#kym answers things

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Thoughts on the “E”?!

Hey Nonnie

Oh I have many thoughts on the ‘E’ on the bomber jacket!! @lover-of-mine and I have been talking about it and doing some research to find out when it first appeared and if anyone else has letters on their jackets.

I can confirm that no one else appears to have a letter on their jackets, so this is a Buck exclusive thing. That in and of itself is important and revealing - it means it’s intentional and relevant in some way.

As you can see above - nothing on Bobby or Hens jackets in this up coming episode.

As for its first appearing - well - the bomber jackets have been part of the uniform since the crossover episode with Lonestar - back at the beginning of season 4. There is no ‘E’ on the jacket we see buck in during that episode. I’ve messed around with the brightness to make it easier to see on most of these screen grabs, so ignore the slightly weird colouring!

After that - we see the bomber a couple of times in season 4 and it bears no ‘E’ - this is a still from 411!

The same in season 5 - the bomber appears a few times and there’s never an ’E’ present on the sleeve, this is a still from 511.

It’s the same through season 6 - the bomber is worn but there is no ‘E’.

Then we get to season 7 and things start to get interesting! Below is a still from 701 - no ‘E’ is on his sleeve here.

But when we get to 704 - oh hi there ‘E’ you’ve decided to appear - in a scene that kickstarts Bucks bi arc, and from then on - the ‘E’ is present on bucks jacket sleeve!

Right up to the next episode!

As for what the ‘E’ means and the significance of its connection into Bucks bi arc. Well I have a couple of theories.

The fact that no one else has a letter on their sleeve means it’s not about his name - so it’s not meant to represent Evan in any way - if it was I would expect a ‘H’ on Hens and on Chim’s, and an ‘R’ on Bobbys and Ravi’s and to have seen an E on Eddie’s (I’ve just realised that we have two names for each letter as I typed this out - which is very fun!)

So that leaves us with it having a different meaning. Buck as a character is someone who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve and so it’s a fair thing to come to the conclusion that it’s connected to that idea of his heart being on his sleeve. It’s also his left arm - which is important in connection with the red string of fate which is supposed to run from your heart down your left arm and connect to your lover or family etc through your left hand.

So buck having an ‘E’ there can only really mean one thing - Eddie. There’s literally no one else it could conceivably be linked to. So in my opinion (and if that makes me a clown then I am a clown and I’m prepared to die on this hill) it’s been put there at the start of 704 to very subtly inform the audience that Buck is misunderstanding the assignment yet again and misdirecting his feelings for Eddie onto Tommy. It’s a way of telling the audience that we are correct in our opinion that it’s all about Eddie and not about Tommy at all.

Nothing else makes sense to me, it can’t be an allergy information thing, it’s not a brand thing or everyone would have an ‘E’. I guess there’s a vague possibility that is signalling where emergency information is located for Buck, but that seems very unlikely.

So in summary it’s metaphorically buck wearing his heart on his sleeve and his heart is Eddie shaped! I also expect that him wearing a jacket on the job with this ‘E’ on in this episode is very intentional - playing into bucks sense of loss over Eddie leaving and his heartbreak - even if he can’t recognise it for what it is.

I’d love to hear if anyone else has any theories on its appearance and meaning m, and there is plenty of room in the clown car if anyone wants to join Anna and I in this theory🤓💜💜

[maxlarens]

Driver!reader and oscar starting the race from p1&p2 and before they put their helmets and stuff they kiss one last time on the grid and people go like "awwwww" because it was somehow filmed

i feel like u sent this in to be like a concept or something but I HAD to write it. i’ve been writing for lando so much lately i’ve very much been missing oscar + driver!reader. plus i’ve not ever written them in an established relationship before!

It’s not like you and Oscar are a secret.

It might have been easier that way, to keep your relationship from the public’s prying eyes, but it’s not really your style. It’s not Oscar’s either.

Being public comes with its problems— questions from the media, awkward interviews, your respective PR teams going a little buck wild, extra contracts and NDAs to sign— but it also has its benefits.

You like be able to talk about him, like being able to call him your boyfriend. ‘Oscar Piastri, the driver for McLaren? Yeah, that’s my boyfriend’. You like hearing him say things about you, praise your driving skills, talk about you as a rival and as his girlfriend. It’s all you can do to stop grinning like a madwoman whenever you’re in his vicinity. You equally like that the press can’t comment meaningfully on it, can’t speculate wildly about the nature of your relationship when you’ve made it clear.

Some people hate it. They think you’re a silly little girl with her head full of romantic notions. No room for skill, for ruthlessness. Which is funny, given that Oscar receives only praise for “bagging you”. You think they’re just jealous; if not of the fact that Oscar’s dating you and not them, then of your duality. The way you can love Oscar wholeheartedly and also race Oscar wholeheartedly.

They’re not mutually exclusive in your experience.

Naturally, there’s a massive buzz about you and Oscar being P1-P2 on the starting grid.

You’re not particularly surprised. The MCL’s had been performing well all through practice, just as you and Lewis had. You pull out pole in quail, fastest Q1 and Q2, with Oscar hot on your tail. There’s a barrage of bizarre questions in the media pen,

Do you think Oscar’s grid position will impact your performance during the race? Why would it?

Will this affect your relationship with Oscar? No.

What happens if one of you wins and the other doesn’t? The same thing that happens every time anyone wins ever?

You’re confused by it. Bordering on snarky and sarcastic the fifth time someone asks if you and Oscar might break up over this. Rolling your eyes, thinking your true feelings are obvious, you tell some Italian journalist that yeah no we might break up if he doesn’t let me win.

It’s funny, objectively it’s hilarious. You and Oscar laugh over it later that afternoon. Send the clip to a group chat you’re in with a few drivers closer to your age. And so what if it’s still funny when clickbait articles and gossip sites start saying that the two of you have broken up.

There’s even more buzz about it by the morning of the race. Journalists you’ve already talked to have suddenly become convinced that you and Oscar are on the rocks. You can’t help but play into it a bit— partially for the benefit of your PR team— arriving separately, forgoing the couple snap that you usually grace Kym Illman with, giving vague no-comment answers when the media accost you.

Maybe it’s a little childish, a little dramatic. But it serves them right for jumping to conclusions.

You avoid any presenters on the grid walk, sinking into the protective circle made by your engineers. Staying behind the roped off areas until about 10 minutes to race start when you finally hop over the MCL in P2.

Oscar’s drinking water, looking smug when you push through McLaren engineers, so used to your continued presence that they let you in with ease.

“Hey,” you greet, reaching out to smooth the collar of his fireproofs, “How’s it goin’?”

“Mm,” he hums, cutting a glance behind you, which you take to mean that there are cameras trained on the two of you, a reporter trying to get your attention maybe, “I’d be better if I was on pole.”

You hiss mockingly, “Yeah, too bad. You gonna break up with me about it?”

He raises an eyebrow, lashes brushing his cheekbones as he looks down at you, “I didn’t know you read F1 gossip sites?”

You shrug in response, “Don’t need to. The media make enough noise about it.”

He hums again, smile pulling at his mouth while someone from Mercedes shouts at you to get back. Rachel probably. You should go, you really should. But Oscar’s so close and so cute in those black fireproofs.

“Good luck,” you say,

leaning forward to kiss him, hand on the back of his head. A slip of tongue, not so much to be publicly obscene, but enough to leave him wanting,

“You’ll need it.”

You hear the sweet sound of him laughing as you slip away, back to where your car is sitting on pole. Ignoring the reporter dogging at your heels for a comment you don’t really need to give.

like maybe unrealistic. who cares!

[lover-of-mine]

Hi, hi, hello, I was making an edit and I ended up noticing a repetition of patterns and then I started thinking about this meta by @stagefoureddiediaz (🫶) about the pinstripes with Buck now I'm here.

My thing right now is about this.

When I made the big post about the callbacks in 817, the similarities in instances Buck was wearing this powder blue color were in the back of my mind, but I didn't get it yet. I even wrote a post about it, but I think I have more to say because I was focusing too much on the grey of this color and it was stopping me from seeing the blue.

Moments I mentioned before were around his arc in season 6. The search for deeper meaning and the way Buck keeps externalizing that in the hopes that it will fix him.

Like 602 when he's asking Hen about the secret of happiness, or when we find out that Kameron is pregnant in 609.

But something I neglected paying attention to when saying that the conversation Buck has with Pepa is calling back to 612 when Buck expects Eddie to have the answers, is the way that Buck is also in this powder blue type color when he's at the doctor's at the end of the episode and gets a clean bill of health, when he goes to McArthur Park again, and when he talks to Maddie about the hoovering.

And same as the 817, in 612, it seems like they took advantage of the way the shirt is lost between being blue or grey depending on lighting, to put Buck in that in-between space where he doesn't know where his life is going from there.

It comes back to the way Buck forces himself to move past things and ends up hurting himself and the people around him in his tendency to assume everyone else knows better and he is a burden. He wouldn't talk to people about how death messed him up, he wouldn't talk to people about how losing Bobby messed him up, because at Buck's core he is terrified of life-changing things actually changing his life. So he refuses to ask for the things that will help him adjust and it usually ends up with him going on a tangent that gets him away from the path of actually figuring out what makes him happy. Being a sperm donor? Didn't fix him. Dying? Didn't fix him.

Okay, but why did I bring up Kym's meta?

Kym explains the way that Buck is in a light colored pinstriped shirt when the life-changing thing happens. The shooting, when Taylor moves in, when he decides he's happy with the chair, the coma dream, and the coffee date. The thing here is the play with the way Buck is seeing things clearer in these moments, and it would lead to significant moments where he learns more about himself and his journey. (Kym explains it all, please read her meta lol)

But these moments have a darker shirt counterpart, that is harming his personal growth. Jumping into a relationship with Taylor, the awkward I love you that leads to the mess their relationship becomes, when he agrees to be a sperm donor that harmed him in many ways, the first date with Tommy, the 710 date with Tommy, and I think in some ways also the glee speech shirt, because those come back to the way Buck is projecting this idea that being with man will fix him.

It's when he stirs away from that clarity and keeps creating these obstacles so he won't see what he actually wants from life. Yes, the path here leads to Eddie and Christopher, these stir him away from that. From accepting his role as a parent and from seeing that he's in love with Eddie.

So now we circle back to the blue and yellow of it all. One of the blue and yellow scenes we have is the couch conversation in 601. And Buck is in a pinstripe powder blue.

This is the shirt that forces Buck to reflect and leads him to the realization that he needs to be happy in his own skin. In a similar way that the powder blue is trying to evoke in other moments it comes up.

Kym and I have been talking for ages about Buck and the search of blue and the way that we will know that Buck will get it right in a shade of blue. That shade of blue was presented to us during the coming out scene, another heavily blue and yellow scene.

But in a similar way that the clarity of pinstripes has counterparts where Buck moves away from the goal, I'm starting to think that the powder blue of facing the issue has the grey of hiding behind it. And it all adds up to the pinstripes and the color game they play with the blue.

The clarity from the shooting is the parenting clarity that he needs to step up for Christopher as a parent, which is reflected in the parenting maroon when Buck talks to Chris. (meta on the blue and red and parenting here)

That has as counterpart the 409 "i'm your friend grey" from when Chris runs to Buck. And this combo also establishes that Buck's relationship with Chris needs to exist outside of Eddie. Because, yes, the 3 of them have their dynamic, but all the sides need to exist individually in their family to fully establish it.

That comes back in s6 both in 613 when Buck is taking a casual parenting role with Chris and the cookies but not really acknowledging that's something he wants amid the donor baby plot, since Chris is the answer for that dilemma AND during the birth scene where he is still not acknowledging the consequences what being a donor parent would do to him and he wants.

The greys also shows up with the clarity from the coma dream, that needs to live for himself, because both in the hospital after he wakes up, and in Eddie's place, he knows what's happening fundamentally changed him, but he is hiding behind what happened so he won't be forced to get the answers himself even thought that was the whole point of the coma dream.

And this plays out in an interesting way with the ambiguity of the powder blue showing up now, especially when considering the clarity that Buck is being forced into by Bobby's death. Various shades of blue have been tied to Buck's s7-8 arc but coming back to this particular shade without the Buck hiding aspect it's interesting when considering that the first time this blue comes into play is when Buck is literally observing the thing he wants the most for the first time aka 203 after the earthquake.

But also because this leads to the red jacket this time. (more detailed meta on this jacket)

Yes, it's a more orange tone than we are used to, but it comes back to 2 major moments. 208 and Buck deciding to actively figure out what he wants and needs from love.

And 518 when he actually defines it.

The thing with Buck is that he constantly ends up passive in his own love life. He takes only what's offered to him, sometimes at the expense of actually chipping away bits of himself and being okay avoiding the problems forever. But the red jacket/white shirt combo is directly connected to "you don't find it, son, you make it" and the way that Buck is very much aware of the way he needs to fight for it but has no idea of how. And it's interesting that it both leads to him having that "I wanna take it easy to see what can happen" that leads him to Ali and it ends up blowing up when the dude jumps like always does and gets the loft because Ali needs a place to stay and to realizing that he can't force it to happen as much as he wants it.

And the way this is showing up when Buck is moving out is making me go 👀 because this shows up when he's very much aware of the root of the issue he's having, but he goes nuclear to fix it since he works in extremes.

This is a very long winded way to say I'm very interested on seeing if the whole Buck moving out thing is gonna pick back up with Buck backsliding into the extreme and hiding from is wants, or if the red is an indicator that Buck does know what he wants (Eddie and Chris) but thinks he can't get it, so he's running from the temptation before it can catch up to him.

Anyway, if you read this, I love you 💜

[ferrstappen]

could you be more obvious? l MV1

a/n: thissss is based on a request I got and ofc I added the Verstappen twins <3 this is messy I’m sorry but I’m on a writing mood

summary: you show up pregnant for the first race of 2024, just six months after Max won his 3rd WDC.

Max being crowned world champion for the third time was something that made your skin buzz with excitement, a knot form in your throat seeing everything he’s achieved and the pride and satisfaction of knowing that every single person on the team had his back, was definitely one of the best sights.

But for Luca and Mila Verstappen, their papa being champion again time wasn’t exactly a big deal… they knew it was important because there were lots of fireworks and special tshirts, but they were born watching Max a champion, they only knew him as such.

what, like it’s a big deal?

They didn’t say it, but you knew that’s what was on their mind.

That was the reason why both Max and you decided to not bring the twins to Qatar, especially with the high temperatures and Luca’s history of getting sick during Grand Prix weekends, they were more than happy to stay with auntie Vic while you got ready to celebrate your husband.

And God, did you celebrate him.

Without the twins, the gin and tonics kept coming, the sloppy make out session on the VIP area of the club as if you were teenagers again, his front pressed against your back as he tried to impress you with his best moves, only to earn a couple of drunken giggles and peck on the lips.

Things were starting to quiet down, lots of people had already left to their hotel room, but you and Max were on a world of your own, with you sitting on top of him, but the moment you started feeling his lips ghosting against your neck, his hands moving from your waist to squeeze your hip.

and you knew it was time to go.

Bahrain, 2024

Max didn’t remember being so excited for race day. Yes, he was anxious for the new season, but the highlight of his day was seeing you getting ready, a loose blouse and white jeans accentuating the noticeable belly of six months of pregnancy, which was a complete surprise to everyone.

You entered the paddock through the main entrance, with photographers everywhere and Kym Ilman greeting your family, because the scene was worth more than a couple thousand likes on Instagram: you were holding Mila���s hand who in return was holding Luca’s, while Max walked with his arm protectively around your belly.

The twins weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea of having a baby brother or sister, a fact they made clear by asking every day if there was any chance to stop the baby from coming home eventually, telling you and Max that they were more than okay having the cats. Sadly, they were the only ones

“No! No! No! Is that why you went MIA on social media? Oh my God look at this bump! Congratulations you two,” Lily let go of Alex’s hand to give you a tight hug as Alex congratulated Max with a couple of pats on the back.

The scene repeated itself with most drivers on the grid, who didn’t ask how far along you were, but were able to deduce the situation. Until…

“How far along are you?” Charles asked you as he held Luca on his arms, letting him mess with his hair.

You blushed and Max’s chest puffed as if he has been waiting for the question. “I’m a couple of days away from the six months mark,”

Charles looked as if he was doing a very specific and difficult math problem as his girlfriend, Alexandra, stares at him with a faint blush on her cheeks, probably since she has always been more reserved around you because she was younger, but she was impatiently waiting for her boyfriend to catch on the situation.

“This is a 2023 season baby?” Charles asked.

“Looks like it,” Max answered with a smug smile on his face, but in reality it was an excited grin which reached his blue eyes.

“No…” Charles jaw dropped and had to put Luca on the floor.

“No what?” Max counter asked, even if he knew the answer. This time he started drawing mindless shapes on the clothes over your swollen stomach.

“Max… is this your championship child?” Charles whispered, shocked.

“What can I say? Winning on and off the track!”

And Charles almost passed out as both you and Max laughed, beaming while interlacing your fingers over your belly, knowing cameras wouldn’t catch you there.

user1: Max knocked y/n up the night of the third championship change my mind

user2: Max Verstappen pulled a k-mag and I respect that

user3: do we know the birthday of the verstappen twins? Asking for a friend

user4: y/n and max will have a full kindergarten if they have a kid every time he wins the championship💀

user5: are we really surprised after those videos leaked of max squeezing her ass while they were celebrating the 3rd wdc

user6: if the maths are mathing this baby will be born around the Monaco gp. GODS PLAN

[blamemma]

today i'm just overwhelmingly sad tbh, more than i have been since singapore. bc if stories are to believed, checo is about to leave and liam is next in line. nothing he has done has justified him getting the red bull seat and even despite that, daniel still has no in. and idk what happened there obviously but no matter how DONE daniel was, he really really wanted that seat and this has to be awful for him. i hate it here.

yeah, i'm right with you. i think a lot of people have found peace in the idea that they don't want daniel in that red bull seat anyway because red bull have shown their true colours, however he performed he would have been scrutinised, the cars becoming a midfield car anyway etc etc. and i'm happy for those people, because i do not know peace, that does not lie inside me at all. if ur of that opinion, i don't understand it, but i respect it.

you can laugh at this situation today really and go well, that's it. but fuck me i can't laugh. it makes me want to genuinely cry. it makes me want to scream and fucking shout because daniel never did anything wrong. he waited, and he performed, and he dragged that tractor to places it never should have gone. do i think daniel would have got points in qatar yesterday? no. but that's the point. that car is arse, especially in the straights, the strategy team just roll the dice and hope something sticks, and their shoving upgrades on that car that have done nothing miraculous for it. it was a losing battle in that car, but sometimes, daniel won. liam and yuki have done nothing more and nothing less. but what you would have had in daniel is a reliable pair of hands who would have performed well and wanted very similar things from max, in a year (2025) where the battle is going to be sO tight and that car needs to be perfect to be able to fight. i think the influx of rookies heading into f1 next year has made red bull feel safer. they think that they can put liam in that red bull because oh mercedes will have a rookie and lewis and charles will take points out of each other and mclaren will mclaren. they think they'll be safe. but they won't be.

this will forever be baffling to me. this will forever fucking suck. for as long as daniel stays silent (and i'm not saying we're owed anything blah blah blah, i'm just saying that his silence isn't conducive to any answers emerging) then it's always going to be a mountain of what if's and what could have been's and what went wrong. where did it all change. where did it go wrong.

i simply care too much to be able to forget about that seat. if i got a formula 1 breaking notification tomorrow that announced daniel for that seat i'd shed my first happy tears in months and i'd feel no shame about it. it was his dream. it's where he wanted to end his career. bottas, zhou, magnussen and idk maybe even fucking sergio if he gets his head out his arse, are all going to get respectful and warranted goodbyes next week. my guy had blake and fucking kym illman stalking him out the paddock. that's never going to feel conducive to peace for me. that's never going to feel okay for me. and if blondie does get that seat. that's going to be an even bigger kick in the teeth.

[ofeliaxoxo]

yk i just love it when your ask answers reach the "to rpf it..." point. like no matter what the ask it, it can by rpf-ied in your mind and it's perhaps my fav part of your blog hehe

on that note actually, any jealous charles rpf thoughts on carlos talking about wanting to settle down on the team torque episode and then that carbecca pda in the paddock kym illman pic?

Listen😭 I’m here to rpf it😭 idc about their real lives those are boring as hell if I had money I’d get so much sexier with it.

WELL first of all the Carlos & Rebecca pics are so cute and so sexy. Their POSE his arm…chefs kiss they look so good together. I’m getting depressed about being an incel now. And him wanting to settle down w her…cutieful! I like her because she’s a Glasgow gal the Glaswegians are nice as fuck. In Edinburgh we got shouted at by a drunk man over being Irish and my friend from Derry got told ITS LONDONDERRY by a bouncer. In GLASGOW they shouted up Dublin for us and praised our accents and everyone was so much friendlier. So shoutout Rebecca and her Glasgow slay. (Omg is she actually from Glasgow or do I just think that???)

now…I won’t lie you have inadvertently found the one thing I don’t think I will rpf. I don’t like to rpf the wags because at the end of the day they are real women and those are their actual boyfriends. So in my fics all the unnamed gfs are just faceless characters. Idk I just feel a bit too weird. It would be one thing if I was rpfing them as main characters who end up with someone but if I’m just having them get cheated on etc that is so mean😭

I do see the rpf vision lowkey with Rebecca x Alex tho. I like their insta interactions and how hot they are. I’m lowkey getting parasocial about them and also Flavy just from always seeing their ig posts. I’m like awww those girls are so niceee fully knowing nothing about them. If I ever do rpf about wags it will be Rebecca x Alex.

Now after that essay let’s get to jealous Charles. I don’t think I will jealous Charles about Rebecca specifically for above reasons BUT the concept of Carlos being like ok I am a settled/taken man and Charles being like “oh yeah. Absolutely. Same. Why do I need to throw up.” Is delicious to me. Carlos is like yay I love stability with my dependable relationship and Charles is like yup! Thats so good. Isn’t it. Who knows why I hate your girlfriend. A mystery really. Maybe because she’s so annoying? I know you better than she does. Probably.

[mecachrome]

literally everytime i go on f1twt and even on here all i see is people spewing out conspiracy theories. they're saying andrea didn’t look as happy as zak when oscar won yesterday so that must mean a change of power dynamics within the team, analyzing how long it took for oscar and lando to pass max and whoever did it faster is better, saying that lando was faster in the second stint but will told him not to push and that’s why oscar won as if there wasn’t traffic in front of oscar and still a 3s gap. Then kym illman posted that he saw andrea, will and lando's father and manager in "deep conversation" and people are going crazy, they’re bringing up max fewtrell twitch stream from the brazil sprint last year to make a point that there’s things going on inside the team that we are not privy of like that isn’t obvious and like oscar didn’t do the swap anyway. this is not to say that there aren't oscar fans just as obnoxious cause there are, australia was a circus with all the team orders debacle. and there’s so much more. that whole thing with people saying the car was built specifically for oscar that’s why lando is struggling and how zak/andrea didn’t back lando up with the max thing yesterday. meanwhile oscar and lando's dads are posting pics on insta together and they have a 30s gap to the rest of the field and the car is good like?? these people are being miserable on purpose now. i get wanting your driver to win above all else, i personally am happy that it was oscar yesterday, but people lack common sense. sorry to rant in your inbox you don't have to answer this at all i just had to let it out and your post resonated with me😭

HLKDSFHLSHF no anon i read all of this and i could feel that it came straight from your soul T__T idk but i would be rather embarrassed to regurgitate talking points from previous drivers who have flamed out of f1 ("the car wasn't built around me!" when cars are only ever built to Go Fast and Be The Best They Can Be Under The Regs) when lando is objectively VERY TALENTED and EXTREMELY QUICK and the season is early and it would do everyone a far greater service to simply believe that he has it in him to adjust to the drivability of the car rather than immediately resort to accusations of internal sabotage.

life is beautiful everything is gnarly let's all laugh and cheer and enjoy sports for being sports 🥰 Things Happening and rolling with the punches are all part of being an adult. and having real-life jobs. and existing in society. many are saying this

[caityrayeraye]

If you get this, answer w/ three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs. anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog!

1) I’m a very picky eater

2) The glow in the dark planets I have hanging from my ceiling are placed around the light in my room in order of orbit around the sun

3) I like to collect things lol

@ferryportlandingmayor @jokerislandgirl32 @m0thisonfire @kym-truestory @ladyelissarose @rainyhoundanimemusic @fuckyeah5sostakemehome @witchcraftandgeekness @bejeweled-wahlberg

[rpvlix]

[THE SUN] - What makes them feel good? This can be happy, energized, revitalized, etc. It's all about good vibes, so what gives them to your muse?

[JUDGMENT] - What was an epiphany/awakening they recently had? Did they realize something that they've been naive to? Did they discover something about themselves? What happened? - kym, kenny

The Major Arcana Asks

//Ohh these are good, tough, interesting ones. Let's see...

The Sun, Ken

His art is one of the only things that makes him happy. Of course, that encompasses a very broad range of disciplines, from sculpting to electronics work to surgical procedures. He prefers sculpting though. It's been his form of meditation since he was very young. It's just about the only form of expression he had for the longest time, having to keep things hidden from his father in his private spaces. Unfortunately the reason sculpting makes him so happy is that he's repressed his sexuality a lot, and it is one of the only acceptable ways he can lay his hands on what he wants in the ways he wants.

The Sun, Kym

It's hard to say what makes her happy. I don't think she really knows what happiness is. Not really. She confuses it with a smug sense of superiority, more often than not. She does find it energizing and revitalizing to be proven right, to be better than people, etc. though, so I suppose for the purposes of this question, it counts. The closest she comes to actual happiness is from being a protector of sorts... When she succeeds in keeping her family safe. When her ant colonies thrive. But this still mixes with that smug feeling.

Judgement, Ken

It took a few billion years of pain for him to realize his father didn't give a shit about him. Or any of his siblings. He used to think it was just a tough love sort of thing, sure Aton was hard on them but he must have cared a little, right? Wrong. It was a slow realization but the murder of Imburri and all the time Ken spent in exile with out even hearing from Aton were two major players in the realization.

Actually, I'm also going to answer this one for both of them together, because they pretty much had the same epiphany at the same time.

Judgement, Kym & Ken

Exile taught them both the same thing about themselves. Something that neither of them want to admit to themselves, let alone anyone else. They are capable of fear. And of fearing things besides Aton. Ken didn't think it was possible to fear pain before, he'd always found ways to enjoy it. Kym spent so long trapped in a cramped dark box she still has nightmares.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

https://www.tumblr.com/stagefoureddiediaz/782760653117063168?source=share

What could the check pattern mean? 👀👀

(Also I swear if they end up cutting this scene 😐😐😐)

Hey Dru!!!

I’m truly fascinated by this shirt choice for Eddie for a scene with Hen! I’ve been expecting and waiting for an Eddie and hen conversation the entire season - since the plane disaster - and I’m finally finally getting my wish and it’s accompanied with a intriguing costume choice and in an episode that plays heavily into the juice theme surrounding Eddie this season!

Firstly I want to touch on the fact that no watch is visible - I think I can see the outline of it on his wrist, but it isn’t visible. Then there is also the black Henley - something we see Eddie wearing several times across the seasons - nearly always in scenes connected to eddies family in some way - and we have a clear split in when he wears a black Henley - we see him in one in 215, 217 and 218 and then we don’t see him wear one again until 605, followed by 609, 614 and 701. The 701 one is the most interesting one as it’s the scenes connected to Chris and his multiple girlfriends and his talk with Buck and the. Later when Eddie gives him the letter from Shannon. It’s a series of scenes that really highlights the place of Buck in the Diaz family, and the co-parentsl role Eddie is putting Buck in - is trusting Buck in. So I do think we’ll see some element of this hen-Eddie scene be about family - and most likely about Christopher and his return to LA (or even if he has returned to LA as we don’t know how it’s all going to play out at this point) but the scene will definitely feature some element of conversation about Chris.

So back to the shirt Eddie is wearing - it is in his typical style - for the most part - we have breast pockets that are incredibly similar to the ones we’ve seen on other shirts he wears - shirts I would bill as his LA shirts or style, but the rest of the cut of the shirt is a mixture of Eddies LA and Texas styles - mostly his Texas style. The check is in keeping with his Texas look, so I’m not sure at this point if it’s going to be Eddie still in LA post funeral - before he leaves to return home to El Paso, or if it is Eddie newly returned to LA and the style is a hangover from him being in Texas - in a similar way to how we saw eddies style change over season 2 - moving away from El Paso style - less and less denim and a change in fit and less check and actually a more narrow colour palette!

My feeling at this moment is that it’s a scene shortly after Eddie has fully returned to LA - in part because of his hair and how happy and relaxed he looks in the still, and the fact that we have no reason to think that Eddie did more than fly in for the funeral before returning to El Paso (something I’m sure Tim will magically be expecting us to know even though it will have happened off screen!), but it it truly could be either option because a conversation with Hen in either context is going to work and is going to be important.

One of the reasons I’m so on the fence about it is the fact that it’s a pink shirt - and pink has been very intentionally been connected to eddies search for himself and for joy - his own joy - that is not connected to or about Christopher (directly). As you can see it’s a much more of a ‘dirty’ pink - a pink with brownish undertones - still in the same zone as the other pale pinks we’ve seen him in previously and in the same zone as bucks own forray into pale pink - with his cardigan.

It’s worth pointing out at this moment that all of the above uses of that pale pinks can be read as queer coded to a fairly big degree, and all three scenes are very buddie heavy as well - in different ways - showingn and highlighting different aspects of their relationship and its strength.

Now to me the check aspect of it is suggesting that this conversation is more than likely go somewhere Eddie isn’t either ‘ready for’ or isn’t going to like having pointed out to him - which for me is screaming that it’s about the Buck of it all because there isn’t a lot else it could be about and as I’ve just shown/ explained the use of the pale pink we’ve seen in the show in connection with Eddie and Buck is very buddie, especially buddie relationship coded. So the check is seemingly going to be about Eddie having his worldview changed in some way - because the check always means danger of some sort for the character - but danger isn’t always bad and invariably the person in check (especially when it’s a main) is having their plot moved forward in some way and the danger they face is the way that movement happens. My working theory is that the Eddie hen conversation will be connected to Bobbys ‘death’ and will come around to Buck in some way.

Then there is one last aspect to this new pink Eddie shirt - that is Buck unpacking his things in the Diaz house - finally moving himself in and letting himself accept his new reality. The shirt Buck is wearing is slightly more in the brown side of things than eddies new shirt - but it has very pink undertones and they are the same tonal shades. So we have a scene where Buck allows himself to accept and actually begin to exist in a space that he has struggled with because of its connection to Eddie, Chris, and all that Buck has ‘lost’ - a space that he’s never been a guest in because it’s Eddies house - a space that is still tied to Eddie because it’s eddies lease and Buck is subletting. Coming off the back of two scenes with two people pointing out the Eddie of it all and actively questioning bucks feelings - where eddies straightness is also brought up in both scenes. It’s very definitely an intentional costuming colour choice and it’s making me think that perhaps the reference to Buck that we might be getting is going to be about the roommates era we seem likely to be about to get - maybe hen questioning Eddie about his living arrangements if Buck is in eddies house - if Buck has found a new place now Eddie is back or something in that wheelhouse - about the idea of that connection and about existing in a space and of that space being a safe space.

This is of course all speculation on my part based on the colours and the way the show has previously used colour and even check patterning on Eddie or around Eddie - we’ll find out how close I was to the mark when the episode airs, but it isn’t a common colour and it’s not one the show has used much and the fact we’ve got so much of it in the last couple of seasons and in connection with one characters arc specifically is making me feel a certain level of confidence in my predictions - i really do hope I’m right!

[dwtsfun]

I've been following your Tumblr for a long time and I just have to thank you for the incredible content you bring about the show.

I agree with pretty much everything you think about the show, and I think you'd be an amazing EP to keep the show engaging and family-friendly (in the sense of keeping familiar faces around).

So I would like to ask you some questions:

The first is how you would set up the hosting duo and judging panel if you could do whatever you wanted;

The second is what you would do if you could choose 12 professionals for the next season, being realistic with the current situation;

The third question is about your ideal season, I know you like 12 or 13 couples and 10 or 11 weeks (preferring 10), so I would like to know how you would put together your ideal season (number of couples, number of weeks on air , how many couples would be eliminated per week and how many finalists would be in the final;

The fourth is if you think Barry is in Peta's Top 5 best partners, alongside Tommy and Donald;

Lastly, I know you consider the lack of brightness and "strength" to be a characteristic of Artem's partners and their choreography, and in seasons 30 and 31 you always thought that Melora and Heidi were overrated. I expected a lot from the first show and ended up being disappointed; I didn't know the second one. Artem has publicly said that his favorite partners are his wife Nikki, the legend Patti LaBelle (an icon and for me the biggest star to ever do the show) and Heidi, which really surprised me as I thought he would choose Lea Thompson or Nancy Kerrigan, or even Melora for being a little more performative.

So I'd like to know how you would rank Artem's partners: Lea, Patti, Nancy, Nikki, Melora, Heidi, and Charity.

Thank you so much for your work, I wish you all the best!

I can really tell that you have been following my blog for quite some time just from this message alone. Thanks for staying with me and reading for so long. And I'm so glad that you think I'd be a good EP for the show. That is such a huge compliment! Now to answer your questions.

#1 I can see the hosting thing go a lot of different ways so let me start with the judges table. I think it should be a table of 4 and Julianne needs to be brought down from the Sky Box and put as the HEAD judge on that table. Derek, Bruno and CAI can all stay. Alfonso can stay as host. I would like to see someone like Kym, Marie Osmond, throw it back to Drew Lachey or bring back Samantha Harris (if she's willing).

#2 Pros- So I'll give 6 men, 6 women and 2 reserves (man and woman): Men: Brandon, Keo, Alan, Pasha, Ezra, Val (though I think he's ready to hang it up) Women: Daniella, Witney, Britt, Koko, Emma, Rylee Reserves: Louis, Peta (for those 13 and 14 couple casts) This is what I can realistically see happening.

#3 12-13 couples is ideal. I don't care which if we have a strong cast on all fronts. It should be 10 weeks and the last episode should be the week of the last Thursday in November at the latest (US Thanksgiving). No one would get eliminated in week 1. Week 2 is the first elim. With 12 couples, there doesn't need to be a double if you have a 4 couple finale, which I would be okay with. With 13, there does need to be one singular double. I would prefer to have that early on. Either the first or second elimination would be a double. No judges' save.

#4 I do think Barry is a top 5 Peta partner. It's him, Tommy, Donald, Nyle and either James or Brant (I'm leaning toward James).

#5 You're definitely right about my feelings for Artem and his partners. He's like Tony, but Tony was a much better teacher imo and at least produced a handful of memorable dances with his partners. I like this question though, it's forcing me to remember Artem's partners lol. Okay here we go from my favorite to least favorite:

1 Patti- she forced him to teach out of his comfort zone (I also agree that she along with Gladys, Donny, Marie and maybe Chaka Khan are the biggest stars to ever do the show. Not most current, but biggest) 2 Nikki- similar to Patti, she forced him out of his comfort zone 3 Lea- she worked best with his style cuz she didn't fade as much as the others 4 Charity- he actually shifted how he taught her toward the end 5 Nancy- they were fine but I always wonder how Nancy would've done with Derek 6 Melora- she's only here because she was a better dancer than Heidi 7 Heidi- a literal nonevent and was way overhyped

Again, thanks so much for reading. I had to take some time to think about all of these, so thanks once again. I love engaging questions like this from everyone. They are so much fun and take my mind off of the disaster that is my life lol

[lover-of-mine]

soooo 👀 the fit of buck's clothes in that bts video 👀 👀 would love to know your thoughts 👀 👀 👀

I know, right? The way his clothes keep getting more oversized is making me vibrate. Usual shoutout to @stagefoureddiediaz, Kym talked about the fit of Buck's clothes changing back in season 7 and we were talking about it earlier, so Kym 🫶🫶

Okay, so before season 7, Buck's clothes were too tight a lot of the time, we all joked about how his buttons were about to pop off or how his arms would rip through his shirts, or how we can see the outline of his muscles perfectly. Like, sometimes it would honestly look like he was one wrong movement from ripping those.

But they changed to putting him in more oversized stuff for season 7 (and started shortening his pants, but I digress) and gets more obvious in s8.

It is partially attached to Tommy and how tommy gives him the right path but isn't the right person, since his clothes start to get looser when he starts dating him. The shirts don't fit right on his shoulders, they don't sit right on his chest, they have the wrong fit in his arms. So his overall aesthetic still doesn't fit exactly right.

The whole thing with the changing the way his clothes fit in the other direction is very indicative of how Buck still doesn't fit in his own skin, he thought dating men was the answer but he was Buck dating Tommy, he didn't look further than that, and he is spiraling further with what we know, spinning like a top one would say lol, and both scenes we saw of his clothes (yesterday's uniform possibly included), include VERY loose shirts.

I keep being drawn to the fit around his arms because my god, for a shirt to look that big on Oliver's biceps it has to be BIG lol. And while his shirts have been looser, they haven't been this big yk? And today's video, with the cropped fit, how lose it is, like, Buck is GOING through it, which makes me think this fit is from 810, just to add the emotional distress of the kidnapping to his abandonment issues being extremely triggered between the breakup and Eddie leaving.

It's all about the way Buck still hasn't gotten it right. We know Buck is on his way to figuring his feelings for Eddie out, and therefore finally understanding the final piece of the puzzle that allows him to stop over-correcting. But he's not there yet. The choices he's making don't fit exactly right. And his clothes will be the wrong size until he's ready to fight for Eddie.

But Anna what makes you think all this means buddie and that Buck's clothes will fit when Buck is ready and buddie is coming?

Well, I believe there are clues about the general idea behind buddie going canon hidden in the coming out scene. I have talked extensively about the blue and yellow elements, the way I believe this is Buck's shade of blue. I think all of it is indicative of what's to come.

And that includes how perfectly that shirt fits. The seams are resting on the right spot on his shoulder, they are the perfect length for his arm, they're not overly tight around his chest or biceps, nothing looks too big or too small.

And this isn't an accident, everything about the show is very intentional, so the clothes getting looser as he lets Eddie go even though he doesn't want to? It makes me very !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because the oversized fit also plays into the way we haven't exactly seen Buck in his signature jewel tones, the bright reds and blues, this season yet. And I think that once buddie happens he will be walking around with his brighter colors in shit that fits right lol.

So we are on the lookout for Buck in clothes that fit right and in this shade of blue.

As always, if you read all this I love you 🫶

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Ok crock pot anon here again bc I'm not done, the way Buck insisted it was okay to serve the food a few minutes early if you could tell it was ready and the way Eddie was freaking out about there still being 11 minutes left on the timerrrrr

Never be done crock pot anon I am always here to flail over buddie cooking together and the crock pot of it all!!

I love that Buck has developed enough as a cook through Bobbys teaching and his own trial and error to know that sometimes you don’t need to fully wait out the instructed time, while Eddie is still not confident enough in the kitchen and wants to stick to the time given religiously! The play on buck getting to his feelings realisation a little earlier than Eddie - because he realises he’s ready - while Eddie needs to wait until the timer goes off before he is - interesting possibility for how it’s going to shake out

And as long as that 11 minutes to wait doesn’t mean 11 episodes until buddie - because if I have to wait until 906 for canon buddie I will cry!!

[stagefoureddiediaz]

not sure if this is really coherent, but the metaphor of eddie's ballroom dancing is so loud!

ballroom dancing is usually taught by learning particular steps and step sequences with the help of a grid pattern on the floor, competitions come with a dress code, the expectation is that dance partners are of the opposite sex, there's rules of where and how to touch and guide your dance partner. (i think it might be a metaphor for performing masculinity and adhering to societal norms and parental expectations. i think it's also interesting to look at it from a perspective of performing in a way that makes certain moves look romantic/sexual/sensual without that actually being the case. illusion vs reality, the apparent comphet of it all.) and then we have eddie, who was happy doing all that, who was good at it, who likely would've continued going down that route without the pressure, but then the expectations from his parents to be perfect, to not just be good at it and have fun but to get awards for following the rules and the expectations, to following the tune perfectly became too much so he stopped dancing entirely. he didn't just break those expectations and rules, he just stepped away, locked it up and put that particular box away. his parents tried to box him in, cage him, lock him down, put him on a path that would become harder and harder the longer he went down that path, and he stepped off before he was forced to make a harder choice.

(and then in comparison the dance sequence in confessions, where he follows a step sequence/a choreography, but this time it isn't the rather rigid, expectation-filled ballroom dance steps. he's picking and choosing the aspects of dancing he loved the most, the movements, the choreography, the music, following instructions, dancing by himself rather than with a partner (of the opposite sex) but this time it's his own choice, and there's nobody to give him awards or expect anything or pressures him in any way, no audience to watch or judge him. i think it also puts a new perspective on buck not saying anything, just handing him a beer, accepting the fact that eddie opened the door in his tighty-whities and a pink shirt, sweaty. no expectations, no need for an explanation, no pressure, just silent understanding)

and then with Chris and the chess, I think there's something to be said about Chris more or less blindly following his grandparents' expectations and rules because he doesn't want to upset them, being the pawn in their game, but also being the one who moves the pawn along on the chess board, moving against the opposing king (moving closer, then backing away, keeping a safe distance. the short facetime calls, the sparse communication mainly lead by the calculated moves of helena). the one who takes the first step towards Eddie by showing up at the shack with the PS5. (maybe being lead to believe that the three of them are playing a game against eddie, that eddie is the one attacking, being lead to believe that eddie is playing white, made the first move when he let kim into their home, but slowly realising that actually no, chris was the one to attack first, the one who made the move to involve his grandparents in the first place. and now he's realising that it's actually his grandparents' game and he doesn't want to play, and he'd rather have his dad by his side that play against him). helena being the poweful queen on the board, the one with more moves, the calculating one. ramon as the king with limited movements, only being able to take a step in one direction at a time, always behind the queen. hiding behind her for protection.

Hey Nonnie!

You are making complete sense and have perfectly articulated what I was trying (and mostly failing) to say on both the ballroom and the chess fronts - I did make a post while you were probably typing this ask that explored the ballroom of it all in a bit more detail, but you’ve expanded on what I said in that post too - and it’s giving me more thoughts - so this reply is going to get long as I get them out of my head!!

you're completely right about the structure and performative masculinity and the adherence to societal norms, the structure of learning to dance and the dances themselves and the costumes - all these elements really do fit perfectly with Eddie - and the fact that we've seen Eddies clothing and voice change now he's back in El Paso that idea of wearing a costume that fits with what is expected in the environment speaks very loudly to me. But there is also the fact that ballroom dancing (all dancing to a certain extent) is about acting - its a performance - telling a story - with ballroom usually a romance - just without the actual romance. It’s going through the motions of romance, but it’s all fake (fitting in with the themes of the season of lying and fakeness) and this really chimes with all of Eddie’s past romantic relationships. They have all been performative to greater and lesser degrees, Eddie has been going through the motions of a relationship and romance - as he was taught in his dance lessons, without actually feeling any of it - Eddie literally spoke of the performative nature of dating back in season 6 when Pepa was trying to set him up and get him back into the dating pool.

The other aspect of ballroom dancing is that its a representation of societal structure - the man being there in service of the female in the dance - to lead her and show her off, a play on the stereotypical roles of male and female in society - where a man has one job - to go to work in order to provide the money to live a comfortable lifestyle and support a family. The woman however is expected to complete a multitude of tasks - keeping the home having and raising children, cook, entertain support etc and ballroom dancing reflects this traditional set up with the man providing the structure the woman dances around - being lifted and twirled and undertaking more steps than her partner. Eddie being expected to grow up too young and perform the role of the male dancer - to be there in service to Helena because Ramons way of providing and supporting is to be absent - something Eddie also does when given an opportunity - joining the army to provide for Shannon and Chris because like you say the pressure to perform and win trophy's became too much - when it stopped being fun (when his relationship stopped being fun because it became tied up in the pressure to perform - even if Eddie is not prepared to recognise that fact as of this moment).

Eddie was able to get Chris away from that environment before he got caught up in the same rigid structure and weight of expectations that he did.

The risky business dance just got a whole lot more interestingand impactful to me because of this episode and that ballroom dancing reveal, its not just about Eddie finding joy anymore. It very much still is that, but now there is context to the joy - Eddie used to find joy in dancing - when he was a child, so Eddie choosing to dance as a way to find joy when prompted to do so by Father Brian was also Eddie connecting back into his child self and its interesting that instead of trying to find joy in something new, he chooses to go back to something that used to bring him joy but had stopped doing so, to see if he could recapture what he lost back then. The risky business dance itself was about testing the waters in that way, but also seeing if the rigidity and structure of ballroom was needed to bring him joy - trying a dance that has freedom of expression at its core - he's not going completely freeform, he still has the safety within the structure of the film choreography, but his test was successful and he felt that joy he had as a child once again. rediscovering that meant he's now able to begin to strip away all the weight and pressure and start to rebuild himself from that place of joy.

The colour meaning of the risky business costume takes on deeper meaning beyond being a replica of the movie costume as well with this additional information - the pink for naïveté, joy, and innocence also now becomes about compassion acceptance and nurture. It basically symbolises the rebirth of Eddie - him giving his younger self the compassion and acceptance he didn’t receive at the time.

further to this, Bucks green tee gains a double meaning - it being break up green (the sickness aspect of green is the relevant meaning for this) remains but now we can also add in the renewal and growth aspects of Green. Bucks silent lack of judgement, his acceptance of Eddie opening the door in his shirt and tighty whities serves to grow their relationship further - essentially deepening the intimacy between them and sets things up for Eddie being able to explore who he is more deeply - knowing he won’t be judged for it and that Buck is a safe space - it’s why he has the capacity to make the decision to move back to El Paso and act on it, and why he seems to struggle so much when Buck displays his difficulties and struggles with the idea of Eddie leaving - Eddie had thought he had Bucks unwavering support but then he finds it’s maybe not so unwavering - of course Buck just needed a minute to adjust and reframe things and to express his emotions before accepting and being okay with it. He then becomes loud and confident in his support of Eddie via FaceTime.

Then we have the chess of it all!

Chris has always been a pawn in Helena’s game - he's a pawn in her eyes and has been since his birth. Eddie had protected him from the reality of their manipulations by moving them to LA - so Chris didn’t know or understand what he was getting into when he chose to leave LA to stay with them - the implication is that he had probably only intended to be gone for a few weeks - a couple of months over the summer holidays - to get some space and time but Helena used his anger and distress and manipulated him into staying. Chris didn’t know the rules of the game she was playing but he has been learning and knows them better now, but not well enough to extract himself. So he’s left having to play along with her and Ramon - pretending to like chess so that he doesn't disappoint them.

Eddie however, does know the rules of the game - very well, but lacked the confidence to engage before now. Buck having his back - providing him security and safety and support and telling him to 'dad up' gave him that confidence he needed to start playing. He is on the opposite side of the board from Helena and Ramon - he's on the same side of the board as Chris he just isn't sure of that fact until the end of this episode

Like you said, Helena is very much the queen and Ramon the king. Meanwhile I believe Eddie is a rook (and Buck is also a rook). While Chris is also a king - he is the one Eddie (and Buck) are trying to protect.

Rooks are the second most powerful pieces on the board after the queen - and two of them hold more value than a queen. They are also unable to make the first move of the game due to their location in the first rank corners of the board and the fact they cannot jump other pieces meaning they are blocked. So Helena trying to suggest to Chris that Eddie made the first move is clearly a lie (another one to add to the lying and fakeness theme for the season).

It’s the usual play at the start of a game of chess to connect your rooks up by completing a move called castling which involves clearing all the other pieces, except the king, from the first rank on the board in order to better protect the king from being put into check. If this is done then the rooks can support each other and move around the board more easily exerting more control. This is what Eddie has basically done with Buck - they have castled Chris in order to protect him and support each other as they face attack from Helena and Ramon.

Helena and Ramon had thought they were going into the game in the same way they always have when playing against Eddie - where he is only one rook and therefore lacking the capacity to excerpt control over the game and protect his king. Shannon was probably a bishop - only able to operate on half the board (because they move diagonally and therefore can only use one colour of tile - either black or white) and unable to force a checkmate when paired with a rook - giving Helena and Ramon a big advantage over them. Shannon was always doomed to fail because she could never fully combine with Eddie in a way that would enable them to both defend their king (chris) nor was she a queen and therefore either alone or in combination they were never able to take down the opposing queen - Helena - who was able to remove Shannon from the board after repeated attacks.

However this is a new game now and they have failed to factor in Buck - even though he was present when they came to pick up Chris - or if they have factored him into things they have not understood that he is a rook - perhaps mistaking him for a pawn or a knight or another bishop. !

Because Buck, like Eddie is a rook this means now they have the advantage - in combination they are more powerful than the queen and can protect Chris more easily because they can control most of the board together and force the all important checkmate. Buck telling Eddie to up is the move before checkmate and his providing Eddie with advice and support throughout this entire arc (basically s7 onwards) is what has made the difference and won Eddie the game this time - they controlled the board and protected their king - Chris. This is one of the reasons Buddie is going to go canon - because they have set Eddie and Buck up as equals who are more powerful than all other pieces when they combine forces.

Thank you nonnie for the ask that allowed me to unjumble all the thoughts in my brain and get them out into a post! I hope you found it interesting - I really do love the way this show uses layered metaphors - with some meanings only becoming available and obvious as we progress further into the story - giving us more information to work with! 💜💜💜

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Crock pot anon here losing my actual mind over the slow cookers

Crock pot anon!!!!!

So good to have you back in my inbox!!

I literally screamed at them crock pot cooking together!! Literal insanity!!

We went from there being a crock pot - so potential of a slow burn to them both using one at the same time - we’ve reached the point where they’re both slow cooking now - it’s not just one of them but both - the slow burn is well and truly under way!!!

I am obsessed with the crock pot metaphor!!!

[stagefoureddiediaz]

do you have any thoughts on buck’s costuming from the stills and bts that dropped today for 8x11? specifically the brown plaid and the black + tan from the scene in maddie’s kitchen where aisha is directing him?

Hey Nonnie

I have so so many thoughts that I am struggling to form coherent sentences - but I’ll give it a go!

So we have the brown plaid - with the break up green tee. The orangey brown plaid (because it isn’t actually straight brown, it’s orange and brown in a twill weave that makes it look more brown!) with t e green orange purple and white plaid lines, obviously fits in with check theory and that meaning things are not gonna go all that well for Buck - that he’s going to get himself into a less than fun situation! It also plays into the orange and brown theming we’ve seen as an overall colour theme for the season. I wrote about the meanings of the two colours in my previous metas, and this season we have seen Buck in far more brown and orange than ever before - and the browns are nearly always orange toned. Orange can be an uplifting colour - positive, creative and enthusiastic and can suggest transformation. But it can also be superficial, impatient and insincere. Brown is a colour that is stable and reliable, representing the idea of being grounded. But it can also be seen as dull and boring, predictable and conservative, as well as being considered a symbol of loneliness, isolation and sadness.

All of these are things that apply to Buck and are things I think we’ll see at play in this scene - his loneliness over Eddie being gone - feeling isolated - especially because he’s now surrounded by couples with families and has not really got any other friends - hence the going out to find new ones as we were told in the synopsis - which plays into the idea of optimism. I do suspect that this scene will have implications and undertones of Bucks heart not really being in it and his efforts therefore being insincere and superficial, but I also think that it is about setting him up for growth - for transformation and for him becoming grounded - how exactly we get there I don’t know, but I think the tequila shots on the table are an indication of Buck getting drunk - doing something stupid that will lead to him having to actually address a few things!

The lighting is a bit interesting, so I can’t be sure if it is the same tee or if its a lighter one - that is more sagey/mossy green - I need to see more of it than we get in this still to be sure. Either way, its a green tee that is very similar to the green tee he was wearing when Tommy broke up with him, so I am fully expecting it to be playing into that in some way - especially because we’ve seen the colour green being used on Buck to really play into that theme of abandonment that so heavily runs throughout his story and one that is being heavily explored this season especially. From the brown hand towards the bottom of the picture I am also assuming Ravi is there with him - I’ve written before about Ravi being a physical manifestation/ representation of Bucks abandonment issues so this scene is likely to heavily play on this theme and really start exploring it - I’m expecting this scene to feature Buck talking to Ravi about feeling lost and alone - feeling lonely and I’m not going to lie - I’m hoping were going to start to see his feelings realisation spiral really kick into gear!

Oliver has spoken about Buck being ‘forced to face himself in a way he didn’t expect to’ and ‘to really have to look within and see what his truths really are’ and I think this outfit is a key part of setting him on that path so I very much am expecting it to be a key scene.

He’s also not wearing a watch in this still, so the concept of time and not having any is in play (I will get my watches and Buddie meta written very soon I promise!) I’m looking forward to seeing how much watch wearing outside of work we get over the next few episodes - but this scene at least is following up the goodbye in the rain scene and not having him wearing one!

There is also another plaid shirt we saw him in in a bts picture - its one of Olivers black and white ones, so it’s very hard to make a full judgement on it - as we don’t have colours to go off - it could be a black or grey shirt, or it could be blues or greens - its impossible to tell - I also have no idea where he’s wearing it - but it does appear to have a white tee underneath it (although again it could be pale pink or yellow or something so I’m not committing to it being white), so we have a second outing for check theory and buck in white shirts theory is also potentially in play. Its making me think the brown plaid from the still and this other plaid shirt from the other bts below will be interconnected in some way - that the scenes they are worn in will be part of a bigger plot point for Buck - my personal theory is that they are both about is abandonment spiral and that its about showing him really going through it and struggling with things - having him in more and more check patterning until he reaches a point where he actually has no choice but to deal with all these emotions that have been stirred up to the surface by Eddie’s departure, Maddie being kidnapped and even by Tommy dumping him etc.

Finally we have this black tee beige pants combo with white trainers and no watch at Madney’s house. Not going to lie - I’m kind of the most obsessed with this if it is a full costume choice and not Oliver half in Buck half himself - which is possible! If it is a full costume then that tee is so good and clever and add in in the context of it being worn in Madney’s house and its making me a bit giddy!

For starters - no watch -again!!! It might be an episode where we don’t see him in a watch outside of work (again there could be one on the other wrist we cant see but that’s the wrong wrist so I very much doubt it!)- and that is all kinds of telling because it will be directly connected into Eddies leaving. There is also the white trainers - white trainers on Buck means its a scene about his personal journey and not about other peoples - when he wears black shoes (or as of the last episode - grey ones!) so this will likely be a Buck centric scene rather than a Maddie or Chim one.

The black tee itself is simple and has a white logo on front and back. There are a lot of meanings to black - sophistication, mystery, power, mourning, strength, authority, depression, fear, intimidation, and my personal favourite - the hiding of vulnerabilities. It’s that last one that I think we’ll see at play in this scene - I am making the assumption it will be a scene between siblings and not between Buck and Chim (partly because the pink markers are for Jen) and whenever we get a Buck at Maddies house scene, they are generally about him and an emotional spiral of some kind tht he’s in. So I am expecting more of the same here - that it is going to be Buck trying to make sense of things he’s got going on, whilst also trying to hide his vulnerabilities from Maddie.

Then there is the logo - which is two dice - the implication is gambling - which aside from the connection to the poker game back in season 6, is also about the idea of rolling the dice and bringing fate, chance and fortune into play, that your fate or fortune can be changed on the roll of the dice. There is the symbolic meaning of dice representing a means of control - or at least the illusion of it or a pair of dice can also mean that a risk will pay off if met with bravery and optimism. With all this in mind, it seems a fair assumption that whatever it is Buck and Maddie are talking about, it will centre around Buck needing to take a risk becasue it will pay off if he can be brave, and that fate is intervening in his life and he needs to follow its lead!

All in all I am excited to see how these scenes play out - the costumes and colours used are all hinting at Buck’s spiral really kicking into gear and I think we’ll be getting to see Buck having to really look inwards and face himself and the reality of things in his life - that he’s going to have to go more than surface deep and that will and set his path for 8x12 onwards!

Hope this is informative Nonnie and that you’re as excited as I am for this episode! 💜💜💜