#anti-bucktommy

[b0ybutch]

s7 tommy said im gonna fuck one of you closet cases and idgaf which one it is

[madlori]

Co-opting a very real issue for trans people and applying it to a cis man going by more than one name, by his own volition, is super fucking gross, by the way.

[eddieuberdiaz]

Can I ask what it was that changed your mind? Or was it more than one thing? I'm so curious because I suspect a lot more people are about to as well...

well, idk a lot of things. like, mostly i've always been a Buddie First person. Like it was really the ship that got me into fandom, and I've always suspected there was a chance we'd get canon buddie in the end (i think at the lowest end of the scale, i was giving it a 50/50 shot and never less than that). i didn't mind tommy at all, and i even liked the pairing and enjoyed buddietommy AND i actually enjoy eddietommy as well (i actually think it's my favorite of the Tommy Ships and I have some friends that write really really great eddietommy fics that i definitely will still read).

i honestly have had some mixed opinions about all of the fandom drama type stuff - like i have people blocked on both sides who said things that didn't sit right with me so it's not so much that. i mostly tried and still try very hard to keep out of That Part of it because I just don't see any reason. There are always gonna be shitty people in all parts of any fandom I don't particularly see any reason to single out an entire shipbase for the actions of a handful of people who don't have lines or understand that harassing real people over fake ships is wrong.

after confessions, i think bt just didn't really hit the same for me maybe? like i was sad for a minute and i thought i might miss tommy as a character, but in the end i barely even noticed all that much, and the break up was kind of like eh, for me. like i liked it for what it was and then it was done. not to mention, in general, there was a lot of negativity and just downerism over there anyway - suddenly everyone hated the show and Had Never Liked It To Begin With and it had Always Been Bad. Half of the BT fans were like Oliver is a Horrible Diva Who Just Wants Attention. Tommy/Lou got me in teh divorce. Etc etc. It was kind of a nightmare and just sucked the fun out of everything for me, personally. I don't begrudge anyone it didn't do that for. Everyone should have fun in fandom the way they choose, but that's not fun for me.

And then 8x09 happened and it just felt like buddie happening was imminent and i got really excited because that's legit what i've always wanted (and was never quiet about! i never denied it! i always said it was what i wanted!), and i followed some more buddie shippers and just got more and more excited after that ep.

and then i started to lose followers/mutuals lmao. like it started with one person and some vague posts about people being delusional, and then i just decided i didn't care. and then i got an anon asks telling me i was "hanging out with toxic buddies" and they were "ashamed we were ever mutuals" and i was like ah i see this is what it's gonna be like. i am just posting about the ship i like the most and being excited and whimsical and clowning about it with some friends and this is what happens. so i just decided i didn't care anymore and really embraced it.

because to be honest, i'd rather be a ridiculous delusional buddie shipper than the kind of person who unfollows and blocks their friends because they like another ship better, and i think after last week's episode i'm just fully all in and i didn't really love the way tommy acted about all the eddie stuff anyway (like i really really thought making a celebratory claim about the man you're trying to get back together with's best friend who you KNOW he has a really deep relationship with is a dick move), so i just. idk. and i've found that buddie fandom has been more of a fun and positive experience.

and i'm sure there will be people here who won't like me because i was on that side of the fandom for a long time and because there's a part of me that definitely still finds tommy interesting as a character, even though i don't want him dating buck at all anymore, and that's fine too, but i am fully all in on buddie now. it's what i want to see. some of it has to do with fandom, but most of it has to do with actual canon and the fact that it's always what i wanted, and it was just fun enjoying buck kissing a boy for a while, but now i feel like it's time for him to be kissing THE boy, ya know? like tommy helped him get here, but eddie is his person. like really for real his person, and i won't apologize or feel bad for feeling that way and thinking that's what the text is telling me.

IDK if any of that makes sense. I just hope I don't lose any buddie followers for any of what I'm saying. lmfao

did that even answer your question?

[dubiousculturalartifact]

Obviously I’ve been queerbaited before, like, a genuinely incalculable number of times, and maybe thinking Buddie might actually go canon is a ‘fool me sixteen times, shame on me’ scenario, but I think one big thing that’s keeping my hope alive is this thought: If you genuinely believe that Buddie isn’t going to go canon, 100% zero possibility and absolutely no intention of trying... Then you also have to believe the people who create the show we’re all fans of are purposefully cruel dicks. 

Because we have SEEN what it looks like when the showrunner of 911 knows there is no possibility of it happening, has no plans of it, and is generally trying to avoid accusations of queerbaiting.

It looks like S5 & S6. Little bits here and there, the odd important scene to throw breadcrumbs… but a lot of keeping the two characters apart, being circumspect in interviews, PR shut downs on the actors, etc. The show has proven they are capable and willing to exactly that!

So indulge me, and imagine for a second. They had the conversation with the new network, and the execs told them they wanted to continue with the status quo, to write as if Buddie is never going to go canon, BUT were willing to bend so far as to make one of them queer, to keep the fans happy.

What would that look like?

I don't know, call me foolish.... But I think it would look like keeping the same dynamic from The Drought Seasons. Having them be friends and important to each other but still fairly disconnected, not having as much screen-time, etc, It would look like having Buck’s coming out arc be a SEPARATE, individual narrative. If they just wanted to write Tommy and Buck, and that's it, they could have done things differently.

There are just so many conceivable ways they could have written Buck’s coming out arc, to almost completely separate it from Eddie and have it be made clear, in no uncertain terms, that Buck is bi but that doesn’t mean he cares about Eddie like that, that Eddie is a hetero McHetero.

Buck’s coming out arc could have included him being jealous because he’s suddenly faced with Tommy in the flesh and is insecure about how he was technically ‘Tommy’s replacement’ at the 911, with Eddie not relevant to it at all, or have Maddie and Chimney be the ones to interrupt The Date, or literally any other scenario that didn’t make it all about Eddie. 

They could have had one short scene where Eddie and Buck talk about it, and then the rest would be like, Buck talking to Hen about being queer, Buck interacting just with Tommy and getting to know him, Buck doing a research binge about bisexuality and info-dumping at an inappropriate time during a call, etc etc etc.

That’s how you tell that story and only be writing it for the proverbial ‘general audience’.

But they didn't. They purposefully reversed direction. They chose for Buck’s coming out arc to... highlight his nigh-feral jealousy over Eddie forming a homosocial bond with another guy, having said guy repeat with genuine surprise and shock that it was him and not Eddie that Buck was interested in, have Eddie interrupt their date, have Buck be more worried about lying to Eddie than the fact that he’s queer at all, have Maddie say what she did to Buck about telling Eddie in specifically ambiguous terms…

In a season that also included the Fire Extinguisher Incident, and Buck saying he ‘wishes he could help’ with Eddie’s sexual frustration, and a big increase in social media engagement, and having Buck being Eddie’s rock in the last few episodes while he had a bizarrely platonic affair with his dead wife's doppleganger…

If they did that while KNOWING the plan was actually for Buck/Tommy endgame and Eddie riding off in the sunset with a hot female firefighter who has a cool motorcycle or whatever the fuck, or them both dying in a freak car-washing accident, or….

If they GENUINELY planned that? If the entire Buck jealousy plotline was intended to be nothing more than a deliberate queerbait-and-switch? Then they’re fucking assholes, sorry. They would have to know full well exactly what they were doing, how many people’s hopes and emotional investment they were toying with... If they were actually planning to keep dragging it along for seasons more of baiting and dangling things in front of us, while knowing categorically that they had no plans to deliver? That would be genuinely GOD TIER levels of specific, intentional queerbaiting.

Which could be the case! I won't deny that. Shows have done it before, plenty of times. Tim et al could be callous bastards deliberately instructing the actors to wink it up in interviews and share suggestive Tiktoks, and writing Buck’s coming out arc as being entirely focused around Eddie and throwing out hints... All while laughing behind Buddie fans' backs about our gullibility, how we’re keeping the show trending on the force of our delusions, etc. Maybe that's it! Maybe they just genuinely enjoying fucking with people. Or maybe they were just shitty enough writers that they didn't know what they were doing, and it was all a total accident, somehow, the proverbial monkeys pounding at keyboards and accidentally spelling out B U D D I...

But you know what? Call it naive, but I prefer to think they’re not huge assholes, or hugely incompetent.

That there might actually be a point to all this, somewhere down the line.

I guess we'll find out.

[can-i-get-a-yippee]

I guess my whole beef with the whole buckt*mmy convo is that they could’ve easily built up their relationship in that moment and made it a scene where Buck leaned on T*mmy emotionally and grown more emotionally intimate.

Bc Bobby is one of the most important people in Buck’s life, and he mentions that Bobby is like a father to him.

And like instead of adding emotionally depth to their relationship with the convo, it just became joking convo about daddy issues that ended in asex joke one liner that just really didn’t fit the tone of the episode overall :/

[iced-coffee-jesus]

oh, so did they mention buddie at all? did it get mentioned more than bucktommy? just curious as I haven’t seen the paleyfest thing yet.

No, it didn't get mentioned; they don't usually ask explicitly about buddie. I'm not personally keeping a tally score, either.

Buck and Tommy only had the one mention that I posted earlier. The Paley fest thing was fun but definitely didn't give out any new information. Every question was very focused on where everything was left off last season. Athena and Bobby are house hunting, Madney is taking care of Mara, Henren's plot is also about Mara, Eddie is going on a journey of self-discovery, and Buck hates Gerard. That was about it!

I do generally get a kick out of how little Oliver will expand on bt, though lol.

[eddiesmustache]

The funniest thing about the anti-BT discourse is that by all account I do not think Buddies have been mean. Like okay sure, we're calling your Special Guy a pathetic loser and talking about the fact that he only exists as a plot device to further Buck and Eddie's relationship, but this is honestly one of the tamest ship wars I've ever seen. I've been on here since 2011, and I'm sorry but all of you BuckT*mmy stans simply wouldn't have survived back in the day if you're having a meltdown over being called media illiterate.

[bibuckagenda]

I might start using anti-bucktommy or something? I don’t want to post hate in a ship tag; I’d get pissed if someone did it for mine, you know?

[dammit-neal]

What's happening?

tbh it's been so long, I can't remember what this is referencing, but in recent tumblr activity in this neighborhood:

I went from not caring about bummy to severely disliking it. I think it's a mix of bummy shipper behavior (including but not limited to: terrible tagging so i got their shit on my feed, and bad takes, everything else is whatever), the UTTER LACK of chemistry between Lou and Oliver that is reflected in the zero chemistry between Buck and Tommy, and just how cheated I feel that they think they can just throw any ol' man at Buck and that's enough for me to be like "Whelp I guess Buck and Eddie's epic love story just isn't meant to be and we can replace Eddie with just any old guy *shrugs*." No one would accept that if someone tried to subvert a straight ship and I ain't lowering my standards here either.

I threw shade at polin (bridgerton), and didn't tag correctly, which is my bad. Someone sent me aggressive anons, and I felt so popular for like 3 seconds.

[nymika-arts]

no I actually can't stop thinking about it. tommy never put in the work. he didn't dress up for the bachelor party. he barely indulged buck's halloween antics. he literally got buck basketball tickets as an anniversary gift because he never took the time to actually learn his likes and dislikes. buck offers him a place in his life and tommy runs from it, and only now comes back for it. now that the 'competition' is gone. now that he thinks it's gonna be easy. he wants to have buck without earning him.

[epiaphany]

Now that the competition is out of the way

[timeshareindestin]

what do you mean gay sex happened at 4995 south bedford street and eddie wasn’t participating

[jasongracedefenseattorney]

“the breakup was bad writing” WHAT DO YOU MEANNNNNN?!?! the relationship was PEAK 9-1-1 writing yall just don’t like that it wasn’t written with tommy as endgame! they were always going to have troubles at micelli’s!! eddie was always going to haunt their narrative!! they never make it to the movie together!! tommy was always going to have to fight for a “spot” in buck’s life and the moment buck finally lets him in (ie he gets a good parking spot) he’s not willing to put in any work to keep it. he never learned that buck doesn’t like basketball he never indulged buck’s love of deep dives even in the breakup he called buck impulsive but the thing is buck isn’t impulsive by nature! he can be self destructive and throw himself into danger for others but actual decisions in his life are so often made by committee. the only time he acts impulsively is when he’s clinging to dying relationships. and he wouldn’t even call him by his name! the only time he calls him buck is right before he leaves when for ONCE he sees him completely. the bucktommy breakup was some of the best work the writers have done in a while im sorry that yall fell in love with a plot device and got mad that he was used as a device for the plot but the writers led you to the water it’s not their fault when you don’t drink

[dubiousculturalartifact]

So: A consistent theme of Buck's relationships is him putting in more than he's getting back, and people who refuse to meet him at his level. And... Tommy decided to wear a plain black henley, to the 1980s-themed karaoke party that Buck was ridiculously excited about. :/

[beenadoonabc]

I'm so sorry to all the people who are closing but like. If Tim wanted to shut the door on buddie he could've made Buck say 7 very simple words:

"Eddie is like a brother to me."

There. That's it. Door shut. Case closed. That's how you establish that there's no romantic potential.

Here's how you don't do that:

By having Buck repeatedly insist that there's no way he's in love with Eddie, because "Eddie is straight". Buck who, up until a season ago, also thought he was straight. Buck who had a whole character arc that proved to us, the viewer, that sexuality is a complex subject and sometimes your perspective on it can change.

By having Buck say the absolutely wild line "I don't have to want to sleep with everyone I have feelings for" when confronted with the possibility of him cheating with Eddie, who he was accused of having feelings for.

You're closing after that?

[dumbassunicorn08]

"Went crazy and took up some himbo half her age" the absolute hypocrisy and misogyny in this statement as if he isn't also dating someone half his age. As if Abby wasn't struggling to take care of her mother. Tommy kinard they will never make me like you