#this ended up being more about Marisol than about Tommy so I apologize for that

[sevensoulmates]

But in another aspect for the writers to use Tommy that way as a plot device so buck can realize his feelings cause he’s not fully in it seems a bit cruel in a sense you know??

Yes, I totally get you! Like, from a storytelling perspective, it makes sense. Side characters are always a plot device to further the narrative of a main character. But looking at it from a human perspective, it's like, Tommy's a person too, and he doesn't deserve to be treated like nothing but a plot device! The same can be said for all of Buck and Eddie's love interests.

I'm about to say something controversial here, but I really felt for Marisol when she was talking about how men treat her differently when they find out about her almost being a nun. How it either turns them off immediately or it becomes a fetish. I can understand that as someone who can be considered a "late bloomer" romantically and sexually in life. It's one of my deepest fears as I get older that my lack of experience in that aspect will either be something that romantic partners my own age or older will find weird and not want to touch with an 8-foot-pole, or they'll find it arousing specifically because of my lack of experience. So I empathized with Marisol a lot here and I was happy Eddie made the decision to just say he needed some time to adjust instead of just ditching her immediately. I don't think this means they're lasting or endgame by any means, but I'm happy he's at least not making it a deal-breaker.

AND I'm happy that they ARE actually attempting to make Marisol a more fleshed-out character. Because at the end of the day, I don't think it matters how much of a fleshed-out character they make Marisol, Eddie's relationship will never feel completely right to either of them because Eddie's heart will never fully be in it, both because of his sexuality and because of his feelings for Buck.

I want the same for Tommy too. He obviously wants something real for himself, and I feel bad for him that it's obviously not going to be Buck. I can recognize that he's here for a purpose and also hope he finds something great for himself in the future simply on a human-to-human level.

[louisjude]

the whole “you have no media literacy” as an argument is so funny to me because the same people who yap about it are completely missing the point of buck and tommy’s failed first date. instead of understanding and asking why it ended the way it did, you’re putting blame onto tommy as if he left you standing on sidewalk irl and then never spoke to you again. narratively there had to be conflict, because when people say “he’s throwing himself back into the hamster wheel” well, maybe that’s true at first.

he once again is finding himself in some sort of romantic endeavor without much thought, which on one hand kudos to buck for not having a gay meltdown after realizing he’s into guys too, it’s really nice to see that he’s mostly really cool about this new fact about himself—until reality hits.

suddenly buck is not cool about the fact that he’s into guys and on a date with a guy because no one else knows yet. he’s so caught off guard because he wasn’t ready to share it, it’s new and nerve wracking despite being an 🏳️‍🌈 ally 🏳️‍🌈.

there had to be conflict to get buck to the place he needed to be to continue his queer arc. while its hard watching tommy cut their date short, it needed to happen for the story to continue. it gave buck time to think, gave him time to really process his feelings and work out the issues he was having with his queerness aka being open about it. tommy even said he didn’t want to pressure buck and it’s the reason he cut the date short, because buck didn’t seem ready and tommy very obviously didn’t want to drag it out and end up with them both hurt more so than ending it then and there.

even after bombing his date with tommy he still seeks his sister for advice and ends up coming out to her (accidentally but it’s the first step) and then proceeds to gush about tommy even though at that point, their little romance was over.

we witness buck try to come out to eddie once before finally pulling up his big boy pants and telling eddie “it was a date, when you and marisol ran into me and tommy. we were on a date.” and then proceeded to confide in eddie that he cannot stop thinking about tommy and eddie tells buck to call tommy, buck is scared tommy will say no, eddie says if he knows buck’s an idiot he’ll love him and if he doesn’t then screw him.

tommy says yes. he agrees to meet with buck after the chaos of their first date because “of course” he wants to hear what buck has to say. he tell’s buck he doesn’t need to apologize but lets him anyway because buck needs to apologize. for himself if no one else. he realizes his behavior was bad, that it wasn’t fair to tommy. he owns up to it but tommy still assures buck he overall ended the date because he didn’t want buck to feel pressured. buck admits he wasn’t ready but that after some time and thinking, he knows he can not stop thinking about tommy and what they could be. he invites him to be his date at a wedding, his sisters wedding and tommy albeit dare i say, flabbergasted, ultimately agrees because clearly, he also cannot stop thinking about buck or else why would he have given this a second chance?

the conflict of the failed first date is there to show buck’s growth from that hamster wheel mentality to grounding himself into something he knows that he wants.

that my friends, is media literacy.

you can agree to disagree.

[lenaboskow]

Buddies wanted a cheating trope and given the latest interview from his past girlfriend... Ryan is the perfect man for that 👀

yeah so what we're not going to do is wish for a cheating trope. cheating is never something we should romanticize. not only that, it would completely ruin whatever progress we've made in terms of people accepting casual queer rep.

i don't know what interview you're talking about (tried to find it, but all i could find were the ones from 2023), but even if ryan is the "perfect man" to play someone who cheats, that doesn't mean he should.

what we can hope for, however, is a presumed cheating trope, if done right, and only if done right. (apologies in advance if the explanation doesn't make sense, i haven't had coffee yet)

there's a post going around (not sure who the op is, someone drop the @ in the replies please) about how buddie should get semi-blackout drunk, and while they're running around trying to save chim, the only memories they have is them taking their jackets off and then falling together on the couch, causing them to think they hooked up.

if done right, this means that buck and eddie are torn over this. like, i'm talking absolutely distraught. they can't look tommy or marisol in the eye the entire time, because how could they do something like that?

bonus points if tommy notices how weird they're being, but doesn't bring it up because its buckandeddie.

once we find chim, the story comes out, and turns out they fell because they were trying to put a fire out. they took their jackets off because it got hot. then buck and eddie start to wonder why their first thought was they hooked up, and bonus points if we see eddie wonder why he wasn't disgusted at the thought of hooking up with buck, just at the thought of cheating.

if they went this way, it would need to be made clear that buck and eddie are distraught, maybe even more so than tommy and marisol would be if they found out. we couldn't have them being like "oh we hooked up cool bet it was great"

however, i don't think we're getting that, and for good reason. oliver's recent interview, while definitely weird and dodgy, brought up a good point. they need to do this right. they're raising the bar for future representation, and we don't want it to start off on a bad foot. even a presumed cheating storyline would be iffy, and could set the wrong people off. there's also a fine line here where even if they didn't physically cheat, they could end up emotionally cheating, which is just as bad.

what i could see happening, however, is at least one feelings realization.

[blazinghotfoggynights]

I know Buddie fans prior to season 7 were not delusional, misinterpreting scenes, or making it all up. There were too many instances that were blatantly hinting at attraction, even if the two involved were oblivious.

(Also, platonic friends don't act like that. You may be able to gaslight those with very little life experience, but some of us have circled the sun more than a few times.)

With all that being said, I am at a point where I can see the writing on the wall. Buck and Eddie? I would say there is an infinitesimal chance it ever happens and that guy in power is laying the foundation for a BuckTommy endgame and Eddie Diaz is being confirmed as completely het. I wouldn't even be surprised if this is leading to an Eddie Diaz exit.

Buddie never happening is okay. I've been in fandom long enough to know there are authors who will give us excellent alternatives.

My issue lies with the character currently dating Buck and how he is being portrayed and embraced. (If you can't deal with even a bit of Tommy criticism, don't go past this point. This isn't about the ship wars or the actor. This is about accountability and the portrayal of women, LGBTQ, and POC in fiction.)

Before BuckTommy fans accuse me of being a Buddie shipper who is delusional or jealous, please. They are fictional characters. There are fanfic writers who are doing the lord's work, so I am completely fine.

What I don't like is the obviously slanted take on the situation of the character Buck has been paired with.

I haven't been extremely vocal about my feelings for the Tommy Kinard character and how his return has been handled, but I am going to touch upon it now.

I think the manner of that character's return is tone deaf and disrespectful to people of color, LGBTQ people, and women. Tommy now being an out gay man does not suddenly absolve him of his past actions. Racist, misogynist, homophobic taunting, insults, and humiliation have no excuse. Okay, there is one, but this blog is not ready to get into all that. (IYKYK)

Tommy Kinard returning to a universe where his deplorable actions are explained as merely giving in to peer pressure AND, what is even more unnerving, his victims forgiving him and becoming his friends is a slap in the face to every single POC, woman, or LGBTQ person who has been tortured for just being who they are. So no, I don't support or like the character and how his return has been handled. If he is called out and held accountable, that may change.

Before any problematic fans take that and run with it, I am going to say my issue is with the CHARACTER. I don't know a damn thing about the actor who portrays him. As a woman who spent time in a male dominated field, I know what it is like to be surrounded by those who feel that as het white males, they own the space and heaven help anyone who doesn't fit the same description.

Would I love to see Buddie happen? It's obvious I would. But, as with any work, the author has the right to take the story in any direction he or she wants to. They aren't obligated to give the fans what they want. That is what fandom works are for.

As someone who has witnessed the type of behavior Tommy engaged in under the prior Captain's tenure more often than I care to think about, erasing his past with a mere stroke of a key and acting as if it didn't happen or didn't matter makes me feel some type of way. Those who have experienced that treatment know what I am talking about. The people who are on the receiving end of the hatred are always expected to accept apologies, regardless of how self-serving or disingenuous they are, with appreciation, grace, and forgiveness. That is seriously problematic.

I don't mind if Buck and Eddie end up with other people. I just don't want those other people to be Tommy and Marisol. Give Buck a good guy or girl and give Eddie, well, right now, daily therapy and later, a good person.

For balance, I am not a Marisol fan either. Hiding important facts about yourself because you think the person will leave you is manipulative and deceitful. I've left people for doing it and I support anyone for doing the same.

[buddiewho]

In a logical sense, I see what we’ve witnessed with Buck and Tommy as the one off experience. It could last a little longer than anticipated but it’s that first time kind of thing, most of us queer people go through, I think.

We have those people in our lives who either were part of the first time relationship or stayed the crush/friend and yet they were a part of understanding the feelings. Perhaps it wasn’t long term at all. Perhaps it was the one kiss and one date. Perhaps it was a few more dates and you mutually parted ways. For some, it could be that lucky one where they too were developing feelings and so it blossomed into a long term relationship.

And I think the episode made it super obvious that Tommy has things in common with Eddie. If someone were just to speak those words out loud in a later episode when people know or suspect and Chim goes, “you know Buck you essentially went on a date with a version of Eddie…” just saying it seemed like they were going for something there with the being in the Army and enjoying Muay Thai. Except there are things Buck doesn’t know or doesn’t enjoy like basketball so Tommy having more in common with Eddie too soon, makes Buck spiral as he did. And as he called it, “bad behavior” reared its head and as Chim said, “well, you Bucked that up didn’t you.”

What I’m saying is, Buck can have fun for now. Buck can enjoy this or try to because it’s just his luck that apparently Eddie and Marisol end up at the same restaurant…anyway, I think it’d be nice if the writers mentioned more of Tommy’s behaviors and we see an active apology and/or active forgiveness over his past mistakes. However, they have not…

But if a fictional character cannot be given the chance to grow, change and understand when they Bucked up then what’s that say about real life? Some people are obstinate to change, but I think a majority of people want to understand how to change for the better, to correct the wrong that they made, and to be an overall better person. Personally, I like to fill in the gaps and believe Chim and Hen have since been apologized to and Tommy knows he was dumb back then. Bigoted and dumb. He’s shown accountability for it but it wasn’t put on screen. If they wanted to insinuate he hadn’t changed and was still some bigoted bad apple why bring him back at all for any reason?

If it’s not being brought up and made into something that’s still an integral part of the character then I also don’t see the harm in Buck being giddy about this version of Tommy he gets to see and has admitted to wanting to get know. That’s a cool guy. I like that guy.

Buck is the guy who had Buck 1.0 and 2.0 phases; please, he’s the epitome of wishing he could grow and change and be a better person so I think off screen I can assume that Tommy has done the same since his departure from the 118.