#thinking of their dynamic through this lens is interesting..

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Featuring Essek's Parents: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have Essek's parents! Check under the cut for seven fics that feature Deirta, Essek's father or both! Don't forget to comment and kudos if you like them!

No One By That Name Lives Here Anymore by Operafloozy (13138, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A few years after faking his own death, Essek runs into someone he used to know by chance in Uthodurn - A certain someone who had supposedly died his last death in Bazzoxan a few decades before.

Reccer says: This is a really interesting look at what consecution might actually imply in terms of family. It's really bittersweet and invites you to try to empathize with both sides of the central conflict instead of painting them in black and white. One might imagine that the beacons are grey for a reason. (Plus I REALLY love outsider POV!)

destructive interference by atlasarcana (141219, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Essek is haunted by a monster in Aeor that makes him suffer flashbacks of his worst actions; Caleb helps him forgive himself and take accountability.

Reccer says: Essek's family (Deirta, his father, and Verin) play a prominent role in the character study of how Essek is the way he is.

The Joys of Parenthood by Queen_of_Thornes (3945, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Four vignettes of Deirta Thelyss's exhausting life as mother of two precocious future leaders.

Reccer says: I'm not one for kidfic but this is just so dead-on to life with toddlers, insane and baffling little gremlins that they are, that I couldn't help but love it. It reminded me of my younger siblings when they were that age with the "How did you even think to do that" shenanigans they'd get up to so it's pretty nostalgic for me. Readers with children or who helped raise siblings will find a lot to relate to here.

spare just a day for the weeping by essektheylyss (divinationwizard) (3619, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Major Character Death

Criminal punishment among the upper echelon of the Dynasty is determined by the court, but implemented by the umavi of the den of the convicted.

Reccer says: Features a wonderfully complicated Deirta, and incredible character dynamics all around

until it doesn't hurt by breitweisergallery (3800, General) Reccer's Content Notes: None

5+1 times Deirta spoke to Essek via sending.

Reccer says: The fic delves into a more loving Deirta who is distant from Essek but still loves him all the same.

looking for the meaning of life by quinn-of-aebradore (15281, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Centuries later, Essek has settled into another new life. Little does he know so has Deirta.

Reccer says: A year is a long time all on its own and this fic is packed with impressions of lived history and emotion built over the course of centuries. If Deirta was once a distant parent, how might she try to bridge past gaps when a new life gives her extra perspective? If Essek has loved and lost and loved again, how might he understand his mother anew? A fascinating exploration of how time can change people and how people can change over time.

The following fic received two recs!

Starburst Hearts by kaeda (4805, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A wonderfully tender fic in which Deirta catches up with Essek a few years after c2 and finds that her son is a man remade.

Reccer 1 says: Outsider POV my beloved! It turns a camera's eye onto the man Essek becomes through the Mighty Nein and gaining Caleb as a lover, and onto the love that the Nein have for him, shown through a soft lens. Reccer 2 says: A wonderful fic from Deirta's perspective of Essek's interactions with the M9 and all of the complicated family feelings that come along with it.

This is one of our weekly communally-generated shadowgast rec lists. Every week we announce a new theme and allow anyone to submit a fic recommendation. 

And hey, anyone includes you!

Next week, we'll be featuring xenobiology! This includes all sorts of unusual and non-human biology

Any fics coming to mind? Well, then use this form to submit!

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Killer’s persona is exaggerated and over the top, with performative or extreme actions and reactions, but in reality he feels little to nothing.

A lot of this is also rooted in what I know of Killer and NM. Killer’s relationship with Nightmare mirrors the dynamic between someone with HPD and a manipulative ATP. With Nightmare, Killer constantly exaggerates his abilities and behavior to gain attention, seeking recognition and validation (through conditioning as well) . He is also easily manipulated by Nightmare, whose awareness of Killer’s emotional insecurities plays into his suggestibility.

In terms of HPD, Killer most closely aligns with the Theatrical subtype.

There’s also this weight of having HPD in which your subconscious actions to gain the attention of others and to feel something deeper than you do (which contributes to why you act performatively) don’t align with your wants or needs

Also, this reading is deeply rooted in my personal experience as a pwHPD and having a sibling with HPD so some of it I can't get into

I see major parts of myself in multiple of his presentations

I'm struggling so much to put this into words but I hope some of the point is getting there

There's also so much to talk about it's difficult lol

Ooh that’s an interesting take.

If we go with the “canon” stuff rahafwabas has drawn of killer and nightmare, I’ve always believed that killer seeks to avoid nightmares attention unless it benefits him to have it (or he can control when he has it), because he does things like sweat, grimace, and attempt to lean away somewhat when Nightmare touches him, flirts with him, or talks to him—and sweats when talking about or thinking about Nightmare, at least in Stage 2.

(Although very important to remember to that, when in Stage 2, Killer has said that he does “kinda miss that guy,” even when he’s seems somewhat aware that Nightmare uses him.)

But that’s an interesting take too. I personally don’t think Killer wants Nightmare’s attention or recognition, or even gets jealous whenever someone else has it, it’s more like he needs it to ensure that he won’t be deemed useless and discarded and replaced soon—needing the validation that he’s still useful enough to be allowed to exist.

And of course, whenever he wants to feel real—through pain, and feeling that sense of power and control if he can convince himself he has a say in when or how he is suffering.

I get what you mean about these things sometimes being hard to put into words. If you ever want to share more thoughts, my inbox is always open and im always willing to listen. 🙏

[scruncheduppaper]

mv2 is crazy when you think abt the implications of v1 and mirage basically almost being the same people like yeah idk. like im not saying theyre the same people but do you think that when v2 looks at mirage they catch a glimpse of their previous rival and the thrill of the battle and their eventual defeat and death. do you think that v2’s shoulder socket aches a bit more every time they look into mirage’s lens. do you think that v2 would be imagining v1 in mirage’s place for a split second when theyre in bed and mirage doesnt have her clothes on. guys uh

[fire-in-my-woods]

Will never not think about the potential LIS 1 would've had if Rachel and Chloe's roles were reversed

[two-corpses-in-the-burial-mounds]

It's interesting to me how much of the fandom seems to be convinced that Wei Wuxian has low self-worth, considering that I (having only watched the live-action, admittedly) see very little evidence of this in canon.

I assume this is because of his tendency towards self-sacrifice, which shows up multiple times in canon like with the golden core transfer, but I personally think this is a false equivalence. Yes, Wei Wuxian often makes decisions actively detrimental to his own health and wellbeing; he gives his golden core to Jiang Cheng, he takes a curse from Jin Ling, he takes the Wen brand for Liu Qingyang and he takes a whipping from Madam Yu and considers the loss of a hand for Lotus Pier.

However, in none of these circumstances does this choice seem to be made from a lack of care for himself. Instead, it is usually made because he thinks he can handle the situation better than the person in question. Wei Wuxian thinks that between him and Jiang Cheng, he can better handle not having a golden core. Between him and Jin Ling, he thinks he can overcome the course where Jin Ling cannot. The Wen brand is less premeditated, but again the pattern is clear in that Wei Wuxian makes the choice to take the brand because he thinks having it on his chest is better than Liu Qingyang having it on her face. At the fall of Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian decides that his pain and his hand is an acceptable loss for the lives of everyone in Lotus Pier.

These acts hurt him, but that is a side effect of a larger goal. The choice to handle these events himself does not indicate a lack of value in himself, but rather a prioritization of other goals. However, there seems to be a common conflation of Wei Wuxian's prioritization of others with his not caring or valuing himself. However, if Wei Wuxian doesn't value himself, then why does he make such an effort to survive for as long as he does? If he does not value his own thoughts and opinions, then why does he argue with Lan Qiren in the Cloud Recesses study arc? The problem is not that Wei Wuxian has low self-worth, it is that Wei Wuxian's decision-making process weighs harm to himself as acceptable in the pursuit of his moral imperatives. He wants to live without regrets and stand with justice, and to stand with justice, sometimes he has to walk a single-plank bridge. Necessarily, that will sometimes hurt him.

I suspect this association of Wei Wuxian's sacrificial acts as indicative of low self-worth stems from modern Western storytelling practices, which are deeply interested in the psychology of our characters. Recent media has been interested in the consequences of heroism on the hero themself and fandom especially is heavily interested in the psychological ramifications of these actions on characters. There's an idea that's been popular lately that extreme heroism is inherently self-destructive, and the solution to this is to raise a character's self-worth to convince them that they, too, are worth saving.

Now, whether this applies to Wei Wuxian is up to interpretation. However, he views his actions as correct in many of the sacrificial cases indicated above and these choices are framed by the narrative as being in some way noble. I don't think it's radical to suggest that the above actions cause harm to Wei Wuxian's self; that is not in question. I do, however, doubt that increasing Wei Wuxian's self-worth would change any of these decisions. He isn't throwing himself into harm's way because he believes his life is worth less than those he is taking harm for, he does it because he understands the harm he is incurring and chooses to take it upon himself because he thinks it minimizes the harm that would be done.

Rather than leaving the Jiang sect leader without a golden core, or a child with a very dangerous curse, or a young female cultivator permanently disfigured, or allowing Lotus Pier to be attacked and slaughtered, Wei Wuxians chooses to accept consequences in their place. It is more difficult to replace a sect leader than a head disciple. It is more difficult for Jin Ling to overcome the curse, so Wei Wuxian does it in his place. It is less consequential for a young male cultivator to take that brand to the chest than for a Liu Qingyang to be disfigured unjustly, so he does. It is more important than him, as a singular disciple, that Lotus Pier is safe. This is how Wei Wuxian approaches these problems.

Raising Wei Wuxian's self-worth would not change the reasoning behind these choices. He would not revisit these situations and decide to take a different course of action due the inherent value of himself as a person. His value as a person has always been part of the equation, but it is not his priority.

Self-sacrifice does not inherently equal unwellness. Recent trends in Western storytelling suggest that self-sacrifice is both admirable, but an indicator that a person is struggling. However, there are other models of heroism. There are other sets of values. In some moral systems, the willingness to commit self-sacrifice, even when a person does want to live and does value themself, is an admirable virtue. This appears to be the framework that Wei Wuxian is working within.

Does self-sacrifice inherently mean that a person does not value themself? I don't think so. But it's interesting that a lot of people seem to think it does.

-- Right Corpse

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm gonna briefly chime in Right Corpse's post here with my thought as an Asian person:

I totally agree with what RC said here. I don't think self-sacrificing should be conflated with low self-worth. A person can view themselves as noble, upstanding and honorable (which, inherently is a very confident mindset) and be self-sacrificing as a result of that mindset, because helping others in spite of yourself in a dire situation is essentially a very noble trait.

And I'm glad RC brought up Western storytelling practices, because I thought the difference between Western and Eastern's mentality is exactly where this discourse came from. Western mentality is individualism-based, and Eastern mentality is more collectivism-based. Western mentality values individual's well-being, rights and freedom, while Eastern mentality values the well-being of group/societal-unit as a whole. I'm not saying one is better than other, I'm simply pointing out that it makes sense for Wei Wuxian to act the way he did given the setting of the story, regardless of his own view of himself. No matter how much self-worth a person has, growing up in this setting means the expectation is that you'd always put the clan's well-being, your family's well-being above your own. Filial piety is a very heavy expectation in this society, clan loyalty is a very heavy expectation in this world.

A noble, morally-upstanding cultivator who pride himself as such should be doing what Wei Wuxian was doing. And a big part of the MDZS story is definitely a criticism toward all of the clans and cultivators, who call themselves all those traits and did the opposite. Wei Wuxian saved Jiang Cheng not only because he viewed Jiang Cheng as his brother, but also because saving the leader of your clan when you have the mean to was the right thing to do, both for your leader but most importantly, for the clan as a whole, for the region of Yunmeng. Hundreds of people rely on the Jiang family and Lotus Pier, and Jiang Cheng is the figurehead of it. You can argue that Wei Wuxian can take over if JC is indisposed, but that's not how it works, that's not how politics works. So Wei Wuxian made the best choice for the collective given the circumstances, even if that came as a cost to him, and to circle back to what RC said earlier, Wei Wuxian calculated the risk and believed that he can handle that cost, and he did.

Similarly, Wei Wuxian saved Jin Ling because he believed as an adult, he could handle the risk better than a child like Jin Ling, and as a man, he could live with a scar rather than a young woman like Mianmian. In fact, I think he took pride in himself in all of these instances. He didn't boast about them to other people, but I think he's proud of himself that he can live according to his principles and never fail them.

-- Left Corpse

[ahalliance]

qantoine’s coping mechanism to feeling left behind being both self-isolating and becoming possesive of those he cares for is so juicy as a concept . like yeah you go you funky creachure, manifest those complicated and sometimes contradictory emotions

[transfemstarscream]

thank you for your father + daughter megatron and starscream analysis because most content is them being romantic (i dont hate m*gst*r but idc for it)... because whenever i see them interact (esp armada) its so so obvious thats an emotionally constipated or apathetic dad with a daughter who desperately wants to prove herself to him or his standards. can they please write this relationship for them again 💔

i'm happy my, quite frankly, messy analysis of them holds up for you! i don't talk about them too much anymore, but viewing them through the lens of a distant, destructive but forever longing father-daughter relationship (especially in the context of armada/energon, and other continuities with a similar age/experience gap) paints the most heart-wrenching picture of the two characters to me.

megatron becoming the father to his men he is always claimed to be yet failing to be that father to the one person who needs it most; starscream disavowing the pain and standards projected upon her yet ultimately becoming just like the man who forced them onto her. they destroy each other for neither of them can be want they want the other to be, nor what they need. but they will still impose themselves onto each other—the only ideal imposed onto starscream by megatron that she is able to understand.

or, basically:

[araneitela]

Quick interruption: This may (somehow, still?) be a hot take, but I swear to all that is unholy and insane, I've been sitting on this salt about the TB and Kafka since like May of last year. This isn't going to be a long meta at all, but I do want to make something abundantly clear on this blog.

I know that people say the 'mommy' thing jokingly because they have the hots for her (listen, I understand the motivation, I just firmly hate the term), but I know some people actively still believe that Kafka is somehow related to the TB even if her story quest has since entirely debunked that claim and proved the opposite. Let me just, share this for a second:

(source) Can we put this to rest now, pretty please? I'm too old and too tired for this, guys.

[mister13eyond]

i love writing bc my brain is like "what, finish your multiple wips based around a ship you love and care for that you have clearly thought out continuations for? no. you're going to write about your oc being a surrogate parent to giorno giovanna"

[streetsandsodiumlights]

(tags from @no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist)

By the way "some aroace people still date and have sex" and "it's weird how internet spaces makes every single aroace character romance and sex favourable" can and should co-exist. Sincerely, an aroace person

[acapellas]

i've been suffering so much with these hotd script posts as an avowed alicole unenjoyer.....lesbian alicent i won't forget you

[linkcharacter]

Oh I have so many thoughts on aroace Curly, I think it brings so much on the table when analyzing the game's story.

Amanormativity ties in with the reoccurring mentions of the nuclear family, from Wrong Organ making 1950s mock advert posters, to Swansea talking about how getting a wife and kids didn't bring him any fulfillment in life.

In the cake cutting nightmare sequence, where Jimmy talks with Dream Curly about the mediocre cake, Dream Curly begins to talk about how sometimes you can only get the subpar stuff in live. Sometimes he'll get promoted, buy a house, fall in love. But other times he'll just have some awful fucking cake with his friend.

I think there is that subtle implication that Jimmy does buy into Amanormativity, with him projecting his beliefs on Dream Curly that a platonic relationship is lesser then a romantic one. But we never see Curly suggesting that he wants such a thing in the pre-crash.

With Jimmy thinking that Curly has everything in life, except for the desire (although I think Jimmy would view it as Curly not having the skills for it) to get a romantic partner, he would heavily lean into getting the one thing that Curly couldn't get in life to one up him.

THATS EXACTLY WHAT IM THINKING!!! AMATONORMATIVITY BE DAMNED!!!!

Looking at Mouthwashing through an aroace lens is interesting

"Jimmy thinking that Curly has everything in life, except for the desire", well said, well said! And references to the nuclear family fit in very cleanly thematically for Mouthwashing.

Jimmy leaning into amatonormativity is a smart observation. Jim internalizes all the social norms and standards on what you have to do to have a normal and desirable life, who sees everything Curly has and what Jimmy wishes he had, and is offended that Curly isn't satisfied, that he has the "audacity" to be unhappy. Curly meanwhile only wishes for his life to be something he doesn't have to run from, because by all means, he has already reached a point where he should feel accomplished, but isn't. Curly doesn't want to be a freighter captain his whole life, he doesn't want to settle with his sustainable position, he just wants to be happy. Like Swansea who has reached the "ideal" outcome of his life, having a wife, kids and a good career, it will never feel as good as embracing all what society deems undesirable yet right for you.

Jimmy does imply to seeing himself as lesser as a friend, "fall in love" being a goal and a "cake with a friend" being something he "has to settle for", it's all in the subtleties with underlying themes of "what you're "supposed to want" by society's expectations" against "what feels right for you". Jimmy is frustrated that Curly is going to "leave the dirt behind him", when in actuality, letting the crew and him go is the last thing Curly wants. Curly wants to be with his friends, he deeply cares about his crew, and about his close friend.

Mouthwashing as a whole reads to me as platonic through and through. Swansea and Daisuke having such a meaningful familial bond, Curly and Anya being sweet, playful and caring without romance, Anya and Daisuke having something of a siblings dynamic are dear to me. Also it's really rare to get to see representations of "toxic friendship" in media. Its always toxic romance this, toxic yaoi that, toxic family there, however in reality, friendships aren't excluded from being as rotten and abusive as the others, yet they're often overlooked. Jim and Curly are especially unique in this way. It's very impressive how they managed to showcase Jimmy's mistreatment of Curly in such a platonic way (at least that how I read it). Jim too, like Curly, in general avoids hints at romance and attraction explicitly related to him during his gameplay, not with Curly, nor with Anya (dear god thanks for that at least). It's all spite, annoyance and parasitizing off of these two. (That man's dry and lowkey hates everyone and everything) No attraction attached, no desires except hoping it hurts.

Curly to me is very much aroace, or at least on the spectrum. Like, the trivia fact that one of Curly's fondest memories is that of his friends putting in effort to make a shitty awful cake, tells us all we need to know on how dear his friends are to him. Platonic relationships mean so much to Curly, even when it's Jimmy fucking Mouthwashing, the worst friend ever imaginable.

[alch-emi]

I got inspired to design my own version of Link and Zelda and may have gotten a little bit attached woops.

EXTRA DETAILS BELOW IF UR INTERESTED:

For the timeline, these two are placed after Twilight Princess. TP!Zelda is this Zelda’s great grandmother.

Link works for her parent’s potion shop, she delivers their potions to people and general stores all across Hyrule. I imagine in a game setting you would deliver potions as part of side quests and use the shop’s alchemy station as a cooking mechanic.

The goggles that Link wears are magic goggles gifted to her by Impa. I can see it functioning as a “Lens of Truth” type item that allows her to see through illusions (which becomes very relevant).

Unlike her other counterparts, this Zelda is HATED by her people. They don’t like the way she disregards people’s feelings in favor of finding the most logical way to solve civil conflicts. Awful rumors are often spread about her. She doesn’t notice this.

Zelda was given combat training by Impa mostly bc of Hyrule’s history of being taken over by evil. She wanted to be able to defend herself and her people should something like that happen during her time. She also just respects Impa a lot as a mentor figure.

Link had a major crush on Zelda when they were kids. Now that they’re no longer close she thinks she got over it, but girl is in denial big time. If the subject is brought up, she gets rly pathetic and tsundere abt it.

Zelda sees Link as weak and a bit of a thorn in her side. She hates how stubborn and reckless she is. Part of her wishes Link would give up and tells her to “stop pretending you’re a hero” bc internally, she thinks Link will get herself killed and doesn’t want that.

They basically have that dynamic where they are rly brutal towards each other and have a lot of unprocessed feelings, but also ultimately know everything abt each other and will sacrifice themselves for the other no questions asked.

To elaborate on the plot stuff, basically Zelda gets trapped in a mirror which was actually a gateway to a “mirror world.” Its basically Hyrule but everything looks reversed and it kinda looks like a dark fucked up version of the SS Silent Realms.

When Zelda and Link both look into a reflective surface at the same time, they can see and talk to each other. This happens the first time on complete accident btw.

Perchance these two learn that they have to work together to get Zelda back to Hyrule and in the process confront all their weird hangups abt each other and their awkward situationship. Who knows.

[ghostpoetics]

Come, Mephistopheles. [Exeunt.]

Okay, so I watched the 2011 The Globe version of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus with Paul Hilton as Faustus and Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles, and I have a particular scene I want to comment on. Granted, it's been ages since I read the play for Brit Lit + my Faust seminar.

Anyway, there's this interaction:

Context: When Faustus begins to doubt selling his soul to Lucifer (which he's already done), Mephisto summons Lucifer and different demons and vices to entice him. After they leave, Faustus simply commands Mephistopheles to come with him. The Globe version does something interesting w this moment.

A side note: Faustus calls out Mephistopheles' name in pivotal moments; his name is the last thing Faustus cries out in the play before he's dragged off to Hell. Not God, not Lucifer, but Mephistopheles. (He also says "Come, Mephistopheles" quite a few times to order Mephistopheles to follow him.)

In this version, Mephistopheles, who usually stands in the corner and is partially obscured by a column, sits at the front of the stage with a solemn, thousand-yard stare.

In Marlowe versus Goethe, Marlowe's Mephisto tends to be more somber, sad, and focused on Hell being the absence of God.

Another interesting thing about this scene: Faustus is dressed identically as Mephisto, except that Mephisto removes the Franciscan friar cap.

Excited by the parade of demons and vices he's just witnessed, Faustus approaches Mephistopheles with a smile but seems to detect Mephisto's mood and grows serious.

Faustus then steps close and sets his hand on Mephistopheles' head, and well, Mephistopheles' expression changes as his head leans back into the touch.

Faustus' hand trails down to Mephistopheles' shoulder, which he pats, and that's when he says the line, "Come, Mephistopheles" to beckon Mephistopheles to leave the room (and thus the stage) with him.

Faustus goes to leave, but stops and looks behind and waits for Mephistopheles, holding out a hand. Mephistopheles follows, and with their hands together, they leave together laughing. Keep in mind again: Unlike in Goethe's Faust, Mephisto in Marlowe very rarely smiles or laughs!

This small addition is probably my favorite part of this production. I think it does a good job at emphasizing Mephisto's melancholy after having done something to keep Faustus from salvation. Despite being summoned and tempting him, Marlowe's Mephisto warns Faustus many times about how miserable Hell is, but the tragedy is that Faustus is too arrogant to understand and listen until it's too late. But when Faustus does doubt, Mephisto, as a servant of Lucifer, is obligated to make him stay on the course to Hell.

Overall, I like this quiet moment because it humanizes both characters. Faustus, usually arrogant, takes a moment to reach out and show tenderness toward Mephistopheles--how long has it been seen Mephisto has ever received a touch or consideration like that? This one minor part is a far cry from the usual dynamic where Mephisto is Faustus' sworn servant and therefore is the one who always caters to Faustus' whims, whether somberly (Faustus) or sarcastically (Goethe). Faustus reaches out to him and shows compassion, and it even makes Mephistopheles smile. :')

P.S. For more Faustopheles, here is my university paper I did analyzing Faustian myth adaptations through a queer lens way back in 2016. Enjoy!

[1thesewordsaremyown1]

Looking at the way this season, in particular the way that Buck's story line has panned out so far, I'm going to put on my Optimistic Akubra (that's like a bush/stockman's kind of hat for non-Aussies wondering what the hell that is) here and say that Buck and Tommy will be back together by the end of the season.

Read under the cut for my long arse dissertation as to why I think this is the case.

Now I know there have been many of us who have said that Buck and Tommy's story has been following a rom com trope and we're ready for the final third act. I fully agree with this, but I'm not going to look at their story through that lens, but more of that of general storytelling within television, and specifically what we have seen in 911 so far.

While 911 mostly have insular stories, they do have story arcs that carry out throughout a whole season (or even multiple seasons) for their characters. Hen had her medical school arc that lasted for several seasons, this season Eddie's arc has all been about being able to get Christopher back, and this season (last two really, although it's been more prominant this year), Buck's arc has been about his relationship with Tommy. (Yes, his abandonment issues as well, but that's been an arc that has been going on since pretty much day 1, so at this point it's more a point of who Buck is rather than an arc.)

Looking at it through the lens of a GA (or as best as I can), in the last two seasons we've seen Buck meet a guy who blew him away so much it made him realise he was bisexual, start a relationship with this person, be happy with this person, get broken up with only to not be able to stop thinking about this person, meet up (and hook up) with said ex and reveal each other (and the audience) that they both still want to be together only for them to be absolute idiots and part ways again, still hurting (and still baking...). If the season doesn't end with the resolution of them being together and instead Buck is left single and alone once more (it is faaaar too late in the game to suddenly throw in buddie this season if that was what they were going for), it leaves an anticlimactic taste in the audience's mouth. Even if they did have a nice conversation and decide they shouldn't get back together after all, it would leave the audience questioning "what?!? All that pain, and pining, only for them to NOT resolve their differences and get back together, especially when they have shown that they WANT to? What a waste!"

Another thing to look at is all of Buck's partners on the show so far. Tommy has been the longest lasting of any of his love interests to date. You could argue that Taylor has lasted longer as she first appeared in S2 and her last appearance was in one ep of S6, but besides hooking up, they didn't actually get together until the end of S4 and were broken up by the end of S5, whereas while Buck and Tommy were also together for roughly a season, they have a "will they won't they" dynamic still playing out that we know will most likely continue until at least episode 14/15 on an 18 episode season. Now if the plan had always been for Tommy to simply be a "starter relationship", why bother going to all this effort to keep Tommy around? They could have had them break up at the end of last season, although considering how it was reduced to only 10 eps, you could argue they ran out of time to do so. Ok then, why not break them up off screen in the hiatus like they did with Natalia? Instead, even though (I believe) he wasn't initially supposed to be there, they brought Tommy back in the first ep to remind the audience that Buck has a boyfriend (a boyfriend that he was very much into by the way, with all their heavy flirting). Well ok, you could then argue that they wanted to SHOW the breakup. So why bother writing ep 8x05? I mean, as much as we love Tommy, the truth is he hadn't had a lot of screen time - if 8x05 had not existed, the casual viewer wouldn't have been as invested with the breakup. "Oh well, this guy that we see pop up every now and then has broken up with one of our mains. meh, okay, we didn't really see much of them anyway." But Tim decided to create 8x05 AFTER they had already filmed 8x06 because he wanted the breakup to hurt.

Now, I know we were all a bit pissed when we heard this. Thought it was Tim just being cruel towards bucktommy shippers. But thinking objectively, why would he want to be? Bucktommy shippers have been nothing but supportive of the relationship from day 1. We have all loved Tommy's character, the relationship and the storyline. We didn't send death threats or harassed the showrunners or the actors on social media - we were heaping them with praise! Unless he's an absolute sociopath, why would Tim want to hurt us when we appreciated what he was doing? Unless he wasn't intending to hurt us specifically - he wanted to hurt the GA. He wanted that extra episode to flesh out Tommy's character a bit more, show how Buck and Tommy's relationship really worked so that when they broke up, the GA would be upset and want the pair back together. Because with no 8x05, the GA would be wondering why the hell Buck is still pining for this guy weeks and months later.

So why would Tim bother making sure the GA were receptive towards Tommy unless... he had planned on bringing him back? If Tommy wasn't meant to be important to Buck, why bother having him pop up in 8x11? If they wanted to show that Buck was lonely after Eddie left, they could have had him hook up with anyone. But instead, they had him hook up with Tommy. Because he's not just lonely in general - specifically it is Tommy that he misses, it's Tommy he wants to be with. Because despite what they had Maddie say, Buck has been alone before. In fact, he has been alone throughout most of the series! Of the six seasons prior to the shift to abc, he's probably spent at least half of that time single. And no breakup has ever left him as devastated as what Tommy has left him. And furthermore, if they do have Tommy called in to pilot one of the helicopters we've seen in the spoilers for eps 14/15, again, they could have had any pilot do that - Tommy is not the only pilot at Harbor. If they had no intention of reuniting Buck and Tommy, they could have used any random actor and they just do an offhand comment about Tommy not being on shift at the time, or Buck say how they haven't spoken since the breakup etc to effectively write Tommy out of the show. Having Tommy keep popping back into Buck's life is a very deliberate choice that the writers are making.

Now going onto the target audience of 911. 911 is a procedural - it runs on network television where it drops one episode a week for an approximate 18 episode season (this has varied over the years due to multiple factors, so we'll keep it at the 18 average). The style of tv is aimed at the older audience - older millennials through to boomers - who have grown up with this and are used to this style of tv. The younger generations, the streaming era, from what I've seen in the forums of a variety of shows tend to prefer shows with shorter seasons and released in the one shot so they can binge. And on top of that, look at the cast of 911 - the two youngest are Oliver and Ryan at 33 and 37 respectfully. The rest of the cast's ages range from 49 through to 66. It seems only logical that the vast majority of their audience are within this age bracket (and if you look at their viewing figures, you'll see that this is pretty accurate). Their target audience are MOSTLY people who don't go into fandom spaces like tumblr. So we have to remember, that no matter how much the buddie fans bang and crash and scream on all sorts of social media platforms, they are not the majority of the audience. We are not the majority of the audience. 911 pulls in about 3.5 million to 4 million viewers a week. US viewers that is. There are also who knows how many millions of viewers outside of the US (of which I am one). Yet the 911 instagram page only has 965k followers. Their facebook page has just under double that. And of those followers, they don't even get 1% of that number engaging in their posts - the most engagement they get are usually bucktommy and buddie related posts where the buddie fans have a tendency to spam the comments, but even then, those posts get only a maximum of 3-4 thousand comments. Let's face it - the fandom world is MINISCULE compared to the general audience. Tim and co are not going to write to cater for the buddies (although I do believe the last ep was them trying to finally shut buddie down without one of the characters staring down the camera and blatantly saying it, because small as they are, they have caused a lot of harm in the past with their harassment). Hell, they're not going to cater to us either. They're going to cater to the general audience. And what the GA are seeing on screen, what they are being guided by the show to do is cheer on Buck and Tommy. All the show has ever shown is Buck and Eddie as a close friendship, and when you look at the comments from the general audience on facebook (you can tell they are GA as they don't seem to have "fandom speak") many of them (the ones who aren't homophobic and are still hating on bi-Buck that is) are liking Buck and Tommy together. Were upset when they broke up.

We also have to remember that 911 was cancelled back in season 6, before it was picked up by abc for season 7 and beyond. When they made the switch, they probably picked up a lot of new viewers (I've certainly seen plenty of posts on tumblr of people admitting they only started watching from S7). I know we all complain about how 911 has a tendency to recycle stories, but the thing is, not everyone who started watching once it hit abc have either the means or the motivation to go back and watch a whole six seasons to catch up. This could explain why we are getting stories that we thought were wrapped up years ago brought up all over again - Bobby's trauma over losing his family, Eddie's inability to move on from Shannon, Hen and Karen trying to grow their family again etc. Season 7 and 8 have basically been almost a soft reboot of the show or a really long winded "here's what you missed last week on Glee."

So for those viewers who have only ever watched from season 7 onwards, what have they seen of Buck's storyline? Sure, there has been the mention of past ex's (mostly Abbie) but from what the GA have seen, Tommy has been Buck's only love interest. They are onto the second season at abc now, and broken up or not, Tommy is still here. That has to mean something to that audience. That Tommy means something, especially as Lou is not a main. And for those of us who have been here from the beginning? Well, like I said, the show likes to recycle storylines, and we are seeing it here - this story has played out before. But not with Buck - with Chim and Maddie. A couple who seemed so good together, only to break up. One is a runner, the other a clinger. Unable to move on from each other, they end up hooking up, before finally deciding to get back together. Now obviously, they can't reuse that storyline with Maddie and Chim themselves by breaking them up again and redoing it, that would be waaaay too on the nose, but they can certainly do it with someone new, and we are seeing it with Buck and Tommy.

Now, I was GA up until 7x04, until I saw the chemistry that Buck and Tommy had and went looking for fanfiction (which ultimately led me here), so while I admit I have a bias towards Buck and Tommy now, i'm still new enough to this fandom that I can remember what I saw and felt as a member of the GA. I had no idea buddie was such a big thing until I first popped onto Tumblr (although to be fair, I wasn't surprised when I found out - I have been in several different fandoms over the years, and m/m non canon ships always seem to be the favourite. I was surprised at how aggressive they were though, which I really shouldn't have been, as I've unfortunately seen that in other fandoms too). The people in my life who still watch the show and are in NO WAY part of the fandom (I don't think they even know what a fandom IS), are tv watchers only, and have never had the slightest inkling that there might be anything more to Buck and Eddie than friendship. I have seen that sentiment echoed by others here who have told of the reactions of GA members in their lives. Like I said, most of the audience are seeing what the show is telling us. And so far? The show is telling us that Buck is NOT in love with his "straight best friend". That Buck and Tommy still care about each other. They still want to be together. Their story isn't over.

And here is why I think they will reunite by the end of the season (I know, I know, it took me a whole arse ramble to get me to this point). The thing is, they can't wait until next season to resolve Buck and Tommy's story line. People will have lost interest in the what, four/five month long hiatus between seasons? Not including Natalia, because they thought they were being cancelled and wanted Buck to have a happily ever after, but there's a reason that all of Buck's prior relationships have fizzled towards the end of a season - so they can start fresh when the new one begins without the baggage weighing him down (there was obviously baggage following Abbie, but she was a main, so there has to be exceptions made to explain her absence and to be fair, Buck only held on because he thought she was coming back - once he realised she wasn't, there wasn't much pining going on). Hell, almost ALL of the character's major relationship dramas have been resolved by the end of a season (only for fresh ones to pop up at the next) - it's just the way 911 likes to work. But they've broken away from the regular script here. They had Buck and Tommy break up towards the beginning of the season. They deliberately have shown Buck pining and unable to move on. He keeps mentioning Tommy. They brought Tommy back and teased them almost getting back together until they blew it with their communication issues. We know Tommy will be back for the big two parter, and that they will be utilising his skills. Tim and co are going out of their way to try and make Tommy sympathetic (they could very well have made him the absolute villain when he broke up with Buck, but they haven't), to show him as useful and more than just a "bed buddy" for Buck. Why bother with all this effort, with all this character building for a recurring character, if it's going nowhere? Because guaranteed, bringing back Tommy for this one time post breakup has sowed the seeds of a potential reconciliation in the minds of the GA. But bring him back a second time, for a big story line? They will absolutely be expecting by the end of this season, if not before, for them to reunite.

Now am I 100% sure this will happen? Of course not. Will I be upset if they don't get back together? Absolutely. Because no matter how much it makes sense (and now that SWAT has been cancelled, we know Lou will have more time to pop in as a recurring next season so availability shouldn't be an issue, not to mention Lou has said he loves playing Tommy) the writers could decide to ball this all up and throw it in the bin. They have dropped big plot lines before. Hen's med school story for example. I really thought they were going to use that as a way of expanding the 911 world - the 118 do the rescues and then bring them to Hen to save them. And can you imagine the drama of Hen having to work on one of her old teammates? Of her coming in to work on a lightning strike victim only to see it's Buck on the table?!? But nope, all that time, effort and MONEY that Hen would have spent on that education only for her to go "meh." What a waste. Anyway, I digress. There's every chance that Buck and Tommy will never get back together. But what I am saying though, is if the writers do decide to follow the road they have been laying out, it only makes sense for Buck and Tommy to reunite before the season ends.

And I am 100% here for it if they do.

[araneitela]

WHICH SYMBOLIC FRUIT ARE YOU?

Cherry. (Man, this is going to need some tag rambling; because while it's what I suspected and it's very fitting in many ways, I need to address one element).

In popular culture, cherries have come to represent sensuality, sex, and seduction. In the cult classic, Twin Peaks, Audrey Horne expresses her sexual expertise by tying a cherry stem with her tongue. "Cherry" is also used to refer to the concept of virginity: why? I don't know to be honest, but here we are. Much like the cherry, you're a sensual person who enjoys all the creature comforts the world offers. You enjoy delicious food, dynamic relationships, passionate lovemaking and stimulating conversation; however, you may also come across a touch vapid or shallow, due to your quickly fading attention when something has served its usefulness to you. To quote some man on tinder: "you're here for a good time, not a long time". You can come across, at times, slightly tart, carrying a bit of a bite to you that not everyone can handle. That’s okay: you’re an acquired taste!

Tagged: @basbousah (Thank you 🩷) Tagging: I don't tend to tag for quizzes easily but this one was actually fun, so let's harass. @immobiliter (how about Furina?) @kushtibokt @genus83 @genius81 @spiderwarden @delusionaid (Wriothesley, or Zhongli— porque no los dos? 🤭) @apocryphis (Topaz) @aventvrina @resolutepath (Elio) @daybreakrising (Blade) @astrxlfinale @kahakera @cygnor @chasersglow @scrtilegii (Jing Yuan)... and anyone else who'd like to do it, say I tagged you because I'd love to see the results!