#because Buck was going to be bi in season 4 and it seems like season 5 was laying the groundwork for Eddie to be gay

[bucksboobs]

I do think certain Buddie shippers need to slow the fuck down and enjoy the ride. Buck hasn’t even said the word “boyfriend” yet and there are people that want him to break up with his boyfriend by the end of the season. I’m not going to claim to be an expert in reading the show’s intention but it does seem like Buck and Tommy will last at least until midway through season 8 now that season 8 is confirmed. Just narratively, this relationship is about Buck discovering a side of himself he didn’t know and rushing that is not healthy for the story or for his character.

You should want to see Buck happy with Tommy for a while because his story about gay joy is just as important as Eddie’s theoretical gay breakdown. It’s two sides of the same coin. That journey of Eddie suffering through breaking out of the box he and society and his parents put him in is better if in contrast to Buck continuing to have a boyfriend and being happy. It’s a light for the end of Eddie’s tunnel. Because Eddie will see 1) that it’s possible to be a firefighter and date other men and 2) to be a firefighter and date another firefighter 3) be a firefighter and date BUCK all while denying all those things to himself. BuckTommy only enriches the drama of Buddie especially if Eddie realizes everything while they’re still together.

[nqueso-emergency]

There are things that people seem to forget.

1. Tim is the one who brought back Lou, after rewatching the begins episodes.

2. Tim always asks his cast what they think about certain storylines. So if Oliver really didn’t like the storyline, it just wouldn't have happened. I mean of course he was down for buck’s bi awakening but he was also down to do with Lou. Even after 705. Because we know after that episode, it was a decisive moment if they kept Lou or not for the next episode. Because mind you, Lou’s contract was only for 3-4 episodes. Then Lou got his contract extended! (And I’m sure Tim still asked Oliver about the continuation of this story with Tommy). There we are. Season 8. Buck and Tommy still thriving, and are going to go through some hurdles just like any couples of this damn show.

So the narratives of "Oliver hates Lou" is just puerile AF.

This!!!

[tevanbegins]

My beloved Bucktommies, hear me out for I have rambled about some important stuff ahead related to Tommy's comeback situation for S8:

Let's not forget that the Access Hollywood interview with Lou Ferrigno Jr. and Oliver Stark would never have been arranged if Buck and Tommy's love story wasn't meant to be long-term, or continue developing further into the next season. It was a small but still a very crucial piece of press.

Why? Because it's not like it was done right after 7x04 when the hype around bi-Buck was at its peak. Instead, it was done during the second-half of the season, that too when the Bobby-focused episodes were airing. Plus, it was a major TV network interview, not some random podcast/youtube interview!

Also, they could have only had Oliver out there if the showrunner or PR team thought Lou as Tommy was inconsequential to this storyline. They evidently wanted to create buzz not only around Buck's bisexual arc but around his romance with Tommy as well, with this press. Why do all of that if the character was going to disappear shortly?

I am not clear about how it all works but I am sure Tim and his team must have discussed Tommy's future when they decided to extend Lou's contract beyond the pre-decided 4 episode appearances last season. Because why even bother showing that tiny dinner scene with Tevan in the finale if they didn't want to show us where the relationship stood?

And don't let the naysayers get into your head and compare this with the happy Buck-Natalia scene from the season 6 finale and how she was written off after that. Remember that the writers supposedly wrote that episode as a possible series finale given the uncertainty around the show's future after Fox cancelled it. But then ABC picked it up and the writers had to resume the storylines from where they had left them off.

The actress playing Natalia refused to come back, probably because I am assuming she thought her part was done and the show was supposed to end and so she took up other work. Plus there was the whole strike thing too in between. She was just a supporting character and her contract extension may not have been under consideration while they were filming season 6, because they didn't know for sure at the time if another network would renew them for a new season. And because of her refusal they had to scrap that storyline later.

The situation is quite different with Lou. The season 8 renewal announcement came early when the first-half of season 7 was on air. Therefore, Tim and the writers have had the luxury to put some plans in place for the upcoming season in advance because the renewal was official. And this must include whether or not they wanted to keep Tommy around post season 7!

And if Lou agreed to do 2 more episodes last season, I believe he must have agreed to be there for season 8 too — because if the last two episodes of S7 have served any purpose, it has been to tell us that Buck and Tommy are going strong and even the firefam approves of their relationship, deliberately cementing their relationship status as they move forward into the upcoming season.

So this can't have been all for nothing. The only reason Tommy wouldn't be in S8 is if Lou himself declined or if the filming dates were clashing with his other projects, none of which seems to be likely given the points I have discussed above. Besides, we all know how deeply invested Lou is in playing Tommy and passionate about his storyline with Buck. He wouldn't quit a role that's clearly so important and dear to him just because of the BoBs' stupid vendetta against him; he has big dreams for his career to let this childish hate towards him get in the way of a good opportunity. And he knows and sees how much we as his fans love, support, and appreciate him!

So to conclude, I have faith Tommy will be back! He has to be!!! 💫

___

[louferrignojrofficial]

one thing that really annoys me and that i normally wouldn’t bitch about on main but i’m just not feeling all that great today so i’m gonna - is how some people who ship buddie but liked tommy - both in general and with buck - are acting. (editing this to say it got really long and a little off topic so proceed with caution)

before 7x10, they’d be like omg he’s so funny, so considerate, he’s so cute/handsome!! with an added disclaimer of (i still ship buddie and i think they’re gonna be endgame but i’m enjoying tommy and him with buck in the meantime!)

and then after that dinner scene, it was like a switch flipped. he’s so disgusting, insensitive, how dare he make a daddy issues joke when buck was talking about bobby basically being his father and when he was basically dying!!! how dare he!!!! i’m not gonna go into how that’s a gross misinterpretation of the scene and just plain wrong because that’s a whole other rant.

it was a drastic change. there’s all these posts hating on him, on everything they’d liked about him before. having the most negative misinterpretations of things they’d literally praised about him saying/doing before. all but rewriting canon dialogue to create this narrative of how much characters, mostly eddie, feel towards tommy.

now i see so many of these people making and/or reblogging posts saying they can’t wait for buck to break up with tommy because he either somehow mistook his feelings for eddie with feelings for tommy because they’re baSicaLly tHe sAme pErSon, or that eddie and everyone else will be like we never liked him in the first place, or some other insane post about how they’d kill tommy or rant about how much they hate him for things they literally had no problem with before.

like i’m not saying you can’t change your mind about a character, but i just think it’s crazy how much people can start to hate someone they literally had no problem with after ONE comment.

and this is another thing partially related, but seeing how the tommy hate has gotten so out of hand, i see comments on twitter and tumblr and even on instagram posts from the cast hating on him that veer towards sounding just plain homophobic. like the killing tommy ‘jokes’ ??? you’re not funny. you sound homophobic. ‘but i’m not homophobic for not liking a character and making a joke!!’ okay so imagine literally anyone else who knew nothing about the show making a comment like you’re doing. it’s not a good look.

to me, it seems clear that to these people, tommy was just meant to be a placeholder. he was meant to only be there for buck to realise his bisexuality, and then buddie was meant to be canon and so tommy is in the way somehow. because people took bi buck being shut down back in season 4 to be proof that buddie was meant to have gone canon (which i’m not saying wasn’t the case, but it’s never been confirmed or really even hinted at.)

so now anything to do with tommy just makes people so mad, because he’s still here and buddie isn’t happening. so they’re purposefully having the most negative interpretation of anything to do with tommy to make themselves feel better.

hating on tommy makes it easier to deal with the fact buddie doesn’t seem to in the cards (at least rn). so people don’t have to really consider that it may never happen, so they don’t have to shift the blame onto the actors and writers and anyone else. so they can continue to read into any oliver and ryan interaction into meaning canon buddie, anything they say in interviews that doesn’t point towards canon buddie, to misinterpret anything they do say (including ryan continuously calling eddie heterosexual, that’s a big one) because they can’t give away anything yet, it has to be a surprise!!!

tldr: people are hating on tommy after 7x10, and it’s less to do with anything he said in that scene and more to do with the fact that he’s still on the show and buddie doesn’t seem to be going canon. and that hating on him makes it easier to deal with that fact.

[notafragilething]

Late Night Buck & Tommy Ramble: Shit is getting interesting

I honestly thought today was going to be fucking chill with no promo and maybe only a whisper or two about tomorrow's episode. We currently have 21 hours left until the new episode airs and we have so much to unpack because everyone is just out there wilding right now

Get yourself a drink and a snack and prepare yourself. There is a lot to discuss. Minor spoilers for tomorrow's episode in regards to stills and vague-ish comments by people who have seen the episode.

Buck & Tommy Related Chaos:

I'm going to start with the chaos: OLIVER AND LOU ARE DOING A JOINT INTERVIEW that was filmed today for Access Hollywood / Access Daily that will air tomorrow before the episode.

I am in total shock by this because I've been vocal that I didn't even think we'd get more interviews from these two before the season ended. I would have never dreamed that they'd have them doing a joint interview together.

This is a pretty huge (and good) sign, in my opinion. You wouldn't suddenly have two actors going out doing press together unless (from a marketing point of view) you're trying to promote that couple to the audience. This to me really does suggest they're planning on keeping Lou around and pushing BuckTommy.

I've heard crazy speculation about what the interview will be about but it airs before the episode so likely we won't get major spoilers. We'll likely see the two talking about their characters, what it's like working together and hinting at what is going to happen moving forward.

With that said, I'm really curious at how they're going to sell this on the show. We've already seen Ryan hitting the talking point that Eddie is straight in recent weeks, which seems to be an attempt to distancing themselves from Buddie. This interview tomorrow may possibly give us an idea where their heads are at moving forward.

Regardless, I think this is a strong indicator that Tommy isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I know some people are trying to downplay this as happening because Bi Buck was such a huge storyline but they could have easily just had Oliver on the show. Them having both of them makes this about their relationship, not just Buck coming out as Bi and that's a pretty big shift from the marketing we saw around episodes 4-5.

Lou also posted about it on his Instagram and Ryan liked it.

Also I cannot remember a time that they had Oliver doing interviews with his love interest on the show. Can anyone else?

The kiss on Instagram reels continues to do well. It's almost at 1.2 million, sitting currently at 1183k.

General Cast Information:

Let's start simple with the tweets coming out from press who saw tomorrow's episodes. The overwhelming theme with all of them seems to be a warning for us to prepare for some hurt. I'm preparing myself to watch Hen, Bobby and Eddie all go through hell tomorrow based on what we've seen on social media over the last 24 hours. So let's get into that.

Hen: Early today the official Instagram posted stills from the earlier episode where the councilwomen's son refuses treatment after he accident and dies (which leads to Hen being investigated). They then captioned this "A moment from the past can become so pivotal for your future" because clearly they want to hurt us. It also seems like that congress women is in the episode and we see her in one of the stills at the medal ceremony.

Bobby: It seems like he's going to have a nice father/son moment with Buck at some point this episode based on the stills and what Oliver has hinted at. But I think he'll also definitely be dealing with guilt.

Eddie: Dude I don't even know. Between Marisol being at the medal ceremony with him and Christopher and him taking a row boat out with Kim? This is going to get ugly.

All of the stills were really happy and we know that isn't what is happening in this episode so I'm pretty sure they're from the first 15 or 20 minutes. This show has been fucking with our heads with these promos.

We're very, very likely to get a sneak peak sometime tomorrow along with the Oliver&Lou interview.

I might attempt to make a ramble post talking about the interview prior to the episode depending on what time it airs.

So how are we all feeling? Cause I'm having all the fucking emotions.

[lover-of-mine]

I just saw someone genuinely argue "as a Buddie shipper" (which I don't believe) that Buddie shouldn't happen because: their close friendship is too important, the text of the show doesn't support Eddie being gay the way it supports Buck being bi, Eddie is "not ready", and that Ryan Guzman plays Eddie "too straight" to be able to pull off acting Buddie and this feels like to me someone who doesn't actually ship Buddie but is claiming to cause they think it'll give them more credibility in criticizing it.

1) if I see one more argument about how their close male friendship is too important because of toxic masculinity and that making it romantic would ruin it I'm going to lose my marbles because this is the dumbest take. TV is FULL of vulnerable platonic male friendships - 9-1-1 is FULL of them. Also them becoming romantic does not mean they would no longer be friends.

2) So we're just pretending queer-coding doesn't exist now okay.

3) I'm sick to death of the argument of Eddie not being ready. When is he allowed to be ready??? Does he have to suffer for a decade before he's allowed to figure things out??

4) They have to be watching the show with their eyes closed to think Ryan Guzman who has been playing Eddie "Heart Eyes" Diaz for 6 seasons couldn't pull off Buddie.

I'm gonna talk about all points, but the Eddie is too straight thing drives me INSANE. Four months ago, if I said "oh, Eddie is straight, no way buddie is happening" I would have whole essays on how he's gay thrown my way before I hit post. We're talking about a character who had panic attacks about his girlfriend. Who this season had literal erectile dysfunction with another girlfriend. There is no heterosexual explanation for the way Eddie was looking at Buck during the poker game. That man looks at Buck like he's the sun, the sky, the stars, and the moon. Like Buck is somehow the best thing he ever laid eyes on. Yeah, there are threads to pull. With Buck. We only need Eddie to be into one man. And boy, do we have threads to pull there. And honestly, if you wanna see Ryan play painfully straight men, go watch anything else in his filmography, that man knows how to act painfully straight. It's not what he's doing with Eddie. This narrative that Ryan is somehow sabotaging buddie's chances is so beyond ridiculous. Personally, I don't subscribe to Eddie being strictly gay, but I legit don't care anymore as long as he's out of the closet soon give him whatever label, but even if there weren't threads to pull to make it seem like Eddie is in love with Buck, and there are a lot of them, this idea that Eddie being gay is only valid if he's a stereotypical gay man from the beginning is NUTS. Why does gay have to look a specific way to be valid for y'all? This is such a harmful point of view. You want rep but it needs to fit in this one specific box or else it's not valid? What is wrong with you?

The male friendship thing, please tell me where are we lacking vulnerable male friendships in media? Media is made of male friendships. Everything everywhere is about male characters. And Buck and Eddie dating would not negate their friendship all of a sudden. Yall do realize you're supposed to like the person you're dating, right? Isn't literally everyone on the planet telling everyone to marry their best friend? How would that ruin their friendship? It just makes them a stronger couple because they have that foundation. And there literally isn't a show or movie that had two guy best friends who weren't introduced as queer who started dating. Literally, does not exist in media, how would losing exactly one friendship suddenly destroy male friendship representation everywhere? And we weren't even be losing the friendship, the friendship is gonna be a core part of buddie forever. You want strong male friendships? Go watch literally anything else. Every procedural ever has two guy best friends. Go watch house, any of the ncis, h50, the one chicago shows, hell, go watch lord of the rings or something, there are so many male friendships in media. No one is gonna die if Buck and Eddie kiss.

And the whole Eddie not being ready thing. Are we watching the same show? The show where madney started while Maddie was running for her life or bathena started while Bobby was actively suicidal? Or that even henren was presented to us when Hen cheated? Buck's own definition of love is "So every day is the best day ever. Is that really love? Right? Shouldn't it be when you're at your worst, they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up, and you still decide you want to try again?" loving someone at their lowest is the definition of love for that show. It's working through the bad to appreciate the good. And again, this idea that someone needs to be healed to be worthy of love is fucked UP. Eddie is never gonna be fully healed. Recovery isn't linear and he has ptsd. He will forever grieve Shannon. Does that mean he's never gonna be allowed to be loved because he is a human being who has been through hell? What does it take for someone to be "ready for love", huh? What's the threshold here? He was in a helicopter that was shot down and got shot 3 times, he was abandoned by a wife he later was forced to watch die, he was shot at again in broad daylight, he watched his best friend die and had to save him, his own parents just stole his kid. What does he have to do to prove that he is worthy of love, how does he have to handle all that? What I'm getting here is that someone who's been through shit can't be loved, is that the message we're sending? Really? No one seriously wants Buck and Eddie to open season 8 dating, but they are partners and best friends and they don't have to have everything figured out before they go there, they can figure it out together, they do it together anyway. Why can't they take that step and figure things out as a couple? Jesus.

[buddiebeginz]

WHY DID THEY SHOW EDDIE WATCHING BUCK REPEL DOWN THE CLIFF?! Choices and so early on too 😩

I'm assuming you're talking about this gifset I reblogged. Honestly I think that Eddie was supposed to be queer from the beginning. I know people think Buck was but I'm not sure if that was necessarily the writers intention. It might have been Oliver's intention to play him that way, I can't remember what he said word for word but I think it was something about how he's always seen Buck as bi. But I think in scenes like the season 1 tapeworm episode where Buck seems to bond with the gay couple it's supposed to come off more like Buck is just being his himbo self more than anything else. I mean I do think when we're looking back on the show there are definitely signs of his bisexuality (the tapeworm scene being one) but I don't know that the writers wrote him at the time with that intention.

But I think there's a good possibility that they brought Eddie in always wanting to have him be a character that comes out eventually. I mean look at how we're introduced to Eddie. Then look at how everything with Shannon was handled. They easily could have kept her around longer and turned their relationship into a will they/won't they. They could have made it so we saw how in love with her Eddie has always been but that's not what happened. They let us know right away that the main draw to that relationship for Eddie was familiarity and the fact that Shannon is Chris' mother. These factors have continued to come into play in Eddie's other relationships too. Like with Ana there was a familiarity in that she was Chris' teacher and Eddie was mostly looking for someone to fill the mother figure role for Chris.

While I think that Eddie was always intended to be queer I don't think they wanted him to come out immediately like they did with a character like Michael. I think the plan was to tell his story slowly and have him come out later. The Ana storyline I think was supposed to be the lead in to having Eddie come out. The main reason I believe this (apart from just look at how that storyline was handled) is the person on twitter with inside info to the show said as much.

I also think that around s3 they started to really notice the chemistry between Buck and Eddie and how much people were shipping them because that's when we got scenes like "there's no one in this world I trust with my son more" and "you want to go for the title" and the grocery story fight which totally read like a lovers quarrel. Or how they had Eddie seeing images of Buck flash in his mind when he almost died in the well. Or having Buck scream for Eddie when he almost died in the well.

I think by the time they got to season 4 there were serious discussions about putting Buck and Eddie together. We know from Oliver that the plan was originally to have Buck come out in s4 and presumably Eddie in s5 along with Buddie going canon. But Fox put a stop to that. If you go by what the insider said and by how season 4 was handled especially the shooting (which is incredibly romance coded) there's no way that Buddie wasn't in the plans by this point.

Plus you had Tim leaving around this time likely at least in part because he was frustrated with how Fox was stifling his show. You can also see remnants of where the story was supposed to go in s5. All that stuff with Eddie and Ana and the panic attacks and Buck being worried about him that was definitely supposed to be a part of Eddie's coming out arc I'm positive on that. I also think that Taylor (when she came back in s4) was originally just supposed to be a friend who helped Buck figure things out but instead Fox pushed for her to be a love interest. This would explain Oliver's dislike of the relationship and complete lack of supporting it. Similar to how he's been with B/T.

Anyway sorry I went off on a ramble. I could talk about these guys all day. 😅

Oh and I leave you with this anon Eddie in s3 checking out a hot guy's ass. (and Chimney clocking him doing it😝)

[eddiediazismyhusband]

i really don’t want this to seem ignorant- so sorry if it does. But FOX did make Lonestar, which has a queer canon couple, a trans guy and other incisive characters

i know Oliver said FOX didn’t allowed Buddie but also kind of wrote it in but also pretended they didn’t but also had a plan they never followed through on, but FOX aren’t evil are they? I mean I prefer 9-1-1 over Lonestar but I liked the show and all the different characters they had (even if they made some bizarre decisions)

i’m not saying FOX don’t suck- but why specifically does the fandom hate them so much. Is it cause queer baiting (over buddie)?

I can’t speak for myself, but personally a lot of my issues with FOX handling the buddie situation was less so with Fox, but more with Kristen Reidel for coming in and completely sweeping away the setup that Tim had made for buddie at the end of season 4.

Obviously we only know tidbits that have been said in interviews, and they’re never going to outright talk about what happened (at least not until buddie goes canon or the show ends) but from the few things we’ve heard, it sounds like the sniper plot was setup to be bothe Buck and Eddie’s “oh” moment, and Tim had planned to explore that in season 5 to work towards Buddie canon.

However when Tim switched over to LS from 9-1-1, and KR stepped in, she and FOX both nixed everything that Tim had initially planned, and took the show in a different direction— this is why a lot of fans dislike season 5 and 6 (not because of buddie not going canon, but because it almost felt like a different show at times— and we all know the debacle that was the rushed plot wrap-ups at the end of s6 that granted weren’t entirely KR’s fault, but could have been handled better than they were)

So tldr, i think a lot of fans are more annoyed at the combination of FOX and KR both deciding not to go down the bi!buck route in s5 and eventually leading to buddie canon. at least that’s where my frustration lies, but everyone has different reasons. I think other people are aggravated by the fact that LS did make Tarlos canon but so vehemently disagreed with Buddie/Bi!Buck…. (that is not to say I don’t love Tarlos i absolutely do, but it is a little annoying that they would give us one queer ship while denying another)

(and to answer your question about FOX being evil- this might be my socialist brain talking but they are a major media corporation which to me automatically makes them icky bc their main concern is making money which means they really don’t gaf about representation unless it makes them money— but this also goes for ABC and any other network but i digress)

I hope this clears things up/answers your question? I don’t think there’s a really clear-cut across the board answer, but this fits with a lot of what i’ve seen/discussed w other fans.

Thanks for the ask, anon 💕💕💕

[lovecolibri]

Am I a loser for fearing that this will be like BT 1.0 in that it is dragged out and remains stale and chemistry-less and harmful to Buck's character (for being with a not good person and not caring about said person's bad deeds) and the twist will be that it doesn't end 😭 Don't hate me for being negative...I was not negative until today, seeing that gremlin in the promotions and Tim showing favoritism to anti-Buddies yet again on FB.

And it's so funny that all my concern stems from social media activity and nothing about what I'm seeing on the show itself. Because the show has shown he is a non-entity - giving him and Buck no development, HIM no development, no evolution, no appeal, since last season. Yet maybe the writing and producing IS just that bad now.

Sorry to be a bit of a pessimist. I just feel like the vibe shifted dramatically over the past day and I'm in my feelings, I guess.

First of all, you're not a loser! There is a long history of TV shows NOT following through on things for fans of a popular fandom ship, including this one, back ins season 4, leading to that godawful BT 1.0 mess in the first place!

There is a lot of reasons this gets compared to the OG BT, because the show seems to be giving them no development and he's so clearly WRONG for Buck and seems to enjoy talking down to him and watching him deflate a little each time, and also it makes Buck look kinda shitty for dating someone who purposefully hurt, and delighted in hurting people Buck loves. I have said multiple times I wasn't ever worried about tay kay as a LI in s4 because she called him "needy" in that nasty voice on the heels of the audience seeing how absolutely shit his parents were and where all those issues came from, so I was sure that was the narrative telling us she wasn't going to work out. Only to get slapped in the face with an entire fucking season of Buck looking miserable with her, which was never addressed, him trying to talk about their issues and the firefam lecturing HIM about HIS failings instead of ever being allowed to talk about how they felt about her given their past (you can't tell me back in s4 Athena would EVER willingly let that woman in her and Bobby's home, much less feed her), and then watch her nearly get Chim and Hen killed and STILL get a fucking "amicable" breakup of the "oh no one was really to blame, it just didn't work out" variety. So like. Yeah, sometimes the writing is just That Bad 🤷🏻‍♀️

What I will say about all of that though, is we now have information we didn't back in s4. Information like, we weren't seeing things and there WAS a set up planned, and discussed with Oliver (at least, likely Ryan too since the shooting was Like That and what the fuck other bi realization was Buck gonna have, or gay realization was Eddie gonna have after his breakup with Ana was Like That), but the network forced the changes. Tim fucked off to go smash other dolls together (and lost his mind a little bit over on LS, probably because he leveraged that shit into getting to do whatever he wanted, plus the whole RL effect), and the story got changed and, as Tim pointed out, it made the show markedly worse. I'm not putting all my faith and trust in a network, but I will say ABC knows what kind of accolades, awards, and hype this kind of story will bring them and that is something I DO trust.

8x01 might be fluke like the handful of watchable episodes in s5-6, but it truly felt like the Buck we know and love was back, the focus was on the core four and on the emergencies, there was *heart* in the emergency, we got dispatch properly involved, and even the Athena stuff took a turn for a more rescue-focused adventure than the Con-Air prison transport plane mishap I was expecting. The bees sounded ridiculous and like they could be one emergency, like freeway shark my beloved, or *maybe* hold a whole episode, but I was NOT expecting much for a disaster opening and was fully prepared for s5 levels of zoo animals promotion vs actual 3 episodes of creeper being creepy cop storyline. But they actually...kinda pulled it off?? It's no tsunami or earthquake by a LONG shot, and I'm still reserving judgment until the arc is over (I enjoyed the cruise ship disaster but it needed more core four on sight helping with rescues which make it drag a little being so separate from everything else), but it felt like a season 2 or 3 episode at heart!

All this to say, *EYE*, notorious salt gremlin and hater (because trying for low expectations is what works for me!), am feeling more hopeful about the show as a whole than I have in awhile. And I'm going to hold your hand so gently when I give this advice, you can take it or not (for some people, needing to know everything is what works for them, so you do you!), but do not listen to that middle-aged white man and what he does on facebook. Or anywhere. Do not listen to that man! He is a shit-stirrer, and he is a liar! They all are in interviews! Him and Oliver both said "hardly any time skip" and then they did the exact same 3 month time skip they have ALWAYS done between the spring season ending and the fall premier! He lies! He interacts with shit he probably doesn't even read, just promotes his show! He does not care about upsetting us because people shouting over each other about the show just reads to him, and the people above him to let him do things, as the show having enough impact to be talked about! I personally have good feelings because he likes to get his way and ABC gave him something in 4 episodes he'd been trying to do since s4. And they originally green-lit it being another character so it feels like there were plans for both and timing just got switched.

DO NOT LET THAT MAN STEAL YOUR JOY!

I'm not going to tell you that of course it's all going to work out and be perfect and everything we wanted, but I WILL say, we all saw how fucking miserable Oliver was in s5 and 6, how checked out and disengaged he was (he was SO CLOSE and they TOOK IT from him! Fuck FOX forever!), and we saw how he was/is in interviews with or about that man, vs how happy and excited he was/is when talking about Ryan/Eddie/Buddie right now, how much he's engaging and sharing, and WHAT he is sharing. We saw the shift from filming episodes 5-6 to the back half of s7 for both him and Ryan. It's very loud, and while some kinda similar vibes have come through before, we have knowledge now we didn't before about why we kept getting those vibes and then having them pulled back. We know WHO was standing in the way and it wasn't Tim and it sure as fuck wasn't Oliver or Ryan, and that doesn't appear to be an issue anymore. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope my rambling incoherence was helpful, Nonnie!

[lemotmo]

I loved Ryan’s answer for the podcast sneak peak. But I’ve also never doubted if Ryan or Oliver wanted buddie to happen. What I am weary about though is now that Buck is official bisexual

They have Ryan in all of these interviews now saying Eddie is hetero (which yes is true they have just never actually had anyone say that out loud until now) and what seems to be almost every episode we see Eddie this season now having sex with a woman or talking about sex with a woman or stills of Eddie kissing women. Hell just two episodes ago we saw Eddie having sex with a woman while he was having lunch with his girlfriend.

Ryan and Oliver are open to it sure but the show itself seems to be driving home a much more pointed look at Eddie with women only narrative.

Hello Nonny! How are you today? I’m having a blast now that fandom life is thriving.

Okay, first of all:

Ryan and Oliver are only talking about Buddie because FINALLY they are allowed to talk about them. I have an inkling that they did want to go the Buddie route years ago (as a natural progression of the bi Buck storyline they were planning around season 4), but they weren’t allowed. That’s the whole reason Oliver stopped talking about them and stopped engaging with the fandom through social media. He didn’t want to mislead people.

Ryan has never been as open as Oliver on social media and some people saw this as ‘evidence’ that he didn’t want to talk about Buddie because he didn’t want to do it. I never thought about it in this way, because Ryan is obviously a lot more private than Oliver when it comes to social media. To me, it was always more a case of ‘it isn’t that he doesn’t want it, but that he just doesn’t want to talk about it.’ To him it was probably a non-issue because (as we found out a couple of weeks ago) Fox didn’t want the storyline to happen. There was no way to make it happen and he let it go. But he also, has always maintained that he was open to the storyline if it would ever come up. Basically the only thing they were allowed to say.

Second:

Of course Ryan is saying that ‘right now’ Eddie is heterosexual, because he is. He has only been with women at this point, not with a lot of success, mind you. But keep in mind that only two months ago Buck was also heterosexual as far as we knew. Some of us had headcanons that he was bisexual, but as long as it wasn’t stated or shown in the show, it was only that.

Now take a look at Eddie. He has only been with women, but some people stll have headcanons that he is also bisexual or even gay. I myself like to think that he is demisexual. But these are headcanons right now. As long as it isn’t stated or shown in the show, it is only that.

So, Buck was very heterosexual for many seasons, having many girlfriends. No sign of any interest in men, only some very heavy subtextual signs maybe. Then, in one single episode, BOOM he is outed as a bisexual.

So, Eddie is very heterosexual. Has been for many seasons now, having a (sadly deceased) wife and two girlfriends (no, I’m not counting Kim at this point, because we don’t know where this storyline is going). No signs of any interest in men, only some very heavy subtextual signs maybe.

Then, possibly, in one single episode (or many episodes, because I feel like Eddie will need a lot more time), somewhere in the future, maybe season 8, he is outed as a bisexual man/gay man/demisexual man/…

What would be the difference? I tell you what it is. There is no difference. It is literally the same thing.

Third:

Eddie having a lot of sex with women, kissing women…

First of all, have you met Buck? Do you remember that, from season 1 up until season 6, he had a ton of sex and kissed many women. How very hetero of him. But low and behold, in season 7 he comes out as bisexual and gets to enjoy even more kisses and sex. This time with a man.

So, what is so different about Eddie? Yes, he has a much more complicated relationship with sex than Buck, especially casual sex. Eddie has been shown as someone who only has sex within a relationship (for now we don’t know if he slept with Kim, so I’m leaving her out of this for a moment). He obviously liked sex with Shannon, but with Ana there were a lot of problems. We never even saw them kissing and he got actual panic attacks. He seems to enjoy sex with Marisol up to a certain point, but when it gets to be too much (with the whole Catholic guilt thing), he runs away to Buck’s loft. Very ‘heterosexual’ of him by the way. 0_O

I’m going to quote @buddiebeginz here, because she said something really interesting when we were talking about this topic earlier:

“I don’t think it’s so much that the show is trying to drive home how straight Eddie is but rather what we’re seeing and feeling is Eddie trying to fit some role. And I do feel like some of this is connected to Buck coming out to Eddie, Eddie having spent time with Tommy, Eddie seeing Buck and Tommy together, Eddie seeing Buck come out to everyone. There’s a reason why we haven’t previously seen Eddie with women as often in the show, especially when it comes to sex. In fact before this season I think we only really saw him in bed with Shannon which is another reason I think he’s trying to push himself right now with Marisol.

I also think that’s part of why the stuff with Shannon is coming back up. I think Eddie is pushing himself with Marisol like he did with Ana deluding himself into thinking it’s what he wants because it’s what he thinks he’s supposed to have. But because he’s not happy he latches on to what is familiar which is the only love he ever knew which is Shannon.”

So basically it’s almost as if he is pushing himself to ‘fit’ into a mold that hasn’t felt ‘right’ for a very long time now.

His life is unravelling as we speak and pretty soon he is going to hit rock bottom, nowhere left to hide. It’s only then that he’ll be forced to look at his life, the decisions he made and the way he forced himself to get out there and find a new wife and ‘mother’ for Chris.

In an earlier interview Ryan said that Eddie was going to feel isolated by the end of season 7, going into season 8. But eventually he would recover and get a fresh start in life. It would only make narrative sense to naturally progress the story they have been telling for almost six seasons now, Eddie’s perfect partner isn’t a woman at all. It’s Buck. Just as Buck’s perfect partner has been Eddie all along.

Ryan literally said that 'If we live in the truth, whatever happens, happens.' That is not the answer of someone shutting down the ship forever, or shutting down speculation. That is the answer of someone who is more than willing to go there and sees a potential future there for his character.

Right now he is giving the same answers Oliver is. Answers about not wanting to stereotype, how Buddie should happen 'naturally' if it were to happen. I'm almost certain that they sat together in a room with Tim and PR people somewhere before season 7 and post Buck's bisexual outing and agreed on the same vague but honest Buddie answers. The fact that ABC is actively allowing all of these Buddie questions during interviews and Buddie articles is wild. Fox would have never!

Not to mention the show itself. They made the very interesting choice to consistently put Eddie in the Buck/Tommy narrative. He keeps popping up where they are. There is most certainly a reason for that. We'll just have to let the story play out to see what that reason was.

Look, my point is that they’ll get there in the end. Sure, it will take some time, but we've been waiting for so many years now. What's another year? I’m more than willing to wait a little longer. The pay-off will be incredible.

[swanqueendaughter]

911 BUDDIE THOUGHTS

So after the last episode of 911, I need to speak out:

1. I'm so sick of people who write that using buddie scenes to promote an episode is the norm of media production, not queerbaiting. Of course, Buddie's fandom is the most numerous, it can be seen from any social networks and comments, so this step is quite dirty, but of course effective for promotion.

2. I've been watching this series for the last 7 years since season 1, but I wasn't buddie shipper until season 7. I mean, I caught a certain vibe in seasons 2-3, but only 7.04 made me consider this pairing seriously. The whole episode was literally saturated with Buck's jealousy of Eddie. And no, fans of Buck and Tommy relationship, we're not delulu. Buck literally tells Maddie when they have lunch at the call center that he was jealous and wanted to get EDDIE's attention. However, in the last scene, he really tells Tommy that he wanted to get his attention, which of course does not fit into my brain, but the kiss and the arc of bi-Buck really distract my attention from this mess. I would also like to highlight the scene in the gym where Tommy wasn't even there and the scene where Buck pushes Eddie on the basketball court. Can you imagine that Buck, our sweet kind-hearted Buck, is pushing his best friend for the guy's attention? No way. What I see is an incredibly jealous friend who is seething with indignation that Eddie is trying to replace him in his opinion. And the scene with Tommy, where he assures Buck that no one is going to replace him, especially since Christopher wouldn't allow it? The whole arc comes down to the fact that no matter how selfish it is, Buck wants to occupy all areas of Eddie's life (his free time hanging out as best friends, being part of his family with Christopher and being number 1 for his child).

I mean, this whole arc has only two readings - the first is Buck, who is not aware of his feelings for Eddie, being burdened by his heterosexual role and their friendship, chooses to turn his attention to a more accessible option - Tommy, who has a similar background and interests with Eddie. The second is, of course, buddy's queerboating,  writers/producers might well have no desire to lose some of the conservative audience by making Eddie queer character. So in this matter, maybe Oliver/Buck was just lucky to pull out a successful plot straw (I mean, at least for media PR), while Ryan/Eddie (who originally should have had a love line with Tommy) got an unenviable plot with Marisol. 

3.I can't help but speak out about this absurd Eddie/Marisol arc. I mean, it hardly seems to be successful in any way, not even for buddie's shippers. This is literally Cap saying that love can be met by chance, implying his relationship with Athena. Eddie listens to him and, as if trying to copy this scenario, "falls in love" with the first girl he sees. It's absurd.

4.Eddie definitely has a problem with relationships with girls. There is a clear feeling that he chooses them relative to their qualities, and not the special bond they share. He married Shannon because she got pregnant, and the opinion of religious parents played a role. Over time, Eddie could love the idea of their small family, because Shannon was a good woman, but she was not Eddie's partner, so as soon as the first difficulties arose, Eddie ran away, instead of somehow solving the problem, and then Shannon ran away. Sad.

Eddie and Shannon's attempt to rekindle their relationship was doomed from the very beginning, and I think when Shannon realized the dysfunctionality of their marriage, she asked for a divorce. Thanks Shannon!  

Anna was just another girl who met Eddie's criteria, an ideal potential wife and mother for Christopher, but who did not have an emotional connection with him. And although the screenwriters tried to fool us with a picture of the perfect happy couple, albeit slightly unsettled Eddie, as a result it turned out that he did not develop the slightest feelings for Anna. I mean, he had a panic attack at the thought of Anna as his wife!! What a shame!

5.I understand that some people have been watching the show for so long that they start to forget the plot of the first seasons of the series. However, I advise you to review the flashbacks with Tommy in order to form an opinion about him not as Buck's love interest. but behind the beautiful picture there is a completely faded and indifferent character to the fate of the team members. His evolution after he changed jobs and came out of the closet is pretty ridiculous. Yes, I see a handsome, confident man who has done just one good deed so far. But I still have no idea where this evolution comes from. Does coming out make you a different person? Doubtful. Lou is a wonderful actor, but I don't share Tommies's admiration as a character. He's cool and confident, but there doesn't seem to be anything behind that facade.

6. Buck and Tommy. The sexual energy between the characters, which is useful for creating spectacular passionate kisses and perhaps something more, is undeniable. I like to see Buck exploring his sexuality. But as for the emotional component? An absolute hopeless abyss. The scene with the costumes for the bachelor party was quite revealing. Is it possible to fill it with a decent emotional component? With the good work of the screenwriters, yes. But the truth is that good true canonical engames click right away (Madney, Cap and Athena).

7. Should we expect a Buddie canon? I think season 7 can be considered the last to summarize this issue. Remembering such series as Castle, Bones and the Mentalist, the pairs of main characters did not become canon right away, where by season 4-6. Perhaps the pair of Jane and Lisbon was the longest in this matter, and the most controversial according to the reviews of the audience (meaning that not everyone believed that there would become canon couple). They only got together in the season 6 finale. This is also season 6 for Badie, so I think everything will be resolved this season. Waiting for the canon in season 8, unless a direct indication is given in the finale 7 (awareness of the feelings of at least one of them)!would be absurd. I'm not calling on buddies's entire fandom to quit watching the series (although in the case of outright queerboating of this fandom, it would be fair), but I would urge my sensitive friends to stop deluding themselves at the end of this season.

7. To sum up, I would advise the screenwriters to start writing good love lines for Buck and Eddie, if they are at least as capable of it. Because what's happening on the screen right now is pretty disappointing.

[jessi--ac]

I am just thinking about the interviews and how they sound and it got me contemplating: they really only intended to use Tommy as a prop for the bi buck arc but then the first kiss happened and - I will stress this many times - the general audience got hooked in a way they didn't think they actually would. So someone said pls stretch this out for a bit because we want the buzz k bye. But everybody already knew it would end up in a breakup so no one actually hyped up the ship like, say, Tarlos, because that would be counterproductive. Lou did it because it is glaring that he is supremely grateful for the chance, so he must be a sweetheart about it because he is genuinely grateful. But someone, for whatever reason, said yeah you can pull the plug, we already got what we wanted and anyway general audiences won't be affected like, well, us. So everything that came after seems so out of tone because they really didn't expect general audiences to feel that wronged, so no one was thinking about demage control doing the interviews. But now with the response from general audiences I think they are kinda 'huh what is happening l, we didn't expected that'. That's why Lou said what he said and everyone said what they said but I think this is a little spark of hope that they will actually freak the fuck out and sit down to see how they can go forward with that considering general audiences and that could give us a comeback, either for a one encounter resolution or for really thinking about absorbing Tommy in and seeing how they could developed that on 8b or even season 9. I know I'm being really hopeful, but it's because I literally watched the first 4 season since airing with my mom, we collectively dropped it, and with season 7 going out and bi buck, I binged seasons 5, 6 and 7 because it was THAT compelling to go back to the series because it was so fresh and unusual I was ?????? Fuck yeah I will ignore everything that made me drop it in the fist place????????? Anyway, those are my two cents

[buddielove]

Just so we’re all CLEAR! This is MY endgame! These two right here.

I don’t care if other people want to jump ship or flip over or whatever. I’ve always been here for the gay fighters, their son and the family we thought they were going to build in season 3/4/5/6.

I do care about how ABC will handle each of their storylines and I do care about both of them working through their issues to a point where when they get together they don’t immediately crash and burn and ruin it for everyone and themselves.

I want Buck to continue to explore his sexuality because I think it is important he be the one to set his own boundaries and explore things independently of his three major influences (Maddie, Eddie, Bobby/118).

I also want Eddie to realize he might be a little Bucksexual (is he gay ?? Is he also bi? Idk! And not to be that dude but they’re 100% not making him pan or demi. Remember this is still a large network which we are not the main audience of, so they likely won’t branch off too far into the LGBTQIA+ terms here. They’re going to go with ‘repressed gay man’ or ‘bisexual disaster’ mark my words) and have to come to terms with himself, his past and what exactly he deserves for his future. I do think that’s going to take several episodes (at least I hope it does) Eddie has baggage as much as it seems everyone would like him to unpack it all and cope preBuddie, as someone with baggage I don’t feel like that’s super realistic! Eddie is allowed to be flawed, broken even and STILL have Buck! They’re not mutually exclusive things.

So here’s my rant and pov. Ik I’m not super active but I’m not leaving cause Buddie is endgame!!

[lostintheuniverseslies]

My Reflections on the BuckTommy Breakup:

I’ve been a long time viewer of this show. Honestly from the first episode of the first season, I was loving it and the characters they created. With Buck being my favorite one. Especially after they delved deeper into his character in season 4. 

“I have walked through fire every single day of my life because of you” is a quote I have memorized by heart and one I sympathize with greatly. 

So over the years, as each season passed, and each failed relationship, I wondered, when was Buck going to get his happiness? 

I stumbled into the world of “shipping” and fanfics too late in my adult life. Growing up, my main interest was K-Pop, so I didn’t get into fandoms beyond watching or listening. But after discovering a book series, I finally dipped my toes into fanfiction and eventually reached Buddie fics, which opened up a whole new level of love for the show. 

I, like many who have been in the fandom for a while, have loved the idea of these two being together. I remember vividly watching 4x13 and yelling at Buck to “go get your boy!”. 

But as the seasons progressed, I figured there was no hope for Buddie. They had them strictly as straight best friends. So I enjoyed reading Buddie in fanfiction and made my peace with it. 

Then season 7 came, and that kiss with Tommy upturned everything. I thought, holy shit, they made him bi. They actually did it. And I, like many others, wondered if Buddie could actually happen? But then we saw more of Buck and Tommy together and Tommy treated him with a sweetness I don’t feel like we really got much of from other partners. 

Abby showed it until things burned there. Ali feels like a footnote to be honest. Taylor - god I wish they remained friends. They were better as friends than a couple. Then Natalia felt like another footnote. 

But with Tommy, Buck seemed genuinely happy especially with all those heart eyes, and I thought, Finally, my comfort character is going to get his happiness. 

I tried not to hope for too much. Especially with what little we got in season 7 (understandably so). But then they gave us that scene in 8x01, then so much more in 8x05. I thought, holy shit, they’ve included him in so much, perhaps it's okay to hope. 

Then came episode 8x06. And my heart broke. 

I know it’s “just a show”, but I rarely love anything in the media as much as I have loved 9-1-1 and that book series. 

I thought maybe the breakup would just be a hurdle but then I went to Instagram and saw Lou’s post about “what’s next” and it confirmed it - BuckTommy was over. And that hit me hard. 

I think what stings the most is how they’d built Buck up, saying last season how they’ve finally taken him “off the hamster wheel,” only to put him back on it in season 8. What was the point of involving Tommy so much this season just to end it like that? 

Now, people are talking about Buck “finally experimenting” then he can be with Eddie, but will he? And what message does that send? That you need to “experiment” to be fully bi or gay or whatever? 

How many times have they shoved down our throats that Eddie is straight? And then what, they’re going to make him gay just to appease some fans? It will feel forced and lackluster. Not to mention if they went that route, that Buck would be Eddie’s (assumingly) first queer relationship with the reminder of Tommy saying the first is never typically the last.

Everything up to this point has felt very disingenuous. It doesn’t respect Buck’s character, the BuckTommy fans, or the queer fans in the fandom. I understand if they wanted Buck and Tommy to break up, but the way they did it felt like a gut punch. Buck was the happiest we’d ever seen him, and then they tore that away, abruptly and harshly. 

It’s painful to admit, but I think my love for 9-1-1 might have faded. They’ve shown that Buck’s happiness is something they’ll keep pulling out of reach, and who knows how many seasons are left? They could have let him find happiness now, leaving room for Eddie’s journey. But instead, they ripped it all away. 

I still hope Buck finds his happiness, even if I’m no longer watching. I’ll keep an eye on the rest of the season, but honestly, my interest has waned. 

Anyway, I know these thoughts might not be of great importance, but I needed to get it off my chest. If you read this and feel the same, let’s talk. My heart is with anyone who may be feeling the same. 💕

[johanna-swann]

I think your takes on BuckTommy coming together stronger than ever are really good! I want to believe that they’ll have their romcom moment and be each other’s forever loves. But the way this week has gone was terrible timing - plus Lou’s exit interviews indicate they’re done for good (at least until 8a before the hiatus).

A lot of people are deactivating their accounts on X (which they should’ve done ages ago….) and people are stating they’re dropping the show.

How can we still look forward positively for Buck and Tommy? 😭

Okay this is my very personal opinion on all of this, I'm just talking about what I think about Bucktommy and also a little about the show in general.

So. I'm not a professional writer, but the reasoning and build-up behind their break-up immediately caught my attention. They spend a considerable amount of screentime on Buck questioning his relationship with Tommy, getting reassurance once again that Tommy is a good guy (this time from Josh) and having him realise "you know what, the Abby thing doesn't matter because I like Tommy anyway and I can see a future with him". And then on Tommy's side it wasn't "Hey, no offense but we're not there yet" or anything, no - Tommy broke things off pre-emptively because he already liked Buck too much.

The entire episode they showed how happy Buck was in this relationship, how comfortable Tommy made him feel and they also framed Tommy as a really sweet, sensitive guy throughout the breaking up process. Which doesn't make any sense to me if this is supposed to be a permanent good-bye.

It still would've been sad had Buck said "I really do like him and he's been amazing, but I'm just not sure I can see a future with him". Or Tommy could've been against settling down on principle instead of this weird "you will break my heart" thing. They could've gone the "Tommy has to move for work" route or so many other things. We still would've felt for them. But instead they spend an entire episode telling us how great Tommy and their relationship are for Buck and then broke them up anyway. This screams for a "to be continued".

But. Story aside, I also have read the interview by now. I know that LFJ has said his good-bye to the show and that sounds very permanent. I personally can't help but feel like this storyline isn't finished, so if LFJ does make another appearance in the future, I wouldn't be surprised. However it's more likely that we won't see him again, at least for a while.

If he doesn't come back, maybe ever - well, we knew this could happen. He was only supposed to be in season 7 for 3 or 4 episodes. We got a lot more than that which is cool. We always knew that despite the potential for more he might just be Buck's bi-awakening and not much else. I'm sad if this is truly it for Bucktommy, but it's not like this is completely unexpected.

A lot of criticism against Buck's coming out arc and Tommy were concerns I actually shared. Their chemistry felt a little off in the beginning, Buck didn't seem to be queer outside of dating a Tommy (he had no heart to heart with Hen, no wikipedia deep dive about labels, once he got over the initial confusion there was nothing), Tommy was barely if ever even mentioned when he wasn't on screen anyway, we barely saw any of their milestones (until tonight)... There were signs.

For a lot of us this was a very realistic possibility from the start and shipping them was never about whether Buck and Tommy would last, it was about having fun, playing with ideas, making up cute scenarios and headcanons. We knew Bucktommy endgame was just one of the many ways this show could go and that's fine.

Also Bucktommy won't just disappear. Those episodes, the fan art, the gifs, the fanfiction, the shippers - we'll still be here. There'll be a shit ton of fix-it content coming (I can almost hear the first ao3 authors already typing).

About the people deleting their accounts and leaving the fandom. If you really are just watching the show for one ship and your ability to enjoy the show depends entirely on them being canon, then by all means. Leave. What else am I supposed to say to that? For me there's other things going on in the show that'll be interesting. I was never here just for the ships, I care about the characters being put into situations. Even when I was still a Buddie shipper I didn't watch the show just for Buddie.

So yeah. Bucktommy are cute together, I will always love them, if they're over now I'll move on. If Tommy does come back at some point, great. I'll see you guys on ao3 or blogging about 8x07 next week.

[lover-of-mine]

to be totally honest, i think a lot of 'they should get a slowburn!' stuff is from people who are nervous that they're not gonna do buddie at all and are preemptively looking for reasons why hope will not be lost if it doesn't happen in s8.

like, i get it, i'm still not 100% convinced it'll happen (i hope it will!) but sometimes you just gotta accept the possibility of disappointment, y'know?

Look, I'm no one, I'm a girl with a hyperfixation and a blog who happens to watch too many procedurals. But Buck and Eddie have been following the procedural slowburn format since season 2. It's worse now with the added context that Buck is bi. So the impression is that buddie is building up to something. There are meta elements during 704 that make me go 👀 like the blue and green and the way they had Eddie ask Buck if he's jumping ship and Buck explicitly say he's not. I think they set a plan in motion during 704. And I think that plan has an actual timeline based on the amount of episodes they had confirmed at the time the episode aired, so the rest of season 7 and season 8. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. I'm wrong most of the time if it's not about patterns on the show. But every interview we had this season makes it seem like they have been trying to tell this story but fox wasn't letting them and abc did. It took them 4 episodes to make Buck bi. They left the opening disaster and the first thing they did was make Buck bi. They didn't have to. To keep Buck and Eddie on the impossible will they/won't they if they're not planning on getting them together is smarter. Now they're actually possible. If they're actually possible, our very annoying side of the fandom is just gonna get more annoying asking for them to just get together already. Everyone involved could've given up. They were being blocked by the network. The writers could've given up. Buddie is a story about love even if they never get romantically involved because the writers made a conscious choice of writing how much those men love each other. And they spent a significant amount of a reduced season making sure we knew that will always be the case. The amount of buddie we had this season is absolutely completely insane. Both of them were in relationships with other people. I made a post about that earlier in the week, but they could've made different choices and separated them. And it's not like all their scenes were at the firehouse and where just getting coworker time. The camera panned to Eddie. Bobby's goodbye tour had them together all the time. They were explicitly put in a co-parenting position. Eddie is the only person they made a point of showing Buck come out to because he comes out to everyone else accidentally. It's a love story no matter how you look at it and not getting them together would be such a miss of a narrative that has been set up like this. Because legit, if they accidentally set up what could be one of the greatest slowburns in television, someone in that writers room needs to take a good look at their life. They want to tell this story. Why would they gamble on not being able to deliver and honest to God go down in television history by dragging it out when the pieces are already in play? During season 6 I get it, they didn't have all the pieces, they didn't have the time. Now they have most of the pieces and a whole season. Madney was set up in 12 episodes. And they had to work through a kidnapping and a murder attempt. A MURDER ATTEMPT. Why is Eddie being messy suddenly something that's gonna take seasons and seasons to resolve? Give me both of them single and I can get them together in one episode. All they need is one conversation. Just one. It's not like it's an impossible task to create an arc that's gonna use 12 to 15 episodes next season to work out the last bits and get them together in a nice way. The only thing they necessarily need to "fix" before getting them together, is Eddie not being queer. Everything else can be worked through while they're a couple. They're so close. The idea of dragging it out just to drag it out is so........... They've been a slowburn the whole time. This would just force them to stand on the fire.

Obviously, they don't have to go there. But for me we're at a 90% chance of them going canon next season. But if they don't, that's life. It's just that those men are somehow closer than they've ever been. And they are in a great position to explore what their relationship looks like because Chris was removed from the play, and it's so close I can taste it. That storyline writes itself. And I really hope they see that and that kicking Eddie back to the ground had a purpose. Because Bathena and Madney also started once Bobby and Maddie decided to drag themselves out of their trauma and stop letting it define how they live their lives. It's RIGHT THERE.

Anyway, I got carried away. Yes, all we have is hope and it might not happen, but I will continue to make noise for it to come because if there's one thing I do is live for the hope of it all.