#ryan guzman is going to fuck us all up

[chronicowboy]

[ryanguzmansource]

Full Audio Transcript (6.17.24)

The following episode contains potentially disturbing content and we want to alert trauma survivors. It contains material that for some may be difficult to discuss or listen to.

This is He Said, Ella Dijo with Eric Winter (EW) and Rosalind Sanchez (RS).

RS: Como estas, Eric?

EW: Oh, bien bien, and you?

RS: Hoy tenemos una persona muy especial, mi gente. Guys, we are, I know you don't, but you're learning. We are excited about our guest today. He's an actor currently on ABC's 911, which is a huge show.

EW: In the ABC family.

RS: Yes, you may know him from Step Up dance films or from playing the sexy boy next door opposite Jennifer Lopez.

EW: That's right, we have Ryan Guzman. He's here with us today to talk about his new film, The Present, out tomorrow. We're excited not only to dive into his career, but so many other personal things he's opened up about—mental health, his career, so many other things he's been talking about. So let's bring him in.

RS: Yeah, looking forward to Ryan Guzman.

Ryan Guzman (RG): How you guys doing? You guys sweating in that room?

EW: Yeah, man, it's been hot in here. We don't want that air running because you're gonna hear it in the background. So we're just like, this is all for you, Ryan. We're just gonna be sweating the whole podcast.

RS: My armpits almost stink, I hate it!

EW: Yeah, that's great. Great way to open up the podcast.

RS: It’s terrible. Anyways, we're so happy that you are joining us. Thank you so much for doing this.

EW: Yeah, fellow ABC star now. I know you guys jumped over from Fox. You're now on the network where I'm at.

RG: Yeah.

EW: How's that transition been? Has it been weird? I've never been a part of a show that jumped networks. Did it feel totally seamless to you?

RG: Honestly, I've never been a part of something like this either. I mean, I've been on four other TV shows and this one—it felt like a revamp for our show. So it's just like, as soon as we went from Fox to ABC, all of this promotional that we've never even seen in six seasons happened.

EW: Yeah, like a relaunch almost.

RG: Yeah, it was a relaunch. So it was, you know, a blessing. We're all grateful for it.

EW: Which is great. You guys came out with a bang. The ratings were great. You guys were sitting pretty in a good position.

RS: How many seasons now?

RG: Now we're gonna be going on our eighth.

RS: And you've been part of it since the very beginning?

RG: Since the second season.

RS: Since the second, wow, long gig. That's awesome. Good for you!

RG: It happened perfect timing right before I was about to have my first born.

EW: Really?

RS: Oh my God, perfect.

EW: Congrats. So your first born is how old then right now?

RG: Five.

EW: Five. And you have just one right now? You have a second?

RG: No, two. Yeah, I have two. I have a three year old. Little boy, Mateo and my baby girl, Genevieve.

RS: Oh, that's beautiful.

EW: Changes your perspective on everything, right?

RG: Amplified everything. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm also losing hair quicker than I'd like, but.

RS: Yeah. We just did a podcast and we were talking about parenthood, you know, and generational trauma and how I understand my mom now that I'm fifty-one more than ever. You know? My whole life, it was all about, I don't get her. I don't get it. I don't get her. Why, why, why? And now as a mom of a twelve-year-old girl, I just go, okay, now I get my mom.

EW: Yeah, you're not there yet. You're getting some challenges, I'm sure. You know that they say with the terrible twos, the terrible threes, the fucking fours, the fucking fives. That's it! It'll beep those curse words out. But I mean, there's challenges at every level, but there's also so many blessings and so much fun.

RG: Yeah, I'm sure right now as a twelve-year-old girl in this day and age—I'm sure it's insane.

RS: It is work. It's a little work. It's beautiful, listen, it's delicious, it's amazing. She's awesome. We have a little star. She's a tennis player. She's a good girl. But she is so fierce. She's fiercely independent, and she's at the age that I know everything and you don't know anything and just leave me alone because I am finding who I am. And sometimes you want to slap her and be like, you don't know, you don't know shit. So it's interesting.

EW: Let me ask you this, Ryan, because we were just having a conversation about our son is very, very passive. And I mean, he's coming out of his shell more and more, but we have some good friends that started their kids at a very young age in jujitsu and all these things that are just great training grounds to learn for self-esteem, for self-defense, for all these things, right? You grew up doing taekwondo, correct? Got your black belt in taekwondo. Started where you were like around eight, am I right? In that range?

RG: Yeah, it was my seventh year old birthday I started, yeah.

EW: What was the reason that, was that just, why not, I'm gonna try something new? Or was there something that prompted you to go, ah, taekwondo, I wanna jump in?

RG: Way too many Bruce Lee films.

EW: Yeah, I was gonna say, because I used to love watching movies like that too and get excited. So that—it just became a cool thing. You're like, I wanna do it.

RG: It was, honestly, it was everything. Bruce Lee was my idol, he still is my idol. From the philosophical to the physical, it was just a key component in my own evolution. So as I got to read more books, I mean, I was a young kid reading Bruce Lee books and Richard Marchenko books, which are Navy Seal books. I don't know why my interest led me there, but I feel like I needed that kind of structure. And that structure has been such an incredible foundation for, I mean, all of the success that I've been able to be grateful to get. So I highly advise every parent to put their kids into Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling at least, if not some Taekwondo or karate or some kind of martial arts, especially if you're a boy.

RS: I told you.

EW: I'm open to it. I have no problem with it.

RS: We just talked about this.

EW: I have no problem with that. I just know my kid's not gonna do it yet. He's six. I just know like his personality. He did a version of like a Taekwondo for a bit. He lasted, it was like, you know, little kids running around.”

RS: No he never—he did karate.

EW: Well karate. I think it was Taekwondo.

RS: No, it was karate.

EW: It was for sure a blend.

RS: Really?

EW: For sure a blend, it wasn't just straight cut. But he did it for a few years and then kind of got bored, right? And like with any discipline, it takes a lot of work, a lot of patience. I think the age you started feels like a pretty solid age to dive into something that takes that much focus and patience as well to learn.

RS: Did they get hurt though? At six and at seven, when you see them fighting and doing Jiu Jitsu, that is such a physical and a contact sport, do they get hurt?

RG: Yeah, I mean, they can get hurt, but they can also heal really quick. They're young. So I mean, when I was doing Taekwondo, I ended up sparring guys that were like actually twenty-years old to even my master and actually got taken out of—what was it?—a tournament because I broke my hand trying to break, I'm trying to block one of his kicks.

EW: Oh wow.

RS: Oh no.

RG: Yeah. I would say there's different, you know, personality types. I think from one to six, it's less about the structure and less about the discipline. It's more about play.

EW: Yeah.

RG: How can you allow them to feel comfortable in their own bodies and know their movement and then play with this now new martial art? And then after that, then yeah, you start to develop more structure and discipline and say, this is, you know, we got to tame the mind before we tame the body. And you start to understand a little bit more of why it's called an art, martial art.

EW: And when you first started competing, what age were you when you jumped in and then you started fighting, taking shots?

RG: I think it was right away. I was like, I'm around maybe eight, nine. Yeah, around that time.

EW: You learn life lessons quick, right? Like Mike Tyson says, everybody's got a plan till you get punched in the face. Then you have to figure it out.

RG: Yeah, yeah, I wanted to be quick. I wanted to be powerful. And I think another reason why I liked Bruce Lee so much is he was a tiny man. He wasn't a massive, like Michael Jai White kind of guy. So he was able to demand respect just off of his own technique. And I thought, you know, okay, I need to copy that. Technique can beat power and strength or technique can beat strength. So I ended up doing that and proving to myself like, oh, even at eight years old, I can be a force. And as soon as I started doing actual sparring, I just kind of fell in love with it, with the competition of it.”

RS: So Taekwondo and then MMA, right? Because you did a little bit of MMA. So all this is just fighting. When did acting came to the table? Like, and how?

RG: The acting was something I never even thought of coming from Sacramento, I mean, that's not even something that we talk about out there. And it's either martial arts or working for the state or an automotive job. But none of that called me. I was doing modeling in San Francisco. I got offered to do a photo shoot in LA, and I just asked my modeling agency from San Fran to hook me up with an agency in LA, not knowing the racket that modeling is. And I stayed in a one bedroom with five guys creating a massive amount of debt before I learned there was commercials and there was acting available. And I think the competitive streak just kind of clicked. And I was like, well, I want to get out of this situation. That seems to be making a lot more money. And this is the time and day where commercials—the nationals were actually bringing in some money. I don't know if the landscape's the same anymore.”

EW: It's very different for sure.

RG: Yeah, so I was very fortunate at the time to catch the tail end of that. And then I remember being a new twenty-three year old in LA. I'm going to clubs, I'm enjoying, I'm having a great time. And I'm seeing some of the guys that are being successful as actors. And they're kind of like, they were idiots, to be honest. So I was like, how are these guys, you know, so successful? Like I got to try this acting thing out. And I remember I didn't have enough money to download scripts. So I would just take the same page or pages that I had in my place and I'd write my own scripts off of the internet. And I would invite two or three, maybe even five guys over to the house, and I'd just start doing those scenes in front of them. And that was kind of my acting class. And then I went and auditioned for a manager, didn't get that manager, got another one who is my manager today. Three months after that, I booked the lead in Step Up and my life forever changed.

RS: Oh my God. So it was fast.

RG: Within nine months. So yeah.

RS: That's incredible. Good for you. That's incredible.”

EW: I can relate to your journey in a lot of ways. I had a similar—I went from sports to modeling to the same thing, curiosity with acting, reading different books about acting, seeing people do commercials. And like you said, back in the day, you could do one national commercial and if it was a good one, you could actually make your living for the year off of just one commercial. And little by little, just very, very similar path. I didn't get one big movie out the gate that changed my career. It took a lot of grinding. That's an amazing blessing to have something like that happen. And then you have to balance the ebbs and flows of this business at that point, right?

RS: The dancing was just organic to you? Or you were a dancer? A lot of people have that question. Does he really dance?

RG: It was something, I think it's—culturally, I don't know, just being Mexican-American, I was literally raised with my family going to do, like Quinces' [Quinceañeras], or like just parties in general, we'd always dance. And it was less about the one, two, three, ba, one, two, like doing any kind of structured kind of stuff, more of the feel. And I've always loved dancing, but never on that level.

RS: How was it having to follow choreography?

RG: It was kind of like fighting. I put it next to it because the amount of hours we did—we did eight hours every single day for about two, three months. I remember seeing the guy that, and I feel bad because I gave him such a hard time. He was supposed to be my dance double, but my competitive streak was just like, no, no, no. I gotta be that guy. So I would do the eight hours with everybody and then I'd videotape our session and I'd go home and I'd do another two, three hours by myself. And just go over and over, and then I ended up being in every scene.

RS: That's awesome.

EW: Good for you.

RS: Have you done a movie playing a fighter, like an MMA, a boxer or something like that? Have you done that already?

RG: I've not. I've wanted to for the longest time. And I don't know if—I think it'll come. Everything's happening for a reason. I believe in... to, actually what you were saying earlier, getting that job right out the gate, it was overwhelming. It was too much for me at the time. I wasn't ready to be catapulted in the way I was. And I wasn't an actor really. I wasn't really a dancer. I had kind of just been fooling everybody.

RS: How old were you?

RG: I was twenty-three.

RS: Oh baby, okay.

RG: Yeah, so I'm brand new with all this.

EW: Months in, like you said, months in.

RG: Yeah, and everybody's thinking that I'm this thing and I'm kind of taking it. My ego was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe I am. And then reality kind of checked me and the next movie I did and two movies after that were bombs and I realized I don't know anything about this business. So I would say up until maybe three years ago, I didn't really call myself an actor and I was just lucky to count my stars that I was amongst other actors that were like a Jennifer Lopez or working with the Richard Linklater and now Glenn Powell being who he is now. So just super grateful that I got the time and maybe the hustle that I had, those combined allowed me to stay and have some longevity in this career.

RS: Did you get caught up in the whole business—the ugly dark side of Hollywood because you were so young and it came so fast?

RG: I didn't get caught up, but I definitely got put onto it, and it quickly showed me I want no part of it. That's why I kind of say to myself, I stay with my kids. I rarely do any press, but that was just like, the fame game was never something... I don't want to be seen too much and then have to speak in front of thousands of people as if I'm speaking for them. I can only speak for myself and my experience and hopefully people connect to it. But I saw a lot of people that were not necessarily skilled in any asset becoming really famous and rich. And it kind of just wasn't feeding anything other than a hole in the soul. So it kind of made me go a different direction.

RS: That's amazing.

EW: Do you remember on your climb at any point—maybe an older actor you came across that maybe, maybe not a full mentor—but somebody who guided you or gave you some words of wisdom early on that might have helped you navigate this business or any of that even failed you and just set you back going, oh, that was a horrible example of somebody on set? You don't have to name names if you don't want, but I'm just curious if you had people that hit those marks.

RG: I've definitely been blessed to be, I mean, I've worked with some of the greats, Edward James Olmos, Jennifer Lopez, I mean, Juliette Lewis. I've worked [with] some amazing actors and actresses. I could, yeah, I would never name names, but I have gotten some really good advice and some really like [makes a noise] advice. And... so grateful for the good advice. Eddie Olmos has given me some incredible advice. He's just a sound individual.

EW: He's a great human.

RG: Yeah, and his son, Michael Olmos, another sound individual. But I think it was just on all aspects—just stay true to you. I think that's the general narrative that I've gotten from plenty of other individuals. It's just, no one can do you. And your uniqueness is meant to kind of shine in its own unique way. So if you're trying to be—I can't be Antonio Banderas I can't be, even though I'm a Latin actor, I can't be somebody else that's already had that role. I need to just kind of explore myself and allow that to shine, and that's what I feel like I'm just starting to tap into these past couple of years. So I'm really excited to see where it goes.”

RS: Before we talk about your movie coming out tomorrow—and listen, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, because we want to be very respectful—but we read that and you came out openly saying that you had to deal with some mental situations, and you battle a little bit of depression at some point in your life. Only if you want to talk about it, otherwise we don't have to. I was just very curious, where did depression come from? If you even know.

RG: Yeah, I've spent many, many years dissecting where the depression has come from, and it's essentially from people pleasing. It's a trauma coping mechanism that I started a long time ago when I was a child, and I didn't even realize it. And it's kind of these things that I'm aware of now raising my own children to give them less to work on later on in life and give them a better foundation. But yeah, as I got older, I started to realize that I was people pleasing so much to a detriment that I had nothing left for myself. And I've even watched old interviews and where I'm smiling the whole time and trying to say the right thing and do the right thing and be the perfect individual, be the all-American boy, and that's not who I really am. I'm flawed and I have my own issues, and I think being raised a Mexican-American man who's not supposed to tap into his feelings or understand them, let alone, that set me back a lot. So I came to a point about seven years ago where I reached my limit, and I had just seen my parents' divorce. I had just gone through a horrible relationship, and I was looking around for some kind of aid, somebody to be there, and no one was there.

And I realized that I had been leaning on the wrong people. So feeling that lonely, feeling like you wake up and you just know what's gonna happen every single day is just kind of a time suck and it's quicksand, and that's how the depression kind of starts. And luckily, I got a second chance, and from that moment forward, it kind of just awoken—I awoke into something new, something better and a path towards a purpose. So. Yeah.

RS: The second chance came from within, from a person, from a book?

RG: The second chance came from my attempt at not working. So I'm a very extremist person type, and right after my attempt did not work, I just started crying like crazy. And I was in a horrible environment. Somebody was yelling at the other side of the door. You know, just horrible things were happening at the time. And then after I stopped crying, I remember sitting on my bed and just having this moment of like this epiphany. You can't ever be the same. You got to be something different because you've already reached the absolute limit with this type of person you are. You got to deconstruct, break everything down because the foundation you've been building on is so fractured and cracked. And for the last six, seven years now, I've broken myself down and try to stay as humble as I possibly can and look at all the horrible things about me and then kind of start from there and rebuild and heal and allow myself to be a different individual and actually show and implore people to change via changing myself.

RS: That's amazing.

EW: Yeah, thank you for sharing that. I think a lot of our listeners will gain a lot just hearing. Maybe they don't go through something to the extent you went through, but everybody deals with some sort of down moment, whether it gets as far as a deep depression or not, and a lot of people don't know how to even pull out of the simplest thing. And you, like you said, hit a level of rock bottom and had that epiphany. Thank God. Now, I mean, you're a dad and you have so much to offer your children and let alone your own— yourself and your life. You have so much more to do—so thank you for sharing that. That's powerful.

RS: I'm assuming spirituality is very important in your life at the moment.

RG: Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's part of my purpose as well. I was raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy at one point in time. I went into the seminary for a little bit. And then I kind of disassociated with the church and religion in general. I saw the underbelly of it. But yeah, my spirituality is—I started to reread the Bible and tap back into my spirituality and just be open to Eastern and Western, allowing all forms to kind of really like be permeable. So I think there's so much to this life that to say that you know it all is kind of cutting yourself off of so much opportunity and abundance. Yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at right now. Just—I'm exploring that with like-minded individuals, and propelling love rather than fear, so.

EW: It's great that you're putting all this into perspective in your life now because especially—I know every business has challenges, but I think in a business like ours, where so many people—their happiness hinges on the ups and the false belief that people around you have all the time—and the moment you don't deliver, the moment people's attitudes or perceptions of you change, or the moments—it's such a roller coaster emotionally, the business that we're in, that a lot of people, I think, aspire or want—they want it so bad because they see fame, they see that meaning, the all-encompassing success. You must be happy because people know who you are. It's like nobody has to know who you are to be happy.

I like what you said—just staying out of press unless you want to do something or maybe you have a social media presence when you want. But it's not because you feel the need to feed the ego to be seen by everybody else. It's something that speaks to you, so I'll do it. But it's not to please people. And that's what this business has become for so many others. I need to constantly please. And when I'm not pleasing, I failed. And when you fail, you feel like, what have you accomplished? You could have accomplished—you could be an Oscar winner and it still wouldn't be enough. Because you're gonna fail at some point again. Like it's very rare that someone just rides high all the way through in this business. And so I think our business is such a tough one to navigate the waters you've been through. But thankfully you're putting those pieces in perspective now, which I think is perfect timing because your career is just gonna continue to go and go and go and go and go like that, because that's just what the business does. But you've got the tools now.

RS: It's brutal, to be honest. So it's good when we find spirituality and when we have all the things going for us that are so much more important, like parenthood. Because for me, I decided to be a mom late in life because it was all about career, career, I need to make it. And I wasn't searching fame. My problem with the business—and the lows were low. Not because, oh, I'm not where I wanna be because I wanna be famous. It was more about why do I have to constantly prove myself? I've done big movies, I've done huge TV shows and then why is there, what I call in the meantime, this moment of nothing that all the stuff that you have accomplished basically becomes nothing and you have to do it all over again. And it's the constant, I'm swimming against the current. It's not about being famous. It's about why, like it's been almost 30 years. Why do I still have to prove to you that I can do this when just look at my body of work? I've done it many times before. And it is very frustrating.

RG: Both of you guys have great points. I mean, and both of you guys' careers speak for themselves. I would say that I've been blessed now again with this new chance at life that I've come to understand it's more about connectivity. Connectivity to like minded individuals and loved ones and connectivity to a purpose, which for me is creativity. So to your point, I always felt that same way where I was like trying to outdo my last thing and that was so fleeting—or get some type of money, some type of recognition, and it was all fleeting because at the end of the day, after you pass away, that's all gone.

But if you create something, you connect with somebody, that remains even after you pass. So that's what truly matters. So I find myself having deep conversations with individuals. I find myself getting lost in my art or my poetry or writing screenplays and just kind of just creating, allowing my own storytelling to come in and flourish. But it can be very defeating in the time and age that we're in right now. So many people are trying to be social media stars and do the next TikTok dance and say the next absurd thing to get all the views.

And I think they're gonna find what I ended up finding a long time ago, which—one example sticks out in my mind. I'd always wanted to throw a first pitch in a baseball game or at least be a part of a baseball game, and I luckily got invited to the LA Dodgers game. And I remember getting that experience and the people that I wanted there weren't there. So it felt meaningless. And it felt like I had no true connection. I'm like, my mom, my dad, my brother, somebody should be here. Why are they not here? I've lost all contact because I've been so busy working. I've been so focused on creating this brand of Guzman. And now I understand. It's like, none of this means anything without the people that you care about right next to you.

EW: 100%. Talk to us about your movie. This is exciting. The Present.

RG: Yeah, The Present is an awesome film. It's a good wholesome family film. Nice little comedy in there. Cause you know, Isla Fisher, Greg Kinnear, they're incredible individuals. The kids kill it in this. I mean, they're the star pupils in this film. And then it was new for me. It was a little fun role to play. You know, comedic timing, trying to master that still. But I had fun with it playing opposite of Isla. And essentially the movie is about a family who's on their way to separation going on divorce and their kids get gifted this grandfather clock and this grandfather clock can turn back time. So the kids try and use this to try and save their family's relationship. And everything that ensues is really nice.

EW: You know, when I saw the premise, I was thinking to myself, cause I come from divorced parents and I remember as a kid always going like, how can I just change this? How can I take that back? And so to put that into a movie, I think is a fun concept that anybody coming from a divorced family could probably relate to in that sense. Cause you always want to turn back time and go, is there something I could have done? And even though, you know, kids take that blame, but it's a great premise. That sounds like a lot of fun.

And comedic timing, like doing comedy and stretching, even though you've done it before and you continue to do it, it's like, it's always its own art form. It is so tricky. People don't understand how difficult great comedy is. Like, I always think some of the best actors in our business, period, are comedians, because to make someone genuinely laugh, like crying laughter, to me is way harder than making someone feel like cry with tears of sadness. I think people can tap into that as a viewer much easier than like someone genuinely making you die laughing. So just doing comedy as an actor is such a fun art form to continue to explore, I'm sure.

RG: 100%. I mean, Robin Williams is the, I would say my go for that. He shows—”

EW: Do it all.

RG: The comedy that he does is so based in truth.

EW: Yeah.

RG: It's so grounded. That's why it works. And obviously it helps that he can play like 12 million personalities, but—

EW: Totally, but then he'll crush the drama at the same time. Like he'll do drama, no problem. Then to do comedy, you don't see a lot of dramatic actors come over and knock out comedy like you see comedians go over and knock out drama.

RG: Yeah.

EW: So I think like it's awesome that you got to explore that as well.

RS: Is there one thing that you see yourself in five years doing? You have a successful show, and now you're a dad, you know, you're pretty accomplished. But if you can look at your future and be like, there's this thing that is my north is the next, is what is gonna make everything make sense and be full circle.

RG: Yeah, being my own director. Right now I'm working on a film that I've written. I'm working with an incredible director, Mo McCray, mentoring under him and taking ownership of my own career and allowing myself to kind of open the space and open the door for not even just more Latinos, but just in general for newer voices and more creative voices and human experiences. But I mean, there's always that one big thing to be like a Marvel superhero at some point in time.

RS: You will.

EW: You can have more than one North for sure, but that's a great one. That's a great one.

RS: You know, it's interesting. I'm going through the process. I'm leaving to go to Puerto Rico to do this thing that I wrote that I'm gonna direct. It's my first feature that I'm directing, and it's like, I want it to be like the second stage of my career. And it's so hard, Ryan, to—it's an independent film and to be able to raise finance, you know, it's years, you know, like we had Ricky Martin a couple of podcasts back and he was saying that he learned that in this business, everything takes five years from beginning to end is five years. And now that I think about it, I'm like, you know what? Absolutely right. It's gonna be five years, you know, once I'm done, I edit, you know, locked picture, boom, it's gonna be five years.

And it's been brutal. The process, it's been brutal because it's a lot of letdowns and people offering you all kinds of things and at the end of the day, it's all BS, you know, it's all smoke and mirrors. And the only thing that keeps me going is the love of the art and the love of what we do because I wrote it and it's so special to me. It's like my third baby. And even though I'm going through logistical nightmares and finance, is it gonna fall apart? Is it here? Is it not? When I sit down to do my shot list and when I'm actually doing the creative work of it all, I can do that all day long. All day long, because it's amazing if you love it.

RG: Yeah. Yeah, the business part of it is just—it's defeating. The creativity part of it is incredible. And I'm sure this is just gonna be, you know, an abundance of opportunity and knowledge, you know, for the next thing. And like anything you do in life, as soon as you begin something new, you probably suck at it, unless you're one of those rare few individuals that can do everything. But there is a learning process, a learning curve. And this was gonna probably be one film that spurs on so many other films now.”

RS: Amen.

RG: Watch and enjoy.

RS: Yeah, amen. Anyways, thank you.

EW: Well, Ryan, thanks for hanging with us today. This was awesome, man. Thanks for sharing everything. Wish you the very best. Obviously you're crushing it and you have a lot of great aspirations still to come. So we truly wish you the best.

RS: Thank you.

RG: Alright, guys, you guys have a great day.

RS: You too, bye bye.

EW: That was great.

RS: Oh my God, he's so wonderful.

EW: Yeah, such an awesome guy. And truly wish him the best with the trajectory and everything he has planned for his career beyond 911. I love that he's writing and wants to direct. Check out The Present movie coming out tomorrow.

RS: Tomorrow. On demand.

EW: On demand. Till next time.

RS: Bye, love you.

[deeplyobsessed]

ok so i’m gonna ramble in sections

section 1: cgi moustache

FUCKING HILARIOUS like it was so bad it was funny HELP also buck’s hair was season 8 hair too it’s so funny like WHY did they reuse this HAHA

section 2: confession part 1

as short of a scene as it was, this was really nicely shot imo. and the tears in eddie’s eyes when he spoke like RYAN GUZMAN UR SO GOOD. but also how does buck (best friend) rank about girlfriend like hmmmmmmm

section 3: FUCKING ABBY

I CLOCKED IT I KNEW IT i know we always joke about 911 having continuity issues but THIS was such a good way to call back season 1 like insane writing tim minear and i love u for it

section 4: the divorce call

i wish they did more with this call like there was potential to call back to eddie/shannon but they didn’t. other than that i think honestly this is one of the grossest calls they’ve ever been on like genuinely icked the hell out of me with the guts like ugh gross

section 5: josh’s speech

as much as people hate on tommy, i do think josh’s explanation of things does give some sort of context to the way tommy acted in the past. like yeah racism and sexism is bad don’t get me wrong, but tommy did make an effort to change. it’s just that with society and his own work place back then, tommy prob had a lot of internalised homophobia that he expressed negatively outward to others (chim and hen in particular). but josh made a very good point with his speech about pre glee and post glee world (great reference, 10/10) and i think this was one of my favourite parts of this episode

section 6: confession part 2

ok first of all there was literally NO NEED to add that “im straight” “im celibate” part. like that was intentionally written into the script for something bcos that entire section could have been done without the sexuality mention. tim minear i see you. other than that FATHER BRIAN YOU ARE SPEAKING FACTS. my fav line he said was “but we can’t take care of others if we don’t first take care of ourselves”. bcos this is true!! and also a line used in therapy a lot cough. anyway i think the conversation eddie had with the priest was like a wake up call to eddie to start getting his head out of his ass and start working towards something. love this scene 10/10

section 7: brothers and pipes

most of this call was focused on the brothers part more than the well scene call back, tho there was a throw away line from bobby to eddie about how (eddie) wouldn’t fit this time. i do wonder if this happened irl would fire departments legally be authorised to allow children to help with rescues tho. otherwise honestly this was a very cute scene that helped chim get some introspection. i do wish there was more of a well scene call back tho :(

section 8: buck tommy breakup

as a buddie fan, i am overjoyed. but as a buck fan, i am devastated. tommy is actually one of my favourite love interests for buck, and its not just because he’s a dude and sexual awakening all that. i genuinely do think buck and tommy could have had a lot of potential if the show had decided to go through with it, but at the same time ending it here was also a relatively good note. i think in this relationship it wasn’t actually buck who wasn’t ready, it was tommy. tommy is afraid of things not working out in the long run bcos he doesn’t believe in buck’s affection for him being long term. this whole breakup was bcos tommy wasn’t ready imo. i do see the point tommy was trying to make but i also think it was a bit of a dick move to do the whole breakup immediately after buck asked tommy to move in with him. like the timing could have been better tommy. tommy being the one who decided to end things did surprise me tho. but now i feel really sad for buck bcos buck did like tommy a lot, and also as a queer person your first queer relationship is always going to mean a lot to you

section 9: MADNEY MADNEY MADNEY

HOLY MOTHER OF- i didn’t see this coming i didn’t but i am so here for it. the amount of trust and communication between chim and maddie is literal relationship GOALS like they lay out the boundaries and have healthy discussions about having another kid and it’s just so UGHHHH I LOVE YOU also maddie already being pregnant FJSJCKSK MORE BABIES

section 10: eddie, the moustache, and the dance

this. was. everything. the significance of shaving off the moustache. the dancing at the end?? no pants too was a choice. like when eddie flops back onto the couch and you see his smile, it’s like you truly see him deciding to finally forgive himself. maybe not completely, because there’s always going to be some guilt he carries around, but he’s moving forward and i’m so, so happy for him. it’s just a fun goofy feel good scene and i love love love this.

special mention: buddie and the couch

i actually think this is the first time both of them are on the couch together. like sitting next to each other with no one else. RETURN OF THE COUCH THEORY WELCOME BACK. ok but the ending scene?? the way they don’t even need words to communicate like- buck not even bothering to question why eddie doesn’t have pants, and eddie not even questioning why buck is here with beer in the first place. the level of mutual understanding has my HEART IN PIECES

overall this is honestly my fav ep this season and one of my fav eps of all time. i can’t wait to see how the story moves on from here ahhhhhhh

[keljustherefr]

i just wanna know what is tagging the entire main cast instead of lou himself to receive an apology or correction in his wording going to do. he said in the same breath that tommy was ignorant, immature and toxic back then, so where are we getting that hes a racist and misogynist from??? please do fucking enlighten me.

i am black myself and i believe he could have said something better than "teasing" as well, but he STILL said all tommy did was wrong and they all moved forward from it. this small mess up is NOTHING compared to what the fuck ryan guzman did while getting a slap on his ass and getting on by just fucking fine. y'all pushing for lou to get fired, but not him. when hes the actual bigot here.

you don't get to choose when to play pseudo moralist for your own benefit. this is fucking disgusting and i am tired of every last one of you. bucktommy stans are not excluded from this either because while some of this outrage is insane and being handled absolutely wrong, you all don't get to tell anyone especially poc or any woman ESPECIALLY how to feel about what lou said. people have that right to be upset with the wording he used in that answer.

more importantly, anyone with eddie, ryan or buddie accounts need to be the LAST ones trying to take the moral high ground because you actively looked past ryan's bigotry to support your favorite character or your ship. seperating character from actor is null and void when they commit such atrocities as he did. end of story. i hope y'all never get that ship and eddie gets written off the damn show in the future.

lou should say something about the way he poorly worded that, but i refuse to let any of y'all act like he should be canned for this when ryan guzman is still EMPLOYED and a MAIN on the show after the digusting bullshit he pulled.

[takemeorleaveme]

Also stupid ass racist ass fake ass “fans” Ryan Guzman is American but you showed your ass on those racist ass tweets. 🤮the way ya’ll choose to be vile after we had to endure months of you guys attacking us and playing victim just to turn around and be actual scum is crazy I guess that’s what happens when the delusion clears up. Go away with your fave who can’t act for shit and only gets roles because of his daddy/name and will NEVER be a lead on a show or movie like the projection was real as fuck with one of them calling Oliver a d-list actor cause that’s all that trashy man will ever be is a low grade d list actor. & I’m using the tags so I hope the other side sees this y’all want buddies to hold eachother accountable ya’ll better hold the trash accountable as well because it crossed a line atp.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, hoping your in the mood for some incoherent Friday rambling because that's where I'm at right now and have been for days. First off, i think we should both thank and curse the new intern 911 hired, who apparently switched out the promo team's decaf for some Columbian dark roast. Seriously after spending the first half of the season practically catatonic between episodes suddenly we can't catch a break for even 24 hours before the next unhinged thing comes out. Next, let's

thank Mr. Ryan Guzman for looking at his character's scene notes, apparently rolling his eyes, and deciding to take matters into his own hands. Look, I'm not trying to say the rest of the 118 doesn't look devastated, but Eddie looks like he's about to start bawling on the floor and that's the real reason he grabbed Chim. I'll come back to this but his moments sure don't hit like pure platonic concern, there is some real desperation there. Also not to bring up KR rambling but lady if you were so surprised by Ryan's performance and didn't want it to come across like THAT, aren't you in charge? Couldn't you make the call and say "I need you to give me less"?? Anyway, the parallels between this and Eddie's shooting are ridiculous, so I also gave to think if this isn't going somewhere what the fuck is the point?? Why go through all this trouble to make it so obvious and heartfelt and hurt so much if it just goes back to business as usual?? That more than anything would piss me off. Yes, let Buck learn a thing or two about his own worth (we've only been waiting SEASONS for it), but also can we stop pretending putting these two specific characters in these life and death scenarios where they have to watch the other dying and their whole world looks like it's coming apart doesn't mean anything?? Finally (for now) here's what I'd like to see next episode. We know Buck is going to see the people he loves but not in the way he knows he knows them. So I'd love to be what prompts him to wake is seeing Chris. But not just any version of him. This Chris is an orphan, his mom died and there wasn't anyone to save his Dad from getting shot. He lives with his grandparents (pre Ramon reckoning), he had to go to them since there was no other parent in Eddie's life to take care of him. So this bright, brave kid is now sad and scared of the world, and Buck knows its wrong. I'll leave you with this mess of thoughts 😭.

Hello friend! We had people over this evening so I'm trying to get this done before I get to bed because I really do need to clear out my inbox (RIP to everyone who came to be salty with me and KR's interviews because we immediately got sneak peeks and poker stills and DO MORE, and my brain went offline).

Seriously, I don't know who started slipping the promo team cocaine but damn. Let us REST for a second! Between them and the fandom coming out in FORCE to wreck us or be horny on main, it's A Lot and I need sleep!

Ryan is out here giving us The Most and KR acting *shocked pikachu* about it just shows how much she sleeps on Ryan as an actor and Eddie as a character.I rewatched 6x10 and like, I know he's got a lot next episode but for a premier maybe we could have checked in with him and Chris since we checked in with literally everyone else at their homes? I'm trying not to be too negative because after s5 and 6a, this is THEE most excited I've been in awhile and I really do think the show is at least trying to course correct after....whatever TF 6a was and the weirdness of s5.

And the stuff with Eddie, it's like, you're right they COULD tell him to do less! They could say "this is what we're looking for" or at least "this is what we're NOT looking for" but clearly his actions were signed off on and made it to air knowing full well what people would see when they watched it. And what you see is a man desperately broken by the possibility of losing his partner. Which is GREAT if the show is working on a s7 Buddie reveal plan (I'm with @outrunningthedark I don't think they want to overshadow the Madney moment coming up which is fine), but it's....disappointing when there is so much good stuff going on right now and all KR wants to talk about is how much fun they had forcing Eddie "they're not really my type" Diaz to casually date randos because that's something he's ever been interested in doing. He really seems like a guy that enjoys wasting his limited free time meeting lots of new people only interested in getting into his pants instead of taking care of his partner who literally died for several minutes, and doing things with his son. Sure Jan. FFS, read the room! Or read the character profile before you start throwing storylines at the wall to see what sticks (lookin' at you sperm donor plot that is apparently giving Nothing). Yeah, yeah, managing expectations with a showrunner like her is good, but it's also a lot of whiplash right now between what we're seeing on our screens and what she's trying to TELL us we're seeing on our screens. I'm just so sick of them giving what should be THEE moment for Buddie only to follow it up by shoving some woman between them like "oh, nothing to see here!" Give me a break. And then what are they going to do for the actual reveal? How are they going to raise the stakes AGAIN? How are they going to be like, "yeah this is the 5th time one of us has almost died, but THIS time it's allowed to be an "Oh" moment for us because TPTB finally signed off on it!" 🙄🙄🙄 On the bright side, the Buddie of it all has kept the show trending off an on for almost two weeks and will certainly continue through next week so at least whoever is paying attention to that stuff and saw how dead everything was after the finale has some comparison to work with!

ANYWAY

Sad an lonely Chris would be HEARTBREAKING and my heart couldn't take it! 😭😭😭 That boy deserves ONLY good things! I will say I am a little...not mad but I am certainly side-eyeing this coma storyline seeming to be about how Buck's work as a firefighter is what changed everyone's lives because like, YES him being at the 118 changed everything for everyone, but also this is the guy who panic-sued the department to get back to work because he felt worthless if he wasn't doing his job. Which we then found out stemmed from childhood trauma and neglect, but right now, for where he's at, he's not questioning his choice of job so he doesn't need a push like Eddie to come back to where he belongs. And he's already wrapped up in a storyline that SHOULD be about him giving up parts and pieces of himself to make other's happy at cost to his own happiness (though right now we don't know WHAT it's suppose to be about since he's not going to struggle with walking away per Oliver and he's not learning anything so what's the point?). So how is better for him to be facing a life where Daniel lived and he's loved and happy (which is what they've been making it sound like) but everyone at the 118 is a mess without him, proving that it's better for everyone ELSE if he sacrifices everything and doesn't get the happy life he always dreamed of? Like I'm not trying to be negative and I'm still REALLY excited about the episode (as you can see from my unhinged posting this week) and I just KNOW everyone's performances are going to slay us, and this storyline might go differently than I'm expecting and be something really great! But I'm just...getting my side-eyes out because if KR has proved anything it's that she can't plan a fucking arc for shit, and she lacks a basic understanding of the trauma and driving forces behind the characters.

Final note because I didn't want to end on that one, I think everyone in the firefam deserves an Emmy for what they're going to give us and I am READY for their reactions to rip my heart out and stomp on it. It is TIME Buck wakes up with his REAL family around his bed and knows how very much he is loved for just being Buck and how hard they fought to bring him back to them, because he's their family and they CHOOSE him. Buck is always the one being left, but he's going to wake up and hear how everyone he loves begged him to stay with them. It's going to be *delicious*

[medicbuddie]

I swear, I really, honestly tried NOT to watch this stupid fucking show anymore (No offense to my own Buck & Eddie or Ryan and Oliver). Still, somehow I had to find out if there were even going to be any scenes that included the other 118. I'm not saying I hate Bobby. I like Bobby and I don't want him to die, but I also don't want the writers to make the show all about him now and not anyone else. It's an ensemble show, thank you very much!

Anyway, I'm disappointed that Eddie came out and told Kim about Shannon because I wanted them to be together instead of that other trashy cunt Marisol, but yeah, I know, Christopher was going to see her if he didn't tell her. At first, I seriously thought Eddie was dreaming that whole talk between he and Shannon, but now I'm glad that that Marisol cunt is as good as gone now that she walked in on them.

BYE BYE BITCH! Don't let the door hit you on the way out. . .or do. . .whatever.

And can I just say. . .

SOMEONE GIVE MY HUSBAND AN EMMY FOR THAT MONOLOGUE & POWERFUL PERFORMANCE!!

Yes, baby! OMG, he even said "baby." I've never heard him use any term of endearment before in his relationships. I'm dying. I just wanted to hug him and tell him it's okay. To fuck all the bitch hoes on social media calling him a cheater ( he never had feelings for Marisol anyway so he shouldn't even be referring to her as his girlfriend, I mean COME ON BITCH WAKE UP ) and to stay with Kim and dump that other trashy cunt. Awww, it makes me love my own Eddie even more. Again. . . GIVE RYAN GUZMAN AN EMMY DAMN IT!!

[libertarian-druid-ny-separatist]

Luis Guzman, much like Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Jackie Chan is a God of his craft.

Note that I say God and only list actors, that's because English does have some gendered words. They're just nowhere near as common as other European languages. And there is nothing wrong with that because there is already a gender neutral term that is applicable. That being deity. As well as a female exclusive term, that being Goddess (usually none of them would be capitalized, but that's how it be with autocorrect and 7, 10 second, rips off a cart to celebrate the fact that I'm "The best candidate" my soon to be boss has seen so far. And considering the lack of applicants due to the exclusive nature of the location (I found it completely by chance and actually got lost on my way there) that raises my chances of getting it significantly considering there's 3 applicants and 2 positions they need filled. So I've basically got the job but they can't say it outright until the last interview is over because it's the same job, different shifts. Which is why I made myself available on both shifts.

Knowing what I do, that gives me a roughly 50% chance at getting the shift I'd prefer, not that there's a difference in pay or anything but amount of work to do. Since lunch is the big meal at the, essentially, retirement home, I went for the 11:30-8:30 shift, now knowing exactly what I do about the job. Meaning more involved cooking and less putting a package of food on a plate.

Idk, it's just one of those things where it's gonna make me actually enjoy my job rather than tolerate it for the pay, though the pay is going to be much better here due to better hours.

Overall, life's going okay and improving. I'm actually content for once.

And then I remember we're on the verge of global nuclear war. The illusion of happiness ends, and I'm right back to struggling to find any joy in life. Even if it doesn't go nuclear, the amount of societal fallout from another world war will forever change the world. And that doesn't even touch the environmental damage of our current system trying to get back up to wartime production levels.

Defensively. The US is one of the most sound places to be on earth in a conventional war. Especially in the Midwest and deep south. For both the geography and the culture. Ironically, our least geographically sound location is DC. However the massive military presence makes up for that.

I'd strongly recommend that any citizen of the US that's able to, get familiar with either the AR or AK rifles. Or both ideally.

Point is, try to find the joy in as much as you can. Idk about y'all, but I find a lot of joy in going to the range and blowing off some rounds.

It's a fucked world we live in, and shit, maybe the Mayans were right and the world started to end in 2012. Now we're down to a likely showdown between a bunch of nuclear armed nations.

Point is, if we don't all die, I'm writing about an alternate reality where we do. And shits going way too well on my own personal level for everything to just be okay. But of course, it'd be my luck that my life starts to get better as the world is ending.

[newagesispage]

                                                                 FEBRUARY 2023

THE RIB PAGE

I hear good things about the book Beaver Land. Check it out!

*****

Will one of the next Knives out star The Muppets??

*****

Tom Brady and Ozzy Osbourne have retired. ** Dr. Phil is hanging up his show.

*****

Some singer I have never heard of named Chris Young apparently acted like an ass to Elle King on a new show called Barmageddon. Word is he could not take the heat when she started beating him in some sort of game. Do we care?

*****

Ok.. So I know pretty much nothing about Melissa Rauch who leads the new Night Court. I must give her respect though. She walked onto Seth Meyers in sweats. Yes!! Why these people want to sit there so uncomfortable is beyond me. Good for her for being herself. Hey, hooray for the people who wanna get dolled up but she should be herself. ** So it wasn’t but a few days later that I saw Colbert thanking Trevor Noah for wearing a tie and jacket. He also belittled Don Lemon for the way he was dressed on CNN. Colbert claims that it is a late -night show and people should make an effort. Oh please, it’s a late show, calm the fuck down. When did the Late Show host become the fashion police?? UGH!!! Colbert also asked Noah what his first concert was. That is a Kevin Nealon question. Let’s all hike with Kevin where one can be casual.**Bill Maher complimented a guest’s Converse but stated he couldn’t wear them at his age. When did these old liberal guys get so hung up on dress etiquette?? Please, nobody wear white after Labor Day on these programs. Live and let live? And one more thing about Maher. He gets a lot of shit about his thoughts on obesity. I don’t really care but on the Jan. 27 show, I have to admit that he really got himself worked up about it. It was almost comical.

*****

For the first time since 1923, there were multiple votes in the House of Representatives to pick a leader. Boebert and Greene reportedly had it out in the ladies room and Gaetz and Rogers about went at it out on the house floor. Kevin McCarthy did finally prevail after many promises to other Republicans. ** It seems to have brought he and Marjorie Taylor Greene together. They love the attention. Steve Scalise is the majority leader. Should we let the 118th congress hold us hostage? ** We have their rants against the IRS and indoctrination in schools to look forward to. The Republicans have gotten rid of the metal detectors. It seems they are itching to get the public and their weapons inside. The southern border and Ukraine will probably suffer because of their cuts. To be fair, we have spent about $50 mil or is it billion so far? Biden is sending the Abrams tanks but that could take a year.  ** Do we have enough proof yet that most of the dysfunction stems from Republicans? They sure keep filling up the swamp. ** I heard someone say that there were twice as many Mikes in the GOP as women. That sucks but there really are a lot of Mikes out there. I was engaged to 3 in a row!!

*****

There are reports that gas stoves should become a thing of the past. I get it but cooking would suck.

*****

Is someone going to make a feature film about Michelle McNamara’s life?

*****

The Dallas zoo is under tight security. Recently there have been cut fences and shady dealings with the Leopards, monkeys and a dead vulture.  

*****

New Zealand’s new Prime Minister is Chris Hipkins.

*****

Ryan Seacrest and Andy Cohen seemed to be in a bit of a feud after the New Year. That sounds like THE  blandest fight of all time. I mean who gives a fuck? How did these guys even become famous. I will never get their relevance. `1

*****

What the fuck is going on in Mexico and Brazil??El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzman was arrested and people were told to shelter in place. Airports were closed and school suspended. South America is pulling a similar coup ala USA. It is all a big game to Bannon and Bolsonaro and all the partners in crime. The haters won’t stop until the whole world blows itself up. ** Why does the main stream media practically ignore these international stories?? Talk about Trump or the housewives and they are all over it.  

*****

We have 3.5% unemployment!

*****

Biden gave the Presidential citizens medal to 14 people who defended democracy. We all owe them so much.

*****

Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain of Journey are in a feud. In the legal battle, Schon alleges that Cain’s wife, Paula (televangelist and Trump’s spiritual advisor) has access to Journey’s personal accounts and is racking up personal bills. She is also playing Journey music at Trump events which the rest of the band would like to stop. . Is everyone associated with Scary Clown a shady character? Well, Yes, I suppose so.  

*****

Scary Clown 45 has renewed his ridiculous beef with Ruby Freeman. He is putting new garbage out there to make her life miserable. Trump and his ilk seem to treat people like chess pieces, not actual people. ** Trump and 2 rioters have been sued by the estate of Brian Sicknick for $10 mil. The suit states that there was “a direct and foreseeable consequence of Trump’s words that day.”

*****

42,964 cannabis convictions have been erased.

*****

I am so sick of both sides yelling that the voting public does not care about this issue or that. I assure you that myself and the that people I know care about who leads the house of representatives and what classifies docs are floating around out there. Transparent?? Not quite. Pence, Trump and Biden all have documents?? This would lead us to believe that all politicians take home stuff they probably shouldn’t. The government does appear to be pretty loosey goosy. It just seems that the quality of work and discipline have gotten sloppy. If I walked out of work with stuff I shouldn’t, it would probably end right then and there for me. ** Sen. Graham claims that he has no docs, just chicken sandwich wrappers.  

*****

Pam Anderson claims that Tim Allen flashed her on the set of Home Improvement. He denies the accusation. That sounds about right. Why do men think everyone wants to see their penis?

*****

Succession will be back on March 26.

*****

There was a stupid incident with Rooty, the great root bear from A&W. They put out a joke statement that the bear would wear pants now. Fox news ran with that with a ‘woke’ headline. They sure love their buzz words.  

*****

NPR’s John Burnett is retiring after 36 years. His parting words: “Elect more women leaders. There’s too much testosterone in positions of power. They get us in these foolish, macho, prideful and unnecessary conflicts over and over and over.”** “I don’t know if men should hold political office, they are too emotional.” -Steve Colbert

*****

Nepo?? C’mon!! Every business has families. How many ‘and sons’ have we seen in a lifetime? Don’t families work farms together? Why is Hollywood different? Where would we be without some famous family members like Anthony Perkins, Natalie Cole, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Hanks, Angelica Huston, Danny Huston, Jack Huston, Rashida Jones, or Rob Reiner??? These are some of our finest artists.

*****

The Golden Globes were back. My best dressed were Colman Domingo, Britt Lower, Niecy Nash Betts, Rhea Seehorn, Jessica Chastain, Jean Smart, Jenny Ortega, Quinta Brunson, F. Murray Abraham, Anya Taylor-Joy, Viola Davis, Stephanie Hsu, and Michelle Yeow. Not crazy about Claire Danes and Michelle Williams but I usually do not favor their fashion choices. It works for them. I will never understand why the E reporting can’t be a little more seamless. Quicker cuts would help that awkward exiting of the stars. Jerrod Carmichael was the host. The show seemed to move awful slow and was really ready to rake themselves over the coals. The best part was Chloe Flowers, the pianist. I found that to be a nice addition. The dude from ‘The Bear’ could not have “Um” anymore if he tried. It seemed that they picked all the winners from the back. Half the show was watching winners get to the stage. C’mon Quinta Brunson.. You looked good but that dress seemed like a nightmare to travel all that way!! And I was disgusted by the fucking phones. It is bad enuf that the world is staring at their cells. It sucks that so many tv scenes are between people on their phones, talking and texting. Now, people have their speeches on their phone and they are wasting time scrolling to find it. Pull out a note card and surprise! There it is!!!!! Ok, call me old fashioned. I also don’t ever remember so many winners telling their WHOLE life stories. Most of my choices did not win the big prize like no Hader, no Odenkirk and no Glover. Hooray for Evan Peters and for Julia Garner and her short but sweet acceptance speech. Billy Porter was fab in his intro to Ryan Murphy who took the Carol Burnett award. How impressive is Murphy’s body of work. Wow!!** Eddie Murphy was given the Cecil B. DeMille award.

*****

And I am glad for Abbott Elementary and the love they are getting. Please put white nerdy teach and the janitor together more often. They are such a great comedy team!!!!!

*****

There is a new House Party. The trailer reminds of an episode of Atlanta.

*****

Alec Baldwin has been charged in the shooting on the Rust film set.

*****

Season 4 of Barry just wrapped shooting!!

*****

Ron Jeremy was declared incompetent with severe dementia in his rape trial.

*****

2023 brings Europe and Australia the Weird Al/ Emo Phillips tour.  Yeow!!!!!!

*****

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting have filed a lawsuit that accuses Paramount of sexually exploiting them and distributing nude images of adolescent children. The suit stems from the 1968 film, Romeo and Juliet.

*****

Was it coincidence that there were technical difficulties during Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s segment remembering Barbara Walters on The View??

*****

Football fans came together Damar Wilson from the Buffalo Bills as his heart stopped on the field. He is actually up and moving again.

*****

In sexual assault news: Cosby wants to tour again.** Andrew Tate was arrested for human trafficking. Before that he took pride in putting down Greta Thunberg but she responded: smalldickenergy@getalife.com. Go girl!!

*****

The release of Trump’s taxes has revealed a few things. He wrote off the Stormy Daniels payment. He did not donate his presidential salary as he promised. We are not hearing much about it after all the preamble. ** And now, he can come back to Facebook. He is supposed to be exclusive to Truth Social but we will see. ** Word is that about 25% of our national debt occurred during the Trump administration.** The average American pays 13.3% in taxes. The 25 richest of us pay about 3.4%.  

*****

The 95th Oscar noms were announced. There is already an investigation into the way some people were nominated. We will see how that plays out. It was great to see noms for Judd Hirsch, Brendan Gleeson, Andrea Seborough and especially Brendan Fraser and Brian Tyree Henry. The films up for best pic are All quiet on the western front, Avatar, the way of water, Banshees if inersherin, Elvis, Everything, everywhere all at once, The Fabelmans, Tar, Top Gun Maverick, Triangle of sadness and Women talking.

*****

Beyonce and Rebel Wilson were slammed for living it up in Dubai. Beyonce gave a concert for $24 mil. Human rights be damned. Perhaps she gave it to charity.

*****

Should Leno quit driving?  

*****

Why does it take so many overpaid pundits to talk football on these playoffs?? You look up at halftime and there is like 7 guys sitting there. What?

*****

Are there really 2 states, Alabama and Mississippi that celebrate King-Lee day?? Is it true that 2 states honor Martin Luther King AND Robert E. Lee?

*****

Sundance is back in person. The U.S. dramatic grand jury prize went to ‘A thousand and one.’ The audience winners were The Persian Version and Beyond Utopia. The festival favorite was Radical.

*****

The trials involving the proud boys have brought to light their club rules. Proud boys are to sing their anthem, Proud of your boys from Aladdin, every night. Members are only allowed to ejaculate alone every 30 days. Otherwise, ejaculate must be within 1 yard of a woman.

*****

George Santos lied about his Mother’s death and just about everything else he claimed about his life. Hey Voters: Check into these candidates out BEFORE you vote them in. One would think that full throated lies would get a person thrown out but this is politics. Santos did admit to buying merchandise with a stolen checkbook and was not prosecuted because he could not be found. This may be the only offense that anyone can prosecute but to what consequence?? Is Santos his real name? Was it legal when he filed to run his campaign? He recently did a re-do on his paperwork. Where did he get his $?

*****

Tyler Massengill of Chillicothe, Il was arrested for the malicious use of fire and an explosive to damage and attempt to damage a place of interstate commerce. Massengill, according to the video tape threw a molotov cocktail into Peoria’s planned parenthood health center on January 15th. He claims that Illinois right to life will provide an attorney but they say, “no.”. He could get 5- 40 years for the $1 million in damages.

*****

So, they investigated the leak in the Supreme Court and they did not interview the Justices themselves??

*****

Have we all seen this holy spirit board?? We can buy a Christian talking board with a planchette to communicate directly with Jesus. Any takers?

*****

Some people seem upset about a 50th anniversary Dark side of the Moon set because of the rainbow on the cover. Yes, the prism colors were on the original design so I don’t get the beef.

*****

Last year, there were 7,501 threats against congress. Stop the hate people, do we really want to be spending our $ here??

*****

The Illinois Supreme Court has blocked the new No Cash bail or The Pretrial Fairness Act just before it should start on January 1.  On Dec. 28, a Kankakee judge ruled the provision unconstitutional.  

*****

Five former Memphis officers, Bean, Haley, Mills, Smith and Martin were fired and charged with multiple counts including 2nd degree murder for the murder of Tyree Nichols. The swift action could be contributed to their skin color but ALL police misconduct should be handled this way. It is being called the Blueprint. Yes! Of course, it all depends on local laws. Some states are more protective of the officer’s rights and things may have gone very differently.

*****

R.I.P. Anita Pointer, Fred White, Chris Ledesma, Frank Galati, Don Williams, Fay Weldon, Adam Rich, Lisa Marie Presley, Dorothy Tristan, Fred White, Jeremiah Green, Michael Levin, Jeff Beck, Gina Lollobrigida, Robbie Knievel, Carole Cook, Russell Banks, Jerry Blavat, Jean Veloz, Charles White, Sister Andre, victims in the latest mass casualties ( I think about 30some shootings so far this year), Yoshio Yoda, Haiti cholera victims, Tyre Nichols, Dean Daughtry, Tom Verlaine, Barrett Strong, Piers Haggard, Lance Kerwin, Cindy Williams and Alice Green.

[mr-and-mr-diaz]

BUCK & EDDIE ACTUAL SIZES: A Thorough Essay, Part 1

(I would post this all at once but the new tumblr thingee only lets me post 10 photos at a time, and THAT WILL NOT DO)

Alright folks, have a seat! Today we’re going to discuss the REAL size difference between Eddie and Buck once and for all. There are too many discrepancies at the moment, so I'm going to burn an unGodly amount of time I should be using to work to set the record straight gay bi.

Currently, based off of a good deal of collective fandom description, Buck looks like this:

And Eddie looks like this:

This discrepancy presents itself in many ways, from Clothing Sharing fanfics that show Buck *HULK SMASH* splitting all the seams of Eddie’s clothes, and the reverse of Eddie veritably swimming in Buck’s clothes (wHy to both??). Then there’s Eddie having to get in his ippy tippy toes to kiss Buck (nope), or Buck having to bend alllllllll the way down to kiss Eddie (also no). Onwards we have descriptions of hugs where Buck holds Eddie in his arms, delicate and small like a wee starved orphan and Eddie struggling to reach all the way around Buck’s *HULK SMASH* massive girth... I can go on, but I think I’ve made my point. (actually one more: What the fuck is up with giving Buck massive hands and Eddie lil teeny tiny ones?? ‘Kay I’m done now) Okay, onward to the important corrections accompanied by useful visual references.

Note: I will be going over various proportions, from head to hands, to height to torso size to musculature--and for musculature I will go by season since that changes quite a bit (but NEVER ENOUGH to justify the descriptions above). ALSO fair warning, once you have seen the proportions I will point out, you CANNOT unsee them.

(More underneath the cut to save your dash ^3^)

Height

Let's start with the most basic: height. This is simply done with a Google search--Oliver Stark is 6'2 and Ryan Guzman is 6' exactly. So Buck and Eddie are two inches apart. Enough to be noticeable but hardly enough that anyone has to stretch/duck to reach anything.

Think this:

NOT this:

Torso

Why torso, you ask? Well, for buddie it actually makes a large impact on the above mentioned height difference, you'll see what I mean in a minute:

Have a good long look at that. Wardrobe dressed them the same and it is going to help illustrate this IMMENSELY (thank you, wardrobe! ^3^)

What do your elf eyes see?

Correct, Ryan Guzman's torso is A LOT LONGER than Oliver Stark's! Why is this important? Well for one thing, it creates the illusion that Oliver is even taller when they're standing up, since Oliver's short torso gives him gorgeous legs FOR DAYSSSSS. It also means their belt lines are miles apart, despite being almost the same height, which again makes Ryan look artificially shorter at first glance. Don't let yourselves be fooled though--remember, height is only measured in one thing: How far the top of their heads are from that off-white ceiling.

The other reason their torso height difference is very important is this:

Do you see it yet? K one more:

That's correct!! Because his torso is longer, EDDIE IS TALLER THAN BUCK WHEN THEY'RE SITTING DOWN. Proportions are wild, I know XD

Part 2 coming up! In it we'll discuss head size, hand size, and the highly anticipated (and highly contested) mUSculAtuRE :)

***

Many thanks to @blutterlie, our discussion on this topic is what inspired this post! And thank you also to @trashendence for sending me the wardrobe photo where they're dressed the same, I could not find that thing to save MY LIFE!

If you want to be tagged in future posts on this topic, message me or reply here!

[outrunningthedark]

Can someone summarise what GW said in her story? I can’t listen to her speak without cringing

First set of stories: [starts with either "Oh, man. Oh, man. or "Aww, man. Aww, man." Not quite clear.] “By now I think most everybody has caught up and seen what has happened with Eddie and Ana, and I would just like to say that I had such a good time being on the show. It was such a pleasure playing Ana Flores, and working with Ryan Guzman and Oliver Stark and the 9-1-1 family in general. Cast, crew, everybody was...like family, and very welcoming, and I'm sad to go. Um, but, you know...everybody deserves to be with somebody that they love, right? So I hope you all enjoyed my performance, and I hope you all enjoyed Ana. Besos." Anna -> Ah-na -> Anna Second set of stories: "I just wanted to say it's been such a whirlwind with this show, with you, with the Eddie and Ana love, and, you know, back and forth, and on this like...on the edge, and I didn’t know how to approach this, so I was sad about the breakup and everything, but I just wanted to say, like, you 9-1-1 fans who have shown me your love and support, it meant so much so much to me. I know there has been a lot of controversy with my character and the Buddie fans and *blows kiss* I still love you, Buddie fans. I love you. And a lot of my Buddie fans still were rooting for my character. I appreciate your love and support so much. Eddie made it easy to - Ryan made it easy to be loved, but you guys, you’re the best. I love you.” Here she used Ah-na  - - - - - - - - - -   I will say that the beginning of her second set of comments sounds like she didn’t know what the fuck was gonna happen with EddieAna (much like the way Tiffany Dupont was seemingly unprepared for the Buck+Ali breakup...) Tim’s got EVERYBODY guessing. Except Ryan and Oliver. L O L.

[remythologise]

"Even in 2021 actors who are in his position accused of ‘queerbaiting’ are just straight up leaving twitter. Yes this is about the actors in 911 yes I am annoyed that even the non-shipper-on-deck Racism Actor Jensen Ackles Equivalent does for free on Instagram Live what Misha Collins does not do for $400 on Cameo" now i wanna know what the 911 fandom is like, what's going on there

I’m BARELY in the 911 fandom I don’t feel qualified to speak on this but basically my knowledge (mostly through osmosis and through a little rapid-fire buddie clip compilation watching) is: THEE queerbait ship on the show is Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley (played by Oliver Stark, who seems super sweet, is also REALLY GOOD at acting relative to like. Everyone else on the show) and Eddie Diaz (played by Ryan Guzman, who is good for looking handsome, having some chemistry with Oliver, and… well, not that much else.) Anyway so Oliver Stark is definitely the Misha Collins in this totally unfair queerbait one-to-one since he’s very encouraging of the Buddie shippers and does things like liking instagram posts of Buddie fanart. Ryan doesn’t really speak much on Buddie so he’s more of the Jensen figure here. Although I don’t really want to compare them too much because, well, Ryan is More Problematic and Less Talented than Jensen by miles.

SO basically my references were to the fact that a) Oliver Stark got pretty hounded on twitter leading up to the previous season finale, since people said if Buddie wasn’t going canon he was ‘queerbaiting’ them. Because he was being so supportive of the ship and so on. But honestly in my opinion he seems like an extremely fucking sweet guy doing the best he can to be supportive while having no creative control. Anyway, he left twitter around that time because of all the Twitter Fan Shenanigans, more or less.

Meanwhile b) Ryan, uh, did this thing which you can read about hence my use of the term ‘Racism Actor’, but he also recently was like ‘who knows if Buddie will kiss wait and see what Tim writes’ (actually that might not be Instagram Live I have literally no idea what social media apps look like anymore, help, anyway it’s SOME live app thing) - which was why I was like, oh well, you know, at least Ryan can talk about Buddie kissing for free while Misha Collins can’t even talk about it for $400.

As for the show/fandom itself, it’s. I mean the show is not particularly good or interesting, it’s a Ryan Murphy show (although not. utterly unhinged like the other ones) it’s also an ensemble show with at least one copaganda character (yikes), although there is a Diverse Cast of Characters and the whole found family thing they do is very nice. As for the ship, well, Buddie has some SOLID foundations - CO-PARENTING EDDIE’S CHILD - but it’s certainly no Destiel (what is?). Probably the only classic-style queerbait really left airing, though. BUT power to them for being basically supportive of the shippers who watch the show and not treating them as ‘delusional’, a low bar and yet after Supernatural one I am always grateful for!

[himbo-buckley]

Sex, Intimacy and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 4

Ciao, ragazzi,

i bims, die Kriz and I will be your tourguide today. (Yes, we’re on first name basis now, congratulations, kid, ya’ll earned it!)

Okay, so I rewrote this intro like 5 times by now. 3B has been so hard on me in a way that the rest hasn’t been. While I was writing 3A I had so many thoughts and ideas and conclusions from the get go, my main worry was to fit it all in and to make it coherent. And it took me a while to get there with 3B - but don’t worry, my friends, I did not disappoint and it is just as long as part 3, despite Tim Minear   personally coming to my home and vibe checking me for saying he had daddy issues. Which is fair, tbh. Sorry bro, I’ll stop calling you out like that. (No, I won’t.)

Also if you need a „quick“ refresher of what happened so far or you just forgot, here are:

part one - part two - part three

And also, the usual spiel:

This meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney voice* we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something

This Meta will so far have FIVE parts now. The original plan was to do three, one for each Season, and have it organised by episode so you could technically follow along (which is still true), but due to personal reasons, also known as *feelings*, Season 3 had exploded disproportionately and for readability reasons I have split it in three parts - there is part 3 which ends with the Christmas Episode, part 4 which spans what aired of 3B so far and the final part 5 which will include the final and my conclusion, if by then I am able to form thoughts again / still

Alright you guys, drumrolls please: part 4 (also called „*butterfly meme* Is this growth?“)

Episode 3.11:

I wanna be honest with ya’ll, Season 3B is sort of a mixed bag for me, because while yes, all the episodes have been great viewed separately, they just feel so … separate from each other, and with 3A having so many episode-spanning arks, it’s a bit of a letdown to return to the standalone episode format. Especially because it makes the whole two steps forward one step back thing so much more apparent as it feels like what happens in one episode has no consequence for the next. It felt a little like they burned through too much in 3A already and didn’t know where to go from there. Which is also true for me, so maybe I should stop judging.

Anyways, I’ll stop bringing the house down now.

Let’s continue with: Don’t you just love stan-ing two adorable, complicated badass firefighters? Yeah, me too.

Also, I wanna see the Doc again. Tim, can we? He could be friends with Frank? We could see them have tea and talk about those dumbasses at the firehouse? (And also legs, since, you know, Frank only has one?)

And also the bank guy, Harrison was fun. (This whole episode was.)

And I know it has nothing to do with Eddie or Buck or Intimacy or Sex (okay a little with those) but I do wanna point you to that damn meatball scene, because it’s so chaotic? First, why are all the ingredients laid out on the table but Maddie is making balls already only to then cover them in water? Look, I’m basically vegan (haha, how long do you think I’ve waited to shoehorn this in here) and haven’t cooked meat since I was … fourteen, probably? And even to me that just seemed wrong! Not to mention AFTER touching raw meat, Maddie only cleans her hands with a towel before opening the door? You used to be a nurse, Madeleine / Maddison! (Do we know her full name? I feel like we don’t.)

One thing I really love about 3B (so far) is how happy and settled my main man Edmundo Diaz is. It’s in the eyes, you guys! I don’t know if it’s a Ryan thing or a deliberate acting choice but whatever it is it translates well (haha, well, yeah, we’ll talk about that one later) into his character and it really makes you feel like Eddie is so much better. Like for all the analysis of Eddie I’ve been doing, I didn’t notice how much colder he grew since the beginning of Season 2 until this episode came and suckerpunched me with the warmth in his eyes. Good god, proceed with caution! Oliver could call me right now and say „Look, Buddie isn’t real, I just keep getting lost in Ryan’s eyes.“ and I wouldn’t even be mad, I’d just be like „How’d you get this number?“. (It was Tim, wasn’t it? Damn it, we talked about this, mate! I wanna meet his cat, not him!)

The episode doesn’t hold a lot of relevance in terms of this meta (aside from some parallels I’ll talk about in a moment) but I still want to discuss it a little bit because it means a lot to me. I just love Howard „Chimney“ Han with all my heart.

I wanna say something controversial now because we’re 500 words in and I feel like I haven’t made you regret reading my rambling yet, so here is controversial thought of the day #1: All these fucking characters are grey as fuck except Howie. Howie is good to the bone. He is the goodest boy. He is so gentle and sweet and non malicious and yes, I am including Evan in my list of grey characters because he pulled some SHIT! Okay, a little bit of shit. Things have been *implied*! (I don’t even know anymore. Maybe he’s just off-white or something.)

And what’s the worst my best friend Howard „Chimney“ Han has done on this show? Lied to his girlfriend a buncha times so she likes him better? I lie all the time. I just lied to my mother 5 minutes ago (Yes, Mom, I’m working on my thesis.)! And Howie just lied to make someone like him better. That’s not bad, that’s horrible self esteem!

Which brings me to another thing I wanna say because thank you, Jennifer Love Hewitt. If anyone from the cast gets to call me, it’s you, because you clearly had your thinking pants on when you took one look at Chimney and said: I want that one! You a real one and I will name check you on my way to heaven - not, that they’ll let me in, but the thought counts?

Now, lets talk about those parallels I mentioned before:

The Hans vs. the Buckleys.

Now, we still don’t know a lot about Mr. and Mrs. Buckley and what exactly made them bad parents (though I’m firmly team a little neglectful but not abusive) but we know a lot about Mr. Han.

One thing of the bat I wanna mention is that this episode confirms that Maddie at least had a hand in raising Buck - which doesn’t actually have to mean too much, because based on JLHs age, her relationship with Dough and the way their sibling relationship is played it’s safe to assume that Maddie is supposed to be between 5-10 years older than Buck (assuming she started nursing school after High School at around 18 / 19, which I think takes 4 years in the US? And she was an ER nurse for 8 years, making her AT LEAST 30 in Season 2, but considering how she emphasised that Buck noticed something was wrong with Dough even as a teenager and she met Dough at 19, I’m gonna assume Buck was younger then 16 because Dough won’t have shown his abusive tendencies right of the bat, so probably about 12 / 13, making Maddie like 6 years older than him? And since we DO have a definite age for Evan, Maddie is probably around 33 in Season 2 (which also works because they wanted to put her and Eddie in a relationship and Ryan Guzman is in his early 30 as well). And look, as the youngest child of two people I would call more than adequate parents I can tell you: older siblings always have a hand in raising you, especially when the age difference exceeds 4 years. One of my sisters is 5 years older than me and I was more scared of telling her about having a bad grade than I was of my parents, so…

Anyways, back to what is actually happening in the episode and how it both parallels and contrasts the Buckleys and Hans.

Like Maddie and Howie are the older siblings and Buck and Albert are the younger siblings, yet Buck and Howie are paralleled as are Maddie and Albert. Also, Howie resents his brother for the relationship he assumes Albert has with their father, but Maddie recognises that Buck probably had similar experiences growing up as she did. Of course one could argue that Howie and Albert never had a relationship before while Buck and Maddie grew up together, but look, Maddie was in an abusive relationship for quite a while and hadn’t been in contact with her brother for 3 years prior to Season 2 but it’s safe to assume they didn’t have too close of a relationship before that either, or the Buck we know would have gone to Maddie to investigate and find out why she dipped. So…

(Despite all of this, Maddie knew she could come to her brother for help in Season 2 meaning one, our boy is such a good boy always and the Buckleys can’t be all bad if Maddie knows she can count on her brother, meaning she didn’t think her parents screwed him up too much in the time since she moved out and gradually left his life. Just another thought.)

I also love how her firm believe in the strength and meaning of familial relationships triggers a shift in Howie. Please keep this in mind for when we discuss 3.16 in a few minutes, friends.

Also that kitchen scene has all my heart. They really said kitchens are a Buddie thing now, didn’t they? (Also from a non shipper perspective, Maddie and Buck are just the sweetest and for a TV show actually fairly realistic siblings. At least if I compare them to my siblings and I.)

Also in terms of the actually topic of my meta’s: this is our first indicator that Eddie considers the 118 his family. And we have another moment of Chimney seeking reassurance / being open with Eddie. I love that they have a friendship like that. (He was so excited about meeting Chimneys brother as well. A little bit puppy and like another reason why Evan and him are friends. (As if we need more)) Also love that Eddie is secure enough to voice these feelings!

(Eddie really does seem so healed in this episode? So open? And happy? Damn, Frank, you know your shit! My man had some growth.)

Now, for some sidenotes to round off this episode, because I have some and I wanna share them:

On the Buckley parents, I think the episode wants to imply that they had plans for Buck? Maybe career wise? Because in the pool scene he says something along the lines of: „Sometimes you have to put / get a little distance“ and since it’s been implied that Buck is also from Pennsylvania or somewhere close by, we can assume that he was talking about himself here. Like he moved all the way across the continent.

I’m also just gonna throw out a prediction for Season 4: since Nia is only a foster child and like 2 years old, it’s safe to assume that she has been only recently taken in. While I do not know the US-Foster system, I do have some knowledge about the German system, so I’ll just predict that either one or both of the birth parents try to get their child back.

Or they just sort of forget about all of this by Season 4.

And I really really really dislike the cancer storyline and how the show is handling it, at least in this episode, specifically in regards to May, who in my opinion, has been both written and treated by the show as someone younger than 18 here, only for the show to then turn around and go all: wow, such an adult, look how wise she is. So awesome. Like nah, son! 3A has shown that she is much maturer than she was treated in this episode.

And Eddie finally got to say „seen this before“ again. I feel like he says that a lot. Should I start a counter for that too or do ya’ll just wanna think about him naked for a bit? (I know, you guys, I know! Should I befriend someone who can make me a bunch of gifs of shirtless Eddie I can pepper in every time we get to heavy around here?)

Episode 3.12:

Ah, yes, „Fools“! The one episode I have to say I can not look at without wearing my shipper goggles. So be warned.

Which is why I’m gonna start with the elephant in the room: Ana Flores.

Now, I’ve seen (and maybe liked / reblogged / queued / drafted (Idk anymore, I’m up to 600 posts in my drafts, 300 in my queue and like 300 liked / reblogged already)) an interview with Ryan Guzman where he talks about Ana and how he isn’t sure yet wether they are heading for romance and how it needs someone incredibly badass to get through Eddie’s defences, because Eddie is barely over his wife’s death and yeah, that!
Look, if you’re here, I’m gonna assume you have read the other three parts of this „meta“ and therefore know that I am a proud member of the Shannon Diaz - defense squad and will fight anyone who says a bad word about her. And you will also know that I attribute most of the stupid things Eddie did in 3A to the fact that Shannon died. So there. All caught up.

Now, as for Ana Flores herself (and I’m writing this after 3.16, so who knows what happens next): She might be in Season 4 (I think the interview said something about it or she tweeted something) but I don’t think it has been confirmed yet? So considering what Ryan said they probably won’t end up in a relationship by the end of Season 3 (again, please remember when I am writing this).

I’m not gonna comment on the actress aside from saying, damn, I wish that were me! Other than that? I don’t really care about actors unless I think they are hot and then it’s more of a: uiiii, me like-y. (Madeleine Patch, call me!)

As for the actual scenes, well, I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand side, as I’ve said before, I work with children and the idea of dating the father of one of my babies is just plain wrong to me. So there is that. Morally speaking that storyline would be trash. (And very OOC for Mr. „My son needs to be protected above all“)

Then of course there is what’s actually happening between them which, one, from the get go she seems to not reciprocate Eddie’s advances (he keeps telling her to call him Eddie, she keeps calling him Mr. Diaz). Also that whole speech about horses? Yeah, I know you’re an english teacher but ähm, what? (Put it on the list, Tim, I need answers!)

To sum it up (and explain why I brought up Shannon aside from how much I like her), I don’t think it’s headed for a romance quite yet? They may be playing the slowburn game, but I think it was more like Ali in Season 2. Because as @greyhello pointed out to me in Part 2, Ali might have been there to show us that Buck was ready for a commited relationship and it had never been Abby that made him like that, just as Ana is here to tell us: hey, Eddie is finally accepting his wife’s death and maybe, possibly, some time in the near future, ready to date again. Probably. We’ll see.

Aside from that, I actually think a little crush could be something healthy and healing for Mr. control issues. But, again, we’ll see.

So, elephant addressed. Now let’s move on.

Sidenote: I feel like the parent-teacher conference made Eddie really regret so many of his life decisions. Someone needs to tell Buck so he can make a million puns from here on out and drive Eddie crazy.

(Sidenote: Carla said „big blue eyes“! You know who has big blue eyes? Ah, now I’m just clowning.)

Now this episode returns to the Season 2 formula of giving Eddie and Buck similar storylines:

Because while Eddie meets someone he could potentially be interested it, Buck is also made aware of his single status and the fact that he hasn’t dated in a while.

I do think Buck’s stance in this episode was both curious and familiar. Familiar because it reminded me a lot of Eddie in 2.04 and I think, just like Eddie did before Shannon came back, right then Buck is closing himself off from making connections, be they physical or emotional, because he got hurt too much.

Which is why I call it curious. Because I can not decide wether I consider his behaviour growth or a step back. In Eddie it would definitely be a step back, but in Buck who had been so willing to take any chance for physical intimacy just for the sake of a connection in Season 1 to now at least seem somewhat settled in himself and comfortable with what he has does feel a little like growth? (Then again 3.16 shows us he is just scared of getting hurt again, so probably just covering up is depression.)

Also, again with the kitchen! That puts us at five (?) scenes of Buddie talking about each other or with each other in a kitchen setting (six, if you count 3.03). Now I’m probably clowning myself real hard right now, but whatever!

But I do wanna point out how comfortable Eddie and Buck are discussing Eddie’s parenting struggles, which just shows how much he trusts him.

Now I know, I myself have made a textpost about Eddie discussing his parenting struggles with literally anyone, but ya’ll know I was kidding, right? It isn’t actually true. In canon he talks with exactly 5 people about Christopher:

They are Christopher’s therapist in „Triggers“, Carla, Hen, Lena … and Buck.

Now, here comes something interesting: For Carla and therapist, it is literally their job to help Eddie with his parenting struggles, but all the other scenes? Connected to Buck. Yeah. That.

Look, the Hen scene in the Christmas episode literally involves Buck and as I’ve said both Eddie’s and Buck’s reaction here heavily implied that Eddie has had a conversation with Buck about his fight with Chris before telling Hen all about it.

As for Lena, again, she is *literally* there as a substitute for Buck. She uses his locker. Her name is taped over his - and that is actually such a nice visual, that I wanna talk about it real quick, because I’ve seen it called disrespectful a few times and I don’t agree.

One, the fact that they left the „B“: funny af, someone from set dressing is probably laughing themselves silly about this and is allowed to call me now; also a constant reminder who’s locker and place she is actually occupying. Also how she can never really fully replace him, she can’t cover the hole he left fully, he is always there, lurking.

Two, the fact that it is tape: tape is slightly see through. It is temporary and easily removed. Tape is just a quick, momentary fix. Tape can be taken off / away without effort.

So to sum it up: There’s no one he trusts more with his son.

Which is also why Buck is there at the end: because Buck is who Eddie trusts. Buck is who Eddie goes to when he’s struggling as a father. Buck is who Eddie wants by his side cheering Chris on. I mean, they are literally pushing him together while Carla films (stands on the sidelines, ready to help as needed, but not fully a part of their family unit).

So, to go back to the elephant in the room? Right now I’m not at all worried about Ana Flores.

On another note it’s also one of the last real Buddie scenes we got in 3B so far and while I do understand that there just wasn’t any storyline for them to do such a scene organically, I am very worried about what it could mean. Because I still remember when Teen Wolf stopped putting Tyler H and Dylan in scenes together because people kept screaming queerbaiting.

I don’t want that to happen here. I love Buddie and what it could represent but I’ve also written too much about their respective characters AND their connection by now to disregard how meaningful they ALREADY are and how important even as a platonic pairing they are. Because they make each other so much better and proof that straight man can have deep connection with each other and how two flawed people can help each other heal in a way that I don’t think any other relationship in this show shows.

Back to the episode, though. The ark between Christopher and Eddie here is truly beautiful and I love the way we see Eddie growing as a parent. And I think the show wrote those scenes so well and they felt truly natural and were incredibly important, both for Eddie and Christopher.

I do think, as much as I love Christopher always being Eddie’s number one priority, no matter who Eddie ends up dating (yes, even if he dates Buck) we need to see a bit of a shift here. (Also, just in general, because Christopher will grow up, even if he’ll never be as independent as a fully abled bodied child might someday be.)

Eddie needs to learn to let go of control and of Christopher a bit. Look, a partner will never come before Christopher for Eddie (unless Chris is like in his 40s and has moved out and is living his own life. And even then it’ll be close.) but in order for anyone to ever fit into his life he needs to make a little space at the top and that includes taking away a bit from Christopher.

(Also just selfcare reasons, you guys, parents need to learn that it’s okay to sometimes think about themselves! And we already saw Eddie break once cause it became too much, how easy do you think that can happen again?)

Sidenote: We all know Buck built that, right? He’s been shown again and again to have some mechanical / maschinary (?) understanding plus fairly interesting problem solving skills.

Episode 3.13:

I love the locker room scene. Firstly, it’s a definite reminder that these three have bonded a lot and it’s such a sweet familial scene.

Also Eddie’s advice: yet another hint that he’s healing from Shannon’s death.

Compare it 3.08 and the conversation Bobby had with Eddie. There are no definite callbacks or anything like it, but it is very very very obvious that Eddie is talking about his dead wife here. Who he told he loves her in her last moments. So there.

Now, as for the healing part, could you imagine 3A!Eddie saying something like that to anyone?

Even in 3.03 or 3.06 with Buck, the person he lets himself be the most vulnerable with, there are still always terms and conditions with his words.

He trust no one more with his son, which, okay, is what the scene was about and what has the highest priority in his life but still, his trust isn’t bound to himself, it’s bound to his son, not to himself, not something he has in general for Buck, but something he has for Buck in regards to his son - that Eddie trusts Buck with himself is only ever implied.

He forgives him - „also what it means to be a part of a team“. Eddie sort of impersonalises his forgiveness here, he doesn’t forgive him because he’s Buck and he’s Eddie, he forgives him because they are part of the same team.

With Eddie there is always a wall.

But here in the locker room there isn’t. It’s just: if you love her, tell her, cause you might not get another chance - Eddie certainly doesn’t have another chance to tell Shannon.

And okay, you might say, isn’t that kind of a condition as well? Saying ‚I love you‘ because tomorrow isn’t promised? And sure, it kind of is. But Eddie’s also basically saying: once upon a time I told my wife, who art now in heaven, that I loved her as she was dying and then I got real mad at her and the world after because she left me and she was planning to leave me anyways and now I’m here and I’m over that and I’m just glad I got to tell her ‚I love her‘ one last time. I’m no longer angry.

Growth, you guys.

Episode 3.14:

I feel like the writers read some of ya’ll’s Buddie fanfiction, realised how it mischaracterised the relationship between Buck and Chimney gets and said: not on my watch!

In other words: If Eddie and Buck are different sides of the same coin, Buck and Chimney are the same sides of different coins. They share so many traits and experiences!

Now, this episode. Man, you guys, it really has me stumped. Part of me thinks it doesn’t have relevance and part of me keeps going back because it thinks it does?

Oh man, you guys, I’m lost. I don’t know.

All right, executive decision: no relevance, just another drop on the breakdown-stone that is 3.16.

Someone please tell my man’s boy they need him!

Episode 3.15:

Fun fact to start ya’ll off: this was only the second episode I watched somewhat live being a little new to town and the first I saw without spoiling myself on tumblr. So it has a special place in my heart any way you look at it.

(But then again this episode also involves several of my nightmares: drowning! being below earth! Being in small enclosed spaces! Being buried alive! Huge amounts of mud that will not leave your clothes and fingernails for the next six hundred years!)

Also, uhm, did I say „Fools“ was the *one* episode I could not look at without shipper goggles? So I’m contradicting myself. It happens. Move on. (Yeah, or repress it and join a fight club! Also name check me with your therapist, please! We may have breakdowns but we do them healthy around here!)

Because these fuckers went off! Whew! I’m serious, after watching the episode I sent a clip of that scene to my roommate and asked to rate how platonic this was. Which she did not. Because she doesn’t know math, apparently. - My point is, she sees it and she doesn’t know the show.

In other news this episode convinced me Oliver is pulling an Andrew Robinson (and yes, I know he said it was in the script but then Andy also followed the script, so…).

Sidenote: Eddie is the oldest, right? Damn, for some reason I thought he was the middle child. He has big middle child energy.

(Also why they namedrop Galveston like that? I googled it an it’s just a town? Why, Tim, why?) (At this point he is just torturing me, I know it. This feels personal.)

Anyways, this episode, you guys! I have thoughts! (And they are very hard to put in order so please excuse any jumping around at this point.)

The birthscene is great and can we just for a moment think about 25 year old Eddie hugging his mother in law so very lovingly? He’s so happy here. So soft. (Also I’m about to turn 25? I would not be able to deal with being married right now either?)

And yes, this episode confirms that Eddie has killed people, and while I know it was selfdefense, I just, it’s very weird to me because these characters have become so real to me, so to see one of them kill without a care is kinda off-putting. (This is why I will always consider Eddie grey and why I can never consider Buck white - because he had been planning on joining the Seals meaning he had to consider the possibility of killing and has probably learned to kill (Do you think that’s why he’s so non aggressive? because he knows he could take everyone down?))

I’m just gonna come out and say it: anyone who says Eddie isn’t impulsive has not watched this show. In fact I’d even say he is more impulsive than Buck.

Yes, Buck will do weird and dumb shit on a whim because the thought just crossed his mind and it sounds good and he doesn’t think about the consequences, but just does it. (I could make a case that our boy has ADHD but this is not what this meta is about)

But Eddie? Eddie is impulsive in his reactions. Everytime he is in distress (emotional not physical) he stops thinking about consequences and just starts reacting. Especially if it’s about a child!

Shannon is pregnant - lets sign up for the army.

Our child has a developmental disorder - lets stay in the army.

My parents want to take away my child - lets move halfway across the country.

(Not allowed to talk to your best friend? - lets go streetfighting.)

Eddie probably thinks these things through to a point and he mostly has a plan, but he is so reactionary. He is like a raw nerve and that’s what makes him impulsive.

It’s why, instead of letting them pull him out enough until he can radio, Eddie cuts the fucking line. Because this is a child, this could be Christopher and Eddie needs to be enough to save him.

(Are you crying yet?)

I’m not gonna talk about Afghanistan except to say: ah, Eddie. My man, you are enough! Always!

(But maybe that was his guilt over killing talking? Maybe he does feel bad?)

Also why did the woman emphasis ‚Staff Sergeant‘ like that? Was that an indicator that Eddie got promoted?

Also Eddie the fucking boy scout / alter boy / goody goody two shoes trying to get up because of a superior office despite lying in a hospital bed (and not even having been cleaned from his blood yet, urgh that’s gotta itch!)

Sidenote: in light of 3.16: do you think Eddie still talks to Mills, Binder, Norwahl and what all their names are or do you think that would be too hard for him? I’m leaning toward not talking but I really liked Mills (she reminded me of Buck and Lena, tbh.)

And now, for our regular scheduled program: Shannon and Eddie.

First of all I loved all of it. I loved that we could really understand why Shannon left. I love how much they clashed but still had those little moments of recognition.

And look: The juice box scene was very rough. Eddie is likely currently suffering from PTSD, definitely having a culture shock and here is his wife who is barely holding on as well and she just wants to leave, she can’t deal anymore and both of them are so desperate and wow, just wow. Kudos Ryan and kudos Devin Kelley, I’m sad we won’t see you again, but I do hope I’ll see you somewhere else one of these days!

I’ve talked about their relationship a lot already, so I’m not sure if I have any fresh takes but I will remind you of a few you already know:

Eddie is not in love with Shannon after Afghanistan (haven’t decided yet if he was in love with her in the birth scene)

Shannon *needed* Eddie to open up to her just as much as she needed to be open with her

Eddie was not able to be emotionally intimate with his wife

they cared about each other very very much and I do think they tried

they are family (remember what I said in part 2 about Eddie talking to the 118 about Shannon? This here proof that he definitely defended her actions at some point to them as well)

Shannon was in an impossible situation with her mother and a special needs child and likely burned out and just … she needed someone to have her back, which Eddie couldn’t because he himself was suffering from PTSD at that point

I’m still mad as fuck, they killed her off! If they give Eddie any other endgame romance that isn’t Buddie without like two seasons buildup after killing off HIS WIFE I will riot!

Which brings me to Eddie and his parents which was rough, you guys!

Look, as someone who worked with children I can see where his parents are coming from in that scene but also wow, just wow.

How cold and insensitive and fuck, no wonder someone is repressed as shit, that was horrifying and I really can’t talk about this more than to say this hurts and also explains too much about Eddie. (Can we have the locker room three bonding about having horrible parents in Season 4, please, Tim? And can Buck come too? We could do it at the loft?)

As for his conversation with Christopher, obviously it was cute as fuck and also I love how he began the conversation talking to his child like every adult male I have ever met talking to a kid about something he knows will go over it’s head („It’s like we’re talking about completely different people.“). (Okay, maybe not just adult males. Maybe we all talk like that around children sometimes. I know I do.)

I really liked how they reinforced once again that Eddie wasn’t a natural at being a dad (compare how he holds his son to season 1 Buck who most definitely knows how to handle a child (And now I’m wondering if him being good at it was always planned or a „Oliver did a great job the first time we had him interact with a child so we decided to make it a trait“-thing. Damn you, Tim, for making me think so much!)) but became good at it because he was willing to learn and he cared! Dads of the world (also Moms, we aren’t all super duper either) take note!

That being said the conversation also left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth because, one, it felt a little petulant of Eddie to turn around and leave for LA, the way it was presented here and two, Christopher at that point didn’t understand yet what Eddie was actually asking him about and it felt a bit like manipulation. Please everyone, do not consider a conversation like that consent from a child. Any adult can get a child that age to say anything they want because children just want to be liked (It’s why when children are involved in criminal proceedings it’s so hard to interview them because children follow every suggestion because they think this is what the adults want them to say.).

Now, let’s talk about puppy!boy for a second!

In 1.05 Buck tells Abby: „no one is good when it’s personal“ - well guess what buddy boys, this one is very personal for one Evan ‚Buck’ Buckley, thank you very much, that boy is losing it.

Okay, let’s compare it to the episode before and then two episodes later:

Now, obviously the situation with Maddie was a little different. Mainly because this was a hostage situation and he realised (because Seal training, remember?) that there wasn’t a lot he could do to help her right then but then again … neither was there in Season 2 when Maddie was in danger and he still acted far more frantic in the car with Athena than he did here? Like the only stupid thing he did was drive a little dangerously this time?

And of course, two episodes later we see Bobby react when Athena is in danger and while we don’t see him be frantic we do see him get ready to kill someone, so, yeah!
 It could of course be inconsistent writing or deliberate to keep the attention and worry more on the people in the call centre but since they haven’t pulled anything like that before I’m leaning more into my clowning.

I mean, we also have to consider that Buck was Eddie’s lifeline here, he was supposed to be the one to get him out, so he feels extra responsible but then again we have Hen make this comment about having two cut lines, which of course says that Hen thinks that one: whatever reason Eddie had to cut his line will definitely be considered a just as valid reason by Buck to cut his line but also: BUCK WOULD DECIDE TO DIE DOWN THERE WITH EDDIE. Sorry for the yelling, but no, I do not think Buck acted out of character in 3.14.

(Which is very irresponsible, you guys. You are fathers! What happens to Christopher when ya’ll die in a well somewhere in fictional California? I can not live in fictional California! I will not be taking care of your child, Buddie! Figure it out yourself! No. We are done here! This conversation is over!)

(Okay, not quite, because I actually don’t think that would be realistic! More realistic: Buck giving Eddie his harness so he can get pulled out first and then dying down there alone.)

Like I’ve said in the at the beginning: Oliver might be pulling an Andrew Robinson. It might have just been the way they thought Buck would act if he lost Eddie while being responsible. It might have been fever making him delirious (which, btw, kudos! Because you can hear how sore his throat was and omg, that shirt hurt!)

Never mind I found the heavy focus on Buck in an episode about Eddie fairly curious - which is why now it’s video-talk time!

First: I will not bear Shannon slander around here! Yes, she was in way less scenes than Buck, but the actress also was never a main character, so ya’ll need to remember there are like 2 scenes of them as a family. And they probably didn’t have the time, money and energy to film some just for a montage - especially considering that the three of them have hardly been a family together, because first Eddie was gone and then Shannon, so…

But yes, we do have to admit that Buck was in most scenes, and yes, we do have to consider the implications of this which are: Buck is definitely a vital member of the Diaz family and when Eddie says: I’m always gonna come home to my family, this now includes Buck and I hope we see him tell him that at one point in the final cause I need him to!

And then of course there is also the radio scene in the beginning (which lead to one of my proudest tumblr-moments to date in form of this post!) which did ease us into the concept of Bucky-boy being a member of the Diaz family! So it is canon now?!

One thing I wanna point out about the school scene in the end in regards to this is that little boy’s question. Sure they used it as transition to calling Christopher his good luck charm but, uhm, why did they have Buck ask about it in the beginning then? Why have this sort of unnecessary callback to the beginning of the episode unless they want us to remember Buck?

Something to ponder for the next week, I think.

Also the episode sort of reinforced my believe that we don’t really have to worry about Ana Flores. Sure, this scene was also a chance for Eddie to redeem himself in front of a teacher he screamed at just a few weeks prior but the only interaction they had was her asking that question at the end and Eddie hardly looked at her.

(Also, if they really wanted to reinforce Eddie being interested in her, they could have had Carla make a dig about it in the beginning, even with Christopher there, but they didn’t, which to me confirms that they don’t really know what to do with her yet.)

At least Ryan was finally taking his shirt off again, I know that’s like catnip for ya’ll.

Episode 3.16:

One thing that really confuses me is how many people seem to think this episode points out only how important romantic relationship are and I don’t see that?

I mean, I see that it’s one of the points that is being made but I don’t think it’s the only possible reading of this episode.

To me it was about connection and family more than anything.

It begins actually with Eddie (the person most connected to Buck) being the first person to decline Buck’s invite, not in favour of spending time with a romantic partner, but because he has a prior commitment with his son! (And several other people, including, but not limited to, at least 2 other nine year olds. For Eddies sake I hope less than 5 or that Carla is around because he is a single father and children unionise by nature.)

And it continues with Buck by forming a connection to Red and then bonding with Maddie.

And can I just say, before we delve more into all of this, how proud I am of Evan „Buck“ Buckley after this episode? Just look at him!

This is Buck at his lowest, lower even than during the lawsuit, because back then he had something to fight against, which he doesn’t have here. Because he can’t stop other people from leaving him (that is the whole point of the episode after all) and what does he do? Instead of going full on Buck 1.0 and just finding the nearest interested person to form a meaningless physical connection with to substitute for the lacking emotional intimacy he craves so much, he goes to a bar alone and befriends an old man. And spends the rest of the episode bonding with him. And bonding with his sister. And addressing his issues, both with his sister and his family. That is huge!

(Which is why I’ve decided him not wanting to date? Symptom of his deeper issues, yes, but also a sign of growth.)

And I’ve seen some people on my dash talk about how, compared to most other 911 episodes, this episode has a fairly bleak ending, which one I agree with, two think is actually a theme with Buck centric episodes, but three don’t actually mind / think is a bad thing? It’s fairly realistic after all.

To get personal one second: I remember being a very idealistic 20-year old intern working in the foster system five years ago and my mentor, who was less than 10 years older than me but fairly badass teaching me something that technically is a well known proverb but that I, a idealistic 20-year old, had not actually understood until I worked there and saw it myself: manchmal muss man den Karren an die Wand fahren  - translation: sometimes you have to let the trolley drive into the wall, which means sometimes you have to let things play out till it’s natural end before you can help. Or to use an english proverb: Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom.

And this is what I’m thinking - no, hoping - is happening here. Because, look, you don’t just solve like 20 or more years of abandonment issues in one episode and considering what a big part of Buck’s character from the moment we met him they have been, that would have been unsatisfying to watch anyways!
What we need right now, in terms of Buck’s storyline is catharsis. A cleansing. Buck needs to get to his worst (which I think he did or he will, once he talks to Abby) before he can begin to get better, can begin to heal, can begin to learn that he is not alone. And that is not a bad thing!

And yes, I know our boy is suffering and we along with him because we all love Evan Buckley to death but sometimes you gotta let things break so you can fix them instead of just putting tapes over the holes you see (haha, see what I did there?).

As for the episode, here we go:

I wanna start with something else real quick which is Hen’s subplot which I found important. Because they addressed that hey, she went through a trauma not to long ago as well and maybe she is not as okay with it as we thought?

Also it shows Bobby’s double standard again, but then I think he would have reacted differently if the guy had died and it was evident Hen realised she should never pull a stunt like that again. And maybe I’m giving Bobby a bit to much credit right now. Urgh.

I do wanna say, while Chimney seemed fine at the end with what went down we did see his reaction in the next episode and honestly he is mad, it’s just that Hen is his best friend and Chimney lives on the principle of forgive and forget so there.

Now I do really like the rope rescue scene because it was badass and also because Eddie seems so done in the beginning and Bobby just looks at him like: well, he’s not doing it alone and he’s probably not gonna cut his rope!

(Also notice how Eddie cut his rope willingly but Buck’s was cut for him? What does that mean? - For reals, I may see the connection but I can’t yet make out the meaning.)

But I did appreciate Hen’s comments about them being their best guys a lot! I kind of want an episode like they used to do on Star Trek were they focus on background characters and give us the way everyone probably sees Buddie as some kind of superhuman supermen who pull the craziest stunts and somehow make it!
And now, let’s get into Evan!

First of, I now Cindy was meant as a parallel to Abby but I also think to Ali because Abby didn’t leave because she couldn’t handle the fear but Ali did. So there, a sort of Ali Martin mention! Thanks for listening, Tim.

But of course with everything else Cindy is quite the parallel to Abby from the way she just left and Red never really got closure, just like Buck.

What is interesting though is that Red, different to Buck, doesn’t want closure. He wants to remember the good times and imagine what could have been. (This could of course be due to the fact that his life is about to end.)

Buck on the other hand side really craves closure, and look, I know when we first learned she is definitely coming back I was really unhappy about that, but since then we learned they run into each other which makes it fine to me. Because I thought we’d have another instance of Buck running after Abby for validation and I did not want that. But he’s not actually running after her, it’s just a coincidence so I’m happy for him getting a chance to have closure, finally.

And this is were I think the episode proofs that it’s not about romantic love as the only way to be fulfilled, first because after talking about Abby Buck asks „Do you think I’m lonely?“ which is not about romance at all (had they wanted to make it about love it would have been: „Do you think I’ll find love again?“ or something). Also the conclusion of this episode is Maddie telling Buck he is different to Red because he has her (and in general those scenes between them, yes, they were also about Abby because she was another person Buck has been left by but just like they mention a best friend in terms of people Maddie left behind it is not about the romantic aspect, it is about people he loves in general), because he has a sister and she won’t leave him again - so there, familial love! The pinky swear! The importance of family. (see 3.11)

Also had it really been about love you know what would have happened since then? We’d have seen Buck calling Abby! Maddie would have said something about Buck still being young and having time to meet someone! Instead Abby and Buck run into each other by accident and Maddie makes a pinky swear to never leave again, so yeah, I just think sometimes we need to wait for how stuff plays out before we judge.

Now of course I wanna mention the pool scene as well.

Firstly, I know we already traced a lot of what Buck says at the end back to Eddie and the grocery store but did ya’ll here Chimney say: „Seems like your making this about yourself“ and Bobby implying the same thing, so yeah, I wonder if it was them quoting Eddie or if this is what everyone is supposed to be thinking or if it was just a setup for the breakdown at the end.

Also let’s talk about Eddie real quick here, because I found it really weird that they didn’t reference his platoon from Afghanistan here? Like they could have easily have him say „I’m not in the army anymore but I still talk to my old platoon.“, especially since we MET them one episode before. So either they didn’t think of that, they wanted to reinforce the fear Buck has or Eddie may just be as lonely as Buck?

(Guess which way I’m leaning?)

(Look, children are great but they are no substitute for friends and adult conversation, just saying!)

But I love how hard Mr. Stoic and emotionally unavailable tries to reassure Buck, tries to be there for him. And also did ya’ll notice how, once Eddie speaks for the first time Buck’s focus never strays from him. Hen and Chimney and Bobby talk as well but it seems as if Buck never looked away from Eddie. (Which, definitely get that, he looked good here.) Also how Buck stresses the “That better not happen to us“ - man, what conversation could he be referencing? Man, I wish I had memorised this show by now so I could tell you about two scenes that happened in 3A between Buddie where the topic of us was emphasised a lot but alas I don’t and I can’t.

What the pool scene also proofs once more is that the 118 just like an actual family has a lot of communication issues because Hen and Chimney not being in contact with Tommy or so is a completely different situation but because of their bad communication they don’t realise that this is something they need to explain to Buck because they think this is about Red.

Bobby doesn’t get it either tbh.

But we all know who does, look, I said it about 3.03 and I’ll say it now: Eddie knows Buck. Eddie understands Buck. And Eddie is on the path of realising that Buck needs him to say the actual words and not just let his actions speak!
And my my if all of this pays off I will be one happy camper! (Hums Rihanna “We found love in a hopeless place”)

On a sidenote I hate that Red pegged Buck as a hothead because he really really isn’t! He’s just excitable and sometimes struggles with expressing himself and that frustrates him!

Also I never noticed the apartment had an outside area? did we know this? There is a grill?

Also really would love to see Gigi / Dana Strattford again, I liked her, she’s pretty! (But not like to date one of my guys, Tim, kay?)

(Also whats Officer Williams up to these days? Asking for … a friend?)

And to round this episode up: Oliver still looked so sick at times and they put a lot more makeup on him than they normally do? Usually you can see the slight scaring on his face but this episode you couldn’t but you could see the tears / snot mixing with all the makeup when he was crying and honestly, not his best look! (He still makes it work, though! Just saying, I miss 1.02 / 3.02 / 3.03 Buck, I know these episodes hurt but visually they are peak!)

Episode 3.17:

Was that episode amazing? Yes.

Am I still cackling about Oliver Stark having too much leg? Yes.

Did I love the Frank mention with all my heart? Yes.

Was Michael’s meet cute in an elevator less gay than any Buddie scene we got so far specifically any in 2.01 also known as their meet-ugly? That was a rhetorical question, you guys.

As for that comment I wouldn’t put too much stock into it. I mean, if you’re a single guy and you get invited out to fifth wheel at a double date with your sister and her boyfriend and his best friend and her wife, no matter how close you are, you will feel awkward so of course you invite the other single guy who happens to be your best friend who happens to be part of the friendgroup AND the team you’re working with making this a definite team/family/work - outing.

That being said: it took me 23h to come up with a reasonable explanation for this comment and I did scream at my laptop and pause the episode after it was made and I have been thinking “Buddie” confirmed about 100 times since then!

Also, they just spent a shit ton of time together, right? Like, if Buck’s there than so is Eddie and if Eddie is there than so is Buck and I’m clowning and not calm anymore!

Maybe “Buck invites Eddie” can be our always?

In other news this episode has absolutely no relevance for anything, but I love it deeply.

And we made it you guys! It was slower going but it worked!

Thank you to everyone who read so far and thank you to everyone who has been liking and reblogging and commenting! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express how much this means to me!

(Also please keep doing that! I too am an excitable puppy looking for validation!)

Now, to tag:

@angelcamael, @greyhello, @ipleiade, @the-family-we-choose-118 @chimbuckleys @sevensoulmates

[riarklus]

Please tell us how Ryan could know about buddie becoming canon, I don’t care if you’re wrong I’m intrigued about your theory

IT’S THEORY TIME!!! which basically means me thinking really really hard after having coffee and in the end i turn out to be the dumb bitch but. you asked for it so here goes nothing:

i’m reaching a lot with this one. like a lot. so if you don’t enjoy very implausible theories that are probably not even 15% right you can just not read this and do everyone a favor and not come in my inbox later telling me i’m wrong because I KNOW. we are here to have fun at the end of the day.

okay my theory pretty much starts right when eddie was introduced, which would be season 2, and specifically the fact that up until season 2 episode 7 before we see him interacting with shannon i THOUGHT he was gay or bi or into men. and i really didn’t believe i was seeing things. we had him coming into viewshot by playing whatta man while buck was checking him out, we have the “they weren’t my type” line which was followed by ryan’s choice of him looking very... expectantly, i would say, at buck. then in the same episode he looks downright pissed at the idea of being introduced to a woman, at which point my brain was screaming NOT STRAIGHT. we have buck assuming maddie was talking about eddie in episode 6, and i can go on but you ALL know what i’m talking about at this point.

in my head, i was like, okay cool cool cool, you’re playing a “”“straight”“” character here, mr ryan guzman, so what’s all the subtext about? what are all those moments about? what are you IMPLYING, because i don’t get it and i’m pretty sure i’m supposed to GET it but i don’t. this show isn’t supposed to make viewers question a character’s sexuality as much as they are trying with eddie. all the other characters have love interests, or storylines, or even moments that are straight up proof that explain their sexuality. he is the hardest to read/interpret, and even with that in mind, take those scenes out of context, show them to a stranger who doesn’t know what the fuck 9-1-1 is about and i’m 99% sure they would tell you he is into men (that wouldn’t be fair to the way the story is told but, still.)

i don’t know what the acting choice is here. i’m not sure how much of it is a choice and how much of it is actually directed. someone had this vision of eddie not looking straight, and i couldn’t tell you if it was tim or ryan m or brad or any of the other directors, but what i can tell you, is that in my mind, i went “oh so they told him something about eddie maybe not being 100% straight, right? otherwise i can’t understand how he got away with all these giganctic moments of borderline having a sexuality crisis” and that’s how i pretty much concluded that he knows. 

so yeah, i’m reaching a lot into the fact that someone told him when he got hired (or idk, at SOME point) something along the lines of “okay so just so you know your character is going to be the love interest of this other character (buck) one day so try to play into that as much as you can so we will not look like dumbasses later on”. also another thing that goes into this theory is that ryan can’t say shit about buddie other than “yeah hahaha they are great together i love this very special relationship next question” and why he doesn’t interact with us that much or why he doesn’t address anything ever about buddie. 

and if you weren’t laughing at my post at this point, my theory is going to become even less believable when i tell you that now mr oliver stark knows as well about this, which is why he had to apologize last year about “”“not knowing where they are headed”“” and “”“not wanting to give us hope”“”.

if you made it this far i want to apologize and to tell you that yes i know i should stick to making gifs it’s just that i have a very prolific imagination sometimes

[evanmarqu3z]

(i’m late, but i just got updated on the ryan guzman situation and i can’t not say anything)

i am so fucking disappointed right now. disappointed, hurt, and tired of that bullshit.

i am a fan of 9-1-1, a big one but if i’m being honest i don’t follow any of the actors/directors on social media. im focusing on the tv show, characters and i see occasional things about the actors just because some stan account here on tumblr posted it. and the situation with ryan guzman right now is exactly why.

wanna know a fun fact? eddie diaz was i think my favorite 9-1-1 character. but now after what ryan said i just... will you be able to just forget about it and separate the actor from his character? i won’t. sure, i’m not gonna throw a tomato on my tv screen but there will always be a distaste, it will always be in the back of my head.

let’s make this clear, i’m not black so i can’t even begin to try and understand how black people feel about this. how hurt and terrified they are every day just because the color of their skin is different than white(??) but i am annoyed, upset, and mad. it’s not okay and we can’t pretend that it is. we can’t be silent, we must speak up and take a side - the right side that asks for your r e s p e c t

you can’t use the n word if you’re not black. period. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. nobody asks you to love them and build monuments for them. they asked you for human rights, for being respected - is it that hard?? will it physically hurt you if you’ll be ‘banned’ from using one word? you got buddy, bro, homeboy, esé, hundred more but you have to use the n word? the one that is forbidden for you? that’s just disrespectful, that’s insulting and hey- don’t be scared to say that – it’s racist is what it is. we should call things by what they are. it doesn’t matter whether you throw fists at black people or offend them verbally, if you’re offensive towards them, if you hurt them and you’re aware of that the moment you hurt them – you’re a racist.

and this stupid, almost 3min apology-video? it felt embarrassing to watch to be honest. it felt fake and it sounded like ryan was defending himself more than he was apologizing. he did not understand his fault and mistake in this at all and he should educate himself first before going out in public and influencing people because let’s be honest - he has an audience and whether he likes it or not he influences people so he should be teaching respect and love.

i’m not even gonna address how he started bringing up other people???why?? it’s about you, not cardi b (who is btw afro latina so yes she’s black she can use the n-word edUCATE YOURSELF FOR FUCK’s SAKE before making an absolute fool out of yourself)

and seeing this shit happening right now hits even harder with all the protests going on. people need to speak up, take a stand, SCREAM that George Floyd’s life mattered and that BLACK lives matter. BLACK KIDS MATTER AND BLACK FUTURE MATTERS.

saying that i feel disappointed is an UNDERstatement - i feel disgusted. we need people on the streets, in social media, and signing petitions, donating money, fighting for black lives because they are human beings. we do NOT need actors doing clowns of themselves in the internet. if you don’t have anything interesting to say, just stay quiet - silence in situations like this is loud enough.

[bhadpodcast]

(1/2) And this is a situation where you don't even realize the way you behave and how that translates. You had three people on that podcast you criticized. Two white men and one non-white man. You chose an attack on the nonwhite one as the title and even in that naming it half white silence takes the blame from white people to half white people. Those two are not the same. Liking white may not be your default, but the constant excuses is. Even this week when someone told you Hoechlin was as much

(2/2) to blame for that apartment fiasco with Guzman you turned it around to make it more Guzman and Hoechlin justvnot knowing better. We can all agree that Ian and Hoechlin have fucked up and continue to do so, but it's Posey and only Posey that the vitriol comes in, which is fine. You don't like him, but don't pretend like you don't go out your way to rationalize white men and their behavior.

You’re doing this thing where you’re using race to justify bad behavior. That’s racist. We said “half white” to include Posey because if we’d just said white we knew y’all would have a fit. And if y’all were going to have a fit either way, at least we would still be right. 

So let’s talk about it. Because Posey did the least, he got the most flack, but I reserved more than enough for Hoechlin and Ryan. You’re more sensitive to Posey because you expect me to have negative feelings for him due to his race, but again, this is your issue and one you need to keep to yourself. I’m not a victim of systemic racism, I know clearly how to judge someone based on their actions. Posey’s latino-ness didn’t read at all in this situation. I didn’t think “look at Posey doing the least, just like a latino!” and the implication that I did is insulting, ill informed and honestly, lazy. 

If Posey hadn’t messed up he wouldn’t get dragged, simple as that. But he did and no amount of melanin is going to erase that. He literally deleted his account to get away from the drama. And then came back and couldn’t even commit to doing the hashtag right leaving his already short posts with typos. Then left again saying nothing. He’s never been a fan of race communities so I didn’t expect him to care about the exploitation of blacks, but I’m sad to see him show just how much he didn’t care. 

I’m equally disappointed in Ryan, and I’m trying to consider if that’s something I want to get into, but regardless I’ve still been very vocal about it. 

Ryan Guzman was a hot mess and Hoechlin wasn’t present for a lot of what the lease stipulated. Did you even read the report? Hoechlin being white had nothing to do with his involvement, but his literal proximity did. Also, Ryan had a history of being a messy renter. Again, trying to create a dichotomy without considering the actual context of their actions. 

And I know you didn’t just say I rationalized Ian Bohen, lol. 

The truth is you’re mad that I didn’t praise Posey and you’re mad that Dylan outshone him and Hoechlin came in at the 11th hour and STILL did better than him. And you can be mad, but don’t act like you’re fighting some racial battle. That’s in your head. Posey is capable of being trash on his own,