#also henren is RIGHT fucking there

[tripleaxeldiaz]

in the span of like 5.5 seasons we’ve gone from “this show is queerbaiting because two dudes are very best friends and spend a lot of time together but they aren’t kissing” to “this show is queerbaiting because the bisexual character who always has been and always will be bi is no longer dating a man” and i’m just like…are people getting a different edit of the show than i am

[c0rvidfagg0try]

The 9-1-1 fandom is one of the most annoying fandoms ive been in can we STOP obsessing over Buddie PLEASE, like i get it i see it too, i sorta ship it, ive read a lot of fanfic, BUT theres also Henren, Bathena, MADNEY (biased on them)!!!

Also Buck and Eddie have relationships w/ the rest of the crew that r so important and so overlooked. Buck and Hen r literally siblings!! Eddie and Hen is so underexplored imo!!! Buck and Chim r also siblings!!! Bobby is literally Buck’s dad! Eddie and the dispatch team!!!! BUCK AND MADDIE‼️‼️‼️

The fandom is so focused on the one mlm ship thats not even canon and im just,,, im so over it. Esp w/ Buck being confirmed bi and everyone being like ‘why is everyone jumping ship Tommy’s only gonna be here for a little bit 😡😡😡’ like??? Theyre cute??? Its canon??? Ppl can multi-ship. Calm down‼️ Get over urself‼️‼️‼️

[lesbianrobin]

em what would YOU vote for on ur buck horrors poll - chefbuck

HI ANGEL @chefbuck THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!

ok so personally i voted anthrax i just think it would be fun to stick him in a plastic decontamination tent and hose him down until he's sopping wet and pathetic while eddie gazes at him with big sad eyes. and i voted it bc i feared nobody else would vote anthrax and i Needed anthrax to have Some votes. but i Actually want captured by a serial killer à la criminal minds So bad.

take my hand come along with me share my vision.

"but em," you cry, "they already did that with hen and chimney!" first of all they have already done almost everything okay we can have a few repeats. bobby's home burnt down literally twice. second of all i don't want something connected to the 118 alright i don't even want athena on the case. this is not an angel of death this is some classic good old-fashioned california rando serial killing.

episode one: buzzkill. i want everything to be normal like no hints to a serial killer at all besides MAYBE a tv news report in the background. there's some other shit happening like they're dealing with the beemergencies and we the audience think ok That is the big plot happening rn. and then toward the end of the episode buck goes for a jog. and like the beautiful young woman in any given criminal minds episode he happens to jog past a man with an injured dog or a flat tire and buck stops to help because he's buck. of Course he stops to help. and the guy blitzes him and the screen goes black and BAM end of the episode.

and then in the next episode we open on some other character doing totally unrelated shit maybe the henren/mara/madney plot? and we get like five-ten minutes in to the episode before anybody references buck. maybe he's late to work or maybe he's not answering his phone. that's weird but OOPS the alarm is going off no time to check in on him right now! gerrard is unfortunately captain so they can't even like convince him to let them swing by buck's loft even when they drive right down his street on their way back from a call. so the 118 is running all over los angeles dealing with nonstop calls while they Also try to call buck and don't get any response. so eventually they ask somebody (bobby, maddie, whoever's not Busy) to go by the loft and see if he's alright.

and i want the 118 to respond to a fire in an abandoned building as their buck correspondent is on their way to the apartment. when they put out the fire athena is there and reveals that they think this fire was set by a killer to try and destroy evidence because they found a body inside and this fits a pattern that's been developing lately. BAM they get the call that buck's apartment is empty.

i will stop giving the play-by-play now but i just think it would be so fucking sick if they Refused to show us buck for almost the entire episode... perhaps athena tells us that this killer has a Type that sounds familiar... and i want the 118 + maddie absolutely spiraling telling themselves ok there's gotta be Some other explanation this would be insane it would be Insane. maybe this causes some tension in the group (eddie is Going Fucking Insane). and then they can get a lead near the end of the episode and we see buck very briefly like tied up or in a saw trap or whatever the hell i'm not picky we just need to see him suffering perhaps with a brief villain monologue from his captor. and THEN in episode three: no place like home they can rescue him and then he's dealing with that trauma throughout 8a. i think that could be fun and also serve as both motivation for canon buddie And like some sort of obstacle for them to deal with together that doesn't involve eddie in the same old torment nexus.

so yeah <3 thank u for asking <3

[realchemistry]

"Masks" - A few things about tonight's episode and what's ahead

~9-1-1 spoilers ahead~

Let me get this out of the way first: Eddie sucking on that ring pop... I never understood the "don't ask me the color of anything" and "babygirl" concepts more than I did then. Also: both Buck and Eddie having the same Christmas picture of them with Chris and abuela? I'm fine. The ending montage with Eddie being alone looking at his pic from Halloween with Chris... no, I'm really, I'm okay.

The BuckandEddie of it all:

It's interesting that they kept pairing Eddie up with other members of the team during calls but Eddie was all over Buck still. Like... they are partners, and they continue to be like at the pumpkin call (LUBE? PLEASE, I AM BEGGING), but Eddie was with Buck at the hospital (both for Buck and Denny) and at Buck's loft and at the station too.

Buck and Eddie are always entangled in each other's business but this season's been like a whole other level. The framing, the dialogue, everything about them is pointed as fuck and it's no coincidence (the lube, I can't get over it!!!), of that I'm sure.

This episode, which had a lot of Buck and T, had a ton of Eddie in between them which allowed us to see their dynamic and it was a sight. We had Eddie in the hospital room, by Buck's bedside, asking the doctor questions, while T was on the other side of the door, observing. Eddie was there to tend to Buck's boils and reassure him it'd be fine and even bet and shake on it to try and keep Buck from spiraling while T was just... there. Eddie was apparently distracted on his phone, sucking on a freaking ring lollipop (looking at Buck like that!!!!!) but he was actually well in tune with Buck and what he was doing and Buck protested his boyfriend's claims that he had been picking on his boils but he didn't argue with Eddie about it at all.

So yeah, Buck has a boyfriend that could fit right in, being a firefighter and getting more into the 118's business and sharing time with Buck and his BFF in the whole wide world. This episode showed in part how T didn't fit exactly right (why were they not sleeping on the bed, I'm so confused...), how Buck realized that and sent him a message that he wanted him to. And I think they will make it past the next episode, actually, because I have a feeling that if tptb are going where we all think/want them to go with Eddie, they might want to establish that on its own.

And they would also want to do what Oliver said and take it slow on the Buddie front, and I know it's been slow enough, but Oliver and Ryan have alluded to wanting the story to develop naturally and to not have them be bi/gay and into each other because of the message that could send. I have a feeling that means reaching Buddie after both have time to go through self-realizations away from each other and having Buck be in a relationship actually serves that scenario better. At least for a little while, then they can let the pining begin.

Some other things:

The thing about this show that I both adore and dislike is that I know every main is gonna be okay (there was only ever one exception to this) and they're not going to kill one of their children either. So I simply couldn't get into the mindset of feeling sad over Denny dying because I knew he wasn't going to.

I love that we got more HenRen and I wish next time Karen and Eddie share a scene, it'll be a less tragic one. I love Denny so much, the actor is so good and such a cutie, I'm glad he got to shine. It's also funny that once you get old enough in the show, you're fair game to be in harm's way. Rite of passage.

Chim was so scary and cute and great as well. I just think Kenny's so good at everything and the show sometimes failed to properly take advantage of his skills so I'm glad they're finally getting to showcase his range fully and all at once.

Peter was also having the time of his life being a carefree version of Bobby, and I'm here for it.

Josh's whole costume being Eddie's mustache. Plus Buck also having one. Ryan, the man that you are.

Maddie, once again, going for the kitty ears.

The teacher... I know her pain.

About the next episode ~more spoilers~:

They really are having an "Eddie Begins" type of emergency on an episode called "Confessions" which will focus on Eddie. I'm sure it's gonna be just fine. I'm sure nothing major will happen with my favorite character in the world, Eddie Díaz. I'm sure.

[outrunningthedark]

I have no idea if it was my madney anon you responded to but considering how this season have turned out, I'm expecting to be angered by their storyline too. They've fumbled everything else, so why not turn chimney into maddie's accessory for some extra bland spice?

Truly, we can talk about underdeveloped love interests all day long, but uh, we also need to start having a real conversation about whatever the fuck this show has been doing with Madney since season 4. Yes, Jennifer got pregnant. Yes, she had the right to go on maternity leave. And the solution was to...write off her love interest??? And then joke on screen about how the 118 fell apart without him??? (I'm sorry, I'll never forget this fandom hand-waving Kenny's absence for "the narrative" like that wasn't some of the most disrespectful shit we've seen, lmao. But this fandom is also weird about acknowledging JLH's real life impacting another actor's job, so...) And with JLH's time on set being different from Kenny's (much less), they ofc prioritize Maddie's dispatch scenes, which then leaves her MIA in moments you would THINK she'd be present for? Dispatch fire? Henren vow renewal? Chim stuck in the car with the drunk driver? (Which she literally would have filmed a reaction to from the dispatch center, lol lol) It is just so BIZARRE to see two main characters in a relationship and STILL feel like they're not even there sometimes??? I'll tack this on because I think it's relevant: As much as we love the firefam aspect of the show, it's also sort of been the downfall? We get attached to these personal relationships, we expect to see these little moments in between chaotic calls. But when you put as much focus on private lives as you do the professional side...after a while it becomes harder to come up with ideas for what those pairings should go through, what will bring the drama. So what does Tim do? Revisit what he knows. Characters can't grow when you don't have any ideas for what growth actually looks like.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

(Please don't apologize. You may call it pessimism but I see it as realism and I truly appreciate it. I've seen people SO excited to see the cast back this week and all the excitement about the new season, optimism for canon buddie, what hair/tattoos/wardrobe might look like. And I feel bad because I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But I cannot be bothered about whether Oliver will keep his fluffy hair or have any new tattoos or Ryan's mustache because I don't want another season of boring, repetitious storylines that don't do anything to the characters, especially those of color (thinking of the cartel and Mara right now)

I'm hopeful that because season 8 will be a full 18 episodes things won't have to be as rushed or thrown together at the last minute as season 7. But yeah, please don't apologize for your opinions because you're not the only one thinking similar thoughts <3)

im moreso apologetic because i dont WANT to be a debbie downer but its like…. ive been burned by shows (this one included) far too many times to be super optimistic and excited over things that could very potentially not be good for us… like i’ve said, most of the people i know with that mustache are awful human beings and when you add in the fact that gerrard also has a mustache like that AND that tim has been showing so little care for eddie as a character/care for poc characters as a whole it doesn’t seem far fetched to me that tim could very easily commit one of the most egregious acts of character death by veering eddie so far off the natural path simply to create cheap drama

like im so glad we seem to be getting fluffy hair buck… unfortunately fluffy hair buck doesn’t negate the fact that he’s currently in a relationship with a racist and that they’re ignoring 6 years of subtext built between he and eddie to try and further reiterate their “totally platonic dude bro” relationship, on top of giving eddie a look that exudes macho straight republican man…

(and don’t get me started on the fucking cartel plot or the mara plot bc what the actual fuck is wrong with tim minear 💀💀)

i just want them to stop dragging their feet on buddie while seemingly writing everything else as this whirlwind of convoluted messy nonsense drama plots and actually decided if they’re gonna commit to just ship/queerbaiting or to the subtext and plot theyve infused into the story since eddie’s literal first episode.

like personal feelings aside for the mustache, i think we’re giving the writers too much faith in portrayal of queer characters to actually say that it’s eddie “embracing queer culture” simply bc it looks like eddie mercury… we’re talking about the same writers who gave the main wlw couple a cheating plotline, have boiled down buck’s sexuality to just sex, and have relied on playing into stereotypes of mlm/wlw side characters rather thsn actually putting time and thought into it… like it’d be one thing to say “it’s a nod to freddie mercury” if the show has actually shown any kind of care beyond using sexuality plotlines for cheap drama (henren) but the reality is that they haven’t shown us that we can trust them in that way yet.

and who knows maybe it IS a nod to freddie mercury, but we don’t know for sure and im not going to set myself uo to be disappointed yet again when its just as likely to be s nod to them making eddie an antagonistic character with gerrard… yeah, that plot wouldn’t make sense for eddie as a character but neither did the vertigo plot so who’s to say tim wouldn’t go for it?

at the end of the day, i am just not looking forward to s8. nothing yet has given me any inclination to actually watch it until we are shown that they are making strides to actually tell a meaningful story that doesn’t rely on minorities for tokenism plots or putting them through needless pain again. yes this show is a drama, but there are other ways you can create drama (hell it’s a show about first responders) than putting poc characters through the fucking wringer time and time again, profiting off their pain, while simultaneously telling lowkey racist stories that involve the fucking cartel coming out of nowhere to burn down a LA fire captain’s house???

so yeah, i’m just not feeling great about it. i also don’t wanna rain on anyone’s parade but i don’t wanna get my own hopes up when i would just be setting myself up to be let down yet again by these writers

[taylorkellysburneraccount]

Y'all are weird as fuck about Tommy Kinard

the reason this "oh LFJ/Tommy are RACIST and that's why we hate him" bullshit never worked is because...YOU LOT ARE RACIST.

You Anti-Bucktommies are hypocritical homophobes who reduce all the female characters into Buck's caretakers (Henren, Athena, Maddie) well past the age where he needs them to comfort him at every minor convenience, or evil harpies trying to destroy your gay ship(Ana and Taylor). What is this, the supernatural fandom? You reduced Chimney into "Maddie's husband that agrees with his wife's buddie opinions". You babied Chris in the most ableist way possible, removing his agency into a buddie matchmaker with no opinions of his own other than "Dad and Buck should get together, also I suddenly lost all of my trauma and fears based around the fact that everyone who has ever loved me and my dad have left us behind".

I didn't forget how you all reacted to people defending Lou from your harassment. You lot didn't accuse the bucktommies of not protecting the female actresses, you tried to argue that its only fair to treat Lou like them! You admitted to treating real life women like shit! You admitted to being terrible people, and made excuses for your behavior! Forget about Tommy's apologies, where are YOURS?

Maybe you hate Tommy because he didn't need to lay on his knees for forgiveness, because he actually earned it by changing his behavior without making it a big deal that the story had to stop in its tracks to spotlight to make sure the white tears were acknowledged. You need to pretend that Hen and Chimney hate him, because you feel robbed of having a get out of jail free card for your own rancid past (and present) behaviors.

Dear Christ, Gay Men pointed out how bummy sounded like you combined "bummer" (a british slur) with Tommy's(a gay character) name, and you lot DOUBLED DOWN. You have no moral high ground, you are in the trenches with the worst bucktommies. YOU sold your morals to win a fucking ship war.

I already dealt with this in HP, SPN, Teen Wolf, Voltron - every shitty fandom that thought they couldn't be homophobic or sexist because they thought shipping a gay pairing they butcher in their mediocre fics and meta made them pioneers of gay rights.

No, you just ruined the reputation of one of the fandom's best ships by being bigoted assholes.

[bibellebibuck]

Finale Thoughts

This is a long ramble that I’ve attempted to categorise and form into something coherent - but bear with me if there’s any mistakes, I’m working rn and didn’t have time to proofread🙏🏻

HENREN & MADNEY

I adore Madney and how inherently GOOD they are all the damn time. My favourite straights ever.

I know there’s differing opinions on this plot line but honestly I am glad that Madney are fostering Mara, for Maras sake. It’s a safe space her for where she’ll be loved and can keep in contact with Henren.

I do agree, though, that the constant struggles they put Henren through as they try to build their family is getting old and tired now, let them off the struggle bus, it’s time for a breather.

It’s a testament to how rushed this episode was that we didn’t even SEE the councilwoman at all. She just drops this bomb on the Henren family last episode and then disappears? No follow up? Okay.

My thoughts/hopes on these guys for S8 are; Madney will be left as they are once the Mara storyline is resolved (which I think won’t take long after the whole Gerrard situation is sorted) as they’ve had a lot going on with their wedding etc. I think they’ll be put aside for a while while other characters stories are expanded this season. I think it’s a possibility we’ll get another Buckley-Han baby after they see the sibling dynamic between Mara and Jee. Afterall, it was Maddie who commented on Denny and Mara “getting along so well” “like siblings”.

Henren specifically id like to see more of, I want Karen and DENNY! to have more screentime. Karen’s job is fucking interesting, SHOW US MORE SOMEHOW!! And Denny, what’s going on with his relationship with his dad now? This kids a great actor, give him a little more screen time.

BATHENA & AMIR

Now, Athena was bad ASS this episode. I love BAMF Athena with all my heart, that’s literally my mother. Her talk with Amir was emotional and I think well written (one of the few well written moments in this episode..) but it all went downhill from there. Amir’s rescue was rushed as fuck, I wasn’t tense at all, Athena basically showed up, burnt the place down and sauntered out with Amir like it was nothing. Ofc my girl is capable of this no problem… but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had more of a fight scene, maybe Amir being a little more proactive, then show them struggling to get out of the fire? Idk. Just SOMETHING to expand on the scene a little. I did like “I’m Mrs Bobby Nash” though, hell yeah you are <3

Oh also Yay! May sighted!! Love my girl, wanna see more of her in S8 I miss her sooo much :(

For S8, I think Bathenas marriage issues should be gently explored a little more, i feel this plot line wasn’t properly resolved during the cruise eps? Idk maybe I’m just a nervous child of divorce but I’d like to see some of their trust issues put to rest. I mean, just an episode ago Athena was terrified Bobby was going to off himself, and Bobby literally retired without telling her. It’s not healthy, I wanna see them work it out and get stronger together. I don’t want more conflict between them to cause this though, maybe they just start up a conversation when things have calmed down and agree to talk it out or go to couples therapy or something. Leaving them where they are right now will feel like a dropped plot line.

I want to see more of Amir but I sincerely doubt we will, I have a feeling he won’t even be seen in S8 at all to be honest. It’s a shame, he’s an interesting character that I’d totally love the see explored more. Someone suggested he could be a connection opportunity for the hospital? I like that. Tim, take notes !!

I also want them to stop murdering Angela Bassets hair. Let her slay, please.

BUDDIE

I wish I had more to say here, but sadly… I don’t. My heart is telling me we’ve been gently queer baited once again, but I think that’s just old scars hurting (Destiel and johnlock survivor ✊🏻), my head is telling me a lot of the hype was stirred up by us as fans giving journalists and actors comments a little too much credit.

This isn’t to say I don’t think Buddie is happening, i still have my naive little belief that if WILL be canon eventually. They’re just going to drag it out as long as possible for the drama and possibly to appease Those fans, and the older viewer base who won’t be pleased by buddie canon.

I was very disappointed by the scene after Chris left, where Buck just put his hand on Eddies shoulder. We can say all we like that the shoulder touch is Their Thing™️ but in that situation a hug was absolutely goddamn necessary. Idc about shipping, that man needed a hug from his best friend in that moment. I think Buck needed it too. They just said goodbye to their son for an indefinite amount of time ffs why are we standing here like absolute mugs.

S8 - I want gay Eddie this season. I want it.

I want gay Eddie and then I want them both to be single for a while and Then I want buddie. If they can fit this into season 8 while keeping a nice steady pace (I have little faith after this insanely rushed finale, but let’s give them the benefit of the short season doubt) then I want Buddie feelings realisation towards the end of S8.. possibly setting up canon for S9 or even ending S8 with canon and a cliffhanger.. maybe a good one this time though!

As much as I’d like to see Buck supporting Eddie as he navigates life without Christopher, I don’t think we’ll get many scenes between them at first. I think this is where Ryan is talking about Eddies isolation. He’s going to go to work, be with his family, then go home and be without his family, and it’s at this time that he’s going to be working on himself. To get better for Chris, and for his own mental health. This journey is his alone, and I think it (although a little painful) makes sense that Buck isn’t involved in this too much.

EDDIE & CHRIS

To sum it up.. OUCH!

Eddie is an amazing father, and if you think otherwise just block me. He made a mistake with Kim, that does not make him a bad father. Him respecting Christopher’s space and choices in this ep was soooo healing and lovely to see, he called Buck because he knows Chris trusts and loves him and needed somebody to talk to, and knew he wasn’t the person for that right now.

I’ve seen some people bothered about how it’s unrealistic for the Diaz parents to have gotten to eddies so fast after the incident. To this I say, how are you not used to 911s complete disregard for timelines/timeline realism at this point? Just let it happen and move on, like it’s a fantasy land where time isn’t real. Now, I’m not American so maybe I don’t get the extent of the distance between LA/Texas - but still, I enjoy the show more I think, because I don’t overanalyse the timeline 😅

What I DO find unrealistic is that Chris would call his grandparents and not Buck. I’m not looking at this through shipping lenses either, I’m saying that when Eddie had his breakdown, Chris’s first instinct was to call Buck. When Chris was upset and scared at the Ana situation, he went straight to Buck. And now this, he doesn’t talk to Buck at all before calling his grandparents?

It makes sense that he wanted to go to Texas as if he stayed with Buck he wouldn’t really be getting much space from his dad, and maybe he’d be thinking that Buck/Eddie would be on his case trying to force forgiveness on him while he’s there. But I think he first instinct would still have been to Call Buck to discuss the situation first, to confide in him, ask for help. Then he’d call his grandparents.

For S8 - I hate to be a downer but I don’t think we’ll see Chris this season. At LEAST the entirely of 8a, anyways.

As I mentioned earlier, I think this season will show Eddie growing and healing from this situation and becoming the person he wants to be, for himself and for Chris.

I think there is a lot of potential for us to finally get some Eddie & Maddie scenes, she could open a conversation with Eddie about her own struggles with feeling like an unfit parent for Jee - maybe Buck initiates this conversation, asking Maddie to speak to him?

I hope he will finally be able to put his insecurities about his parenting aside and stop trying to find Chris a mother figure, and accept that they’re a fine (wonderful, even) family unit as they are.

BUMMY / BT

Ooooohhh lord let’s get into it then.

It’s no secret that I hate this relationship. I do NOT hate it because I am a Buddie shipper, or because I’m homophobic (the fact that I have to clarify this is stupid, but the anon hate in my inbox means it’s necessary). When BiBuck became canon, I was OVERJOYED! I was excited to see Buck exploring his identity and enjoying a relationship with a new partner (I did want him to be single for a while originally, but it wasn’t a big deal, the Natalia relationship was barely a relationship anyways).

I initially had a bit of an ick from the way Tk kissed Buck to ~shut him up~ but I’m a bit of a hypocrite here because I don’t entirely hate this trope usually, but only when it’s between two well established characters who know each other well. At this point, Tk is still new to Buck so it did bother me a little. But, we move.

Then… the first date. I fucking hated this date, Tk almost outed Buck and then left him on the pavement like an a class ASS. I lost all interest in this relationship at this exact moment.

In this episode, on this date, we see Buck opening up about his relationship with Bobby as a father figure (WIN!! Let’s appreciate our small victories!!). Tk then gives us “but your fathers alive” which ?? What’s your point?? Why aren’t you comforting your partner right now?

And shared his own experience with having a shitty dad. We then get the daddy issues joke.

To detour for a moment; we all remember when Buck went to therapy and opened up about his sex addiction, right? How he was being vulnerable about his trauma/mental health, to the point that he was in actual tears… and then his therapist came onto him and slept with him. The show brushes this under the rug and even later makes a joke about it. We’ve all expressed our distaste for this in the past and rightly so. Aside from how morally wrong it was, it was also incredibly distasteful in a very real way.

We’re given a very close repeat of this situation in the finale. Tommy sexualising Bucks trauma is not only unfair on bucks character, but also a shitty slap in the face to real people in the real world too. How many times have we been sexualised for having “daddy issues”? The answer is a lot. This scene was Downright Offensive.

It’s so disappointing because in some ways this show is so progressive, and has handled some sensitive topics in such a great way in the past. But it’s really fumbled the bag with this one.

A large and hopeful part of me thinks all these tense/awkward/unhappy/unsatisfying BT scenes are a setup for BT bones in S8. If they wanted us to like Tk and be invested in this relationship, SURELY they’d make him more likeable & more supportive of Buck?

The awfulness of his character and the stilted scenes between him and Buck do feel intentional. And I reaaallly hope this is the case.

S8 - preferably, BT Bones off screen before the season even begins, Natalia style.

More likely, BT bones within 8a, due to Gerard’s return and the tension this will cause between him and Tk.

Most likely, BT bones by the end of 8b. I truly truly truly, with all my heart and head and hands, do not believe BT is surviving to season 9.

BUCK

just wanted to put in a little paragraph here about Buck specially, piggybacking off of what I’ve said about his trauma being sexualised etc.

They have consistently missed opportunities to flesh out Bucks trauma, and he has MANY to choose from. If they continue to ignore this aspect of Buck, it will be a great disservice to his character. I know we all joke about wanting Buck to go through more shit situations for the angst, and how we want him to have a big breakdown at some point but honestly - it really is overdue. I don’t just want him to suffer for funsies, I want his character to make sense, I want him to continue to be massively relatable, I want him to address his trauma and work through it and move on etc. etc. etc.

Here’s hoping we get the single Eddie and Buck arcs in S8/maybe 9 and both of them get therapy, properly.

RAVI

My boooyyy!!! The framing of that last shot, I do reckon Ravi will main soon. They didn’t drop his insane childhood lore, and built on him as a character (while Chim was at the academy with him) for no reason.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing him get a lot more screentime in S8. It’s what the people want!!!!!!

GERRARD

Why did they act like this was such a major twist?? Like why else would they have shown him last episode..

I don’t really understand how he can have been made captain of the same firehouse he was removed from for bullying a crew that is literally still there.. but for the plot I guess we’ll go with it!

I look forward to him finally getting his comeuppance in season 8, but the asshole he’s going to be to everyone sounds less fun.

Let’s look at what we might have in store, hm?

-Racist to Chim, Hen and now probably Ravi too.

-Homophobic to Buck.

-If Bobby is around, no doubt he’ll be demeaning to him.

-And, i fear, if he somehow knows about Eddies current situation, will he make snide remarks about him as a father? Idk, I wouldn’t put anything past the bastard.

I’d really like to see the team take a stand against him though, I know he’s their captain for now and they will, to an extent, respect him (or at least do as he says). But it would be nice to see some firefam crew solidarity the face of his bigotry and bullying. It won’t be realistic if any of them just stand by and listen/watch while he makes shitty racism/homophobic jokes to their family.

Going to be a fun (🫠) few episodes!

FINAL THOUGHTS

As an episode, this wasn’t horrendous, but certainly not great. As a finale, it was terrible. Underwhelming sums it up, disappointing emphasises it nicely.

I look forward to getting back to a full length season that has hopefully will be written a little more in advance than this one was. Let’s be optimistic, or this hiatus won’t be too enjoyable.

Can’t wait to spend the next few months binging Buddie fics and reading all your theories!! And don’t forget we get S8 BTS pics in just a few weeks 😭🫶🏻

Feel free to send me any asks if there’s something I’ve forgotten to mention that you’d like my thoughts on - or if you have any theories etc. I love to get asks from your guys 💛

[jackwhiteprophetic]

okayokayokay you asked for asks so i'm asking (i'm hoping these aren't things you've already answered, and for like a dissertation back because i love reading all your thoughts)

i think s7 really suffered from inconsistent writing (and a plot that wasn't cohesive at all, esp because it's an ensemble cast) do you think s8 will do better? i'm really hoping it does.

i miss shenanigans. like s7 definitely had some but i think the season was so short and a little all over the place, i feel like we deserve some hijinks (esp because of gerrard being back)

if you had like an ideal disaster arc that led to buddie getting together (i'm thinking shooting 2.0) what would it be?

also i love carlo's song

I LOVE ALL OF THIS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH. Unrelated but I'm currently feeling SO pissed off because I tried to long onto my childhood email account for nostalgia fun and THEY DELETED ALL MY OLD EMAILS.

I love to hear that people like to hear me talk, especially about 9-1-1, so THANK YOU ALSO!!! I really love your questions, and never worry about if I've answered them before because I will always answer again AND I actually have no memory of anything I say ever, so I will probably think it's a new thing every time.

Yesss so I think with S7 the writing was rushed and the filming was rushed due to strikes and stuff, and the new network, like it was all fresh and new and chaotic. They knew the things they had to hit (cruise ship, Madney wedding) and they hit those well. But in between it didn't flow very well, because they shifted things around. I think the issue started with the Bachelor (not party) crossover in 704. They had to swap over different storylines to make room, they ended up deleting an entire scene they had films and that we had stills for (which I think was someone up high somewhere which COULD HAVE BEEN A VERTIGO REFERENCE???). So yeah. Things went downhill a bit because while individual storylines were interesting, people were kept fairly separate and there weren't even really any team scenes where they all discussed things (because they weren't sure which order they'd do, they can't have Buck and Eddie slightly annoyed at each other in the background of a Hen and Chim scene bc they might swap the storylines between episodes the week before the episode airs).

And to make up for the lack of fluidity, they had the medal ceremony. Which just didn't really hit, maybe because we'd seen so many stills that we didn't get scenes of, and because yeah, it wasn't very fluid so bigger scenes felt kind of off? It must be so fucking hard for the actors to be making decisions for scenes when they don't know which order it's going to have been in.

I also think they slowed down after they found out about season 8, and they've already started writing, and I think the fact they have more time to film and more actual episodes will mean it's more fluid.

I do find it so interesting though how the fact that they only had 10 episodes and essentially still tried to fit 18 episodes of plot into that, tied with them knowing there may be new viewers and having to reintroduce characters and dynamics, they reduced relationships right down to what they are prioritising that the viewers see. So we have Bathena and Bobby grappling with his past, so the audience knows Bobby's past, and we have Hen and Chim and how their families are linked and their own family dynamics, we have Maddie's past and the Madney and Henren families, and we have Buck and Eddie, so massively and messily interlinked this season.

We barely saw Buck with Maddie, HIS OWN SISTER, this season, and their only scene just the two of them was not really about Maddie at all, it was about Buck and his life and also his relationship with Eddie. So yeah, they really really focused on highlighting the key dynamics they wanted us to see this season. Which is very interesting. I just wish they had done it more fluidly, but oh well.

I am really hopeful for next season and the writing, and I am also FUCKING STRESSED EVER SINCE TIM MINEAR SAID HE DOESN'T LIKE TO PLAN THINGS... WE CARE ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS A LOT... PLEASE PLAN THINGS!!!!!

But yeah, they never had time for filler episodes this season, the episodes where little happened (one could argue 705, 707, 709ish) weren't really filler episodes, they were more episodes that were having to tie up loose ends from the last and establish the next episode. If that makes sense? I also think they just decided this season that they didn't really have much time for firefighting? Which idk, it's disappointing, but yeah, they actually did not have much time and people remember the personal things more????

ANYWAY I AM SO HOPEFUL FOR NEXT SEASON AND I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE? but also I really enjoyed writing it anyway!!! FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ASKS ALWAYS!!! THEY BRING ME MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF JOY!!!! And yes Carlos song is fucking incredible I am so excited I am going back to the place I first heard it next week!!!!!

Have a beautiful day if possible, and I love you all and I think you are doing amazing!!!!!! REMEMBER TO EAT AND DRINK AND SLEEP AND SUCH!! and also do something fun, like if you have nice food then just eat it, you don't have to justify it to yourself I'm literally telling you to! Trust your instincts especially if they're positive ones!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just rambling now, my phone is on 5% we shall see how long it lasts!!

[lover-of-mine]

Lady Whistledown.. For me it's because it's the same every day. There is zero excitement/assumption now that they have anything they want happening. Basically Tommy as main, him at the premier/and heavily in BTS/promo, and a desperate need to have Buck and Eddie separated. I would say more a doom cloud now that we entered that fort night period of getting nothing to when the stuff really drops.

So if you enter Narnia. It's more like wouldn't it be great if we opened to a scene of Buck and Tommy in bed because Tim is punishing the BOBs for hacking Lous SM. Wouldn't it be great if Oliver and Lou do a magazine spread to promo 911. Wouldn't it be great if all the interviews are with Lou and Oliver and Ryan does his separately. Also if this isn't done they feel like they should address this with Tim because it's rewarding our bad behavior.

But stepping inside of Narnia... I mean, it's just again copium. You can easily tell they can't muster excitement and are more preparing for a loss. Sort of like deciding who to blame. On the flip side, if they get even a glance of Lou, prepare for them to imagine it's because BT are married or something. Also, their numbers and engagement have completely fallen. One of the bigger Buddie shippers who went there. Well, she seems to be straddling the line. But I noticed she completely cleaned her blog to make it more 70 Buddie and 30 BT content now. Also doesn't seem to be taking Tommy anons anymore. I think she only pops in because if BT has a bigger story she can pretend she never left. The jumping ship is definitely noticed

BTW personal opinion. I'm low key insulted they act like Henren do not exist for a magazine cover first. Just saying!!

Hello, baby 🩷

So they are being nasty as fuck because they are trying to find someone to blame? That tracks. I mean, chances of Lou being featured in the promotion of the season are very low so they're spiraling and reasonable people are not in the mood to pick fights anymore. It was bound to happen I guess. We should brace from crazy once shooting starts but I think everyone is ready for that one.

And honestly, you're so right, Henren is right there.

[gggansey]

good pookie i don’t want to share my tl with racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and sexist who supports a character with same behavior played by an actor who also is pro-life, pro-trump, zionist and fatphobic who took pics of women at the gym to make fun on them when he was a 30 YEARS OLD FULL ADULT WITH HIS FRONTAL LOB FULLY DEVELOPED

im so full of you and your excused that since he is a queer character he can be forgiven when he didn’t even apologized to hen and chim and you can’t even say that he did it because off screen scene are just fanon HEN DIDNT EVEN KNEW THAT TOENAIL WORKED FOR THE HELICOPTER DEPARTMENT SHE ASKED FOR LUCY and when she saw him she wasn’t happy

i don’t think that this are two people who are friends and talk to each other lmao the last time she saw him was at his party when he was leaving the 118 so fucking 5 years ago but some of you want to hc tortilla babysitting Henren child???? LMAO touching grass isn’t enough you need to touch a fucking forest

also the only scene they had together was cut from the episode because his interaction with Hen and Karen aren’t important, Tim could’ve shown us him apologizing or them interacting but they don’t give a fuck about all that because trolldemort is just a plot device

stop using the queer card to defend him im a queer woman but if tomorrow in acting like a shit human beings people have the right to drag me because being a gay man doesn’t mean that you are excused and can do anything

we are allowed in not liking tombstone because he is a shitty person and personally i don’t like this queer representation im allowed to feel lime this i don’t have to like everything just because it’s queer IT ISNT 2000 ANYMORE WHEN THERE WAS LITTLE REPRESENTATION AND EVEN SHITTY ITS 2024 I CAN FIND GOOD REPRESENTATION EVERYWHERE AND SAYING THAT THIS IS BAD AND YOU CANT CALL ME HOMOPHOBIC BECAUSE I DONT LIKE A RACIST

also liking him and justify him makes you a racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and sexist

making meme about eddie queerness being buried makes you an homophobe, saying that ratings will drop when eddie will coming out it’s homophobic

[eddiegettingshot]

with a show that goes out of its way to emphasize having a partner to sit with you in your mess and be there for you no matter what you’re struggling with it BOGGLES my mind that people think eddie has to be Cured tm to be deserving of a happy relationship let alone one with buck. thats so fucking weird

it kills me because THIS IS LITERALLY THE THESIS OF ROMANCE ON THIS SHOW!!! this is WHY all the beloved couples have made it together!!! what the fuck does anyone think is happening with bathena right now? she's in his mess with him! what the fuck is anyone talking about at this point, genuinely!! and what makes it even more ridiculous is that BUCK AND EDDIE LITERALLY ALREADY DO THIS FOR EACH OTHER, the way EVERY OTHER COUPLE DOES. it is actually a significant part of what establishes their partnership as being on the same level as bathena / henren / madney!! buck wouldn't think that eddie needs to go and Fix Himself or Heal because HE ALREADY UNDERSTANDS why eddie does what he does, he UNDERSTANDS why eddie hurt ana and why eddie hurt marisol and why eddie cheated and he UNDERSTANDS eddie's pain and trauma because he's been there! this whole time! this "eddie has stuff to figure out" idea is just some shit people made up because they cannot stand the idea that buck and eddie are willing to do the work together and they also can't stand the idea that they might hurt each other - specifically, that eddie might hurt buck, even though we ALSO just saw how buck ACTUALLY hurt eddie in 7x04! that doesn't matter though! maybe the ONLY thing that eddie actually needs to "figure out" for buck is not being straight. beyond that? they have it guys! they'll make it through!

[alloutofgoddesses]

- Okay I avoided everything but the stills for the most part so I am Nervous but going in as blind as I can

- The ads shut the fuck up ads the fire fam is waiting for me

- 14 MINUTES

- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

- this is rough and w just started

- OH BOY NOT THIS IMMEDIATELY

- I CANT EVEN BEGIN TO TRY TO EXPLAIN HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF ALL LF THIS

- EDDIE LOOKS SO BROKEN AND RYAN IS ACTING HIS GOFDAMN HEART OUT

- CHRIS CALLED THEM OH GOD

- AND THEN HEN

- HI MARA

- HATE THIS HATE THIS HATE THIS

- OOOOOOWWWWWWW

- Helena and Ramon I will get you

- AAAHHHHH

- I mean he’s not wrong but I still hate him

- SO BUCK KS SOMWHOW GOING FROM ALL LF THIS TO TMMY??? HOW

- Hi Maynard

- Oh god Athena can we just let other ppl do their jobs

- An “Ay, Dios” at least a apart of my prayer of “Eddie speaks more Spanish” has been answered

- Leave him ALONEEEEEEE ATHENA

- THAT MAN WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU OR BOBBY JUST LET HIM LIVE IDCIF HE COMMITTED THE ARSON LEAVE HIM BEEE

- Oh god

- Athena put the gun back oh my god

- Who is Polly Martin

- Why are you here though

- You could have like knocked

- Where’s Harry also

- MADDIE HAN!!!!!!!!!

- At least we have one person making it out of this episode mostly unbothered

- HE IS READING THE PRAYER BOOK I AM FUCKED UP

- Also Hen Chim bestieism

- Athena is DEFINITELY the danger right now

- Leave him ALONEEEEEE

- ATHENA OH MY GOD

- Yeah he’s a travel nurse

- BOBBY ISN’T DEAD YET

- Can we all do a quick prayer circle for the demise of this fuck ass bob

- THE CARTEL AGAIN

- OH MY GOD 9-1-1 WRITERS THE ICE YOU’RE STANDING ON JUST CRACKED

- CAN WE NOT WITH THE FUCKING MEXICAN CARTEL STORYLINE I HATED IT THE MOMENT I REALISED IT WAS HAPPENING AND I HATE IT NOW

- Oh boy oh boy

- This is the reason Eddie doesn’t speak more Spanish bc the writers room is writing this shit instead

- Oh my god and bringing Herman in

- Over it over it over it

- Why do ppl keep projecting themselves onto Amir

- I hope he makes it out of this and changes his name and moves to the middle of the woods

- Let’s all leave Amir alone okay

- Athena are you for real right now

- Okay Mrs. Bobby Nash does kind of eat but really

- Really

- Setting a fire when there are still people inside

- Really

- Hi 133

- Amir now is the time! Leave! Go into witness protection so ppl will leave you ALONE

- Yeah Bobby’s fine

- Buck wouldn’t go have a date if he wasn’t

- Hi Bobby welcome back your wife went a little insane

- Hi Karennnn

- Madney side eye

- Oooooo they’re so gonna foster Mara until Henren can take her back

- And Phillip SUCKS ASS

- Sure bud

- Why? Would you want? Girl what

- He’s so weird. I’m so sorry but he keeps being so weird

- Ughhhhhhh hate this hate this

- OH NOOOOOO IT’S HAPPENING

- NO IT’S HAPPENING

- CHRISTOPHER BABEY

- I totally get it but why THEM Chris

- Hi Harry!

- Hi May!

- Aaawwwwww

- BUCK AND CHRISSSSS

- The little head shake oh god

- That’s his SOUL I’m gonna lose it

- HE WONT LOOK AT HIM AAAAA OW

- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

- Augh

- OMG ITS HAPPENING

- IT’S HAPPENINGGGGGG

- Can this please be the start of MaddieKaren bestie time PLEASE

- HE CHOSE TO COME BACK

- AMIR CASEY

- I will accept it since he talked Bobby into not retiring

- HI RAVI

- BOOOOOOOOO GERRARD TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO

- oh god this is gonna be a MESS

- I hope it’s resolved by the end of the first episode of the season bc I don’t know how much Gerrard I can take

[chevelleneech]

‘bucktommy shippers are moving to ody3. awful news for the fandom when they decide avery’s getting in the way of their fated m/m ship’ …as if buddie shippers aren’t the ones who have displayed disgusting behaviour towards both buck and eddie’s past female love interests, not to mention the aggressiveness and violence they displayed against buck’s male love interest. I don’t think bucktommy shippers are going to be the problem here.

I have been vocal about both BuckTommy and Buddie shippers acting an ass, actually, so this isn’t the gotcha you think it is. I mean, I’ve argued plenty with people about how the actress who played Marisol being questionably awful didn’t mean she deserved to be treated the way she was. Particularly when Ryan Gúzman kept his job in the show, despite his actions as well.

However, BT are right now currently claiming 9-1-1 and Oliver are biphobic, claiming the show sacrificed God tier queer rep (ignoring Henren), and calling for Oliver to be fired all because a side character who has a racist and misogynistic past, played by an actor with the same, ended his run on the show.

This ain’t about ships, it’s about the people who love LFJ for literally no reason other than portraying a gay character in a minor role, leaping to the next queer ship they can find as some sort of cancellation prize.

That said, a large many of BT shippers claim to have been Buddies, so you’re talking about the same group of people. You can’t separate former Buddies from current Buddies just because you want to defend BT fans. The same folks who were harassing actresses left and right in “defense” of Buddie going canon, are some of the same people who jumped ship to support BT, and are now the same people “defending” LFJ.

The ven diagram is a circle, so no, I do not want BT shippers moving to Ody3, because aside from them being misogynistic and willing to let racism slide so long as it means being racist toward someone they don’t like (Aka them saying Ryan should have offed himself, yet they’re fine with LFJ and Tommy’s actions), they’re also revisionists. They claim things happened in 9-1-1 that in fact did not, and I do not want to see the inevitable revising of saying Max and Avery never worked or whatever.

And to be clear, I do understand that fandom as a whole is a pretty toxic place to be, but BuckTommy shippers are blatant liars. They have fully rewritten Tommy’s importance within the 9-1-1 universe, sidelined Hen, Karen, Michael, David, and Josh’s relevance as queer characters, and are currently claiming Oliver Stark — a man who has been nothing but happy to portray Buck as bi — is being a biphobic clout chaser for not “protecting” a fictional character that isn’t even his own’s, existence on the show. They are telling a man to “finish the job” in reference to his suicide attempt, because they didn’t want the FICTIONAL CHARACTER he plays on tv to ruin their ship. They accuse Buddies of demanding fan service, yet are petitioning to have Tommy reinstated in the show, and demanding Tim Minear listen. They are accusing the cast of being bullies because LFJ didn’t get a tear jerking send off.

Yes, the way women are treated across the board in fandoms spaces is awful, and should continue to be called out. Which it is, but to act as if BT shippers aren’t and haven’t been awful people this entire time as well, is straight up bullshit, and no other fandom needs that energy. BT fans are seeking a queer ship to latch onto, not a romantic ship to enjoy. They want to see Tristan and Max fuck, not watch Ody3 blossom, and I’m not going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not when they’ve shat the bed so horribly just because a RECURRING CHARACTER with not even sixty minutes of screen time, was written off.

[schrijverr]

I Didn’t Mean to Say I Do, but I Do. I Do. 12

Chapter 12 out of 50

Secret marriage of convenience buddie slow burn AU, where Buck and Eddie have been married for years so Buck could adopt Chris and no one at the 118 knows.

In this chapter, Helena and Ramon push too far and Buck finds camaraderie in Hen about custody struggles. However, despite it all, things are looking up.

On AO3.

Ships: Buddie (slow burn), Henren (background)

Warnings: emotionally abusive parents, insecurity, misogyny

~~~

Chapter 12: Dragged Out or Dragged Down

Bobby wants to put himself back out there. Buck is so proud of him, because they’ve all seen him come out of his shell these past few weeks and it’s been an honor and this is a big step. However, right now they’re just teasing the shit out of him. They want to be happy for him, they do, but his profile is too ridiculous.

“You can never show this to a girl,” Buck laughs, reading over what Bobby wrote again, just to check if it’s still the same, because he can’t believe he actually did that.

“Why not?” Bobby asks, maybe pouting a little.

“Okay, this profile is a joke profile for a guy no one ever wants to go out with,” Buck tells him honestly, because if Bobby really wants to get out there, this isn’t the way to do it and someone has to tell him that.

“You know what, maybe you are not the right person he should be taking dating advice from, Buckaroo,” Chimney tells him, snatching the laptop out of his hands.

“And why is that? Because last time I checked, I know how online dating works. I might have been making profiles to find hook ups, but I know what they look like and how to write one when you’re not looking for that,” Buck points out.

“It’s the dating site I used before,” Chimney says, slightly offended.

“Yeah, but it’s not like you were incredibly successful,” Buck shrugs.

“You’re not very successful either, Buckley,” Chimney bites and Buck realizes that might not have been the nicest thing to say.

Still, he defends himself: “Yes, I am.”

“Oh come on, Buck. You embarrassed yourself at your last hook up with her parents, and we haven’t heard you about fucking a girl before that in forever. You’re not even getting numbers on calls anymore,” Chimney rolls his eyes.

“Hey, I still get numbers, I just don’t take them, because I’m a professional,” Buck exclaims, throwing his hands up. “And I’m-” And he’s what? Married? So in love with his friend, he can’t commit to anyone else? Scared to try dating again after he discovered how creepy some women are? “I’m just not looking for anything right now,” he trails off kind of lamely.

Chimney obviously has something to say about that, but Buck happens to meet Bobby’s eyes and there must be something in his own, because Bobby gives him an understanding look. Hen watches that look happen, before shutting Chimney up before he can talk. “Maybe none of us are great at dating.”

“Still trouble at home?” Bobby asks sympathetically. None of them know exactly what happened except for Chimney, but she has let it slip she’s on the outs with Karen.

“Yeah,” Hen replies softly.

“But they’re a great match, they’ll work through it,” Chim interjects with forced cheer, saving her from the conversation furthering. “I set them up, actually. I’m a great matchmaker. I can set you up too if you’d like.”

Bobby looks horrified at the suggestion, but also like he wants to be nice about it, but doesn’t know how. Both Buck and Hen hide their laughter. Luckily, Bobby is saved from answering by the alarm going off.

The call isn’t much, a medical call to a psychic reading place where the guy is already dead before they get there. Though later it turns out he isn’t dead. It makes for an interesting shift and he can’t wait to come home and tell Eddie and Chris all about it.

Then he remembers there will be more people there, who probably won’t find it a fun dinnertime story, even if nobody died.

It’s Wednesday, he tells himself. He won’t be home until dinner, then he has a 24 hour shift on Thursday, so he’ll miss that day. By the time he returns, it’ll be Friday and he’ll only need to have breakfast with them, before they drop them off at the airport and everything will return to normal.

He can do that.

He can totally do that.

Okay, so maybe he totally can’t do that.

After the reprieve of yesterday, it seems they have gathered themselves in their own bubble long enough to become indignant about it instead. Righteous even. They likely didn’t tell Abuela why Eddie left them at that restaurant and Eddie wouldn’t tell her either.

Dinner is fine, a return to normal with pointed comments everywhere, but it goes truly south after dinner when Chris is in bed.

It starts innocent enough with Helena asking: “So you have another shift tomorrow, right, Evan?”

“Uh, yeah, I do. It’s a 24 hour, which aren’t as bad as you’d think. I don’t even mind the 48 hour shifts,” Buck says. “But I’ll be here for breakfast to see you two off.”

“Still, those are long hours. It seems like you’ve barely been home this week,” Helena says.

Buck frowns at that, unsure where this is going. “It’s been a weird week with shifts due to some gaps in the roster. Our house isn’t filled entirely right now, so there are floaters to fill in, but we can’t find one every time. I’ve been working some overtime on the B shift as well.”

“But 48 hour shifts are still a lot. Soon you’ll both be working those and you won’t be home for days, what will Chris do then?” And there it is, what she is really getting at.

“Chris has school and Abuela and tía Pepa. And we have days off too, mom,” Eddie growls.

“Highly inconsistent days off,” Helena argues. “Chris needs stability, a good rhythm to settle in, people he can depend on. You can’t provide that for him here. Let him come home.”

“To Texas?” Buck chokes, realizing what she’s getting at.

She nods. “Chris has loved us being here. He feels comfortable with us. We raised him for a good portion too. He needs the sort of home we can provide.” The ‘and you can’t’ goes unspoken, but it clearly felt by all.

“We can provide for him just fine,” Eddie says voice raising slightly. “And papi is out working long hours too, barely home. What sort of stability is that?”

“I’ll still be there full time,” his mom argues back, her voice also rising.

“Me and Buck will both be here full time!”

“That is not the same and you know it, Edmundo. Come on, do not drag Chris down with you, because you are too stubborn.”

The words hit them both in the solar plexus and both of them stare at her dumbfounded for a moment. Then Eddie gets up angrily, his chair clattering on the ground as he points a finger at his mom. “You did not just say that.”

“Oh don’t be like that,” Helena exclaims.

Before Buck or Eddie can reply to that, a door opens down the hall. A sleepy Chris asks: “What is going on? Why are you all yelling?”

Buck’s heart breaks. They’ve always wanted to shield Chris from the yelling, especially Eddie, especially when the yelling is about Chris. He can see how Eddie wants to comfort Chris and fight his parents, torn between which instinct to follow.

Buck makes the decision for him, ushering him towards Chris as he says: “I got them, you put Chris back to bed.”

Eddie shoots him a grateful smile and they all watch him go down the hall as he softly says: “We were just being silly, mijo. It was nothing. Do you need another story?”

Chris gets herded back into his room and Buck waits until the door falls close behind the two before turning back to Helena and Ramon. In a low voice, he says: “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but you don’t say that to someone. Especially not to your own kid. We welcomed you into our home, we let you stay here and eat our food. We let you see our kid. And this is what you’ve been doing with that hospitality? No. Hard no. Go grab your stuff.”

“What?” Helena says shocked.

“You don’t talk to us, you gringo,” Ramon adds angrily, coming to his wife’s defense.

“You married one, so don’t even try. I’m driving you to Abuela’s and I’ll explain to her why I’m dropping her adult child on her doorstep in the middle of the night,” Buck hisses. “If you’re lucky, we might let you back in for breakfast Friday so you can say goodbye to Chris before you go, but only if you’re lucky. It’ll be up to Eddie to allow that.”

“We just want to see our grandchild. You’re the one that moved them across the country,” Helena sniffles, suddenly the victim.

Buck hates making people upset, always wants to make it right, but he can’t do that with them. They are Eddie’s parents, which means he forgives them and lets them in over and over again, Buck is the one that carries the grudge, carries the pain. For both of them.

So, he doesn’t comfort her and instead says: “I didn’t move anyone where they didn’t want to go, maybe think about why your child would want to take your grandchild far away from you while you’re sleeping on Abuela’s couch tonight. Now go grab your shit.”

He supervises with as much coldness as he has in him, watching them silently as they grab their suitcases, before they get into his Jeep and he drives them to Abuela’s house.

She opens with confusion as she sees Buck. He rushed up there and let Ramon get their bags from the back, so they wouldn’t get there first. “What is going on, Buck?” she asks.

Tightly he replies: “I hope you don’t mind surprise guests for a night, Abuela. They thought it fit to inform Eddie he’s dragging Chris down with him, I thought it fit to tell them to get the hell out of our house.”

Abuela’s face turns from confusion to understanding to annoyance. She pats Buck on his cheek as she often does and says: “Don’t worry, mijo, I’ll give them a stern lecture. You go home and rest. You have a shift tomorrow, no?”

“I do.”

“Then you need rest, not bullshit,” she says, which makes him laugh. She signs a cross on him for protection, before waving him off her front porch. He doesn’t look at either Helena nor Ramon as he gets back in the car and drives home.

He hopes Eddie doesn’t think he took it too far. It’s not really his place to kick out Eddie’s parents, however, after that stunt it felt justified. Besides, Eddie already left them in a restaurant this week, so it can’t be that much worse.

Still, he’s a little nervous when he opens the door.

But there is no one there. The living room and kitchen are empty and when he peeks into Eddie’s room where his parents have left the door open, that is empty too. Chris’s door is still closed and he figures Eddie is sleeping with him tonight. That’s okay, he’ll tell him tomorrow morning.

Buck brushes his teeth and puts on pajamas, ignoring the sheets that are neatly on the bed, despite him always being too lazy to make the bed, because Eddie’s military training means he always does, so he did that morning. Because he slept there.

However, he isn’t going to be alone all night to overthink, because soon after he’s lain down, Eddie comes in. It’s reminiscent of the other night, but this time Eddie doesn’t ask anything, just comments: “My parents are gone.”

“They’re at Abuela’s house,” Buck says sitting up so he can look at Eddie, who is still in the doorway. “I told them that they might be welcome for Friday breakfast, if you let them, to say goodbye to Chris. They shouldn’t have said that to you. About you.”

Eddie shrinks into himself slightly, then he says: “It was about you too.” He looks up from the floor and looks Buck in the eyes. “They said that shit about you too. Are you okay?”

Surprise and affection wash over Buck in equal measure, before affection wins out. He smiles softly at Eddie and says: “I’m okay. It didn’t feel that personal, they’ve never really taken my contributions seriously anyway.”

“Well, they should. The two of us, we’re doing a much better job than they ever could. I should know, they raised me,” Eddie says, suddenly angry again.

“I don’t think they’ll try anything again anytime soon,” Buck says. “I told Abuela what they said and she didn’t even tell me off for using hell, instead saying she’d give them a stern lecture.”

“You’re a menace,” Eddie grins at that. Then he dims again and softly says: “I want them here on Friday for breakfast, so that Chris can say bye. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, it is,” Buck says, touched that Eddie checks it with him, even though he never expected any different. He grins crookedly: “Maybe they’ll behave a little after getting a lecture from Abuela.”

Eddie huffs out a little laugh, before giving Buck a relieved look. “Thank you.” Eddie pauses, tensing slightly, as he asks: “Can I sleep here again tonight? I don’t feel like changing the sheets.”

“Of course,” Buck says, making space for Eddie, because he’s always going to make space for Eddie. He stays up for quite a bit anyway, anxiously digging through google to ensure himself that Helena and Ramon truly can’t try anything, but Eddie’s sleeping form next to him makes it so he actually gets in a couple hours of rest.

Chris is a slightly confused about why grandma and abuelo aren’t there in the morning, but Buck lets Eddie have that conversation with him, kissing Chris on the forehead and telling Eddie goodbye before he goes to his shift.

Hen looks just as tired and down as he feels. He pours her a coffee, before he sits down next to her and hands it over, smiling at her grateful, “Thanks.”

“So what kept you up tonight?” he asks after she has taken a few sips.

“Karen,” Hen sighs after a moment. “I tried talking to her in a parking lot yesterday. Explain myself, try to get her to come home. I don’t think it worked. She told me she can’t do this right now and then she left. Didn’t say I love you back.” Hen sighs again and stares into her coffee. “Eva – my ex – she’s suing for custody. Denny’s biologically hers. Sure, she signed over custody to me as fast as she could and she’s only just gotten out of prison, but- but I don’t know if we can keep him if we aren’t together. Aren’t a united front. God, I can’t lose Denny. Or Karen.”

And Buck’s heart aches for her, the feeling she’s going through so very familiar. Just a few hours ago, he was listening to Helena and Ramon telling him they wanted to take Chris from him and Eddie. Nothing is more scary than that moment where you can lose your child. Lose your family.

He sits next to her, his arm around her shoulder. She leans into him and lets him hold her. “That’s terrifying, Hen. I’m sorry you’re going through that.”

“Me too,” Hen says with a humorless chuckle.

Her defeated voice doesn’t sit right with him and he bumps against her. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. Signing over custody – and straight away too – that means something. It’s hard for parents to get that back when they give it up, even if it’s during a divorce.” He should know, he looked it up sometime after Shannon left. Just because he wanted to know how permanent her decision is. It is pretty permanent.

“But it doesn’t have to be her that takes him,” Hen says. “What if her claims launch an investigation and CPS deems us unfit to parent? That Karen running off to her mom with Denny is unstable enough that he shouldn’t be with us?”

“That’s not just going to happen, even if it ends in divorce – which knowing you and Karen probably isn’t going to happen, since you have a marriage I aspire to have – then the state of California will treat Denny like any other kid in a divorce,” Buck says. “You and Karen can both provide for him, together and apart. You’re not going to lose them.”

Hen gives him a look. “How do you know that?”

“I, uh- I went on a custody law research kick once,” he tells her, omitting that it was after he moved here and realized his own divorce was imminent and he selfishly wanted to try and keep Chris. He felt so bad about it that he didn’t look at Eddie in the morning and stayed out and had a threesome to try and escape. Not his finest moment.

“Ah,” Hen nods, because that makes sense to her. Buck often has random facts about all kinds of topics, this isn’t an out of character thing for him. Then she smiles and says: “Thank you, Buck. I needed to hear that.”

“It’s okay, having people in your corner makes it all easier to deal with. The people at this firehouse are in your corner,” Buck says honestly, because he knows these people have his back every day and he knows he needs them on the days it feels like Eddie will slip through his fingers, even though he usually knows better, because Eddie had his back first.

“You’re a sweet kid. I’m glad to have you at this house,” Hen tells him and it feels like acceptance, like family. Like he’ll have people sitting on his side of the aisle if he ever does get married for real.

“Thanks,” he beams at her.

She shakes her head fondly, then shoulder bumps him, before draining her coffee and going to greet Chimney, who is just coming up the stairs.

The rest of their shift rolls by smoothly with some medical calls and a small fender bender. It’s a medium shift, not quiet – though Buck would never use that word – nor too busy. A perfectly good shift all in all. Buck can use it after the night he’s had.

He gets some sleep on one of the cots in the bunk, but rushes his breakfast. It’s not that he is looking forward to breakfast with his in-laws, but he also doesn’t want to leave Eddie on his own to fend them off.

Of course the others notice Buck is half standing as he shoves the final bites of required family breakfast in his mouth, so he can go down and change into day clothes to face- well, to face required family breakfast. Chimney asks: “What? You got a breakfast date or something?”

“If you want to call it that,” Buck snorts, letting them make their own assumptions about what he means, before he calls out a goodbye and makes his way downstairs.

Coming home, the air feels a little stifling, but he can hear Chris happily chattering away in the kitchen, so he lets his shoulders relax slightly. When he enters the kitchen, Chris cuts himself off to excitedly exclaim: “Papi!”

“Hey, Superman,” Buck greets with a smile, nodding as politely as he can to Helena and Ramon, before catching Eddie’s eyes and quirking a brow. Eddie smiles in return and he lets himself relax even more.

Chris doesn’t notice the silent communication and instead informs him in a thrilled voice: “Daddy is letting me miss the morning of school so I can come to the airport and wave grandma and abuelo goodbye, isn’t that cool!”

Buck immediately understands that Eddie allowed that to have a human shield between the four of them, before they go to avoid any more yelling. He doesn’t show that, instead matching Chris’s enthusiasm as he says: “That’s very cool, buddy.”

They eat their breakfast, then pile into the car. This time Ramon also in the backseat and Buck in the passenger seat. Eddie turns on the radio and Helena spends the entirety of the drive busy with Chris, while the rest of them sit in silence.

During the goodbye, it’s also mostly Chris-centric. It’s as if there is an unspoken agreement to just not talk about anything. Helena must be burning to say something, anything, but she keeps her mouth shut. If the circumstances were different, Buck would commend the restraint.

After they’ve hugged and kissed Chris to death, telling him that he is always welcome in their home (which doesn’t make both of them tense and frown, no sir), they do also say goodbye to them.

Eddie gets a handshake from his father and a quick hug from his mother, while Buck gets a nod from both of them. He just nods back.

There was a time when he felt excluded from the family, but he has long since figured they never considered him a part of it anyway. Only Eddie and Chris do that and out of the two of them, Helena and Ramon only really seem to like Chris, so doesn’t take it too personally. At least, he tries not to.

They stand and wave until the two of them have disappeared, because Chris declares that it is the only right way to wave at someone. Though, Buck suspects he wants to milk his morning free and away from school. It’s not that he dislikes school, Chris loves it actually, but the giddy feeling of being allowed to do something naughty has him in high spirits anyway.

The two of them drop off Chris together. It’s not entirely novel, but certainly not a usual thing either, but Buck strangely enjoys it as he drives them there.

Both of them hug Chris and give him a kiss on the forehead, before leaving him to go to class, signing him in under the watchful gaze of the school secretary, who is definitely judging them.

They keep it together in front of her, but giggle a little when they get to the car. Buck can’t tell if it really was that funny or if both of them are just relieved they survived the visit from Helena and Ramon and this is the way to let it all out, but he doesn’t care, just enjoys the moment.

At home, Eddie goes to work out, changing into his work out clothes so he can go on a run. Buck reminds him to take his keys, because he’s getting groceries, so he won’t be home to open the door for him if he forgets. Eddie rolls his eyes that it was one time.

Once Eddie is gone, Buck strips the beds, feeling a little dramatic as he mentally compares it to cleansing the house of a presence. But it doesn’t feel too wrong either.

With the first load in the washing machine, he makes a list, before getting into his car and getting enough groceries for the week. He’s careful not to forget anything, because starting Monday, it’ll be more of a hassle to organize picking up things they’ve forgotten.

When he gets home, Eddie is just coming out of the shower. Eddie takes over laundry duty, while Buck meal preps. It’s nice and domestic with Buck singing off key to a playlist while Eddie pretends to grimace and cover his ears, even though Buck catches him bopping his head along with the songs as he folds the laundry when it’s done.

That night, they have a movie night with Chris having his own popcorn bucket as promised. Right before he goes to sit down, he gets a text. It’s from Hen and only reads: Karen came home. Thank you.

He couldn’t have stopped the smile if he wanted to and just texts back how glad he is for her and that he knew it. Then he turns off his phone to focus on his own family, getting some popcorn in the face for daring to delay the sacredness of movie night by checking his phone real quick.

Before he knows it, it is Monday and he’s not only packing Chris’s lunch, but Eddie’s too. He is starting the academy and it feels like a fresh start. But also fucking terrifying. On top of everything else that happened during their visit, Helena and Ramon didn’t exactly leave either of them reassured about the coming period.

However, Buck wants to believe this is going to be okay, that they can do this. And if they can get through the academy, they can get through both of them working. He needs them to get through this, hence the obsessive meal prepping, which should – in theory – make for a smoother ride.

Eddie of course knows why he does it, but he doesn’t comment, just taking the bag Buck hands him with a smile, before calling out: “Come on, mijo, time for school. You don’t want to make daddy late on his first day, right?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Chris calls, stopping by Buck for a moment to ask: “Papi, kiss goodbye?”

“Of course, Superman,” Buck grins, kissing his forehead before quickly ushering him to the door as he laughs: “Now hurry before daddy gets anxious.”

“Not anxious,” Eddie pouts as he opens the door.

“Sure you aren’t,” Buck grins, watching Chris race off the steps, Eddie right behind him. “You’re gonna crush it!” he calls out.

Eddie gives a small fist bump back, because deep down he’s as much of a dork as Buck is, before he buckles Chris in and gets into the car himself. As he watches the two of them drive off, he still feels nervous, but also a little settled.

They can do this, Helena and Ramon don’t know shit. United front and all that, just like Karen and Hen will be.

~~

A/N:

I hate the catfish storyline, so I shall not be including it here :D (I also dislike the Hen cheating storyline so much, but it fit thematically here, so alas)

Also, whoooo! I got through season 1 and it only took me like 5 chapters, I honestly feared worse lmao. Let’s see how season 2 will go when Eddie is also there xp (though he needs to get hired first)

[dear-oizys]

My thoughts on the new 9-1-1 episode

Ok so I did this while I was watching the episode so it is very chaotic lol

Hen and Karen I love you guys. Please be my parents 🙏🏽🙏🏽

Also Denny. Man. Denny is such a good sibling. Gotta love that guy

Maddie!!!!!!!!! I love her so much. Why fuck does she always blames herself for stuff??????? Its like the Buckley siblings' core feeling is guilt??! Its not your fault Maddie!!! You did everything you could!!!! Also I kinda want to like Amir but he later tries to kill Bobby. So idk how to feel abt him????

Eddie what the fuck are you doing bro??????? What the fuck man???? Wow. So creepily staring at a random woman through the window is acceptable now????????? And what the fuck are you doing returning there????????????????????????? Like you have a girlfriend. I hate her but still????

Plus this woman is like a carbon copy of Shannon.

What the fuck was the candle scene??

Single dad????????????? Bro????????? You have a GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!

Henren I love you!!!!!! You guys are awesome parents!!! I love you Karen. So much. So so much. And hen. How are you guys such awesome parents???

Maddie stop listening to the call over and over again. Chimney is right. STOP TORTURING YOURSELF!!!!!!!!

Chimney. You are awesome. You are best husband. Ever. You are so so good.

Athena and Rick!!!! I love them!!

What the fuck????????? The car crashed??????????? Nooooooooooo!!!!!! Th dude has a gun!!!!!!

Thank god! Everything turned out fine!!

Oh no. Ohhhhhhh nooooo. Bobby and Amir met. Shit. What's gonna happen now????

What the fuck does the " I'd like to. " even mean??

Marra and Tyson reunion!!!!!!!!!! That's is soooooo fucking sweet!!!

What the hell is the cologne comment??? Buck. Also so domestic.

Maddie and Chimney ar such good parents!!! I love them!!!!

Eddie!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YIU DOING???????? PLESE TELL ME YIU BROKE UP WITH MARISOL!!!