#9-1-1 ramblings

[cheesybadgers]

Not really sure what this is yet, so I'm going to ramble about it to try and tie some of it together and see if it makes any sense lol.

The way Buck views Eddie's house, his own place in it and what it says about their relationship has shifted over the course of the show. In the earlier seasons, Eddie's house becomes Buck's safe space. It's comfortable and easy, it's somewhere he knows he'll always be welcome and can let his guard down to the extent where he doesn't even feel like a guest in it. But of course, at that point, Buck doesn't realise he's bisexual and no one within the narrative can really insinuate anything or question the platonic nature of his and Eddie's friendship.

In 8x09, when Buck offers to sublet Eddie's house, it's specifically to allow Eddie to move out and to be with Chris in El Paso. Obviously, Buck doesn't handle any of this well for a large part of the episode and attempts to sabotage Eddie's efforts to find someone to take over the lease, before eventually accepting Eddie's and Chris' happiness is more important than his own and it's the beginning of a process of letting them go (or so he likely told himself). Eddie then drives off to Texas and Buck moves in to Eddie's old house. Problem solved....right? Right??? Wrong lol.

Eddie may not have been physically present in that house, but he was very loudly and deliberately the negative space in it, as we see play out in 8x11. And by this point of the narrative, Buck is of course bisexual, has come out to Eddie and his friends/family and has had his first relationship with a man. A man who Buck hooks up with again as a coping mechanism to deal with Eddie's absence in Eddie's former house/bedroom, and a man who, it turns out always viewed Eddie as "the competition" and goes on to question why Buck is now living in said competition's old house.

Interestingly, Buck then tries to put distance between Eddie and the house itself. He's gone from "This is Eddie's house, I'm not really a guest" in 3x11 to "This is not his house. He was a renter. And he's straight" (iconic line btw) in 8x11. But then, by the time he's talking it through with Maddie in the same episode, even though he quickly dismisses the notion, Buck is the one associating living in Eddie's house with the possibility of being in love with him.

I haven't included screencaps of the kitchen fight from 8x17 as it was more about grieving for Bobby than anything discussed here, but that argument took place in the context of both Eddie and Buck living in the same house at the same time, even if only temporarily. The domesticity of them buying groceries and that being the trigger for their conflict, the familiar way they moved around each other in the kitchen, Eddie waiting for Buck to get home to reconcile and surprise him with Chris and Pepa before they all shared food together. They were behaving like a married couple and a family unit.

Finally, we come to the montage at the end of 8x18 where we see Buck back on the hunt for somewhere to live because Eddie and Chris have decided to return to LA and to Eddie's house. Now, don't get me wrong, this made me sad too lol. But...it does kind of make sense for where we're (unfortunately still) at with Buddie at this point of their arc. "It wasn't really mine. I was subletting" makes sense from Buck's POV right now because as far as he is concerned, Eddie is straight. Buck may as well have said "He wasn't really mine", especially as he expressed to Maddie that he didn't want to be seen as "hopelessly pining" for his straight best friend and his main rebuttal against anyone questioning his feelings for Eddie has been that Eddie is heterosexual.

He was quite comfortable embracing the intimacy of him and Eddie sharing a house in some capacity back in season 3, but despite Eddie's assurance in 7x05 of "This doesn't change a thing between us", clearly things have changed (to the point where the depth and intensity of his friendship with Eddie detrimentally affected Buck's romantic relationship). And given his conversations this season with Maddie and Pepa, it looks like Buck is trying to finally accept that.

Don't get me wrong, I love the whole Buddie as roommates trope, and it's possible they still may do that if Buck can't find a place to live, but I don't think they're ready narratively-speaking to co-habit just yet. And unfortunately, a lot of how/if this plays out in season 9 depends on what the writers do with Eddie, because until they fully commit to a queer arc for his character and have the conviction to stick to it this time, I don't see what else they can do with Buck other than let him heal and grow separately for a while as per Maddie's and Pepa's advice.

[igotabadfeelingabouteverything]

I started 9-1-1 because of buddie but I watched edits and read fanfic for it before actually watching it. So I started season 1 with the Buddie lens on and was just waiting for Eddie and Maddie (I knew they showed up season 2). One thing that I don't see many people talk about is in season one (or someone did, and i just didn't see the post). Bobby says this to Buck about Abby:

"Look, all those things that you feel when you're with Abby... the closeness, intimacy, and trust... those things don't come for free. Any woman of substance and experience has lived a life, and she's gonna come with some baggage. I think your problem is you're hoping to pull her out of this trap she's in with her mom. That's not gonna happen. What she needs is for you to step inside with her, keep her company in there."

The moment he said that, I immediately clocked it as a perfect setup for Buddie (even if it's not intentional). This is Buck's first real relationship with someone he's in love with. The first big heartbreak, it's a first step to the next person. The next person to enter his life is Eddie. Despite the rough start, their relationship definitely has that "closeness, intimacy, and trust." They don't really have anyone else at the 118, and Eddie shows up in a similar boat:

-Older and has definitely been through stuff

-comes with baggage (wife who left, disabled kid, & shitty parents)

and what does Buck do? "Step inside with her, keep her company in there."

"You got a kid? I love kids." Gives Eddie a ride to pick up Chris after the earthquake. Sees Eddie struggling and introduces Carla to help. School drop off. Asked Bobby if Chris could come to the Firehouse for Eddie. "What do you need me to do?" "What you always do." Helping Eddie after his breakdown. Etc.

anyways something something buddie meant to be something something I'm not smart enough to keep going and just wanted to bring this up because I was thinking about it right now and I've seen posts about Eddie narratively being written as a woman and I agree.

I also think it's funny that Bobby is the one telling Buck this, and Bobby also basically picks Eddie for Buck.

[ifmagicexists]

something about how tommy being buck's "most transformative relationship since abby" is something that's not only stated in the show by buck himself, but also something the narrative emphasizes over and over. like. buck spent a season with abby, falling in love, and the next entire season pining after her. and its the same with tommy! a season together and now pretty much the whole of season eight pining after him, with one key difference: tommy keeps showing up. over and over, a defining trait in their relationship at this point, buck asks for him and tommy is there: buck wants his attention and tommy shows up at his door; buck asks for a second chance at a date and tommy shows up and agrees; buck throws a bachelor's party for chimney and tommy shows up despite a shift; buck asks him to be at his sister's wedding and tommy fights fires to get there; buck gets sick/cursed and tommy is there; buck wants a funeral for a long-dead outlaw and tommy is there; buck needs a diversion against the fbi and the army and tommy is there, no questions asked

and i just think there's something so beautiful about that journey for buck, going from pining after someone who's long left him behind (multiple someones, it can be said), to pining after someone who can't stay away from him. and the journey from repeatedly being told both times not to reach out and to just move on, where with abby it wouldn't have made a difference either way, with tommy its only keeping them apart longer, because tommy will show up for him; he just has to ask.

[supercalime]

I like to think that bucks stupid face covered in soot was nodding and smiling like a toddler because he was looking directly at maddie and being like “this is the hot pilot! He makes me happy!”

[apricustar]

there’s something about this finale that left a bad taste in my mouth—and the more i sit with it, the more i realize it’s part of a bigger problem that’s been running through most of the season; something i’d even argue began back in s7.

this entire season has lacked emotional resonance. we’re not shown the important moments anymore, we’re just told they happened via seeing the result of the action. and that gap? it makes everything feel flat.

take the finale’s last few seconds—mara’s adoption, athena selling her house, buck looking at a new place, eddie staying in LA, madney’s baby. these should’ve hit. they should’ve meant something. but instead, it’s a montage we’re apparently supposed to feel something about, even though the show doesn’t take the time to let its characters feel anything??

it plays like a highlight reel more than anything! it’s rushed, detached, almost careless in its delivery, like the show just wanted to check boxes instead of tell a story. the show gave us the results, not the journey. and in doing that, it robbed those moments of any real weight.

eddie’s storyline is perhaps the clearest example of this issue. it feels as though eddie has been thrown away, especially in the latter portion of this season.

we open the season with eddie dealing with chris’ absence—sort of. we get that awkward birthday facetime call, the quiet ache of trying and still receiving nothing. we see eddie throw himself into work, into structure, into being okay. we see the performance of coping. we see him attempting show up and still be a father to chris despite being 800 miles away.

and!! then we don’t really see eddie grapple with his decision to move. not directly. it’s buck who finds the listings, buck who brings it into the open. in 8b, it bubbles up into tension and into that fight—and then eddie leaves, like he was slipping out the back door of his own life. after all the build-up, we still get nothing.

no first days in texas. no private moments with chris. no reconciliation. he disappears from entire episodes. he vanishes from his own story in a way that feels disrespectful.

he returns for bobby’s funeral. and in the finale, without a single conversation, he’s suddenly staying in LA. we never see him and chris talk about his move to el paso, or the decision to come back. there’s no acknowledgment of anything that happened up to this point—no conversation to do with anything of value!!

we just get a silent reversal of everything the season built instead, like none of it happened. all the important aspects of rebuilding happened entirely offscreen!!

and it’s not just eddie. this has been happening everywhere—this slow erasure of interiority, of depth, of care. the show used to sit with its characters. it used to feel like it knew them. like it trusted us to want more than plot. but now? everyone feels thinner. quieter. like echoes of themselves. like the writers are writing around the people they used to understand.

and the result is a season—and a finale—that feels emotionally empty not because there wasn’t anything there, but because it was never given space to land. we’re watching the outcomes of conversations we never got to hear. the aftermath of moments we never saw happen. the characters don’t feel fully fleshed out anymore. the show lacks heart. it lacks nuance. it’s lost the version of itself that once knew how to feel through things instead of just announcing them. and if the characters aren’t given space to care, to process, to live in the in-between—then how are we supposed to care, either?

so when the final montage hits—when all the big life changes flash across the screen—we’re not feeling closure. we’re just feeling the distance. the hollowness of a show that used to ask us to feel with it—and now seems scared to.

[scarapanna]

ARC 3 of this AU's wilddd

For some context, I've recently started rewriting a proper timeline for Intertwined Opposites' main events. There is a total of four "ARCs/ACTs" i'll be writing down for the main story, with an ACT 0 being the prologue story and ACT 4 being an epilogue during it's ladder half

Right now with all the current animatics, time-line wise the last entry would be "Ivanushka". Which is a closer to ARC 2 and opener to ARC 3, though I'd like to touch more on the previous acts in future animatics, since I feel like what I gave yall's still too lacking in my personal opinion hsjfhd (If school and motivation don't go too hard on me hahdnsnf). There are tons of things I'd like to touch more on aughhhh (Mainly some sweet sweet character dynamics)

[thefairmaidenoffandom]

so, for all the firefighter!yuuji aus that i adore, i never see any ems!megumi, which feels like a crime

[inkstainedheartbeats]

Robin glares at Steve, a little more heat in her gaze than there normally is. They’ve managed to escape Hawkins and the Upside Down bullshit. The kids are grown and safe. College and rock stardom. She’s finally gotten Steve somewhere safe. But that safe has a caveat.

“You cannot flirt with him,” she tells him seriously.

Steve is her and she is Steve and if Steve flirts with her cousin she will puke.

“I’m not going to flirt with your cousin.”

She squints at him. Buck is exactly his type. A nerd. A dweeb. Big eyes and square shoulders perfect for holding. Well… she’s not sure about the shoulders but he’s built a bit like Eddie and Steve sang songs about his shoulders so she’s assuming. Still squinting at Steve she raises her hand and knocks.

Evan “Buck” Buckley opens the door not expecting to see his cousin Robin on the other side with a man. He knew that she was like Hen, and god she cannot wait for Hen and Karen to meet Robin, for Robin to have the community she was denied in Hawkins, so he feels no shame is flashing her friend a smile. Robin gags. And the friend? He blushes looks at Robin in panic and tries to whisper:

“Oh no, he’s hot.”

Buck has always been more into older lovers, but it probably won’t hurt-

“No! Nope. No flirting. No play flirting. I will puke. And I will puke on your shoes. Steven Marie Harrington don’t you dare.”

Steve leans into Robin’s space. Neither agreeing to the terms nor disagreeing. This is going to be fun.

[inhalftones]

i drew rator and tyler from memory (no photo ref / etc)…. i wonder if you can tell who i draw more of out of the two

[cheesybadgers]

I know a lot of parallels have already been made between Lab Rats and The Wrath of Khan, but I don't think I've seen much about the AOS Star Trek reboot films specifically in relation to season 8.

I made a post last year about a parallel I spotted in Buzzkill vs Star Trek Beyond (both involving using bees in crazy ways and reluctantly roping Eddie and Bones into situations they'd really rather not be in lol) and now we have parallels between Lab Rats and The Wrath of Khan that Tim Minear has admitted were intentional. There are also potential parallels with Star Trek Into Darkness, which was one giant homage to The Wrath of Khan, where they switched Kirk's and Spock's places in the radiation chamber so Kirk was the one who 'died', but he was quickly revived by Bones using Khan's magic healing blood.

I've always had a huge soft spot for the AOS films, mainly because of how much I love the cast and less so because of the quality of the writing (sound familiar? 😂) and one thing that struck me straight away when I first watched 9-1-1 was the similarities between Bobby and Christopher Pike. Two Captains who are also father figures and mentors to their younger team, taking one of them under their wing more so than the others due to their longstanding parental issues and need for a surrogate dad (Buck and Jim).

In Star Trek Into Darkness, Pike is killed off early in the film, which kickstarts Jim's character arc into becoming a better leader and taking his role as Captain of the Enterprise more seriously. He starts off the film believing there is no such thing as no-win scenarios and ends the film sacrificing himself to save his crew. Obviously, he survives in the end because Magic Blood, but he still got the desired character development by making the sacrifice in the first place and that was the whole point of the exercise.

So, we have Pike's death, which was permanent but it laid the path for the main characters to step up, grow and develop into roles they wouldn't have been able to had Pike remained alive and in the role of Captain. Then, we also have Kirk's fake-out death, which still served its purpose of being the catalyst for major character development of both Kirk and Spock, even though the life-or-death stakes were never that real or serious.

The purpose of this post isn't to discuss the merits of the execution in either Star Trek or 9-1-1 because both have been extremely controversial in their respective fandoms lol, but rather to acknowledge the similar mechanisms used to tell these stories. And given how much Tim Minear seems to have been watching Star Trek whilst writing season 8, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a combination of the tropes used in Star Trek Into Darkness in the remaining episodes of season 8 and beyond.

[ravewing]

what order did you guys read the wof books in? i've literally never met ANYONE who read them in order

[fluffyblue-multifandommess]

Look if the only thing you can say in response to "you're in love with your best friend" is "no, he's straight" then buddy.... I have some news for you

[ifmagicexists]

there's something so interesting about (part of) buck's relationship conflict this time being that the other person is afraid of *buck* leaving; with a character so defined by a fear of his loved ones leaving as buck, what is it like seeing that fear from the other side? even though tommy's responses are obviously entirely different to buck's (buck tries to cling while tommy chooses to run first) its a really interesting opportunity to bring buck's journey full circle and have him confront that fear from the other side.

its also a good chance, imo, to have buck confront his own potential to hurt people -- he's been hurt so much that he's never really had to sit with how he can mess up too, not since s1. we almost got there with taylor, but they blew that relationship up so quick we didn't really get to see much of buck dealing with how he fucked up. here, he's not intentionally hurting tommy and absolutely tommy is messing up too, but it still forces buck to have to be intentional about his actions and communication in a relationship in a way i think we've not really gotten to see him do much so far (what with the consistent pattern of "falling into" relationships) and i for one am hyped for it

[apricustar]

thinking about how buck believes—to some extent—that he’s manipulating people into loving him. not maliciously, but through making himself become everything: the helper, the fixer—the one who shows up. he doesn’t think love just happens—he thinks he manufactures it, forces it somehow.

but eddie has always seen through to the truth of buck—or at least, attempted to. from the start, he’s met him with clarity and honesty—cutting through performance and looking straight at the person underneath.

and, perhaps most critically, eddie has kept showing—through words, through action—that buck, just as he is, has always been enough.

[avatarofthearchives]

Being in the Magnus Archives fandom talking about the gay book and door that never met in canon while all my friends are in the 9-1-1 fandom makes me feel that one meme of the guy holding pizza walking into a house on fire.

[dreamingaboutsakuratrees]

there aren't enough 9-1-1 fics with supernatural (not the show) (or maybe the show, but I mean were creatures and stuff) elements what use the fact that Buck is from Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania, where the Appalachian Trail is.

the Appalachian Trail where, famously, a lot of supernatural and creepy shit happens.

which also happens to be like half an hour drive away from Hershey.

idk I read this one fic where it's mentioned that the reason Buck believes in ghosts and jinxes and all of that is because he's from Pennsylvania, and Eddie adds that the reason he respects those things (even if he doesn't 100% believe in them) is because he's from El Paso, and that's been stuck with me ever since.