That's HUGE for him). Eddie looks up to Bobby, Bobby understands Eddie in a way I'm not sure anyone else does. They trust each other. So to have Eddie, who is not only usually so in control, but who is also the last person in the world to use people's failings against them, who we have never EVER seen speak with such intent to wound before, say THAT to Bobby. I was shocked. Its so terrible, not only because it must have hurt Bobby, which is something Eddie in a better place would never want to do, but also because it shows just how bad things are for Eddie. Like we knew they were bad. But this? Devastating.

Honestly I loved this episode. I thought it was a fantastic start to the back half of the season and I have hight hopes that all the threads left dangling from 5a are going to lead us somewhere extraordinary in 5b. Truly I feel like this could be the best work the show has ever done. We'll see I guess.

Have your own thoughts? Come yell at me about them! I'm going to be thinking of nothing else for days. Haha!

[flauntpage]

Royal Rumble 2018 Was WWE at its Best

The best way to watch WWE is to recognize that there are actually three WWEs. There’s the television WWE, which consistently sucks and, outside maybe two or three nights a year, is insistent on nothing of import happening. There’s the Fall doldrums WWE, a long grey expanse from just after SummerSlam until January when the pay-per-views are passable but not great, in thrall to a paralytic fear of anything interesting happening which might upset the balance going into Wrestlemania season.

Then there’s the third WWE, the good WWE. From Royal Rumble to SummerSlam, with Wrestlemania as a midpoint, the pay-per-views are usually good to great. The booking can be down—this is WWE, after all—but it’s a fun company to watch, so long as you stick to the pay-per-views.

Sunday’s Royal Rumble was the good WWE in full pomp. Its two Royal Rumble matches (the traditional men’s match and the very first women’s) were near perfectly booked, never seemed to drag, and reminded everyone both of what a roster as talented and large as WWE’s can do and brought up questions about why they just won’t goddamned do it all the time.

Most Rumble matches work with a splash of humor, and the men’s was no different. The early highlight was Heath Slater lying prone on the floor outside the ring, knocked out on the walkway by an enraged Baron Corbin, only for everyone to walk by and get in a shot or two to keep him down. That was until Sheamus, in an act of hubris, threw Slater in, only to be immediately dumped out by the perennial jobber. It was perfect, both funny and roundabout revenge for Sheamus’s squash of the white hot heel Daniel Bryan several years ago, and I actually shrieked in an alarmingly high-pitched fashion when it happened.

Comedy wrestling gets a bad rap as being too gimmicky or diluting the melodrama the form is ideally capable of, but Royal Rumbles are long and the willingness to punctuate them with moments of silliness and irony shows strength, not weakness. WWE isn’t, and shouldn’t be, all comedy wrestling, but if you’re working with that much time and that many people, smoothing the edges is strong booking, not weak.

That held true throughout. Everything was booked more or less perfectly, the best Rumble match in over a decade and maybe one of the best five or six ever. Everything just clicked in that almost ephemeral, weightless way good wrestling does. Elias is in the ring starting a song and he tells us that the clock won’t start until he’s finished? That doesn’t make sense, but the timing of the gimmick and pacing of its execution made it feel right. Baron Corbin isn’t going to set the world on fire, but his post-elimination outburst knocking out several wrestlers felt right. The boos raining down on Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt for eliminating Rusev felt right.

Nothing felt more right in terms of timing and execution than Shinsuke Nakamura’s win. It was a slow build, and it would have been fair to worry that WWE’s handling of Nakamura (leashing him to some of the worst signature taunts in the promotion) would make his win feel unsatisfying. But that was not the case. Instead, you could feel him growing into his role as eventual winner, the crowd and wrestler establishing a symbiotic relationship as the end, punctuated by Nakamura delivering the best Kinshasa knee since he left NXT to Roman Reigns, rolled around. For the first time since his call up, Nakamura felt like something more than what we’ve been given so far. I remain a skeptic, but this is the test: if the knock on him is that he only shows up for big matches (and fair play to him, he’s earned that right and getting money from the McMahons while going half-speed is okay in my book), it’s never getting bigger than a Wrestlemania title match against AJ Styles. And I am, at the least, less skeptical than I was before he shone at the Royal Rumble.

Again, equal credit is due the much-maligned booking team. The final six faced off in groups of three—Reigns, Nakamura, and Finn Balor squaring off against John Cena, Randy Orton, and a returning (and cut) Rey Mysterio. The generational warfare in the face-off was fully contrived; Nakamura and Balor are almost as old as their opposites, while Reigns is heading toward his mid-30s at light speed. The contrivance didn’t matter. It was pure symbolism of the best sort, less about generation than about where the younger men came from. New Japan. NXT. Small arenas and MMA matches.

The generation gap was present in the equally good inaugural women’s Royal Rumble, albeit for different reasons. The women’s match was more reliant on returning stars from the past, simply because the roster isn’t as large as the men’s. 30 people is a lot, and there’s also undoubtedly a baseline pop you want to maintain for each entrance, something which the lesser lights of a roster can’t always muster (see Titus O’Neil’s entrance in the men’s Rumble).

This created a trap. There was no way that the returnees weren’t going to eliminate some of the current stars, and that’s what happened. In any other year, this would grate, and probably will if the same happens in future women’s Rumbles.

In this one, though, it felt alright. WWE created its past and it was ugly. The returnees, from Lita to Trish Stratus to Molly Holly to every single one of them, were treated figuratively and literally like dogs. No amount of purging the references to the Attitude Era’s treatment of women and no amount of Stephanie McMahon’s self-aggrandizement will alter that. Colette Arrand’s thoughts on this are worth reading and appreciating.

But history did happen and it did suck. One of the byproducts of that is that these women, nearly all of whom are now in their 40s, never got the chance to take part in something like this. It would’ve been unthinkable for WWE’s corporate climate at the time to move from pudding matches and teased nudity to truly treating them as equal competitors (and, for what it’s worth, they still aren’t quite there, given that Brie Bella and Lana were introduced via their relation to their wrestling husbands).

Treating the women’s Rumble as a self-contained entity is tough, but there was a remarkable ease and joy to the returnees’ actions in the ring. This was typified by Stratus and Mickie James facing off towards the end. Look at the sheer, unworked happiness on their faces, not just as old foes and friends coming together after ten years, but at working a Royal Rumble together.

In the end, Asuka won, which was as correct a call as Nakamura winning the men’s match. She remained a buzzsaw throughout, and the earlier worries over her main roster debut have faded. Asuka has steadily, consistently been the monster we all hoped for and WWE needed. She, more than anyone else, has the ineffable “it"—the kind of thing that doesn’t require being the biggest or strongest, but which takes a wrestler up another level. The Rumble cemented that. The crowd was on fire every time she had her moments with another wrestler.

The end of the pay-per-view struck a slightly off-key note in an otherwise nearly perfect show (nearly perfect because the matches outside the Rumbles were merely fine, but that is exactly the level they should’ve been given how exhaustingly good the main events were). Ronda Rousey, of course, came out in Roddy Piper’s jacket. She inserted herself into Asuka’s moment, a fact which seemed to draw everything from nervousness to outright rage, judging from internet reaction.

It’s currently tough to parse. The charitable view, and it’s the one I’m currently holding, is that the manner of her arrival points to something interesting on the horizon. She extended a hand to Asuka, signalling that she’ll wait for the Rumble winner to choose who she wants to face at Wrestlemania, leaving Rousey with the other. Asuka slapped her hand away, a signal in turn that Asuka isn’t sharing the glory.

The problem is that the execution was ever so slightly off. It became immediately clear that Rousey isn’t ready to work a crowd. Almost immediately upon entering the ring, without waiting for the people chanting her name to reach a crescendo, she pointed awkwardly at the WrestleMania sign. The timing of it, the single most important skill in wrestling, was all off. Then she mutely pointed again as proceedings ended.

Rousey comes with a host of baggage, though it’s not to diminish this fact to point to the awful people WWE regularly does business with. An internal negotiation takes place every time we watch wrestling, old or new, no matter the promotion. It’s justifiable if Rousey’s transphobia and Sandy Hook trutherism are where you bail, just as it would be if Warrior’s return or Mike Tyson’s 1998 arrival as a recently convicted and released rapist was.

Setting all of that aside, the point was so immediately weird and robotic, so out of sync with the rhythm of the crowd and moment, that even though it was small, it immediately felt like the most basic pro wrestling skills were missing. That’s a problem in the mechanical sense for WWE. She’s going to make them a lot of money, and she’ll make money in return. But it’s worth recalling Ken Shamrock, her most immediate antecedent. He had all the physical skills and the intimidation factor, but he never picked up mic skills or the crowd empathy needed to move with the crowd’s swells and eddies, and it was quickly apparent with him, too.

This was not Rousey’s moment, however. This was Asuka’s and Nakamura’s. For once, the fans got exactly what they wanted and the show was wonderful because of it. So much of this was unthinkable 20 years ago, from a legit women’s Royal Rumble to two top Japanese challengers who aren’t reduced to caricature. Royal Rumble 2018 was historic, fun, and among the very best of its kind.

Royal Rumble 2018 Was WWE at its Best published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/