#and Tommy’s shippers are getting out of

[alchemistc]

There's been something about the woobification of Buck that's been sitting on the tip of my tongue for weeks now, and I think I've finally figured it out.

This is, of course, mostly in reference to the moral outrage about a decade-ish (give or take) age gap between two adult men and the infantalization of one said grown man, so all the puritanism isn't really coming from a place of good faith anyway, but here's the thing that's been bugging me that I couldn't quite put a finger on until now.

Buck has people he goes to for certain things. He has, what are in his mind, experts in the field for most of the things he can't think through on his own, that he goes to for a sounding board.

He went to Hen to talk through the sperm donor dilemma for a few reasons that made sense to him. 1) She's a mom. She has very much had to deal with the reality of 'giving up' children she considered her own. Buck is aware that he would be giving up something that could mean something to him, and he wants to talk to someone who has some insight into that. 2) She's dealt with IVF. She knows the risks, she knows the trials and tribulations, she knows about this thing that he is thinking about agreeing to be a part of so she's going to have a fuller grasp on the enormity of everything this process entails.

And they drink about it. Hen gives him what she can and cautions him where she thinks she should and they continue to talk about it and regardless of what SHE thinks, he makes his mind up in part because he got to talk to his Expert.

Bobby is often his go to when he feels like he's losing his grip on things. He's seen Bobby staring down the bottom of the bottle. He's seen the work he's done to pull himself back into the world, and he's seen the way he fights for his family, his people. Buck leans on him in times of questioning himself because he knows Bobby has pulled himself off the ledge with bleeding hands and a bleeding heart.

He reaches out to Maddie about interpersonal shit constantly. We see it all the way back in S2 when he's starting to question what the hell he's still doing in Abby's apartment, and that never really changes. She's the one with advice for him when he's angry with his parents, upset with the firefam, worried about his friends, or just generally concerned with the way he's perceived by people or how he perceives the world. He goes to her when he's embarrassed, ashamed, because he knows she won't judge him for it. She'll call him out, for sure, but she's not going to look at him differently when she knows he's done something he considers bad behavior.

When he goes to her during the Tommy arc, he's there for one reason he'll admit, and another she has to ferret out. 1) He lied to his best friend and he doesn't know why. 2) Oh yeah he went on a date with a dude that's not strange WHY IS THAT STRANGE I'VE ALWAYS BEEN AN ALLY PLEASE DON'T PULL BACK THE CURTAIN - and Maddie is there with two things: 1) It's not weird but it IS new and something you clearly haven't worked through all the way which is why 2) you'll tell Eddie when you're ready

And Eddie is sort of his go-to to bounce ideas off of. Eddie is his Buck expert. Eddie is the guy who can sort through all the bullshit and who sees Buck for exactly who he is, every time, regardless of what Buck himself is thinking. Eddie is his best friend, and he knows the good the bad and the ugly better than anyone else. He is also, quite frankly, the one Buck seeks out to help him contextualize all of his romantic feelings for people. Eddie's the guy he talks to when he's interested in someone, when he's falling for someone, he's the guy through which Buck filters his love interests into the firefam. I do the same shit with my best friend. It's instinct to want the person you consider the expert on you to meet the person you are interested in, it's instinct to want them to like each other, to get along. Buck knows Eddie loves him (in whatever way you see that love, Buck knows Eddie loves him) and he wants this person who loves him to be at least an active listener as he talks himself through the minefield of relationships. I do also think that up until the events of season seven, Buck considers Eddie sort of an expert on that traditional love-marriage-kids-white-picket-fence relationship Buck thinks he's striving for - in a very naive way, because obviously the wasn't what Eddie and Shannon had and Buck knows that, but he's probably fed some of Eddie's rose colored reminiscences back into that notion.

When he comes out to Eddie he's got two worries. 1) I lied to you and I figured out why but I'm still a little worried you think it's weird and 2) I screwed it up with someone I really like and I don't know where to go from here.

And Eddie (Buck expert) reassures him that just because it's new and unexpected doesn't make it strange, that it doesn't change anything in their friendship. And then he gets right to the heart of it - if you like him you should reach out and tell him that. He doesn't know you like we do but if you give him the chance to, he'll love you as much as we do. If he doesn't give it the same shot you want to he's the idiot.

With all that context in mind, Buck isn't seeking out Tommy's attention because he wants an authority figure, or someone to take care of him, someone to guide him through sex or love or relationship dynamics or any of the other random shit I've seen ppl infantalizing Buck about.

What he's looking for, and what he ultimately tells Tommy he'd like to pursue, is a partnership. Someone to walk (or more likely for Buck, speedrun) through experiences together. The Athena to his Bobby, the Chim to his Maddie, the Karen to his Hen.

So every time I see someone infantalizing Buck for seeking out a relationship with an older man for X or Y reason, I'm just like - no. He has Bobby, Hen, Maddie, Eddie, Chim etc for that. He doesn't want or need Tommy for that. He is a grown ass man who has built these strong relationships with his peers and his mentors and he is so fucking aware of that because he reaches for their help any time he feels the urge for a helping hand.

So yeah, Tommy's older. Yes, Tommy has more experience with his sexuality than Buck. And that - that's really it. Buck's been in the same career for more than half a decade. He's lived on his own since he was no older than 19/20. He's had serious relationships, he has a rich and fulfilling life. There is no power imbalance in the relationship between Buck and Tommy.

And while the age gap may be a bit of a draw for Buck, it's not WHY he's attracted to Tommy. We know because he's told Maddie. He's cool. He's interesting. He's confident. He has a cleft.

Buck isn't going into this waiting for someone older and more experienced to take the fucking reins. He felt like he clicked with Tommy, like there was an immediate connection, and yes, Tommy had to kiss him about it for Buck to actually figure out what it was he was experiencing, but from that point on it was all on Buck (and the people he leans on for advice) to help him sort through.

Tommy didn't do shit other than pump the brakes and try to give Buck the space he thought he needed to decide what he was ready for. Buck (again, with the help of his experts - Maddie for the emotional piece of it, Eddie for the Buck of it all) did the work on his own. Tommy didn't swoop in and overbearingly hold his hand through a sexual awakening. He kissed him, asked him out, realized he wasn't ready, stepped back and then checked in multiple times when Buck came back at it going 120 miles an hour.

And then he did everything he could to prove to Buck he wanted the same thing - a partner, someone to talk to, and lean on, and flirt with and rely on to show up whenever they could feasibly manage it (and sometimes when it's a little unfeasible too).

The narrative even acknowledges that Buck had no reason to go to Bobby in this scenario, when he often would, and lays out exactly why.

Within the canon of this particular arc, we're meant to see this as Buck realizing he has the experience necessary to think these things through on his own. This is Buck finally taking control of something that's always felt like it fell into his lap a bit. This is Buck doing more than treading water until his legs give out.

And minimizing that growth bc you personally don't like the LI he's pursuing is gross at best. At worst it's something much more insidious.

[chevelleneech]

This is why I’m good with Tommy and Buck, because the story may very well develop further, at the moment I don’t really care for majority of their shippers. It seems like too many of them are willing to act like Tommy isn’t being put on a pedestal, when every other love interest between Buck and Eddie was constantly talked down on.

Which, tbf, may not have been the same people in full who ship Buddie, but I don’t think that context should go ignored. People rightfully call out Buddie shippers for being disrespectful to women characters, but suddenly the people who either don’t ship Buck and Eddie or chose to stop can uplift a new character who is currently equally as underdeveloped as the bulk of the majority of the women? How does that make sense?

Their chemistry is fine, but so was Buck and Taylor, and Buck and Natalia. Alongside that, Buck and Tommy haven’t even actually had a full conversation about anything. Everything thus far has been the show telling us: Buck is bi, Buck was awkward on his first date with a guy, Buck wants a second chance, Tommy telling Buck he had to work during the bachelor party.

None of which is bad, but they have nothing going on as of right now outside of Tommy being the vessel to deliver Buck’s bisexuality. Yes, people can think they’re a cute pairing and can be excited for more. I am people, but to say Tommy treats Buck the best he’s ever been treated or that he’s gentle with him, is a reach. He’s not a bad guy thus far (and I don’t think he will become one) which is great, but all the reasons people supposedly didn’t or don’t ship Buddie, they’re putting on Tommy.

Eddie loves Buck, treats him with care, and is cute with him. So what exactly is the difference and why are some of them suddenly regurgitating the same bullshit, quite honestly, that homophobic watchers used to say, that Buddie works better as friends because “Platonic male friendships need more rep!”

This is getting long, but I think my point is, I’m not the type to claim “people only want Buck with a white man” because I have said before, Eddie is also white. He’s half Mexican, but that’s not an ethnicity nor skin color, and his very light tan doesn’t change that. So I honestly don’t believe most people are thinking of Eddie vs. Tommy in that light. But I do think it’s a case of people latching on to the first man Buck has canon feelings/attraction toward. I think folks are afraid of hoping for anything more, so they want to show as much excitement and praise as possible in effort to make it clear they don’t expect anything else in case that’s taken as wanting too much.

So in their minds it’s wrong to hate on female love interests in favor of a fan theory ship, but it’s fine to rag on women if it’s in the name of “representation” and “support” of a canon queer ship. And it’s okay for them to agree with homophobes who have never cared about male friendships and have actively hated or ignored anything regarding queer characters, because now they’ve got a canon queer ship to protect.

It’s ludicrous, and I’m inclined to believe these folks are less genuine fans of Tommy more than they’re just happy Buck is finally canonically into men. So their goal is to make sure he sticks around and no new women are introduced, because same as the Buddie shippers who hate women, they do too. But they can do so without having to wear a Buddie shipper hat, and can thus avoid the backlash from non-viewers who know about the fandom’s misogyny problem because of toxic Buddie shippers.

You told no lies about the misogyny in the 9-1-1 fandom. Anytime one of Buck's ex-gfs left him, they were raked through the coals. However when Tommy leaves Buck on the curb after their date, the fandom makes excuses for him. Buck was wrong for lying to Eddie, but Tommy could have handled the situation better.

Overall I like Tevan, I just don't like the double standards. The fandom is giving Tommy so much grace compared to the women on the show and it doesn't sit right with me.

I feel you on some personal level. I really thought for a second that I was tripping.

Not only were they raked, anything they did was dismissed, stomped into dirt. Every romantic gesture was percieved as unimportant, manipulative, overshadowed by other bad actions from the character, or ignored altogether.

I really don't feel good being in this fandom anymore, I feel like I'm back to my teenage self, hating female characters because they are not worthy, not good enough, not perfect, they embarrass me, make feel less.

When I was a 12 year old kiddo, my misogyny strived on the notion that a woman will never be as valuable, she will never be an equal.

Men are equal to each other automatically. Men are allowed to be complex, to make mistakes, to have history and past partners, to have redemption arcs, to be morally grey and so on.

There's a person in my replies who was sarcastic about my thoughts on Tevan chemistry, they said something like "he was only in two episodes 😂, you can't make decisions of off that" as if I shouldn't judge at this point.

Like what the whole fandom does right now.

They have accidentally proved my point.A dude appeared for two episodes, and the whole fandom lost it's shit.

Tommy is given much more freedom and space by the fandom than any other LI.

And that's not even the end of it Buck has made a lot of mistakes in his relationships, as well as Eddie. We are willing to hear them out and give them other chances as we see their growth.

Some LIs were there to make them grow, but it doesn't mean the LIs didn't grow outside of these relationships and off screen.

I'm just baffled by the difference in the reception of Tommy and any other LIs.

[apartmentsmoke]

the number of people who saw Tommy was surprised about Buck wanting his attention and THEN go on to say "oh it's because he thought Buck wanted Eddie's attention AND he knows Buck/Eddie have romantic feelings for each other and THAT'S why he was surprised AND Buck was just confused on his feelings and he really wants Eddie" - they are really watching with buddie goggles on. they came to one correct conclusion and then go off the rails

yes, Tommy did think Buck wanted Eddie's attention - because Eddie told him as much! Tommy goes to Buck's place immediately after he helps Eddie with his ankle, so he would have heard Eddie's take on it - that Eddie thinks Buck is jealous because Eddie and Tommy are spending so much time together. That's why Tommy starts talking about he doesn't want to interfere in their friendship; he doesn't know that Buck wanted his attention until Buck says it.

As for Tommy thinking Buck and Eddie have romantic feelings for each other... There is just straight up no evidence for that in the show lol. You want to write fic based on that assumption? Hell yeah. But thinking that's what's happening in canon is simply wrong based on what's on screen

And the third one - oh, Buck is just confused - is insulting to the story that's being told. Buck is into Tommy. Even if the relationship ends, he will always have been into Tommy. He told Tommy himself, he told Maddie, he told Eddie - he acted like someone with an enormous crush because he has an enormous crush! And trying to erase that because it doesn't work with your view for your ship is

That's also why all the speculation that Tommy is going to step aside because of how close Buck and Eddie are is ridiculous - he already knows how close they are, and he doesn't seem to care.

[thepastneverforgets]

trying to find bucktommy content/enjoyers anywhere on social media but on tumblr is like trying to find water in the damn desert

[stagefoureddiediaz]

i'm sorry but bt fans need to wake the hell up "confessions " is the end of BT. This is the episode where the rose colored glasses come off, the uncomfortable truths are revealed which I fully expect to be Buck realizing he's in love with Eddie and Tommy being the one to tell him this. Like the good little plot device he is.

Hey Nonnie

Oh they very much do need to wake up but I don’t think they will!

I’m sure they’re over in their corner of fandom claiming that confessions means Buck and Tommy are going to confess their undying love for one another and that no hurdle is too big no uncomfortable truth too uncomfortable and that the rose tinted glasses coming off is buck waking up to the realisation that Eddie is a bad friend and that Tommy should come back to the 118 to replace him so they can Work together and move in together and get married all at the same time whilst simultaneously being a slow burn romance or some such insanity

All it’s doing is making our upcoming victory feel even sweeter!

[evans-kinard]

My heart is broken beyond repair because we were robbed of the karaoke scene, but the petty side of me feels as if it was a sacrifice that had to be made.

[jess-bradford]

a truly terrible idea has latched hold of my gremlin brain which is, buck and tommy do break up so that buck can pursue eddie because either tommy thinks buck is in love with eddie or buck feels like he should be with eddie because everyone else keeps suggesting there's something more there BUT buck/eddie getting together changes their dynamic so much that neither of them are enjoying themselves (and they're worrying about losing what made their friendship so special because of all the changes to the dynamic) AND buck and tommy keep hooking up [air quotes] platonically (with tommy stumbling into inconvenient feelings and pining pathetically for buck while fucking him) while buck struggles to sort out intense feelings toward eddie (which obviously have to be romantic of course) vs. his calm, more settled feelings toward tommy (they're not as intense as his feelings about eddie so they can't possibly be romantic) blah blah long story slightly less long but buck realizes he's been in love with tommy the whole time and was having trouble separating strong but platonic feelings for eddie from his romantic feelings toward tommy and then tommy's like "newsflash asshole i've been in love with you the whole goddamn time"

i'll never write it because it's irredeemably stupid and i value my peace but it IS sitting in my hindbrain tormenting me right now

[seddair]

,

[mishtershpock]

.

[groovy-heels297]

*stands on broken cardboard box and pretends I'm speaking above the masses*

Hi, how are you! This is so fucking weird because I used to be a buddie shipper and I feel like I just escaped a cult like farm with Oliver flowers and Ryan calfs.

I feel as if I need to shout: "I WILL TESTIFY!" before I can remove my mask and make friends.

I tried to just have this user as a sideblog, but I didn't want to associate bucktommy posts with my insane buddie blog and have people block me.

I dipped my toe into this fandom and wrote 2 things for bucktommy, and the reception was so kind and eye-opening. When I wrote for Buddie, I would get constant hate about certain ways I wrote Buck or Eddie, and it burnt me out. Not to mention, I was very close to a bnf on the buddie side, and they were so hurtful to me when I decided to stop shipping/writing buddie that I completely lost my love of fandom. (I am now blacklisted?? Whatever that means)

This isn't a pity post, I promise you. I just know it's normal to be hesitant of new users, especially in the 911 fandom, and I would just like to clarify that I come in peace and love for Buck and Tommy. 💜

[kinardsboy]

This has been sitting on my mind a lot lately but it seems extra relevant now with the way Tommy and by extension Lou has been criticized for acting “too gay” in ep 5. And while yes, I will agree Tommy acted slightly different in ep 5, it has absolutely everything to do with Lou’s incredible acting choices to play Tommy differently when he is around people he deems as “safe” which is much better explained in this amazing post here <-

All these complains are doing is just yet again exposing buddies as homophobes who are, at the end of the day. Uncomfortable with real queerness being shown infront of them. Of course we already knew this with how they react to Buck and Tommy kissing and god forbid flirting especially if it has sexual implications like the daddy kink scene.

They can’t possibly fathom their precious uwu baby Buck would be sexual with another man so they spin and twist it however they can to make it out to be, “NO! You see! Tommy started the flirting! Tommy is just an insatiable horny gay man! He only wants sex! Like most of them do!”

Which is again spewing homophobic rhetoric, who wouldve guessed thats what they immediately turn to?

I now have something probably controversial to say but oh well, im going to say it anyway.

A good many of these shippers would be deeply uncomfortable with Buddie actually becoming canon, because they would be nothing like their fanfic. They don’t want to see two men in a relationship, they want to see Eddie in a relationship with the character they project themselves onto.

There are so many examples of this but perhaps the biggest being the way Buck is made out to be the “woman” in the relationship and especially how he is made to be the “mom”

Buck and Tommy’s relationship 1st does not have any children involved so there are no gendered roles to be assigned (even though if there was.. theyd just both be a dad), they are both beefy and the same height, which is what people usually use to decide “top” and “bottom” but again since there is little physical difference between them, they cannot do this, which only adds to their uncomfortableness.

Furthermore, I would go as far to say that Buddie shippers dont actually like Buck.

A while back a shipper posted this analysis of Buddie, that essentially reduces Buck to a dog. A pet. Only to be let out of the bedroom to cook and take care of Chris, otherwise he’s meant only for Eddie’s pleasure.

Which, disgusting. But the thing that stood out most to me was how Tommy was criticized for

letting Buck be himself. For accepting and loving him flaws and all. For not trying to change anything, or “train” the bad out of him

While Eddie was the “trainer” in that scenario, that had to train the bad out of Buck in order for him to be acceptable.

And thats the funny thing isnt it? Buddie shippers have to completely warp and destroy Buck’s character to make him fit their mold of perfect partner for Eddie. They make him out to be this helpless person who can’t even tell Tommy he doesnt want to be called Evan, that needs rescuing from Tommy, that is a “mother figure” to Chris, that his “dream role” would be live in chef and maid for the diaz family..

When none of that is Buck.

Buck is a smart, independent and strong man. He has worked tirelessly on himself to know who he is and what he wants, which right now? Is with Tommy.

Bringing it back to my main point, their complaints of Tommy being more gay and Bucktommy intimacy ultimately just boil down to homophobia plain and simple, seeing real queer representation and not representation that they can specifically twist and cater to themselves through fic, headcanons or gifs, makes them uncomfortable

(could this be why so many of them ignore shows with canon m/m ships for favor of shows with fanon ones that will never actually happen? So they can make these demands for representation then shit on it as soon as they get it because its not fanfic? Its not their fetish specifically catered to them? It actually represents real life queer men who they don’t actually like?)

[0-therw-0-rldly]

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not really a shipper. I just enjoy canon couples on TV Series/films.

Terms I’d like B*ddies to remove from their vocabulary because they don’t know how to use them correctly:

Media literacy: For a group that uses this term a lot you sure do misinterpret everything in this show.

Queerbaiting: Going to expand on this one. A show that’s already been pre established for having queer characters simply cannot queerbait.

Ship baiting: While sometimes you can argue that they could be doing that, that’s only if you look at the show in a very biased manner. You might think this is the case but the general audience doesn’t think the way you do.

Ship war: This isn’t a one tree hill situation where there was Team Brooke Vs. Team Peyton where the middle guy (Lucas Scott) had canonically been with both women. This is people not understanding fanon vs. canon and not being able to just watch the show. It’s like playing quarterback on Madden and thinking you could be better than Patrick Mahomes.

Plot device: everything’s a plot device. Move tf on.

Predator: You sound like crazy MAGA supporters calling everything regarding the LGBTQIA+ community as predatory. Sit down.

Co-parenting: I know this is a big one and discourse was brought up during the hiatus. Oliver and Ryan have loosely mentioned this years ago but it was never to be taken this seriously. Do y’all even know what co-parenting is or are you that big of a donut? Buck is someone who loves his best friend deeply and by extension, his kid too. Him taking care of him frequently does not make him a co-parent. Maybe he is a parental or uncle figure, but he isn’t a co-parent. Also, I swear y’all need to learn how a will works. He is a GODPARENT, not a GUARDIAN. Stfu.

Hag: This especially applies to women, but to say that someone 25-30+ is a hag for still being in fandoms or enjoying tv shows/films is inherently misogynistic. Men are never held to this much criticism for enjoying fictional media, but women aren’t allowed to?

Queer Coding: people of the same sex “looking at each other”, hugging, or having intimate moments all together doesn’t make them queer coded. It could mean that they just love each other that deeply platonically. While representation is amazing and just because you interpret a character as queer coded (just like my ship baiting comment) doesn’t mean others interpret it that way as well. In addition, network TV has stipulations, and also actors are allowed to decline storylines. Ryan has mentioned his character is heterosexual an abundance of times which means (at least for now) that he isn’t willing to go for this storyline.

Dead naming: Y’all construing the fact that Buck wants people like coworkers and some of his former love interests, to saying Evan is his dead name is inherently transphobic because do you even understand what a dead name is? Evan Buckley is shown as being fine with being called Evan by both Tommy and his sister. I’m pretty sure some of his love interests have called him Evan as well.

Fetishizing: You guys saw two hot guys who “looked at each other” and for 6 seasons have wanted nothing but to see those two make out with each other. Those of us who enjoy Tevan saw Buck giddy at the thought of Tommy and have wanted domestic fluff for them since.

Anything to do with racism, homophobia, and misogyny: I’ve seen the way you guys have conveniently weaponized Henren and by extension Aisha/Tracie when you didn’t get the Ryan/Oliver interview, don’t try to act like you’re morally superior. Not to mention wanting a canonically gay man to die in a show and not even holding those who use your ship name to write CSA fics accountable because you’re petty and want to throw hissy fits. Anyone looking at your comments as an outsider would think you’re homophobes and yes queer people can be homophobic.

I do hope you can expand your vocabulary. 🤍

[bekolxeram]

The sheer number of times Eddie is mentioned when Buck comes out to Maddie has been pointed out time and time again. Some take it as a sign that Buck is subconsciously in love with Eddie, some see it as foreshadowing for these two to be romantically involved in the future, while others simply think it's an Easter egg left in by writers as a nod to shippers.

The way I see it, there is a reason why Eddie keeps being brought up in this scene, but it's not what you think.

If you've rewatched this scene as much as I have, you'd remember that Buck actually isn't coming out to Maddie on purpose in this scene. He originally goes there to talk and ask for her advice, because he feels bad about the hot chicks incident when Eddie walked in on him and Tommy at the restaurant.

In fact, he fully intends to keep the identity of his date hidden. He can't even risk Chimney getting wind of it, in case he or Eddie puts two and two together and figures the whole thing out.

Maddie is always there to talk things out with her brother, but she would never turn down a chance to gossip.

He completely dodges Maddie's question and quickly changes the subject. He needs to tell Maddie the full story of his disastrous date, but he can only refer to Tommy as his date, or "this person". The more he does this, the higher the risk of slipping up, Maddie would likely ask more questions about this mysterious person as well, so Buck frames the whole narrative around the only person he can safely refer to: Eddie (and Marisol, but she isn't important in this story).

Maddie picks up on Buck's secrecy, now she really wants to know who this person is and why Buck refuses to reveal their identity. Buck again immediately shuts it down, and brings the topic back to Eddie.

While I'm sure Buck feels bad for lying to his best friend, especially when there's no reason to expect Eddie reacting with anything less than acceptance, when Buck starts actually talking about his behavior and what upsets him the most, it isn't really about Eddie. He's ashamed of himself for lying right in front of Tommy. In fact, he's so upset over Tommy cutting the date short and leaving him on the curb that he accidentally uses a gendered pronoun.

Maddie "I am 9-1-1" Han makes a career out of being a good and thorough listener, so of course she notices the pronoun. From this point on, the subject of the conversation shifts from Eddie to Buck's newly discovered sexuality, and later, Tommy.

Buck knows he goes to Maddie because he feels bad, but he still hasn't fully processed the fact that he's into men too and what it means to him. He's still calling himself an ally, a supporter of queer people, but he's confused as to why it doesn't seem to apply when it comes to himself. Maddie correctly points out that he's no longer just an ally, and the recency of his discovery might have been the cause of his strange and panicked behavior during the date.

This is the prime example of acting turning the same line into different meanings. The first "wow" seems to me like Maddie is finally connecting the dots. She practically raised her brother, it's not unlikely that she has previously witnessed Buck having boy problems. I feel like it's a "wow, everything makes so much sense now" wow. It looks like Buck takes a little offence at it and asks Maddie to clarify what she means by "wow". Maddie tells him it's more like a "wow, this is a nice surprise" wow.

Oh, boy is completely clueless. Maddie is just trying her best to keep up with Buck's increasingly oblivious statements.

Buck suddenly brings up Tommy, probably because he hasn't been able to stop thinking about him since the kiss. Apparently, he's so attracted to Tommy both physically and as a person, it makes him realize his interest in men, something no other has achieved thus far. Maddie recognizes the name her brother has been harping on for the past few weeks.

Poor Maddie must be so confused. First her brother and husband-to-be keep talking about how cool this pilot who saved everyone is, then he becomes Eddie's friend and Buck gets all jealous about it. Most recently, Maddie is horrified by Buck's action on the basketball court, because he only has a history of hurting himself to get someone's attention, not the target of his attention seeking. And now Buck has gone on a date with Tommy? So Maddie decides, one step at a time, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Buck initially tells Maddie about lying to his best friend and how he feels like a fraud, so she tackles (no pun intended) this part first.

If you come into this scene with preconceived notions, the word "feelings" being in proximity to the name Eddie may seem like to you that Maddie is pointing to "Buck's misplaced romantic feelings towards Eddie". But if you put these lines into context, Buck simply isn't sure of how he feels about his bisexuality in general. In fact, the only thing he's certain of in this entire conversation is his attraction to Tommy. Maddie also isn't bringing up Eddie out of the blue because she thinks her brother is secretly in love with his best friend. Again, Buck originally does want advice about lying to Eddie, albeit partly using his name to avoid revealing his date's identity, so Maddie gives it to him now, no need to read too much in between the lines, especially after the "wow" exchange.

Now that the Eddie stuff is out of the way, Maddie can comfortably gossip about Buck's new hot pilot crush. And Buck looks absolutely smitten at the mere mention of Tommy.

Eddie is undoubtedly a very important person in Buck's life, and it must be killing Buck inside for lying about something so important to his best friend. Though in this scene, Buck seems to be mostly using Eddie's name to circumvent the necessity of mentioning Tommy's name and to deflect any probing question about his identity. Once he accidently lets it slip that he was on a date with a guy, he pretty much drops the whole Eddie act entirely.

[forthesakeofblasphemy]

Look. My biggest fear is that Tommy is here and gone by the end of Thursday. I really need Buck to have a healthy time with him. I need Tommy to not be a jerk, to not be offended by Buck’s awkwardness. I get that Buddie shippers want Buddie to happen. I do, too. But this is the path it needs to take. And I need Buck to have some time to figure this out without Eddie. Don’t get me wrong. Give me Eddie being confused by his own jealousy. But let Buck have this. And let Tommy be nice. I’m already kinda attached to him. I don’t fear the actors, I fear the writers.

[bellabrady]

every tevan shipper who's surprised about the breakup or says that there was nothing pointing towards this simply has zero media literacy. like, i'm sorry but it's not everyone else's fault that you can't pick up on the most in-your-face hints possible.

i do agree that ultimately the reason they broke up was weird and came a little out of left field but the breakup itself? that absolutely didn't.

since the moment tommy came back, everyone in interviews said almost outright that he's an entrylevel relationship, that tevan becoming a thing was a spontaneous decision, that tommy's a plot device, etc. in the beginning, even lfjr said that! he only started baiting all of you when he realized he could get some money out of it.

there was absolutely nothing hinting that tommy would be anything more than temporary — the opposite was hinted at repeatedly, in the previous episode alone.

like, what did YOU think it meant that tommy got next to no screentime all season except for the episode before the one in which we knew buck and tommy would have relationship troubles? did you really think they gave him screentime all of a sudden for any reason other than to make the inevitable breakup more impactful?

what did you think it meant that they didn't share a single kiss the entire season? that there was zero PDA between them?

what did you think it meant that eddie was involved in 90% of their relationship?

what did you think it meant that they made it a point to show that tommy isn't actually all that close to buck or his circle (not knowing who sargeant grant is, not being in the gc, etc.)?

what did you think it meant that after 3 months they were still in the 'getting to know each other' phase of their relationship?

what did you think it meant that their last scene in 8x05 was at a literal graveyard and that there was a huge physical distance between them?

and all of that isn't even mentioning all the ways in which they're simply incompatible and have been from the start.

be disappointed if you want, but don't blame everyone else for your blind optimism

[winchester27]

I know a lot of the Buddie shippers can’t stand the idea of Buck/Tommy but LISTEN

To have Buddie you HAVE to have Buck figuring out who he is as an individual and to get through his identity crisis and explore. There’s a part of him that might not even realize yet that EDDIE is who he wants and not Tommy.

His relationship with Tommy is paving the way for a healthy Buddie relationship without all the internalized homophobia and spiraling.

So let’s all say thank you Tommy for kissing Buck and move on