#i also have MANY thoughts on how i would involved maddie in this storyline

[runninglikeabuckley]

my batshit season 7/8 theory is that eddie is going to end season 7 (and/or begin season 8) with amnesia. like full blown, ZERO memories of anyone, including the 118, chris and shannon, buck, his family, literally anyone. walk with me here.

i’m basically going off vibes here but in several interviews recently, ryan has referred to eddie ‘literally hitting the reset button’, exploring new territory, being isolated etc by the end of the season/start of season 8 and because this show is insane, i’m getting to the point where i’m wondering does he actually mean a literal reseat button. because eddie’s storylines this season have largely revolved around the past and his unresolved feelings about (and repression of) it. we have the christopher storyline in ep 1, the catholic guilt storyline, the kim/shannon stuff going on now. they’re making a point of bringing eddie’s past up because he hasn’t dealt with it. this man is the KING of repression.

so what if, either because of an injury on the job or sickness/stress etc, he completely loses his memory. AFTER the kim affair is revealed. so there’s this weird tension and then when amnesia!eddie is told he’s like ‘wtf is wrong with me??’ and it becomes a genuine exploration of what is wrong with him, coming from a place of curiosity because he does not understand the man whose body he is currently occupying.

i feel like you have to take eddie out of eddie for a little bit for him to fully understand himself. and if i was writing it (which i am bc i made this up) i would have him choose to go to texas. spend some time with his family, in his childhood home and genuinely figure himself out. and (bc i have to make everything a little bit about buddie) chris stays with buck. no matter what tension is there between buck and eddie after kim, chris and buck are together through this. and of course there’s a conversation about the will (bc we still have those bts pics of the diaz parents!!) and buck takes christopher, because if anything happens to eddie, that’s what is supposed to happen. and maybe that’s when the diaz parents/the 118 find out about it and they’re confused but eddie - somehow - isn’t. because he knows. and that’s why he wants/needs to go back to texas. because he knows that there are things he hasn’t let himself realise about himself, and he knows in his gut it’s not just his army PTSD or grief about shannon, that his trauma and issues go way deeper than he has let himself consider consciously. so he decides to do it for him/not-him. partly because he thinks the eddie that everyone is missing deserves to know himself and partly because he’s afraid if he gets his memories back he’ll never be brave enough to look at those parts of himself

and we get ‘eddie starts over’

because god knows he needs to

[wenellyb]

How I feel about Buddie...

You guys have been warned, this is a long post.

I've always liked 911 and was a casual viewer but never got involved in the fandom or anything. Of course I knew about Buddie, but I personally never saw it. Buck and Eddie have always acted like best friends and do stuff best friends do. I have never seen any scene that could be interpreted as romantic, except maybe for the "you want to go for the title" scene. But to me it wasn't enough to ship them, especially since it was the only scenes in their hundreds of scenes together that could be seen as romantic.

That being said, I've always thought the ship was cute, and I understand it because who doesn't like a good friends to lovers storyline?

I just never got involved in the fandom because their behavior reminded me of the Stucky and Destiel fandom, which were chaotic experiences for me. Some people just don't know how to handle non canon ships and act entitled, complain to the showrunners and harrass the cast. I've always tried to avoid fandoms like that, but wasn't against the idea of Buddie as a ship.

The 911 Lone Star crossover episode for me was the confirmation that Buck was into men. To me, it was obvious they confirmed he was into men but hadn't set up a storyline yet. So naturally I thought... if they set up a storyline it will be with Eddie. There was no doubt it my mind.

So fast forward, a few years, I wasn't really watching season 7 and then I see all the fuss from Buddie shippers I follow, and it makes me watch the sneak peek video from 7x04 and I'm like....For sure Buck is being jealous right? (it was the scene where Eddie interrupted Tommy giving Buck a tour)

So I decided to watch the episode convinced this was going to be the episode where they confirmed Buddie, but I was also very cautious because Buddie shippers had cried wolf too many times before.

So I was careful, but I was also convinced that this was it: "Buck was going to get jealous of Eddie hanging out with Tommy and then confess his feelings or the other way around".

And that's actually what was happening until the end of the episode, we saw Buck get jealous, and most of us assumed he was being jealous about Eddie.

We didn't figure out until the end of the episode that it was all about Tommy.

And that's the beauty of that episode because you think you're watching something when in fact you're watching something else and when you rewatch some scenes you understand it, and that plot twist was written so beautifully.

So we have Buck and Tommy have a heart to heart in Buck's kitchen and they kiss. And what a kiss... the kiss itself was Nice but the look Buck gave Tommy after the kiss was breathtaking.

From that moment on, I was rooting for them.

But I still had Buddie at the back of my mind because I was thinking, what if this is all temporary and they're planning to break them up to set up a buddie storyline? So I shipped it but didn't want to get my hopes up.

This feeling got bigger when I started watching 7x05 and I saw the way their first date ended. I thought... this is it, we might not see Tommy again, what a shame. But then Buck talked to Maddie about his date and confessed it was with Tommy. And Maddie asked: "so tell me about the hot pilot", and I thought this isn't how they'd talk about a character we never see again. But I didn't know for sure.

Maybe they were setting up a Buck x Eddie storyline....

I changed my mind when I saw Buck's coming out scene to Eddie, the scene was beautiful and at that point I still was thinking Buddie was a possibility. But one line made me think that Buddie wasn't happening: "I can't stop thinking about him".

No writer would put a line like that and have Oliver say it like that with that look, if they were thinking Buck and Eddie would have a romantic scene in the future. And if you do write that, you would get a jealous reaction from the other character, not a "You should call Tommy".

And then I was conforted in my feelings when the writers doubled down and had Buck invite Tommy to Maddie's wedding. Buck could have just apologized and asked Tommy on antoher date, but no, he invited him to his sister's wedding.

There has been absolutely no hint of a romantic relationship between Buck and Eddie throughout the season. There has never been a sign of jealousy from Buck or Eddie's side when they were dating Tommy, Marisol. If they had been setting up that storyline, the writers would put some hints here and there. Instead, they shared meaningful scenes like best friends do.

I never had anything againdt Buddie as a ship, I was even open to it, but all the times I thought Buddie was going to happen, it was because of the fandom, not because of something I saw in the saw...To me Buddie is and will stay a fanon ship.

TL:DR: I don't hate the ship, I find it cute but the behavior of some shippers has made me want to stay away from the fandom. And when I thought Buddie might be happening, the writers showed us they had long term plans for Bucktommy.

[4rainynite]

Cerise and Ramona should've been Cousins!!!!!

Hi, before we begin my rant this is just my opinon on how the Cerise & Ramona storyline should've been handled. I'm aware that Ever After High was a toy line to sell dolls but somethings could've been avoided. This is one of them!

I'll explain who's who in the Hood/Badwolf family, history, theories, and why Cerise and Ramona would've worked better as cousins.

Cerise Hood

Let's begin pre-Ramona introduction with Cerise Hood.

Cerise is the daughter of Red Riding (Ruby) Hood and an unknown father. Cerise spent her childhood in the Dark Forest near the outskirts of Hood Hollow where two families the Hoods and the Wolfs reside in a huge rivalry due to the 'Little Red Riding Hood' story.

When Cerise came of age she was accepted to attend Ever After High School a school dedicated in teaching the future fairy tale teens their destiny.

Despite being one of the most popular fairy tales Cerise was a loner. Raven thought during Freedom Year that Cerise would be friends with Cedar, Maddie, and her. Even though she and Cedar are roommates Cedar only knew that Cerise slept with her hood on and snores loudly. Despite Cerise's aloof nature she did interact with her future friends, but she was still a mystery to them. Cerise's peers find it strange that she wears a hood all the time and she explains it's a part of her story to wear a red hood, they accept it.

In 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' ' not only is Cerise half-wolf she's also the daughter of Bad (Breaker) Wolf.

This explains why she's so muscular, athletic, and secretive - she can't have anyone knowing about her family secret.

After Legacy Day, Cerise becomes more open, confident, and gains friendships with both Royals and Rebels. Seeing how all she had was her father and mother due to her heritage, both parents are proud she has found people she can trust. Cerise gets involved in many sports teams and managed to become MVP something she wouldn't have done before.

The only people who know/maybe know that Cerise has both her parents' destiny are:

Raven: The leader of the Rebel's and the first-person Cerise told the secret to. Cerise tells Raven the truth about her family and Raven not only the did Raven swore not to tell anyone keeps it a secret but covers up, so Cerise won't be exposed. No matter what the other is going through they will defend each other.

Maddie: In 'The Secret Diary of Raven Queen' Maddie and Raven were invited to stay at Cerise's place during spring break and Maddie reveals the Narrators told her already in 'The Unfairest of Them All'. Seeing as Maddie is a sweetheart, she kept quiet about it until Cerise told her and called her wolf ears 'silly' so no one would know the truth. Also, her dad was Ruby and Beaker's marriage officiant in Wonderland so he may have told her afterwards.

Kitty: Kitty finds out during Cerise and Carmine's run through the woods and threatens to expose the secret in front of their classmates as a joke. This is before 'Spring Unsprung' when Kitty realizes that some things are not funny! The only reason Kitty never tried to expose Cerise was because she never does the same prank twice and after Raven used a speed spell on her, not worth getting a worse punishment. Also, I think Kitty's mom was a witness to Ruby and Breaker's wedding and may have told Kitty at one point in time, Kitty thought she was messing with her.

Cedar: Cedar is cursed to tell the truth and Cerise has one of Ever After's biggest secret. You'd think being roommates would make things very awkward, and they were at first but now the two are friends! Cedar did get hints of Cerise snoring loudly, but never seen her without her hood. She knows something is up with Cerise, but doesn't ask due to her truth curse. In my fanfic ' Way to Wonderland (Rewrite)' Cedar finds but keeps quiet about it.

Dexter: Cerise and Dexter seem to be on friendly terms even when Raven isn't around. Dexter found out about Cerise's wolf ears in 'Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast' and when they returned Dexter claimed he hit his head and forgot everything. He lied to protect Cerise and keeps a close eye on her to make sure her hood doesn't accidently fall off again.

Ginger: Ginger and Cerise are childhood friends so growing up Ginger may have noticed somethings about Cerise. Ginger respects Cerise privacy and Cerise will tell her herself, and Ginger will accept her no matter what.

Hunter: Hunter is one of Cerise's friends as both are Rebels and athletic. Hunter doesn't believe the rumor going around that Cerise is his half-sister, but he is protective about her when Ramona and Mr. Badwolf are around. Like everyone else, he'll gladly accept her (and be grateful that the rumors about his dad having an affair are over with)!

Justine: In her diary Ramona texted Cerise to save Ramona. This would seem strange to Justine since at that point Cerise and Ramona weren't so close.

Rosabella: Cerise is listed as Rosabella's friends, and she probably read Cerise's aura and saw a wolf spirit inside her. At first, Rosabelle thought it was Cerise's spirit animal.

Ramona: I'll explain how Ramona found out about Cerise in her section.

The History of Badwolf & Red

In 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' Cerise shows a family photo in her locket of her, Red Riding Hood (Ruby), and Mr. Badwolf (Breaker) in human form. But, when a button on the locket is clicked it shows Breaker in mid-transformation.

I don't disapprove of Cerise carrying a locket with her family inside, but if a certain someone found it *COUGHMILTONCOUGH* that would be disastrous! Even a student like Faybelle, Duchess, Blondie (maybe not she does have standards), or Sparrow might find it and expose them.

Ruby and Breaker were students at Ever After High, with the Hoods and Wolfs rivalry this was probably the first time the two met. Breaker would hang out with The Evil Queen (Eagle), Dark Fairy (Darcy), and Candy Witch (Candy) as the bad kids. Breaker did seem to have a crush on Raven's mom before crushing on Ruby, and the Evil Queen and Ruby were roommates during Legacy Year (sophomore year) - so, you know that's kinda *cough* awkward.

In 'Class of Classics' Breaker and Ruby were partners in a school project for theatre class. At first, Ruby saw Breaker as nothing but a class clown and was worried about her grade. The two became smitten with each other and hit common ground on both their ideas for the project and started crushing on each other.

Years later Ruby and Breaker married in Wonderland by the Mad Hatter (Hatthew) as the marriage officiant with The Cheshire Cat (Catherine) and Maddie's mother as witnesses. Due to the strict rules of Ever After if Ruby and Breaker married there would've been a riot or something. After, they had Cerise and did everything to keep their marriage and daughter a secret out of fear of going off-script.

Since both Ruby and Breaker had a theatre class together if Breaker wasn't the General Villiany teacher he would've been teaching theatre. He was a class clown in his youth, but preferred to be called a performer and we saw his acting skills in 'Cerise's Picnic Panic'. But knowing how bias Headmaster Milton Grimm is he wouldn't allow it (Giles would)!

In 'Unfairest of Them All' Cerise had to reveal that Red Riding Hood and Bad Wolf are her parents to prevent both the Hoods and Wolfs from throwing Raven in the river to most likely drown. Once exposed both Hoods and Wolfs come together to - banish Cerise from Hoods Hollow. Grandma (Ruby's mother and Cerise's grandmother) holds a contest to see if Cerise stays or is banished. Long story short - Cerise wins and the Hoods and Wolfs keep Cerise's heritage a secret, but Ruby's people turned their backs on her and Breaker maybe did the same. The only people in Hood Hollow who probably still associate with them is Grandma and Woodrow Wolf (Badwolf's distant cousin).

In 'Next Top Villian', ' Cerise's Picnic Panic', and 'Class of Classics' Breaker is seen in human form which is a bad idea if you go back to the locket part above. I would've made him in his time as a student switch between human and wolf form. As he got older he spent less time in human from, when Ruby announces she pregnant and gets hired at Ever After High he stays in wolf form permanently so when Cerise attends school no one will see that they're related.

Ramona

Ramona first appear appeared 2015 in Justine's diary where it said she was Badwolf's daughter and Cerise almost called her sister. Ramona made her cartoon in the Dragon Games, Moonlight Mystery, A Big Bad Secret, and Epic Winter.

But, wait, where has she been all this time? Apparently, she in the Dark Forest Reform School.

Yeah, that -that was just wrong.

We spent years believing that Cerise would inherit both her parents' roles. Cerise even had a Cerise Wolf doll for crying out loud! All that buildup, angst, and hope for nothing!

No hate on Ramona or the EAH crews' character decision, but one character having two conflicting destinies sounded more interesting.

When Ramona was first introduced, she was tough- as- nails, rude, edgy, and sarcastic. She was looking forward to becoming the next Big Bad Wolf and showed it.

But she is also loyal to the people she cares about like when: she alerted Cerise when Justine left to stop Duchess from cheating on a dance show, pointed out flaws in Humphrey's tech, helped Justine find out why her shoes were damaged, and lightened up on her teasing with Cerise.

There was so much hype about Ramona, but sadly she never got a doll or diary (along with many other characters that have been around since chapter one, but that's another story) due to the series cancellation.

From what I can go by is she's interested in sports and will most likely join track and shield. She may have an artsy side to her due making a snow wolf and heavy makeup she wears that contrasts Cerise's natural look. There's so much we don't know about her!

If you notice in the photo Ramona isn't there. Ramona would've been besides Cerise and leaving Ramona out of the photo is just hurtful. In 'The Secret Diary of Raven Queen' Raven visited Cerise, but Ramona was spending the break with one of her friends. In 'Cerise's Picnic Panic' Ramona wasn't there for the family picnic, because she was in reform school at the time. When you get older you realize you won't be around for every family event. But, 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' came out in 2013 & 'Cerise's Picnic Panic' came out in 2014 and Ramona didn't appear until 2015 in Justine's diary and 2016 during the Dragon Games, Moonlight Mystery, A Big Bad Secret, and Epic Winter. So, take that with a grain of salt.

I believe Ramona going to reform before the Royal vs Rebel thing happened, most likely Freedom year and it had something to do with Cerise. Blondie even asked Cerise if she was responsible Ramona being sent to Dark Forest Reform School due to rumors.

How the heck does reform school work in the world of Ever After High? I mean we have Faybelle - who takes ever opportunity to be evil, yet was never sent away. Raven rebelled, Headmaster Grimm even admitted the only reason he didn't expel her was because of her story. He even threatened to expel Ginger. What the heck did Ramona do?

We never did find out if Ramona was a Royal or a Rebel but going by her gloves in the image above, she's a Rebellious Royal (if that makes any sense). But like Kitty, Poppy, and many others she's not listed in any group.

My Cousin Headcanons

Now, the moment we've been waiting for: my headcanon on why Ramona and Cerise should've been cousins. I'll explain who Ramona's parents are, the rivalry between the Hoods and Wolfs, and etc.

Like most siblings Ramona and Cerise have a rivalry due to keeping the who their parents are a secret until graduation.

In my cousins headcanon: Ramona has no clue that she and Cerise are related and picks on Cerise due to it's their destiny to be enemies. This takes place during Freedom Year so Cerise tries to brush it off, but Mr. Badwolf won't let Ramona get away with it. This confuses Ramona, why would her uncle (actually, distant cousin) being protective of the future Red Riding Hood. Time skip - Ramona is at Dark Forest Reform School before the end of Freedom Year.

Ramona returns to Ever After High School, but it's like after the first month of school to a week before Legacy Day so she can pledge with her classmates. Ramona is back to her old tricks, but Cerise has gain some confidence since she last saw her which almost startles her (almost). Ramona finds out about rumors of Raven not wanting to sign and Cerise befriending Raven Queen.

The day after Legacy Day which is called Yester Day when Headmaster Grimm makes the students talk to previous generations with similar destinies to see the importance of their stories. Ramona most likely visited Mr. Badwolf and was nowhere near Hood Hollow when Cerise revealed herself as a Hood and a Wolf.

Later, Mr. Badwolf tells Ramona the truth about Cerise being his daughter. It all makes sense now: why her uncle (distant cousin) has a 'World's Baddest Dad' mug in 'Next Top Villian' and why he defends Cerise. Not only is Ramona hurt by the betrayal that her uncle not only married a Hood but Red Riding Hood. And with the revelation of Cerise being her uncle's child Ramona realizes she may not have a destiny anymore if Cerise inherits it. Ramona stars acting out more and disrespecting Mr.Badwolf the only person in the school she ever respected and looked up to.

Ramona tries to antagonize Cerise, seeing her as weak for not letting her hood down and embracing her Wolf side. But Cerise is no longer the damsel-in-distress she was Freedom Year and can stand up to Ramona's words and paws.

One day things go so far that Mr.Badwolf sends both girls to his office. Inside Ruby, Raven, Grandma, and Woodrow are there to clear things up. Ruby, Raven, Grandma, and Cerise describe how the Hoods and Wolfs tried to throw Raven in the river, Cerise revealing her heritage to stop them, almost getting banished and the race. Woodrow and Ramona are shocked, they are aware both sides don't get along, but never have they tried to drown or banish anyone. Ramona realizes how dangerous Cerise's situation is and if Headmaster Grimm finds out it'll be even worse!

If the series continued Cerise's secret would've been revealed to everyone proving Headmaster Grimm's whole 'follow your destiny or you'll disappear forever' is a lie. Ramona will be one of many to defend Cerise if anyone tries to harm after the truth is revealed.

Once, everything settles down (or at least somewhat close) Ramona and Cerise form a friendly rivalry in sports and bond more with each other.

The reason I made Mr. Badwolf Ramona's uncle/distant cousin is because in 'Once Upon a Time' it said that Mr. Badwolf has a distant cousin named Woodrow Wolf, who owns Huff and Puff Glass Blowers and makes cups, vases, and delicate glass flowers in the same beach village Cedar Wood lives. Ramona is the daughter of Woodrow and a werewolf woman. Once, they find out about Cerise and Badwolf marrying Red Riding Hood their one of the first besides Grandma to accept them.

The reason Ramona was believed to be the next Big Bad Wolf despite not living in Hood Hollow is because she's the oldest of her cousins. There are many Wolf family members in Hood Hollow, but there might be an age gap since the Wolfs that were named: Cranky Wolf and Horribus Wolf are adults while Cry Wolf is a child.

So, in the final book/episode everyone can choose their destiny and Cerise can let her hood down and changes her name to Cerise Hood-Wolf (you can share both parents' last name if you choose), the conflict in Hood Hollow has ended, and everyone is one big happy family!

P.S. I can see Sparrow begging Cerise, Ramona, and Mr.Badwolf to turn him part wolf since he's family (distant cousin). They most likely howls enough with his music and doesn't need to be transformed and accepts that he's an honorary Wolf.

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my headcanon, I plan to do more in the future, bye!

Images from EAHWIKI & ROYALREBELWIKI

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here my friend, only mildly hung over but still severely disappointed, just coming into your inbox to share my random finale complaints that have been stockpiling.

Already been said many times but why Marisol again?? Just why??

You know what the awkwardness of the daddy talk reminded me of?? Remember in RNM 3x01 when Alex came back and told Forest "a man has needs" or some shit and we all collectively cringed away from our screens?? Its was sooo weirdly out of place and character and that's exactly what the dinner scene is. Also notably written by a former showrunner who won't stop fucking up storylines at every opportunity.

How exactly is the Chris leaving BS supposed to last more than like, 1 week tops??? When Helena (and Ramon) tried to take him 7 years ago and get their redo he was just a kid, but now he's a teenager whose been raised by Eddie Diaz. Not saying he's ready for college or to make his own housing decisions or anything 🙄, but his personality and preferences are not going to change much. He's not the moldable little kid anymore, and the moment Helena realizes that and Chris realizes that's what they wanted him for wouldn't jump on the next flight?? I know there's so much about that arc that's utter nonsense but did the writers put any thought into the characters at all??

Anyway, I probably should do my job for a few hours before I go completely off the rails, hope your own recovery is going well!!

Hey bestie! If it seems like you haven't heard from me all day, that's because I girlbossed too close to the post limit sun reblogging every petty, irritated, frustrated, what-in-the-actual-fuck-was-that post. I scheduled a bunch too do drop after the doors open on the post limit jail cells, this one among them.

I'm sitting here with my twisted peach tea, fresh off of work and a trip to the store (it was awful and full of people and only one lane open that could sell alcohol, AND they didn't have the honeycomb ice cream I specifically went there to get and try out with my earl grey tea ice cream because the universe hates me), just still so SO frustrated that once again they let KR swoop in at the last minute and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the finale. Not even anything Buddie related, just in making literally ANY storyline all season have a good narrative payoff that felt like we went somewhere. Even the most watchable part of the episode (the Mara reunion) fell flat because we didn't see Hen and Karen putting up the fight they set up with the councilwoman, and Maddie and Chim had time all season to talk about maybe having another child, or fostering to make them able to swoop in at the last minute make sense but instead it just came out of the blue! (And don't get me started on the whole "this lesbian couple can't have a kid but the straight couple runs into no issues despite Chim being involved on scene in the death of the councilwoman's son).

ANYWAY. Let's talk about your bullet points please, because I have THOUGHTS.

1/3. Marisol was literally less than useless and if they HAD to avoid an off-screen hiatus breakup (they didn't need to, no one remembered her, it would have been fine) they easily could have ditched her in 7x05 and it would have affected absolutely nothing.

IMAGINE Buck is the one taking Chris to the movies and walks in on "Shannon" and Eddie? We get some Buddie angst with them having to talk out what happened because Buck was worried before but now he's WORRIED, and we could have gotten a more heartfelt resolution with Chris by allowing Eddie and Chris to have one single conversation this whole season, and maybe deciding together to go to therapy in a couple weeks when he gets back from his pre-planned summer vacation to Texas.

Then start s8 with Chris having delayed coming back all summer, and Ramon and Helena facilitating getting him into camps and stuff so he "couldn't" come back and Eddie starting to get fed up and maybe being ready to go to Texas himself to get Chris when whatever disaster the opening is strikes. Cue Chris seeing it on the news and panicking and demanding to go home and see his dad. It would be satisfying to watch, and would tug on the heartstrings without ripping them out for no good goddamn reason and punishing Eddie so severely while also NOT actually dealing with his issues about Shannon!! *screams into pillow* If we never see or hear about her again it will be too soon. They have drug this out past the point of any purpose and it needs to be put to fucking rest, 25ft down so it can't crawl back up. Doused in holy water just in case.

It really feels like they had a plan for Buck with the whole Natalia thing fizzling out and breaking up which I actually am glad we didn't see because as this season proved, it is LONG past time to leave Buck withering away in unfulfilling relationships he don't know how he got into in the first place, but once that was gone he got the coming out bit and....nothing much else all season and even that was one episode and then a couple minutes of screentime sprinkled throuout that used those precious seconds to show us how incredibly ill-matched they are. While Eddie, who was SUPPOSED to have the coming out arc (that was maybe more in-depth and planned to ACTUALLY deal with the Shannon of it all), was also left with a "well what do we do with him now" arc. Spoiler alert, it was NOT THIS. So no, I don't think they had the time in the shortened time frame they had to put literally ANY thought into what to do with these characters.

Point 2. My friend. Not only are you EXACTLY right about the tonal issue matching that cringe AF scene from RNM, but I will raise you that, AND everything about 2x06, including fandom swooping in to claim everyone who didn't fall all over themselves about that scene being amazing was a) homophobic and b) puritanical, pearl-cultching, and uneducated. Oh! and c) just needs to learn how to fucking multi-ship and be happy with whatever is on screen because it couldn't POSSIBLY be better, and you should just accept it now. 😒😒😒

It's gonna be a loooooong fucking hiatus but here's hoping Timmy got all the Lone Star brainworms out and can not just pack a punch in the disaster opening (RIP to everyone who didn't like the cruise ship disaster, I had a great time and it was the best opening in YEARS), but can actually follow through on storylines and emotional beats all season. And maybe get more calls??? On the weewoo show?? It was always and issue on LS too which I thought was Rob Lowe syndrome an all the "Owen things firefighting is boring" stuff but maybe it's budget constraints? Yo! ABC! Give us the cash for good emergencies! And of course, they need to get Kristen the FUCK out of the writers room. Please, literally ANY cop show out there, we are literally BEGGING you to take her off our hands!

Bright side, I have been working on my Countdowns fic (I posted a little bit last week and I want to try and work on it more now that all my shows are on hiatus), and while *I* may be the worlds slowest writer, I just know the Buddie fandom is going to come through with some BANGER canon-fix-it fics. So cheers to that, and lets pray the muse smiles on me astronaut!Buck/medic!Eddie so I can actually contribute something. I'm gonna go make a flatbread spinach and artichoke pizza, watch something, literally ANYTHING else, and oggle my d20 Bad Kids dice that arrived today, my Ayda pin, and my Jawbone quote mug and not think about 911 for a little bit. (until I'm allowed out of post-limit jail and can go back to being a petty bench on main).

Take a breath, we can get through this hiatus together! At least we know we have Oliver and Ryan on our side, so let's make some Buddie content for them to send to each other to help THEM through this rough time.

[the-amber-raven]

What's your thoughts on the lawsuit arc? And why do you dislike it?

Oof.

Okay, so definitely not a secret that I dislike it.

Part of it is that it realllllly stretches my ability to suspend my disbelief. I'm generally pretty easygoing with that sort of thing in visual media (books are another story) - can deal with Chim being fine weeks after being impaled in the head with a rebar, can deal with a tsunami in LA, forgave the many implausibility's in Indiana Jones and dealt with Tony getting the plague and being fine two weeks later on NCIS to give some non-911 examples.

But the lawsuit? Just - no union involvement? No LAFD HR involvement? And a lawsuit that was resolved in a matter of weeks for that matter?

(And also it just seemed wildly OOC to have Buck's first thought be a lawsuit at all, even with the lawyer planting the idea, not to mention how Maddie reacted to it - you're telling me she had zero conflict about choosing to side with her new boyfriend instead of her brother who she's always protected?)

Yeah, so firstly just really stretching the suspension of disbelief.

But even when I try and hold onto that suspension...

My biggest bug bear about it is that the central conflict is never really resolved. And there is so much potential there! It's canonically verified that Bobby is treating Buck differently and it's because he feels overprotective towards him... which is valid! Buck has been through a lot, and Bobby has developed a different relationship with him than he has the others.

But we barely get to explore that motivation and most importantly we never got to see Bobby and Buck have a discussion about that motivation. We also never see them have a conversation about the desperation that would have led Buck to take such a drastic measure.

Bobby just decides that Buck is ready and he's ready after a full day of insisting he's not ready and... that's it. They both kinda just dismiss the feelings that resulted in it all happening in the first place.

And finally... I also really struggle with that level of awkward drama between characters in general. Like the grocery store scene made me feel genuinely uncomfortable and I fast forward through it anytime I rewatch that ep (which is rarely, because lawsuit...)

So we basically get all this drama and this really far-fetched storyline... and then it doesn't feel like it actually meant anything in the end.

(The one thing I will give it though - I think the contrast between how much Eddie and Buck struggled to support each other in Season 3 and how they learned about what each other needed so they could support each other so well in S5/6 is stunning storytelling and does somewhat redeem the debacle for me. Somewhat.)

[adarkermiserablecrow]

I finally watched 6x11, 'In another life' and boy did some writer put their whole pussy into this one.

And I have Thoughts about this which I am gonna share with the class, because I have been crying/yelling at my tv/hysterically laughing for 45 minutes now, and if my neighbours are going to hate me, the least I can do is hop on here and be annoying.

It got really long and ramble-y so I'll put it under a cut.

1. Coma Buckley family: I think it's really interesting that, in the beginning, it's implied that the buckley parents dote on evan to daniel's detriment (''oh i didnt know you remembered he had a brother") but not neglecting him like they neglected Buck irl. Daniel seems well-adjusted, implied to be a caring doctor ("maybe you should listen to your patients") but also a bit aloof, oblivious (not noticing anything weird about doug - a bit more on that later). It does seem like a picture perfect family, on its surface, with bickering siblings and family dinners, but it sets up a very important theme that runs throughout the episode: this dream life, buck being a teacher and on good terms with his parents and having his brother be alive, comes at the expense of his ability to help. First and foremost, his ability to help his sister escape, offer safe haven, because in this reality he never left PA. And later on in the episode, people insist that he has the ability to fix anything in the coma, but that was disproved at the very beginning when he tried to help maddie and failed, and failed to get daniel to help. From the get go, we see that even in here, not everything is fixable, and we're told this later on as well, when bobby says 'you cant bring me back to life in this dream'. The point here is that at the beginning we're dealing with buck who wants the happy family he never knew as a child, the neglected kid who wishes his parents would be the kind of people that they were in the dream, happy and involved in his life. But at the end, having been through the rest of the dream, it's his parents in their new shiny caring version that try to hold him back, it's his parents dragging him down. But, this is his subconscious, so in reality, it's that wish of having a happy family and the resentment towars his parents that is dragging him down, and he recognises that, and he forgives them, because thats the only way he can move on, return to life. Many people complain about the parents' redemption, and maybe ill change my mind when i watch the rest of the season, but I dont think it was a redemption for them. It was all on buck, he forgave them, he chose to move past it, and let them into his life. In the end, back in the real world, his parents still don't really listen to him, when he says his apartment is fine, he does not need a couch. Buck tells maddie he doesn't mind them. That doesnt mean they're meant to have changed, Buck is the one who changed. And, the choice to go hard on the father/son dynamic with bobby, and buck telling daniel his family is different out there, adds a layer: he doesn't really view them as his parents anymore. He doesn't get hung up on it now, but he lets go of the idea that they would ever be the doting family he needed as a child, and recognises that he found that family elsewhere. He accepts them as people in his life, and rejects them as parents. It ties into Chimney's storyline with his own father, how Chim and Buck both move toward forgiveness, and it also ties back to the sperm donor storyline and the argument between chim and buck's fathers. The point of the buckleys' 'redemption' is that buck forgives, even if he does not forget.

2. Buck's other fixes: it has been established that this all happens in buck's subconscious. The way he slowly realises the impact his life has had on others is just... The starting point is maddie and yeah I said that already, but then he finds chim and hen pretty much the same, and he assumes the only person he's ever helped is maddie. But then he finds out about bobby and eddie, and it occurs to him for the first time ever that he helped them too, got them out of a tough spot. It's not a sure thing that things would have turned out that way in buck's absence, but the point here is for him to realise that he helped, he was needed. It's particularly strong with Bobby, who appears like a little psychopathic gremlin in the dream, drinking here and there and guzzling down pills, and essentially tells buck that, in the dream, he can fix almost anything. And it all snowballs into buck realising he helped bobby, essentially by annoying him. And it's so important that at the end of the 'i made you mad and i made you laugh sometimes' speech, bobby calls that 'being buck', because it's essentially saying that buck helped bobby just by being himself. Again, this is the way buck's mind conjures it up, but it's no less important that he comes to the conclusion that being himself was enough. That he doesn't need to be someone else to help the people he loves (and to me that sentiment calls back to s4, him climbing that crane to protect everyone, and bobby saying that's who he is - not a compliment).

3. Eddie. This part may be the buddie shipper in me getting high on copium, but I think eddie's absolute absence from the dream was connected to him never stepping foot in buck's room irl, except to bring in chris. I mean, in the coma buck was with chim, irl chim is by his bedside. Coma, he's talking with bobby, irl bobby has busted out the rosary beads. It wasnt a hard rule as far as I can tell, though we know buck had some awareness of the room and the goings on, he could hear them (thats why i think the copium might play a part in this paragraph). But also, it feels so important that the people who tell buck explicitly to come back and get better are essentially proxys. Athena on behalf of bobby and Chris on behalf of eddie. And, in the coma, Eddie does not physically appear, but he is the first flash of irl buck remembers (not chim, but eddie's 'go get em') and also, of course, the last 'fix' of buck's, bringing the total of people he helped in a big way to three: maddie, bobby, and eddie. Doesnt really tell us anything about buddie, but it does reinforce the strong relationship between the characters, platonic or not. (Also, eddie 'pain is weakness' diaz crying even a single tear in public feels like a Big Thing).

4. Daniel. Honestly? The chase in the end of the episode and the subsequent argument between buck and daniel (who, yes, is also buck, but ill keep calling daniel to avoid confusion) might be one of my favourite scenes in the entire show. Maybe one of my favourite scenes in any tv show ive watched. First off, that part of buck represents essentially every self worth issue he has. It's the part of him that is the most broken, tells him he isn't needed, isn't wanted, he's spare parts that turned out defective (a sentiment buck has expressed out loud in s4 and it was the 118 reassuring him he is much more than spare parts). And all of this stems from buck's childhood, so it makes sense that it took on the appearance of daniel, since daniel was the source of it all, through no fault of his own, even long before buck knew of his existence. It's daniel's death that brings on the grief that swallows the buckleys and leads to buck's childhood being the way it was. Things would have been different had daniel survived, or so buck believes. Beyond that, daniel's ignorance of maddie's situation reflects on buck blaming himself for not seeing that his sister was suffering (which buck even says out loud in the kitchen scene in this episode). And, when the switch flips, daniel becomes buck, the part of buck that is broken and hateful not to others but to himself, buck borrows a lesson from bobby and manages to break free of his own low self worth. I dont think thats the end of that, but buck's jourmey this episode was all about realising that he is needed, so he could look in the mirror in this scene and say no, you're wrong, they don't want me gone, they care about me. And, as someone who deeply relates to having that voice in your head, and to buck in general, it's so powerful to see a character manage to overcome that. It's so powerful to see buck, textbook people pleaser that he is, realise that he's talking to himself and say 'oh you're me. I dont have to feel bad about not listening to you', and use the first real artifact of firefighting we've seen in the coma dream to break free and return to his life, his real family. And, oliver stark's acting in this scene, whew - buck being confused and emotional but still relentless in pursuing his goal, and the other buck being cold and cruel and also relentless in his insistence that he is just not worth it, not needed. Just - chef's kiss. I cant really explain how much that scene spoke to me, because it is tangled up in how much I relate to buck as a character, and thats a whole other can of worms.

5. Random things. I appreciated that the traumatic events that happened to buck over the course of the show were at least acknowledged. Given that most of the other characters (barring chim, I think) have had storylines about dealing with trauma, it's a bit glaring that buck never really did. Sadly, I think it's too late for that now, aside from if they do something with the lightning going forward. But I am glad they were mentioned, because the man went through a bombing and a tsunami within six months of each other, and it was never really talked about. The bombing led into the lawsuit plot and then was resolved, and the tsunami trauma storyline was about chris (not complaining, it's just how it was). I do wish those traumas had been explored, but I really do think we're past that point and am happy we're at least acknowledging them. (Also, the implication that the tsunami left him so deeply traumatised that it's present in his parents' coma house, supposedly a safe haven from everything real, as a ferris wheel that 'doesnt fit with anything' because trauma stands out in your mind, im-).

Another thing is the lighting, the cold, grey hues of the real hospital, versus warm colour in the coma dream which gradually gets colder the closer buck gets to waking up, and the return of warm lighting in the end, when buck wakes up in the hospital and his family is there to see him. Also, people irl dressed in drab, muted colours, vs. the characters in the dream being more vibrant, esp buck in that green sweater which btw was a gold star choice from the costume department.

Basically everyone put their whole pussy into this, from the writers to the crew to the actors, and while it's not the only time this has happened, I'm really glad it did.

The end. Pretty much. Ive probably managed to forget some things, and maybe I was Captain Obvious abour others, and wrong about some, but this episode made it right to the top of my list of favourites right away, and it'll probably keep me up tonight lmao. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, hope it made sense.

[captain-hen]

what are your thoughts on how this season is going? Overall I'm enjoying it but I have to admit I'm very letdown by the lack of any meaningful conversations between Buck and Eddie. Like I wish Buck would confide in Eddie the way he has in the past about so many things about his latest situation. It's very evident that the writers or Kristen are purposely keeping them apart, for narrative purposes or some other reason I'm not sure.

I do hope that does change going forward because I love this show but Buddie is my OTP of the show and I would like to see a lot more of them this season then the crumbs the show has given us.

How about you, what are your thoughts as we have maybe 2 or 3 episodes of the season left?

thought i'd club these two asks together, since they have the same question (first anon, i think you meant we only have 2 more episodes of 6a left?)

i'll admit that i'm missing the buddie interactions as well, but i do think it's all being done for a purpose—they're building up to something big, in my opinion, either in the midseason finale or in 6b. i think we've all been a little taken aback because the distance between buck and eddie in 5a had more obvious reasons: taylor being in the picture, and eddie's impending breakdown. right now, eddie's taken a backseat this season (though cursed very ominously hinted at something in store for him and chris), and while we all know that buck is gonna break eventually, he's not barreling towards it as fast as eddie was, nor will it probably be as intense. we don't really have any idea of how his current arc will unfold, so it's too soon to say what exactly they're trying to do with this distance.

still, i'd also like to remind you that buck and eddie aren't the only ones having less screentime—we've seen extremely little of maddie and chim (which has definitely been a surprise to me). the show's been taking the opportunity to not only explore new dynamics, but to have characters like hen at the focus, and most of the major arcs and dynamics this season have involved her in some way.

Like I wish Buck would confide in Eddie the way he has in the past about so many things about his latest situation. right, but again, we know why buck isn't doing so—he's making a bad decision and on some level he knows that, so he obviously isn't gonna talk to one of the few people who is capable of getting him to change his mind lol. the arc isn't wrapped up yet, so we can't just assume that buck is never gonna open up to eddie about it. in season 5, eddie only confided in buck when push came to shove. i can't imagine it would be any different with evan hides his true feelings from others buckley.

anyway, i guess what i'm trying to say is, we need to reserve our judgements until the end of season 6, or at the very least, the end of 6a. there's no point in getting preemptively mad until we can see the full picture—the fandom kept doing this in season 5, and looked quite foolish by the time 5b came around. if it's impossible for you to enjoy the story right now, i understand that completely, and i also advise you to take a break from the show and get caught up later. if you think that nothing can make this storyline better—well, then i suggest you drop the show altogether.

[reachgirl]

On Buddie and them potentially being aware of their feelings

So we definitely see evidence of how Eddie might feel about Buck, how he clearly loves and trusts him. He absolutely relies on Buck a lot as someone who loves Christopher, as that person you go to who cares about your kid as much as you do. And he clearly doesn’t handle not having Buck around very well during the storyline that must not be named. 

He also looks at Buck like “you’re lucky you’re pretty”, a LOT. And he’s shown to think about Buck’s wellbeing and Buck’s feelings. For a guy who’s not usually great at ~the talking~, he seems to sense that Buck needs to hear him actually *say* things like that he trusts him, out loud. For Buck, someone who’s been told that he’s reckless and impulsive, not diligent, not reliable (and to be fair to Bobby, has been all those things at times, but is desperate to change that view of himself), to be told that he’s trusted - more than anyone else - with someone’s kid? That’s huge. And Eddie knew that he needed to hear that, he also knew that he needed to feel like part of something when Buck was depressed and hanging around at home after the truck bombing. And Eddie was the one who noticed Buck wasn’t around at the station. For Eddie, the fact that they “have each other’s backs” is so important, because, and it’s insane how this is not wishful thinking on the fandom’s part, he actually tells Shannon that she doesn’t have his back. So yeah, absolutely nobody is disputing that Eddie loves Buck.

And I’ve talked about how I believe that Eddie might be bi leaning towards more into men than women (his “not my type” and aunt pepa’s reaction to buck are the foundation for this theory), and his particular combination of upbringing, experience and location really messing with him admitting that to himself (Conservative religious culture, Texas, army, getting married young because of outside expectations). But many of the scenes we get from him could - FROM THE OUTSIDE - very well just show a guy who has a lot of love and respect (and occasionally some fond exasperation) for his best friend. Possibly more, but not in that active, pining way. Not like he’s truly aware of it, yet.

But Buck? He pretty much always looks at Eddie like he’s the best thing that has happened to him, ever, and he can’t believe his luck of getting to be around this man. The smile he constantly gives him, and - in seasons 2 and 3 - only him, is the actual “I want to sleep with you smile” from season 1 Buck. I don’t make the rules.

He constantly finds ways to help him out, reads up on things he knows Eddie is interested in or things that are for some reason something Eddie is dealing with (whether it’s baseball biographies or summer camp brochures), and absolutely always looks to him for approval anytime he does something well or remotely badass. Or even when he makes a joke. It’s almost like 95% of the stuff he does, he does so that Eddie will see.

He sees himself as part of Eddie’s family to the point of not feeling like he’s a guest at their house, he has proven he would actually die for Chris, and he spends much of his free time finding ways of making Chris, the most important person in Eddie’s life, happy. He shares in both the happy and the difficult parts of raising Chris, he gets involved in school problems, and he’s there for Eddie to talk through all the little things that come up when you’re a parent. Often times, with single parents, when the other parent isn’t around, the problem is that there’s nobody else in your life who shares the same love and enthusiasm or worry you have for your child. You could talk about everything relating to them for hours, but even the best meaning friends will at some point reach the limit of how interested they are. Not so with Buck.

But unlike Eddie, Buck is also aware, to a point, of how much he’s focused on Eddie. Where Eddie’s jealousy comes across as more spur-of-the-moment, not something he’s even aware of, Buck seems like.. he’s thought about how he feels about Eddie. Others definitely have. Maddie’s comment about his “man crush” aside, even a random christmas elf (long may she live) comments on it. Hen and Karen immediately agree Buck would invite Eddie, like, Karen knows about this even. Their reaction when Buck is acting irrational over how they might get Eddie out when he’s buried alive and most likely dead already is that reaction of “Oh fuck, this will break this person” that is usually reserved for the significant other or parent. Bobby definitely reacts to Buck in relation to Eddie the way a father would, carefully weighing being amused at how obvious he’s being, and concern over not wanting him to get hurt doing something stupid trying to save Eddie, or by falling for him when it might not be reciprocated. They all know that Buck’s a little (more than) smitten with Eddie. And Buck... of course he’s going to notice how his friends and family react. I think he’s been aware of it for a while and is constantly trying to navigate and balance this. 

Of course he hasn’t told his face about balancing anything at all yet, because look at that man’s face any time he looks at Eddie, look at that scene with the medal. He absolutely can’t help it. And sometimes it’s like he wants them to pick up on it - for example, pushing Maddie on the fact that he doesn’t consider himself a guest. And that’s completely understandable, sometimes you want people to pick up on something and maybe even comment on it (because their reaction reaffirms to you that maybe you’re not crazy) while also not wanting attention on that point. People are complicated like that. And Buck may be a himbo, but he’s complicated AF.

We get Buck being really weird about Eddie and Shannon in general - right off the bat. When Shannon shows up at the station and she and Eddie talk, Buck’s in the background and overhears that they’re sleeping together. He clearly struggles with this information, (and Chim possibly notices..) then he get’s real petty about them potentially getting married again (”Maybe you can get a discount”) - and he nopes out of the situation as quickly as he can - because he doesn’t want to risk saying anything snarky.

Then Chim and Buck go christmas tree shopping, and Chim comments on how Buck can’t let Eddie’s situation with Shannon go, and it’s true, he can’t stop himself. But when Eddie asks him for advice in front of the fountain (/metaphorical water penis as I like to call it), he’s suddenly all “I didn’t think it was my business” ... ok, sure, Buck. Then he basically tells Eddie to try and make it work with Shannon. In terms of character development, in a romance, this is the part where person A wants to be with person B but doesn’t think they have a chance, so makes the choice to try and settle for being their friend, which, heartbreakingly, involves pushing them into the arms of someone else.

Also, his kind of “oversharing” of Eddie’s situation with Ana to the rest of the team is, to me, a pretty clear indicator that the topic makes him uncomfortable and he’s trying a Ross Geller-I’m making Fajitas- “let’s show everyone how very completely normal I feel about this” approach, which.. it doesn’t.. work that well. And when does this ever work, it’s super easy to see through this, and it usually just serves to draw more attention to the fact that you’re uncomfortable with whatever is being discussed.

Buck also takes everything Eddie says to heart. Like, fucking takes it and will not let go of it. Half a season after Eddie tells him that he makes everything about himself, he breaks down telling Maddie he’s worried he’s making the situation with the old firefighter about himself again. During the kitchen scene (or “The actual how-to-guide of what to do when you thought the guy you have a crush on doesn’t reciprocate but then you have a fight and he really doesn’t handle being away from you so well so you kind of might as well see where being a little more openly flirty will get you”), Buck’s clearly thought about Eddie’s words from the grocery store fight, and he’s gonna call Eddie out. And maybe do other stuff.

Looking at what the writers are actually doing, to end the season, there’s the clawing at dirt of it all, Buck falling apart when Eddie’s buried alive. Buck being in almost all of Eddie’s memories when he’s close to dying. And Maddie’s comment about not wanting to set Josh up with Buck, which is innocent enough, but why throw that in on top of all of the above, if not because maybe what we’re actually looking at is that they’re setting up a sexuality crisis for Buck, and him realizing he’s maybe into Eddie, but Eddie not actually reciprocating (yet)? And say Buck is then somehow forcefully pushed to see the truth about how he feels, maybe by, i don’t know, coming across TK and/or Carlos on a call, and one of them asking him how long him and Eddie have been together? We might get Eddie with Ana, and a very long, drawn out process of Buck realizing what’s happening and trying to leave them alone, and Eddie being really confused about why Buck’s being like that. Then we would have two options (well, more, really, but these are two I like): 1) Eddie pushing Buck on that point and demanding an explanation and Buck just coming out with it because fuck it and sorry and please let me see Chris still 2) Buck’s sexuality crisis (or not crisis, if he’s always been pan/bi, which, look, nothing I’ve seen has disproven this theory) leading to him dating a guy and Eddie getting really jealous but not actually being aware of the fact what he feels is jealousy (because he doesn’t realize how he feels about Buck, see this whole essay you just read), and Buck being the one who confronts Eddie about why he’s being such a homophobic asshole about this, and Eddie straight up kissing him because he can’t not anymore.

[buddiebeginz]

I just caught up to the current episode of 911. Jesus that ending 😭 I’m pretty sure I sat there and stared at the tv for a good five minutes afterwards in shock right along with Buck.

Okay get comfy because this is going to get long. I have a lot of thoughts on  why I think it’s more likely than ever that Buddie will become canon. I’ve seen a lot of fandom talking about why they feel the same and honestly it’s not surprising given the way that shooting scene played out. But I have some other thoughts I haven’t seen talked about yet too.

--

I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I think Buddie will happen. I want them to get together in canon and I think the show should definitely make it happen and not just because us fans want it to happen either.

Since Eddie arrived the show has continually written Buck and Eddie in a way to say to the audience there’s more going on there. So I don’t think it’s some far fetched idea that so many of us ship them or want to see them end up together. I’ve shipped many characters who I knew were never going to get together in canon but Buddie has always felt different. It’s not just wishful thinking there’s a lot of substance there provided by the writers.

Still more recently I’d kind of lost hope that Buddie was ever going to happen. Throughout season 4 I’ve been wondering if the show was working on pulling Buck and Eddie in different directions. I figured maybe they were just tired of listening to the fans yell about Buddie. I figured it’s why we had been seeing a lot more of Taylor and Ana and why we rarely see Buck and Eddie and Chris spending time together the way we used to in season 3. It had actually been bumming me out a lot because I miss that dynamic in the show.

---

Last night’s episode changed my mind on that though and not just because of the shooting. I was worried at first when I saw that Carla was meeting Ana because I wondered where this was going. Like was the show trying to solidify Ana as a more substantial part of Eddie’s life now? Were they trying to show that she was important enough to start meeting more of the people in Eddie’s life? But I realized after watching that the whole reason Ana was even included in the episode was for Eddie and Carla to have the convo they did.

Eddie and Carla talk about Carla’s dad. Carla says that she was thankful she got to spend time with him (before he died) and she was sorry she left them (Eddie and Chris) Eddie says “you were where you were supposed to be”. When Eddie says that Carla gets this look on her face like she’s considering his words and thinking about the meaning and responds with a line of questioning that gets her to asking Eddie about Ana. Mainly I think because Carla is one of the people who knows Buck and Eddie better than anyone and when Eddie said to her “you were where you were supposed to be” she was likely thinking so how come you’re not where you’re supposed to be with Buck?

Eddie and Carla talk about Chris and how Eddie had been worried about him (after what happened to Shannon) and how happy he is to have Ana around.  Carla presses Eddie about how he feels about Ana and Eddie simply says “it’s easy being with her” (aka he doesn’t have to be emotionally invested). Carla responds and says she’s glad Eddie is moving on but most importantly she tells him “just be sure that you’re following your heart and not Christopher’s”. 

The show easily could have framed this whole scene in a different way if they were planning on making Ana and Eddie into a more significant thing. Eddie could have responded and said he was following his heart being with Ana. The show could have shown Eddie watching Ana and Christopher with a sense of ease and love on his face instead he clearly looked like he was thinking about what Carla said and it was obvious he’d been running from the fact he was only with Ana for Christopher.

----

The other thing that made me feel like Buddie is much more of a certainty and the main thing I wanted to write this for since I haven’t seen anyone else really talking about it is what’s going on with the other couples and how that correlates with Buddie.

911 is obviously an ensemble show so some characters and ships will inevitably get more attention than others still there’s usually some that are the consistent main. For example Hen and Karen they’re a great couple but I wouldn’t necessarily call them a main couple of the show. To me the central canon couple of 911 is Athena and Bobby and second to them I think would be Chim and Maddie at least in season 4 where they’ve had a lot of focus given the baby storyline.

I think we’re headed towards both of these couples being on the rocks. Clearly Athena and Bobby are about to go through some stuff. I’m hoping Bobby doesn’t die but no matter what their marriage is in trouble at this moment. As for Maddie and Chim I think it’s likely that they’re headed for a postpartum depression storyline so that will probably spell some trouble for them too.

My point in all of this is if you watch the ending of the recent episode right after the argument between Athena and Bobby we saw the shooting with Buck and Eddie. In the promo for the next episode the majority of what we see is Buck and Eddie juxtaposed with what’s going on with Athena and Bobby and Chim and Maddie.

TV shows particularly drama ones like 911 ebb and flow and there’s usually some kind of balance. If you have one or more of your main couples in the middle of the worst times chances are you’ll see other couples in the best times. So while Athena and Bobby might be unraveling which hopefully is just temporary) in the midst of this shooting Buddie might be coming together or at least closer to getting there. More on that below. 👇

----

I don’t necessarily think that Buddie will just magically get together in the last episode of season 4. Part of me doesn’t even want that to happen. I think it makes much more sense for things with Buddie to happen gradually. Besides which nothing in tv ever wraps up that neat and tidy anyway. Shows like 911 thrive on drama so if Buddie is going to happen there has to be conflict involved before they get to that point.

My guess is that this shooting will push one of them to recognize their feelings for the other and he’ll want to tell the other one but something will stop him. I think it could be Buck. Like maybe while Eddie is recovering Buck talks to Taylor and finally realizes/admits his feelings for Eddie, to which she says something snarky like she knew that already. She pushes him to go tell Eddie the truth but when Buck goes to the hospital he ends up seeing Ana there and decides not to tell him. Maybe in season 5 we have to watch Buck figuring out his sexuality and dealing with his feelings for Eddie while seeing Eddie with someone else.

911 could also surprise us and it could be Eddie who realizes his feelings for Buck. We had that scene with Carla and Eddie and it’s clear that Eddie is only with Ana for Christopher. We had Carla telling Eddie to follow his heart. When you look at the symbolism of what happened during the shooting Eddie’s blood ended up all over Buck which is like a trail to this heart (albeit a morbid one) not to mention Eddie reached out for Buck when he was on the ground. So Eddie could wake up and realize the truth about his feelings for Buck and want to tell him but be afraid to loose his best friend. Or maybe Eddie is afraid to change anything now that Christopher seems happy again finally.

There could also just be a scene with them in the hospital or maybe Buck comes to stay with Eddie and Christopher to help take care of Eddie and and  it’s clear the atmosphere has changed between them. Like we don’t get anything super serious yet but there’s something more there and they both feel it but aren’t acting on it yet. Maybe Buck tells Eddie how he felt when he saw him get shot maybe Eddie tells him he reached for him. Maybe they both realize they couldn’t bare to loose the other.

Everything that’s happened thus far with Buck and Eddie feels like it’s leading towards something. It definitely feels like something is going to change with them heading into season 5. I feel like they’re going to leave us on some kind of cliffhanger and then drag out whatever happens next season. Which makes sense as it incentives more people to watch. But I’m more optimistic than ever that Buddie will happen now.

---

I do agree with what others have said that there’s no place really for the writers to go now than to put Buck and Eddie together even if it doesn’t happen immediately. The shooting scene was completely framed like Buck watched the man he loved get shot and they were even wearing complimenting colors which is something I’ve seen done often in movies and tv for lovers. They were staring at each other and reaching out. I mean how do you explain that if it doesn’t lead anywhere?

Not to mention the whole thing was done in slow motion and the scene didn’t focus on anyone else besides Eddie and Buck for a few minutes. It even had an almost a freeze frame with the two staring at each other across the street and since there was blood and the ambulance the whole scene was lit up bright red. And apart from everything else red is pretty much universally known as the color for love.

One other thing I forgot to add was that the convo with Eddie and Carla happened in an episode called Suspicion where people are keeping things from the people they love. The mother keeping things from her bridezilla daughter, Bobby and Athena keeping things from each other, Maddie keeping her depression from Chimney, Hen’s mom keeping how sick she was from Hen.

Why would 911 choose this episode in particular to feature all this important Buddie stuff? That important convo with Carla and Eddie where Carla basically tells Eddie she knows he’s not following his heart. That crazy intense moment with the shooting where Buck and Eddie are just staring at each other like soulmates having to watch the person they love die.

Maybe because both Buck and Eddie have things they’re hiding? Things they’re hiding from themselves and things they’re keeping from the person they love the most. Each other.

[inawickedlittletown]

The Blackout Arc - 9-1-1 Thoughts/Meta

I love the 9-1-1 structure of starting seasons with a big emergency/disaster and I didn’t want to write anything up until the whole arc was complete. I think they had a lot up in the air from the get go and that for the first two episodes the storylines were split in a way that gave nuance to the pace of the story and that allowed us to reconnect with all of the characters and everything they’ve been going through. They were well balanced so that even when some part of the story fell flat or wasn’t as interesting other parts picked it up. The blackout made for a good background for these three episodes, but I do think that by the third episode it doesn’t much matter that the lights are out. 

We got a focus on Eddie in these three episodes. I found using panic attacks to introduce Eddie’s concern about his relationship with Ana fascinating because out of all the characters, Eddie is not the one that we would ever expect to panic and yet he does and it isn’t about the numerous things he’s been through. It brings us back to the root of all of Eddie’s difficulties. After all, it was the loss of Shannon that once put him onto street fighting. For Eddie who was in the Army, situations where he could get injured or where he does get injured do not phase him, but the emotional things (for someone as repressed as him) that’s where he can’t handle it. 

The Ana/Eddie relationship has always been portrayed in a way that didn’t endear it to the viewer. Not enough interaction between them, them moving too fast, and Christopher’s involvement. Last season Eddie was already told by Carla that it shouldn’t all be about Chris. And I think that was the moment when Eddie started to really realize that his feelings for Ana were not as strong. But as for Ana, she was jumping right on in and look I didn’t like her because her character just wasn’t developed at all, but I think what the writers did manage to nail was her emotional investment both with Christopher and with Eddie and yet we also see that she’s smart and she can tell that Eddie isn’t all in. 

I loved the focus that this also placed on Buck while Buck is trying to figure out what happened to Eddie. Their conversations have been so vital and important and I think Eddie needed Buck to say it for him to realize that things couldn’t keep going the way they were between him and Ana. Not just because Eddie is having so many issues with it, but because to continue it on would make it so much harder on everyone involved. Ana and Christopher included.  

The other large storyline is of course Athena’s. And it is the weakest. The least interesting, and the most infuriating. The problem is that it works so hard to make cops the good guys. And as fun as it is to watch Athena be the boss ass bitch that she is, it rubs the wrong way all throughout 5.01 and 5.02. By the time that we arrive at 5.03 it’s already tiring and made worse by having most of the episode be dedicated to finishing that up. Using the autonomous zone and having Athena pretend to not be a cop to get in is all kinds of wrong too especially since this is all painted in a way that makes her actions alright because her son was kidnapped. On top of that there are parts of this storyline that are flimsy and hand-wavy such as a detective being missing for four days before anyone realized. 

The third thing that comes into focus is Maddie and her postpartum depression. It plays a smaller role in the three episodes and yet every moment is heartbreaking. And it is just such a powerful and important arc because postpartum depression is real and it isn’t easy to handle and we’ve seen Maddie in the depths of that from the start of the season. How inefficient she feels as a mother and how tired she feels as a person is so palpable and while I was surprised at her decision to leave, I completely understand. She is not fully mentally there to make good choices and yet her choice is an act of love. Love for herself. Love for her baby. In her head she doesn’t believe that she is the best thing for Jee-Yun because of what happened with the tub and how out of it she is, and maybe she’s right in thinking that in her mental state she might make a fatal mistake. I cannot fault her for taking that step back for those reasons. And I hope she’s going somewhere to get help and get better and that when she returns Chim won’t be too hard on her despite how much this has hurt him. We have to remember that Maddie has had such a traumatic life from the way she was raised to her relationship with Doug and everything that came of that and who knows how much of that plays into her depression. 

I want to lastly touch on Buck and Taylor. We didn’t see much of them together, which I guess makes sense because they’re both busy with their jobs, but in the one scene where they are together Taylor’s mind is not there with Buck. When Buck finally goes home once the blackout is over, he arrives to an empty apartment and Taylor is on his screen instead of with him. I just wonder at the investment that both Buck and Taylor are putting into it, if any. 

Overall I really enjoyed the three episode arc. The blackout was a setting that worked really well both as a metaphor and as a way to make things more interesting for everyone involved. It forced all of the 118 to stay at the station, and it made the few calls we saw them go on all that more interesting. I do think there was too much focus on the rapist and Athena but I’m also glad to be past that as the season continues although I’m sure we might see Harry, Athena, and possibly even Bobby dealing with some trauma of that in the aftermath.

[stormyoceansmain]

Since you’re about to start Lonestar soon, here’s my essay on the whole screen-time balancing issue:

So, for the original 9-1-1, the show was created specifically for Angela Bassett. They wanted to do an entire show around her, and they came up with this whole first responders thing as a result. Obviously, if they were going to focus on all aspects of first responding, then they would need some other headlining actors to lead those other areas or nobody would care about any parts of the show besides Athena’s. They got Peter Krauss and Connie Britton. Both big names. This makes it where when cop stuff is being shown, we have a big name, when firefighter/EMS stuff is being show, we have a big name, and when dispatcher stuff is being shown, we have a big name. It evenly divides the interest in all three directions. Then, Connie Britton leaves, and amazingly and very wisely, rather than replacing her with a lesser-known actress or just stopping the dispatcher scenes altogether, they snag JLH for the role. And I know there are many people out there who only started watching the show due to being a fan of her. She’s a headliner, and that’s what headliners do: pull in more audience. Anyway, this works perfectly to maintain that balance of the three areas. Now, I honestly don’t think the writers were expecting Buck to be as much of a fan-favorite as he is because now when we’re looking at the firehouse, the focus is usually more on him rather than Bobby, especially now that Bathena is a thing and a lot of their scenes are together outside of work. Regardless, the point is that they set things up really well to have that initial balance of characters in the beginning, and they did a good job of maintaining that by bringing in JLH. This foundation starts to wobble a bit with the more characters they add to the cast, the harder it gets to give everyone proper focus, and this is the main reason I’m so opposed to them giving Taylor a bunch of screen time. Anyway, it was a spectacular formula. You’d think they would try to repeat it with the spin-off, right?

Well, they tried…. I guess? Rob Lowe was obviously the centerpiece to frame the show around just like Angela Bassett had been, but he’s definitely not suited to play the role of a cop, and he has a very small handful of similarities with Bobby I guess so let’s make him the fire Captain. Okay there’s our first headliner. We need two more if we’re gonna show police and dispatch, right?

Eh, let’s just get one more, not two. They get Liv Tyler. So she’s gonna be a police officer? No. A dispatcher (which I personally would have loved)? Nope. See, the thing is, in Texas, EMS is a separate crew from firefighters. Unlike in LA where all firefighters are required to be EMTs at the bare minimum and most are also trained paramedics because they make better pay. In Texas the two are separate entities that just happen to share a fire station. So, let’s make Liv Tyler the paramedic captain. And then we’ll cast two little-known actors to play the only named cop and the only named dispatcher.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Carlos and Grace. Their actors are incredible, and when they actually get screen-time, they’re the stars of the show. But the problem is that they’re not headliners. Why would the writers give them much screen-time when it’s Rob Lowe and Liv Tyler’s big names that are pulling in the viewers. So, the focus of the show is almost entirely on the firehouse. To make matters worse, even the other firefighters have a hard time finding any attention in the midst of a Rob Lowe show.

In seasons one (I promise this won’t be spoiler-y), Carlos the sole police officer is best friends with Liv Tyler’s character and so this is the main way they bring him into the story when he’s not responding to police calls or interacting with TK as a love interest. Grace is of course married to the firefighter Judd, so that’s how she is more involved in the plot. Unfortunately, Liv leaves after season 1. Gina Torres comes in as the new paramedic captain, but this presents a huge problem for Carlos in season 2. Now, his only connection to the main story is TK. Gina’s character is best friends with Grace, so that gives Grace some better screen-time, but Carlos is virtually diminished to a love interest rather than an interesting first-responder character in his own right. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see. I honestly wish they would have brought in another big name to be Carlos’ partner on the job, and then added a secondary dispatcher character with a compelling personality similar to how they added Josh in season 2 of the original show. Anyway, I truly love all the characters on Lonestar (except Rob Lowe and his ex-wife that shows up in season 2), but the writers make it hard to care much about them with the minuscule crumbs they give us outside of anything that is Rob’s giant ego.

I know this is super long, and I’m sorry, but I’ve been ruminating on all these thoughts since season 1 of Lonestar first aired. Anyway, still excited to hear your takes on everything once you get the chance to watch it.

hi, anon!!!! first of all, sorry for the late reply, it took me a while to gather my thoughts and put them down properly, but more importantly thank you so much for remembering to send me this!!! it was a really interesting read, especially for someone like me who 1) has no idea how things in the USA work, and 2) still doesn't know much about how the show came to be

i've never really thought about it, but as far as marketing strategies go, it does actually make a lot of sense to have one big name for each area of first responding to attract the general public and make them interest in all the different storylines, so the moment they decided to bring in only 2 big names for lone star, and not 3, this could definitely have been a factor in the decision of making lone star more rob lowe centric, at least at first (if you have a well known actor in your show, it does kinda feel natural to make him the center of the story)

however, i feel like this choice can be understandable only for the first season, when the viewers don't know the other actors yet, and you can use the big name to make people interested in the show and slowly introduce all the characters so the viewers get invested in them too, slowly giving them more space and screen time

this is why i think the og series did a great job by bringing in JLH, not only because she is JLH, but because they gave maddie a lot of connections (she is buck's sister, she is chimney's love interest) and thanks to her we got to actually see more of the dispatchers and learn to care about other characters (josh, sue, etc.), to the point that now, even if for some reason you took maddie out of the show, the characters she have connections with would still work perfectly fine and have their own story to tell without her

so it's kinda upsetting to me to learn that with liv tyler's character gone, carlos has been pretty much reduced only to love interest, because it means that they didn't really take the time to give him a story of his own, and it sucks, especially when in the original ALL THE CHARACTERS get their moment to shine

okay, sorry, this is getting super long and idk if im making sense, the point is that i do agree with you on the big names, though i also feel like for some reason in lone star there's a reticence to give focus to other characters and after 2 seasons it can't be just 'they don't attract viewers', but of course i can't really give a proper opinion on this until i watch lone star myself, so.. sorry again for the long and messy reply ;;;;;;;;

[fuckitup-in-style]

JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS!

Hey guys, so I just finished watching JATP and I am absolutely obsessed with it! The songs, the characters, the plot - it’s just beautiful how the creators have brought to life this light, whimsical but also very heartfelt and warm show and I am so glad to see the wonderful reception from the fandom here on Tumblr and other social media outlets because the more reception, the more likely the show will come back for season 2 - which, I think we can all agree is something we all want to see (OH, and the TOURRRR)

But I couldn’t help but notice that there is some budding tension in the fandom concerning the controversy over shipping the characters Julie Molina and Luke Patterson, which I have noticed makes a lot of people uncomfortable (and I understand).

But I got some red flags when I saw words like predatory and sickening were labelled to the ship, and specifically to Luke as a character (and the casting team). I also noticed people attacking others for shipping Luke and Julie and I felt like I needed to say something.

So, as you probably can tell, I ship Juke or Jukebox as some people have started to call them (which I think is really cute). I only ship Juke, I do not under any circumstances ship the actors because 1) I dont ship actors as a principal because too many times have actors and the relationships they have held with others in their life been damaged because of people taking the chemistry they demonstrate with their onscreen relationship out of context 2) Maddy is underaged and I don’t ship child actors at all especially with 3) their co-actors, especially if they’re over 18 like Charlie is because 4) they have a very controversial age gap.

Now that I have gotten that out of the road, I was to explain why I ship Juke - and I can’t believe I feel so anxious about defending myself for wanting to see the relationship/friendship explored with Julie and Luke over the seasons but I understand. 

1. The characters themselves are 2 years apart. It’s an interracial relationship and I love the representation with Juke as well as with Willex. Maddy has promoted and publicly shipped the idea of Julie and Luke as a couple on social media and I think that if she was okay with it, than it shouldn’t be a problem (we’re the same age and i could see how, as a actress who would have the emotional and mental capacity to consent to acting out romantic scenes, it would be ok - keep in mind, it is a G-PG teens show so it would be limited to kissing. Wishing for anything beyond that to be presented as canon is wrong and I can admit that without any shame or regret). Julie canonically has a crush on Luke and Luke has canonically confirmed strong feelings/ chemistry with and for Julie. I love seeing this demonstrated when they are singing, songwritng, performing and dancing and even during really soft or playful moments like Unsaid Emily and Edge of Great and would like to see more of these really powerful moments between the two characters as the show progresses.

2. Be that as it may, I don’t want the characters to get together in the second season. I still believe that this show is primarily about Julie and the Phantoms, a band of friends consisting of a girl rediscovering her love and passion for music and continuing to do what she loves in her mom’s memory and three boys who died before they could make their dreams come true. The Orpheum was their first step to becoming legends and I don’t believe that’s over yet.

3. I also love the idea that Charlie and Maddy both have implied that they want Luke and Julie to build a strong, formidable friendship in the show before they even consider acting on any romantic notions and I support this and would look forward to seeing it! It would be great to see how their friendship, and she friendship she has with Alex and Reggie, grows and evolves over the show. Some people might argue that this will be boring and would slow the seemingly fast progress of the bond that has been shaped but I don’t think so.

There is so many subplots for the show to explore based off of what the show creators gave us in season 1:

- The obvious, Caleb possessing Nick. I have seen the Juke shippers jump right onto this one and saying how Caleb (as Nick) trying to get closer and make moves on Julie would make Luke jealous but I think we have seen a bit of that already from when Luke first interacted (kinda) with Nick when he and Julie were talking by the lockers. I think that the Caleb subplot would not only be a good idea to show how Luke will be conflicted with how he feels about it, but it would also show how Julie might be conflicted with her own feelings if she sees Nick presenting a different attitude. As to Caleb’s true motives, this presents the opportunity for some advenutre kind tropes where Julie and the Phantoms have to stop Caleb and save Nick from possession. Both Caleb and Nick have demonstrated an affintiy for performing (Nick with guitar and Caleb with singing) so that will be interesting to see. Also Willie is still under Caleb’s thumb so that will cause some angst and tension between himself and Alex.

- Willie and Alex’s relationship has a chance to develop. The last time they saw each other, Willie thought that Alex was crossing over so I think it will be super cute to see their reunion. (Boo Boo Stewart is a cutie) so I’m interested in seeing him and the Phantoms interact. Also - I kind of want to see him and Julie meet. I want to see if Julie’s ability to see ghosts extends to all ghosts or just the boys (this can relate back to the Phantoms connection to her mother and that can be explored).

- I want Reggie and Alex’s backgrounds to be developed and explored with music and with their friends. They didnt get much bonding moments with her and I want to see their friendship with Julie grow like Julie and Alex talking about relationships and Willie and Julie and Reggie talking about how he sees Ray as a father figure and how this might relate back to his own family history. 

- Carlos knows about the boys being ghosts and I want to see how that will play into everything. I know that Reggie has shown to be playful and indulgent in his ‘Ghost Hunting’ hobby so maybe they can have some fun playing pranks on Aunt Victoria. 

- I want to see Flynn’s character become more involved in the Phantoms and helping Julie reach her dreams but I also want Flynn’s dreams to be introduced and to be explored because she is such a fun and relatable character - and her and Julie’s friendship is pure - and she deserves to have a storyline independent of that or dominant and explored.

- I want more flashbacks too of Carrie and Julie’s friendship, of the boys when they were still alive, of Julie’s mom and how her connection with Sunset Curve was forged. I just think that would be super cool to see.

- Bobby has now seen the boys perform with Julie, finally achieving their dream performance at the Orpheum so I wonder how that will go on. I want to see the boys confront him and I want to see like some real shit going down on why and how he could cheat them out of their music. They were his friends and they died and he stole their dreams, their musics, their very souls laid bare on paper and I feel like that’s some good angst.

- Like I said before, it’s a show about Julie and the Phantoms and they want to make it big. After the Orpheum, it will be interesting to see them go on to play at other venues, tackle getting involved in the music industry and making more songs. I WANT MORE SONGSSS BRUH.

- Guys, if Julie and the Phantoms are going to become stars sometime in the show, they’ll be pretty famous. Like maybe they’re going to be on TV and they’re supposed to be dead and what happens if Luke’s parents see him like Bobby did? WHat will ahppen then?!

- As for romantic relationships (besides Juke and Willex) I want to see Reggie have a love interest or maybe even come out as Bi. That would be so cool! As a fellow bisexual, I think that would demonstrate a lot of representation to not only have a openly gay character (maybe two bec Willie’s sexuality hasn’t been confirmed yet but fingers crossed) but also a bi character. Maybe another ghost ? I want to see more ghosttss.

As for how I want Julie and Luke’s relationships to be explored:

- MORE MUSICCCCCC (because I feel the safetest bet right now considering, I feel everyone agrees that their music chemistry is A+ and gives their performances some fire😉)

- Some shenanagins with them and the rest of the Phantoms (+ Flynn) like them being actual teenagers (the boys were 17 when they died and I think that’s pretty sad as a 17 year old) and showing up at school and Alex dancing with Carrie when she throws Dirty Candy performances. I think it would be funny if the two of them ever met.

- Luke making fun of Nick (jealoussyyy) and him and Julie bickering like they always do. Maybe Flynn and the boys making fun of them both. Flynn will definently want to protect her friend after seeing what a wreck she was before the performance when she thought the boys might have crossed over or gotten destroyed by Caleb’s curse, so she might convince Julie to keep her distance like in ‘Edge of Great’. Alex and Reggie will make fun of Luke def. No questions. It’s what they do best but they love each other.

- Guys, they can’t just ignore Perfect Harmony like - come on. Like, if Luke goes snooping inside Julie’s dream box (because, let’s face it, it’s sitting right there and it’s full of LYRICS people and he loves MUSIC and he loves JULIE’S MUSIC and - yeah, come on.) I also think it would be funny to see more of Julie saying Luke’s name by accident or daydreaming because I thought - ACTUAL TEENAGE GIRL REPRESENTATION!

- More fighting because her and Luke have such strong, dominant personalities and I can see them clashing in the future over the direction they want the band to go in and, more or less, petty teenage stuff.

- Possibly being more diverse with their style of music like in Perfect Harmony and Unsaid Emily. Maybe exploring some really deep and emotional lyrics and changing it up with their performance (although, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE THAT BIT WHERE JULIE DOES THAT HIGH NOTE AT THE START OF THE SONG AND THAN THE BOYS JUST ROCK IN LIKE LEGENDS AND - ) but yeah, I want to cry again like I did in Unsaid Emily so. 

Anyway, feel free to add what you guys most look forward to but the whole point of this was I want this fandom to be a fun, free and safe environment. So don’t ship actors, I don’t support sexualizing child actors and don’t expect Luke or Julie’s relationship to go past the soft, chaste, fluffy kisses you see at 16/17 because it is a kids show and once again because Maddy is underage and her and Charlie’s age gap is controversial. But shipping Juke isn’t predatory because Luke isn’t a predator, the character is 17, 1-2 years older than Julie. It’s a kids show and it’s very tender, very pure and very sweet. We have seen nothing to contradict this so don’t make it something it’s not.

Anyway that’s my two cents so don’t @ me to yell at me, okay?

[productiongroupf]

Film Shoot - Persona Imitation

“Our week 4 production was entirely different to anything we had shot before. We were given the task of recreating a scene from the Swedish psychological drama film, Persona (1966). The first time we watched the scene as a group we were all pretty confused as it was quite abstract and because the dialogue was in Swedish none of us could understand it without subtitles, and even with subtitles the scene was still nothing like any of us had seen before.

 To set our production apart from the others we decided to change the language spoken to Danish as group member Zoe had some experience in speaking the language and her boyfriend Rasmus, who was on set helped out with translations. Maddie, our scriptwriter also rewrote the script so that it was a little easier to understand and after we uploaded the film to YouTube we added captions in English so that anyone could read along and interpret. 

My role this week was sound and director, although on the directing side of things there wasn’t entirely too much I could do as both actors could see exactly how they were supposed to be positioned just by watching the original scene. In regards to sound it didn't prove to be too difficult as we were shooting inside and in post production we were all happy with how clear and loud the voices came out due to the fact it was easy to position the mic close to the actors due to how the shots were set up.

Something new this week that we hadn't experienced before was using lighting, we had two different lights which we had to manipulate in order to recreate the scene shot by shot, although using the lights was challenging as none of us had used them before I think that we managed to work quite well and I think as a group we were on the most part happy with how well the lighting in our production matched the lighting in the original film. One issue we had to face this week as well was the setting, the original scene is set in a dark room with no windows or lighting besides artificial, and finding a room like this proved to be rather difficult. We ended up shooting in a kitchen in fferm penglais, using wrapping paper to cover up the windows, which did prove to be quite effective. 

The biggest difficulty that I think we faced was setting up the composition of each shot, there were certain shots where a character had to walk into frame which proved to be particularly difficult, making sure that both actors were visible under the lighting demonstrated to be challenging and I think that during editing we found that a few of the shots we took were too dark and although we tried to fix this during post production, we couldn’t raise the brightness too much as it would ruin the shot entirely. 

The feedback we received from this film our group was particularly pleased with, the amount of effort we put into it was clearly seen and it was clear that we demonstrated an understanding of how to use the lighting equipment. Overall I think we were all pleased with how the week went and although there could have been improvements we were happy with the progress we had made from the previous week. ”

— Week 4 Blog post, Leah (Sound/Director)

“During this week of the module I was assigned the role of scriptwriter, this was a role I was particularly nervous about as I had little experience in this field. In order to gain confidence I read over my notes on scriptwriting from the previous semester to consolidate the structure and format meaning all I had to think about was the story we would be telling. The theme of week 4 was imitation and we were required to imitate a scene from 1966 film Persona (directed by Ingmar Bergman). As a group we found the story difficult to follow and because of this decided that we should rework the monologue for ease, allowing the actors to perform to their best ability and making the film more engaging for the audience. The way we did this was to bring the story and scene into a modern day setting where a sister is informing the other about the terminal illness of their mother. Another reason why we changed the storyline in order to allow modern day clothing which removed potential problems from the shoot meaning we could focus our attention on the cinematic aspects of the film. Although we changed the plot of the film, I was keen to still imitate the script element of the clip. To do this I followed the film clip closely to ensure that the rhythm of the film would remain the same, thus making it easier for the actors, cinematographer and throughout the edit.  To do this I matched the script line for line so that my script contained only 24 lines, exactly like the original. I also ensured that the lines of the script remained coherent with the actions of the actors as the director was keen to imitate the movements of the actors from the clip. In addition to this, I wanted to keep the general feel of the film the same. Because of this I wrote the script with more of a poetic sense rather than a basic prose structure. This meant that the film was able to keep arthouse undertones and still feel closely linked with the original film. Furthermore, an element of Persona we were keen to imitate was the use of foreign language. Sadly no one within our group was able to speak Swedish but our cinematographer was fluent in Danish. As I do not speak Danish, I wrote the script in English and then it was translated into Danish. After the translation I went through the new script to ensure that the rhythm was maintained. While on set I found it important to have copies of both the English and Danish versions of the script to hand. This meant that it was much easier for the director to communicate her thoughts to the cast and crew as all members knew the exact section of script we were shooting. It was also much easier for the actors as both knew exactly what was being said so their acting was able to respond more realistically.”

— Week 4 Blog post, Maddie (Scriptwriter/Cinematographer)

“For this week I was supposed to be the cinematographer but very quickly I became the actor and director. We were set the task of recreating a scene from a film called ‘Persona’, and as a recreation making a shotlist was very straight forward. We decided to adjust the story and dialogue in order to create our own spin on the scene, but we still aimed to replicate the shots as accurately as possible. We also kept the aspect of language the same, sticking to a Scandinavian language, Danish as opposed to the original Swedish used in the original scene. We wanted a small, blank room with a table and therefore, ideally, we wanted to use a room in the library. However there were no rooms available for the Monday, which meant that we were at a loss as to where we would shoot this week’s film. We then decided to use the same flat as we had used last week and figured out how to block the large windows in the kitchen to get the lighting setup to work. This involved some rolls of wrapping paper on the windows to block out light and set of curtains and a curtain pole, and the result was rather good in terms of blocking out light and creating a backdrop for the shoot. This week was going to be a struggle with just the 3 of us, but thankfully we were able to get help from some friends. They helped with acting and by taking pictures for the blog and acting as an extra pair of hands whenever needed. I was supposed to be cinematographer but as I was acting for most of the shoot this was just not possible. Maddie took over with the cinematography and I was grateful that she did. It was a challenge act the part in Danish but I think it was worth it, however my pronunciation and wording was off at times and that was mainly down to not being used to acting, and thinking too much about what I was about to say with English grammar in mind. Although I don’t think this impacts the film too much as not many people who see it will be aware of the mistakes that were made in the dialogue. Mistakes, such as the script being in shot at one point, and mistakes in lighting position are much more noticeable I believe. It was interesting to have the chance to experiment with lighting, but it was difficult to figure out how to create such harsh contrasts. We did find that in editing it was easy to alter, and perhaps our film ended up looking a bit too dark. However, I believe that it looks too dark because we needed to pay more attention to the placement of the lights while shooting, rather than changing it in the editing room. This does come back to the problem where we didn’t have enough control over the shoot as everyone who may have known how to adjust the lights correctly was already preoccupied with their task at hand. This time we paid more attention to the audio, the background track, and extra dialogue for dubbing, all of which gave us extra flexibility when it came to edit. Unfortunately, at the midway point we encountered disruptive outside noise just as we got to the heavy dialogue part and therefore had to change the shot list order to accommodate the disturbance. It was very challenging to replicate a scene shot by shot as there is less room for personalisation however I enjoyed the challenge. I believe we made a good attempt to mimic this scene from Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Persona’ and I am very happy with the result, despite some of its flaws.” 

— Week 4 Blog post, Zoë (Actor/Cinematographer)

And here is the short film: Persona

[graceivers]

Review #31 - Kissing Madeline

Kissing Madeline Author: Lex Martin Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Rating: ★★★★ Recommendation: give it a shot; once was enough Summary: After catching her ex-boyfriend cheating on her, Maddie McDermott decides to focus on her career in journalism and newscasting instead of jumping into another relationship. But when her latest assignment involves interviewing Daren Sloan, a popular and upcoming quarterback sensation who also happens to be her next-door neighbor, can she really resist the temptation?

Female Lead: I really liked Maddie for the most part. In the beginning, I was completely in her corner. She’s young, lost the only parent she really had, is working so hard to build a legitimate and serious career and reputation as a journalist/news reporter. And, oh yeah, she caught her ex-boyfriend cheating on her. Despite what seems to be a lot of obstacles in her way, she makes things work. She understands that sacrifices have to be made, that she unfortunately has to cover storylines that are little more than meaningless fluff pieces like the whole football 101 thing she does with Daren. Maddie isn’t adverse to hard work and has patience. Those are excellent qualities.

When it came to her relationship with Daren, though, I was a little less enthusiastic about Maddie’s character. It is absolutely okay for a girl to get wrapped up in a budding relationship with a guy, that’s not my problem. What I had a slight issue with is the fact that Maddie’s relationship with Daren put her career in danger, and yet she took that risk. Do I believe Daren was super hot and sweet and irresistible? Yeah, sure. But Martin established Maddie as someone who took the news and her job super seriously. Her closet is full of business suits, for goodness sake. Everything about this girl screams professional, but then when it came to Daren, all that went away. It was a little disappointing. (That’s also why I classified this as a forbidden romance given that both of them acknowledged that they shouldn’t be in a relationship when he was basically her news story.) Moreover, her reaction to her speculation that Daren might be cheating on her? Part of me feels for her because she’s been burned once. But honestly, the way she acted without even asking Daren for the truth was a little unbelievable to me, especially for a girl who didn’t want anything serious (though she was obviously falling in love with him) and would seemingly have no problem confronting people otherwise. I did love her relationship with Daren, honestly. And thank you, Martin, for having Maddie realize the error in her ways, but those slips of character inconsistency were unfortunate. Male Lead: Daren is pretty sweet for the most part. You can tell that he tries his hardest to be honest and a good person even if he does make mistakes along the way. He does fall into the typical ‘athlete only cares about the game until he meets the one and suddenly life is all about her’ category, but that’s okay. I still enjoyed it and his character for the most part. Daren has walls too and like Maddie, he never intended for their relationship to get so serious, but lo and behold, they fall in love with each other. And yeah, Daren also acts like a ‘typical guy’ when Martin writes things in like him not noticing another girl all over him until it’s too late and not realizing it was Maddie’s birthday. Um… I guess I’ll give him a pass. Those moments didn’t change my overall reaction to his character.

One thing I do have to mention. Let’s be clear here. Daren was dating Clementine their senior year of high school. During that time, he had sex with Veronica. This is cheating. Plain and simple. There was a couple of lines in the book where Daren said that he “never considered it” or that it “never crossed [his] mind” when he told Maddie about how Veronica always accused him of cheating on her. So, first, my confusion is whether Daren is referring to the fact that he would never cheat on someone and/or Veronica or if he’s saying that he never considered himself a cheater. If it’s the first case, fine, that’s great, thank you for being a loyal dude. But if it’s the second case, then he’s just plain delusional and wrong because sorry, but he’s already technically a cheater even if he was a senior in high school. I do believe Daren is not that guy anymore, and it’s evident given that he constantly turns female attention away and only has eyes for Maddie. But… maybe Martin should’ve been clearer during this part because the wording does not sit right with me, which subsequently may affect how I view this character. Plot & Writing: Here’s the thing. I started Kissing Madeline quite a while back. Like I think back in March. I was a little more than a hundred pages in and SUPER into the book for all the sports and Massachusetts references, and thought, hey, I should save this for my lame two-person book club because I think the other girl I read with would enjoy this too. Long story short, this was not added to the lame two-person book club to-read list, so I left it on my shelf for a long time until I finally wanted to get it off my shelf and be done with it. The thing is, when I came back to it, I was far less enthusiastic about it. Why? Maybe because I stepped away from the book and lost the momentum of feelings I originally had for it. Maybe because I had read so many other things between then and now and my perspective on things had changed. Who knows. The point is, had I finished Kissing Madeline then when I first started reading it, the book probably would’ve gotten a higher rating. Alas, I just couldn’t seem to find that original high I had reading those first hundred pages.

I���m from Massachusetts. Born and raised. I LOVE Massachusetts, so obviously I loved that the book was set in my home state and all the references Martin put in there. That being said, if you’re going to write a book set here and reference real life places in Boston, towns in the state, colleges, and the public education system, and everything else that Martin did, lady, you have to be 100% accurate on your information and facts because otherwise, I’m going to be upset. For example, BU and BC are on the B-line of the MBTA/subway system. THE B-LINE, MARTIN. NOT THE D-LINE. We’re not going to Riverside. I don’t know anyone who takes the D-line to the Chestnut Hill station and then walks all the way over to BC when they can just take the B-line, WHICH PASSES ALL OF BU, to its last stop, BOSTON COLLEGE STATION. And then another thing. Clementine and Daren were next-door neighbors growing up. Daren went to Lexington High School, which is consistently one of if not the best public school system in the entire state. Therefore, Clementine also went to Lexington High. Clementine, who is referenced to being student council president in high school and likely very smart on top of the stellar academic education she’s getting in Lexington, committed to BU early action? NOPE. SORRY. People from Lexington High do not commit early action to Boston University. THEY JUST DON’T. BU is basically a safety school for half the students who go through Lexington High. And though a good percentage of students there do actually go to BU, people from Lexington just don’t commit early action there when their high school education is just as difficult if not more so than a lot of colleges, including BU. I know no one is reading this, and I know no one cares, but I care. I CARE A LOT. Okay. End rant.

I liked the overall relationship between Daren and Maddie. I liked that Daren was actually super sweet to her. I liked that Daren cared about her career and wanted the best for her. I liked that Daren made it okay for Maddie to cover sports again after she avoided it after losing her father. I did not, however, like that Maddie’s reaction after she got jealous, but I already talked about that above in her section. But also, I was not a particular fan of how Martin wrapped the story mostly because Maddie’s career suffered while Daren got off with barely a slap on the wrist. I was pleasantly surprised that the major conflict of the book escalated to that proportion and had such repercussions, but the way Martin handled the fallout was not my favorite. It was like Maddie’s career didn’t even matter anymore when it was constantly emphasized in the beginning and an integral part of Maddie’s character. Instead, she’ll just be a happy, pregnant wife for Daren who gets all the glory for being an overpaid athlete. As a woman, as a feminist, yeah, that doesn’t make me feel too great, even if I have a super hot and successful and loving husband like Daren. I mean, Maddie ends up with a YouTube channel and gets to do some segments for ESPN every once in a while? Isn’t that what she was avoiding before? And now suddenly she’s okay with it? I don’t know, man… Doesn’t seem right.

On a similar note, I praise Martin for highlighting the absolutely gross and sexist workplace Maddie worked at and simultaneously curse society for allowing those places to exist in the real world. It was cringeworthy and disgusting what Maddie’s boss, Spencer, made her do—forcing her to interview Daren and wearing what she had to wear and all that. Maddie was seriously brave and completely professional in taking those forced directions when it was obviously an uncomfortable situation. And again, this is absolutely not Martin’s fault for writing it like that because this is unfortunately real stuff that women have to deal with. So props for including such scenes and issues into the book. And given what Brad did to Maddie, which was ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC, I only wish more could’ve been done about the whole situation and that Maddie would’ve gotten more justice. Secondary Characters & Plots: All of Maddie’s girlfriends were pretty cool. This is the first book I read in the series, so this is my first encounter with Clementine’s character. Her book was already on my to-read list, and I’m still interested in her story, though I personally don’t know how to feel about her history with Daren and the fact that she wrote a best-selling novel about how he cheated on her…

Daren’s football teammates were… not particularly outstanding in any way. They were fine during their scenes, but no one was memorable. And just about everyone that worked with Maddie at that new station was abhorrent. Maybe Roger wasn’t that bad. Nicole was okay for like a moment or two. Everyone else, gross. Favorite Part(s): Daren going to find Maddie after everything blew up in the faces and arriving at her uncle’s house where she was so she could wake up in his arms. Obviously, they still had to talk and work things out, but clearly that was what Maddie needed in that moment and Daren knew that. That was awesome. Final Thoughts: Overall, Kissing Madeline is good. Pretty good leads, pretty good story, sports, set in Massachusetts, good climax. But again, I only gave this four stars because after stepping away from it for about three months, I couldn’t find the original high I got when I first started the book. That and the fact that I wasn’t a huge fan of the way Martin resolved the major conflict of the book, especially in regards to Maddie and her career. But it’s okay. I would still recommend Kissing Madeline. Daren and Maddie’s relationship is too sweet to pass up.

[reachgirl]

My thoughts on “Buddie”

 1. I think if Fox could realize that sometimes you can’t *plan* for chemistry, it just happens, and when it does it’s magic and you need to let it play out, they would be so far ahead of the curve of other shows and fans beyond their core audience would take notice.  The material IS there to defend it actually happening against claims that they just bowed down to the shippers.

2. On the one hand, I believe that the writers are very deliberately writing a lot of subtext and the directors are leaving in scenes where the actors are making certain choices, both Ryan/Oliver and Peter/Kenneth/Aisha/JLH. But is it just as a “shout out” to the Buddie shippers, or an actual deliberate effort to make a point of how close they are and how dependent they’ve become on their relationship?

3. I’ve talked before how I think deciding on your character’s sexuality before you actually write them out for a while just doesn’t make for believable humanity based on reality. If we’re looking at these two examples, 

Buck has been written in a way that could very well make him bi/pan and not everybody who is and is secure in their identity will go and talk about it constantly. I would also like to remind everyone that bi does not mean you have to stick to a certain quota, like keep your relationships 50/50 male/female. There are many people who are bi who tend to end up in more relationships/even just sexual ones with one gender, and that doesn’t make them less bi or pan. So just because we have only seen him have female love interests during the show, there are some scenes (”Your man crush on Eddie”/”I’m not setting you up with my brother/Hey Now”) that could be interpreted to mean that might not always have been the case, Maddie being the one who would have been there to witness it. We also see Buck not really caring about the social conventions - not only of who he dates - he is consistently written as meeting every person he meets on eye level - even making sure the guy who stole his identity to catfish women wouldn’t lose his dignity in death, but also romantically, we can see him building a connection with Abby through the phone first and falling in love with her as a person, and not caring about her being quite a lot older.

Eddie, and I’ve written about this before, is a little bit of an enigma. Again, we have only seen him in one relationship, and while it doesn’t seem like it was the happiest of marriages, in the end it really did seem like he loved Shannon and wanted to make it work. Up until Ms. Florez we have also seen him almost making a point of not looking to date (”They’re not my type”/”You didn’t set me up, did you?”), and that is pretty much all we know about him. Again, the fact that he was married to a woman and once flirted with one briefly, does not prove or disprove anything. He grew up in Texas, in latino culture, and spent a good amount of his formative years in the US Army, all of these can traditionally be quite conservative. From personal experience even I have seen many people who grew up in conservative environments fall in line with the expectations set for them by their communities (often very early, and Eddie and Shannon did get married quite young), especially if their community doesn’t provide a lot of LGBTQ-visibility or role models. Yes, Eddie does “act” straight, whatever that means and whether that is an actual concept, but the way he behaves in a lot of scenes with Buck, and I’ll get back to this in point 8., could be interpreted in other ways.

4. TV today has gotten a lot better at showing LGBTQ relationships that aren’t a) just on the sidelines b) serving as collateral emotional damage to drive the plot or c) are written in a way that is basically just taking a hetero-couple-storyline and casting two people of the same gender in it. I am worried that they think they can’t do the “coming out later in life” storyline again with Buddie because they already have Michael (which brings me back to point 1. Let the damn magic happen when it’s right in front of your eyes), and they can’t have another main cast LGBTQ character - or two - because they already have Hen (and Karen). Obviously these are not valid reasons, look at other shows like 911 Lone star for representation within the main cast, but of course, this is a double edged sword because there is a concern that they gave us 911 Lone Star to do what they wouldn’t or couldn’t do with the original. (On a side note, Owen Strand is the fairy godfather of Texas and I live for that show)

5. Parallels. This has been talked about a lot, and there are much better posts about it than this one. But writers aren’t stupid, or careless, so I do believe that to a certain extent they’re aware of how they are setting up parallels between Buck and Eddie’s love lives. We have them agreeing to “have each other’s backs” in contrast to Shannon telling Eddie that he never had hers. We have Eddie telling Buck that there is no one he trusts more with Christopher than him, while he makes it clear that while he thinks he can forgive Shannon, he doesn’t think he can trust her. We had Shannon coming back just as Buck decides to leave Abby behind finally, and we had Ali showing up when Shannon dies, and now Ana when the writers point out how single Buck is.

6. Themes. The episode themes in 9-1-1 are kinda like horoscopes, they’re meant to be able to work for multiple storylines and connect all the main characters through one focus. But we’ve seen a lot of themes surrounding family or trust or love that have an obvious connection to a Buddie moment on the show. Chosen Family. Home. Being able to trust your partner. Seizing the day. And even when it’s something that doesn’t immediately connect the two, the scenes are cut in a way that imply there’s a connection, like Eddie telling Chim to tell Maddie he loves her, because tomorrow isn’t promised. Chim calls Maddie to invite her to dinner to finally do this, and right before this we see Eddie asking Buck to lunch - this is probably just a coincidence, right? But we can be sure that the director, writers and cutters were aware of this, and made the choice to do it this way, for whatever reason. Because this is their exact job, telling stories through how they cut scenes together. 7. Christopher. So this might be what makes Buddie a little more unique compared to the, admittedly, dozens of other seemingly “straight bromances” that people have shipped. Most scenes we get with Buck and Eddie that are outside of work, involve Chris in some way. It’s probably safe to say that part of the reason they became so close is because Buck and Chris have a connection that I would wager goes beyond what most friends have with their single-dad-friend’s kid. We see how important Buck becomes in Christopher’s life, and vice versa, pretty much a few episodes after they meet for the first time. Eddie trusts Buck with Chris’ life, and he trusts him with any problems relating to Christopher that he needs to work through. Buck’s his sounding board for his role as a parent, which is interesting considering Eddie has other friends at the 118 that actually are parents? *cough* Chosen family *cough*

8. Closeness. As I said above, sometimes writers plan one storyline, but the magic happens somewhere they didn’t expect, and if that is the case, and you want to be faithful to your characters, you should seize that opportunity. I think we can all agree this is one of those cases where the chemistry is just off the charts. There are long looks, there is a lot of being in sync, there’s constant physical contact when they’re sitting or walking next to each other. Personal space, who? Again, this is something the director could discourage, or use a take that didn’t have Buck grab his belt buckle and invading Eddie’s personal space in his own kitchen, but they decided on this take. They decided on the take of Eddie clearly checking out Buck’s behind and Chim noticing. Now Buck seems to be pretty comfortable with closeness anyway, but Eddie isn’t the most touchy guy with anyone else, so this is noticeable. And it works.

9. Look. Somebody sat down and wrote “You want to go for the title?” and I would pay a lot of money to see the stage directions on that script because holy fuck. There’s a lot of info in their exchanges - and it implies that there are lots of moments that these two talk that we don’t get to see - Buck immediately knows about Eddie and Ana, and he knew about the situation with Shannon too (and didn’t hide his jealousy very well). When they don’t talk, it clearly gets to Eddie, who doesn’t have that many other people he really trusts and can open up to. Cue “husbands fighting in the supermarket”. But what’s also interesting to me is that their dynamic involves a lot of Eddie teasing Buck. “Exoskeleton” “Aren’t you still in that phase?” “You would have talked me into buying a more expensive one”.. and Eddie sometimes uses it to keep their conversations from getting into dangerous, emotional territory, like during the kitchen scene. And I don’t know about y’all, but that sounds like something I’ve done before when I knew there was something to get into, and I just didn’t know how or when. 

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Wow I could keep going but this is already so long. I’m so sorry everyone. But I figured we all now have two weeks so we have time to do a lot of reading 😅Thanks everybody for reminding me about the things that do make it seem like Buddie is an actual possibility, because most of the time, I have to admit, I’m like 70/30 against the hope of it becoming reality. Long live fanfiction! In conclusion, please make it happen, or explain all the choices you have made. YOU CAN’T! 

[buddiebeginz]

So I finally got to watch 4x08 and I have a lot of thoughts so be prepared for a long rant.

For starters I literally groaned out loud when I saw they brought back Taylor Kelly. I know that some would make the argument well the only reason you don’t like her is because you want Buck with Eddie. If Eddie didn’t even exist I still wouldn’t like her and I definitely wouldn’t want her anywhere near Buck. She’s incredibly self centered doesn’t care who she hurts at times and can be really manipulative too. Like how she went out of her way to hurt Buck in front of Albert and Veronica for no reason. I get it if she didn’t totally understand why Buck asked her there but she could have said that to him privately. She could have left without turning it into a whole big spectacle to make Buck look like a dick.

Then the stuff she said to him in the hallway was just totally messed up. Buck called her because he got roped into the stupid double date thing and didn’t want to look like a loser in front of Albert and Veronica but also it’s clear he’s been feeling lonely for a while and didn’t want to be the third wheel. He should have communicated more to Taylor what was going on with the dinner but nothing about what he was doing was malicious or manipulative to me, Buck can just be kind of clueless at times.

When they were in the hallway Taylor made it seem like Buck used her. That he basically wanted people to see him with “famous” Taylor Kelly the reporter. The thing is when Taylor got to the apartment she thought that her and Buck were going to have dinner and hook up. She was clearly planning on using Buck for sex like she has before, yet she accuses him of using her.

She called him needy and said that he can’t stand the idea of someone not liking him. To which he ends up apologizing. Watching this I’m like WTAF are you apologizing for Buck? This woman is trashing the shit out of you and you’re standing there apologizing?! I mean this is what I’m talking about when I say she’s manipulative. Like I said before Buck should have communicated better what was going on that night but it’s also not his fault that Taylor assumed he was calling her over for a hook up. I also don’t think Buck called her because she’s sort of famous and he wanted to look good or to use her, I think he didn’t want to look like he’s all alone when everyone around him has someone. He had seen her recently and talked to her about things he’d been dealing with so I think she was the first person he could think of to help him and likely the only one really.

Even after Buck tried to explain some of this to her and tried to be vulnerable about how he was feeling what does she do? She laughs at him then basically calls him a liar and tells him that he treats his friends shitty and his issues with Albert are his fault. Never mind the fact that Buck had opened up to her about feeling uncomfortable about his roommate dating a woman he dated and bringing her home to their house. Never mind the fact that Taylor knows nothing about Buck and his relationships.

I mean she says something earlier in the episode  “your life is nothing but meaningful relationships” (talking about the 118) but that’s pretty obvious to anyone who meets them so I don’t give her much credit for that. Not to mention a while back she spent time in the firehouse filming so that was easy enough to see then. But the fact that she could spend time with Buck and he could open up to her the way he has multiple times through out the show and she could still make the kind of snap judgments she does about him or use him the way she does is just awful.

By the end of the episode the shows tries to make Taylor look like this poor sad woman who is dealing with so much and I think they were even trying to make the connection that she was also feeling alone like Buck feels alone. They also try to make it seem like she just wants to help people, again I think trying to connect her to Buck and his innate desire to help everyone around him but I don’t think she’s anything like Buck and I still can’t stand her.

I really hope people haven’t forgotten that this was the same fame hungry woman that was ready to air footage of Bobby (calling out to his dead daughter) and almost jumping off the roof when he had eaten laced brownies. She made it clear when we met her when kind of a person she is. That she was the kind of person who would probably sell her own mother if it meant furthering her career. The thing is I definitely believe characters who make mistakes or who start out as villainous or problematic should be allowed to grow and change (I mean some of my favorite characters are ones that have started out awful) but this doesn’t feel like a character that has changed. At all. The way she went out of her way to try and humiliate Buck in front of Albert and Veronica and the things she said in the hallway prove that. I’ll be utterly disgusted if they try to pair her up with Buck.

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I’m just really tired of how the show seems to treat Buck. I have no problem with characters going through hard times, dealing with others being awful to them, or even abuse. These are all things that happen in real life and can make for great storylines. But if you’re going to show a character repeatedly going through something it should serve a purpose, it should be leading towards something and I’m not sure if the 911 writers get that. I love the show but sometimes I feel like they’re just putting Buck through stuff for the hell of it.

Like we’ve repeatably seen women treating Buck awful which in an of itself isn’t a problem if it’s going somewhere. Like the show could use that as way to say Buck is always picking the wrong people and has problems with speaking up for his needs (likely because of his family). There’s a lot the show could explore with Buck’s relationships especially with him seeing a therapist. Unfortunately though we haven’t been seeing him talking to the therapist and especially after this recent episode where it feels like the same old same old (i.e. a woman treats Buck like crap and Buck apologizes) it just doesn’t feel like there’s a good enough reason they keep writing Buck’s storylines like this.

First there was Abby who I feel like used Buck in some ways to jump start her life back up and then ghosted him when she didn’t need him anymore. Then she didn’t even take responsibility for that when she saw him again nor did the show really let Buck call her out on how she made him feel really. Then there was Ali who knew how dangerous Buck’s job was when she got involved with him and did anyway then chose to drop him when he was going through one of the toughest times of his life. The show didn’t even do Buck the dignity of really talking about what happened with that relationship she just was gone by the next season.

There was Taylor who just used Buck for sex and for her career and who the show tried to paint as being like the female version of Buck which I thought was kind of bullshit. Buck has made plenty of mistakes in his life and he certainly was all about sex when we first met him in season 1 but in the first place Buck would have never sunk to the kind of lows Taylor has just for his career. Being a firefighter is everything to Buck but the 118 are like his family and he wants to be a firefighter to help people not just for fame or glory. There was the lawsuit but Buck didn’t even realize how much that asshole lawyer was going to go after the 118 and I’m pretty sure if he did he wouldn’t have done it. You can tell when Buck talks about it to Eddie how much he still regrets it. As for all the sex Buck was having it’s clear he was looking for a more meaningful connection and just hadn’t learned yet that wasn’t where he was going to get it. Not to mention it seemed like a lot of the women he was sleeping with were just using him to an extent like the therapist who slept with him. Buck is very different from Taylor who in my eyes is not a very empathetic or emotional person and seems much more about herself than anyone else. So the shows need to compare them really gets on my nerves.

Then there was his date with Veronica which was just ridiculous. My problem wasn’t that they had her be some strawman SJW feminist who got offended by everything it was the way they had Buck respond. As usual he wasn’t allowed to stand up for himself and just had to sit there and take the mistreatment.

It hasn’t just been in romantic relationships either we saw what Buck went through with his family and the show just kind of closed that off with Buck forgiving them for a lifetime of abuse.

I don’t get why the show constantly lets Buck get treated like crap by so many people around him and without standing up for himself no less. Like I was so angry about that scene in the hallway with him and Taylor. It would have been one thing if Taylor had lashed out at him (maybe taking her own issues out on him something she could have explained later) but the show still should have had Buck push back against some of the bs she was spewing. I’m tired of Buck having to hear how much of a failure he is. I’m tired of seeing Buck hurt by people he tries to let in. Buck would literally die for the people he loves. He almost has numerous times. So to hear someone like Taylor trashing him and telling him he wasn’t a good friend was so infuriating.

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I mean it’s not that everything with Buck is handled bad. I love the relationships he has with the 118 and especially with Bobby and Athena. Her and Bobby are almost like parents to Buck especially when it feels like Buck never really had the family he deserved and I love them for that. There’s also Maddie who has always been there for Buck and their relationship is so important. But the best relationship Buck has is obviously with Eddie. He’s the one who gets Buck the most and who Buck is the most himself with. Buck doesn’t have to hide or hold back with Eddie and neither one of them are afraid to call each other out when necessary.

I love the relationship Buck has with Eddie and I really want them to just get together already, though I know there’s no guarantee that will happen. But if the plan isn’t for Buddie to happen I wish that the show would stop dangling that relationship around every episode as a way to pull viewers in because it’s clear they know how popular they are. I especially wish that the show would be clearer about what they plan to do with Buck’s sexuality. I feel like there’s been so many hints since the beginning that Buck could be bi and I don’t know where the show is going with it.

I’ve seen people saying that Buddie isn’t going to happen and it doesn’t need to happen because there’s already other lgbtq characters on 911 and there’s a main lgbtq ship on Lone Star but I disagree. Buddie could still happen but even if it doesn’t the show could definitely still explore Buck’s sexuality. It would be so important to have a main male character who has been straight presenting on a popular prime time show come out as bi. There’s this misconception that representation in media for lgbtq isn’t that big of a deal anymore because there are so many lgbtq characters now but it is still a big deal and many shows still don’t feature lgbtq characters and storylines prominently nor do their stories justice. They definitely don’t when it comes to bi characters especially bi men.

To have a character like Buck have a storyline that would explore his sexuality would be huge. It would be even more huge if it was about him coming out as bisexual. Biphobia is a big problem not just from straight people but within the lgbtq community maybe even more so in some ways. Popular media rarely shows accurate good depictions of bi storylines. Even when there are bi characters on shows or movies we usually don’t get to see their journey like we have in media through the years with other lgbtq characters. We rarely get to see what it’s like to figure out you’re bi and to live as a bi person. As someone who is bi myself I really want this to change. 

The show has made many hints to Buck’s sexuality and it’s something that they could easily explore. If they aren’t planning on going that route though I don’t get why they keep hinting at it. I don’t get why they’ve had multiple instances where people have commented on Buck’s sexuality or being with Eddie and he never corrects them. I mean once would be enough but what is the point of the show doing it over and over? I mean the Lone Star moment was just crazy to me if they don’t plan on doing anything. It didn’t just feel like a throw away joke moment especially since Buck didn’t deny it and Eddie came around the corner it felt like the show was saying something.

If the show isn’t planning on having Buck come out or putting Eddie and him together why does it feel like Buck and Eddie behave almost like a married couple? I mean they connect and know each other almost more than some of the actual married couples on the show. It feels like Buck is Chris’ other dad. I mean we saw Eddie going out with Ana but at the same time it almost felt like it did with Shannon like Eddie just trying to do right by Christopher and make sure he has mom. After the date the one Eddie comes home to is Buck. When Chris is upset the one he runs to is Buck.

If Eddie and Buck and Chris aren’t meant to be a family was does the show keep making it seem like they are each other’s safe space? It’s clear that the connection Buck and Eddie have goes beyond just being friends. It’s just unclear why the show has developed them this way and what they plan on doing with them now.

One last thing in this giant ramble. This episode was called “Breaking Point” but I feel like we didn’t see Buck’s breaking point. I’m hoping that all these bread crumbs are leading somewhere in exploring Buck’s sexuality maybe this episode title was a clue that Buck’s breaking point is coming. We’ve had lots of hints about his sexuality throughout the course of the show and this season in particular there’s been a lot of talk about how lonely he feels and how disconnected he seems to feel from everyone. So maybe we’ll get to see him talking to his therapist and exploring some of these feelings. Maybe if Eddie continues to see Ana Buck will end up feeling jealous and this will bring up feelings he hasn’t wanted to confront yet, about himself and about Eddie. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.