lovecolibri

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What's truly insane:

They already had matching tattoos and then Oliver went and immortalized the moment that it should've happened on his skin.

They're going to be the most epic couple in television history!

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now that we know buck was supposed to be queer years ago can we talk about the parallels between Tara's death on Buffy and the shooting again???

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First things first.

Watching the 9-1-1 fandom give Oliver Stark his accolades and flowers has been a wonderful thing to see. Equally wonderful to watch is Oliver graciously receiving that love and redirecting it by validating the thoughts/feelings/emotions of longtime fans of the show. "You were right" is a very powerful statement, and I hope he genuinely realizes the impact that has had on the fandom, especially those who had certain opinions of his character and how they felt he should be portrayed. I'm glad the show took this hiatus and just let Oliver, Lou, and the rest of the cast and crew marinate in this. The show has gained so many new fans and returning fans in the wake of Bi-Buck. THAT BEING SAID... These "revelations" that have been coming out after THE Revelation are just...I can't even

What do you mean Ryan and Oliver have been secretly pitching Buddie canon to the powers that be behind the scenes for years? What do you mean Tommy was initially supposed to kiss Eddie? What do you mean Eddie getting shot years ago was supposed to be the beginning of a romantic Buddie arc? What do you mean Buck's coma dream after getting electrocuted was a the setup for a Buddie moment? What do you mean 7x04 was from Buck's POV? WHAT DO YOU MEAN RYAN AND OLIVER WATCH THE BUDDIE FAN EDITS AND READ THE FANFICTION?!?!??!?!?!!? Watching these two fuzzballs is genuinely going to flatline me.

SN: I'm stuck on the fact that before the S7 premiere, Ryan had the audacity to say "Buck and Eddie get closer than ever this season" with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. And I'm happy/scared/excited/curious to see what the back half of the season holds. On to 9-1-1's The Hangover!!!

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of all the crimes s5-6 committed giving the buckley parents the most undeserved redemption arc is what pisses me off the most

#911 #absolute fucking mood #and you KNOW they are gonna be at the wedding like nothing ever happened #miss me with that shit 🙄🙄🙄 #this is a buckley parents hate space

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4x13/7x09 parallel of an Eddie-centric episode highlighting issues with his current romantic relationship ending with a disaster cliffhanger involving Buck and Eddie alone together, I’m literally begging on my knees

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Timber Timbre

The firework that sets him off is probably a Roman candle, and way closer than all the other ones have been, by Hen’s estimate. Eddie is on the ground before she can say anything and Hen’s blood runs a little cold at the realization of what’s happening. 

“Eddie,” she says gently. “It’s still fireworks, it’s okay.” 

Eddie is squatting low behind the kitchen island, head down, and he’s visibly shaking. He nods jerkily, but his breathing doesn’t slow at all. Hen’s heart hurts, but she’s careful not to get too close. She’s well versed in many a mental health crisis, but what to do when your friend is having combat flashbacks feels a little out of her depth. She gets low with him, keeps her tone soft and even. “How can I help, Eddie?” 

His eyes are wild when they meet hers, his hands clenching around nothing like he’s physically clinging to the present. “Can you-“ he stutters. “Where is-? I need Buck.” 

Hen is on her feet as quickly as she can without startling him. “I’ll find him, okay? You stay right here.” 

Downstairs, Buck’s holding the heavy bag for Chim, saying something that was probably meant to be encouraging but comes out more antagonistic. Their shift into being brothers has obviously been going well. They both stop in their tracks when they see the look on Hen’s face. 

“Eddie needs you.” It feels important to say it the way he did.

Another firework goes off then and Buck pales. “Oh, shit.” 

Then he’s taking the stairs two at a time with Hen and Chim not far behind. “Kitchen.” She calls after him. 

Eddie is where she left him, but now his hands are pressed against his ears. Buck squats down in front of him slowly, ducking his head so he can catch Eddie’s eye. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s me, I’m here.” He says, like it’s definitely not the first time.

He looks back and Hen and Chimney, whispers, “Can you guys sit with us a second?” 

They nod, taking their places off to the left across from them, backs against the kitchen counter. Close enough if they need help, far enough away to keep their bubble intact. Hen’s grateful for the direction, and when Bobby comes out of his office, she waves him over, finger to her lips. He doesn’t question it, just squats down on Hen’s other side. 

Eddie shudders, breathes hard out of his nose. Says, “Buck.” Real soft. 

Buck nods, scoots closer at the recognition, reaches out to run his fingertips feather-light over Eddie’s forearms. “You’re in LA, Eddie. At the 118.”

Eddie gasps like he’s just reached the surface of water. “Doesn’t- doesn’t feel like it.” 

Buck grimaces. “I know. I know, let’s go through it, okay?” 

Eddie nods, once, lets Buck take his hands and keep going. “I feel,” Buck prompts. 

Eddie closes his eyes. “Panicked.” 

Buck nods, soft look on his face like pride. It makes Hen’s eyes water. Their boy has grown up so much. 

“Because the fireworks made me think about,” 

“The chopper going down. Getting shot at while the fire was burning. Greggs.” Eddie grits out through bared teeth. 

Buck rubs his thumbs over the backs of Eddie’s hands. “But if I look around I can see,” 

Eddie forces his eyes open with what looks like immense effort, trains them on Buck for a solid ten seconds before he looks around the rest of the room. “You. The 118. Bobby. Hen. Chimney.” 

He looks at each of them in turn. Hen nods encouragingly, waves a little, which seems to increase the recognition on his face. 

Buck smiles at him. “Yeah, that’s good, real good.” 

Some of the tension seeps slowly from Eddie’s shoulders, and Buck rewards it with a squeeze of their joined hands. “Tell me what day it is.” 

Another firework goes off in the distance and Hen wants to murder someone. Bobby looks like he’d help her without a second thought. The fucking audacity to set off explosives when you live by a firehouse is astounding. 

Eddie winces but Buck stays firm with him, tapping his fingers rhythmically against Eddie’s knuckles. “What’s the date, Eds?” 

“Fourth of July.” 

“Exactly. Which means,” 

“Morons.” Eddie answers like, rote, like he’s been trained. The way Buck’s handling him right now, Hen supposes he has been. 

“You got it.” He praises, pressing forward until his forehead rests against Eddie’s. “Chris was excited, though, remember?” 

“Poke cake.” Eddie responds and Bobby smiles. 

Midwestern traditions often mystify Hen, but Christopher was so excited to make that weird jello cake with Bobby and Buck that she couldn’t help but decide she loved that one. They spent all evening in Bobby and Athena’s kitchen last night, making gratuitously American dishes that should be objectively gross but that Denny and Chris were wild for. Poke cakes with red and blue jello, things being called “salad” that have never and will never be salad, and burgers that were always a welcome staple in Grant-Nash cookouts. 

Buck is tapping his fingers on Eddie’s knees now, alternating as he prods Eddie to talk him through Christopher’s latest science project. Bilateral brain stimulation, her brain provides. Works for most long-term trauma treatment but can also be helpful during flashbacks. Evan “Internet Research Extraordinaire” Buckley certainly hasn’t been a slouch in this endeavor. 

As he talks through Buck’s prompts, Eddie is slowly relaxing, sitting up on his own a bit more but shifting closer to Buck, tension slowly bleeding out of him as he points out the things he knows, the things he can see, what Bobby made for dinner, what Chimney’s favorite show is right now, what class he helped Hen run flashcards for. It makes Hen’s heart grow too big in her chest. To know that they’re a part of Eddie’s recovery, of him feeling safe. 

“Where are you, Eddie?” Buck asks again after a few minutes of this. They’re side by side now, shoulders brushing as they lean back against the island cabinets. 

Eddie takes a deep breath, sags a little against Buck. “I’m in LA. I’m at the 118 firehouse. You’re all here with me. Everyone’s safe.” 

Hen smiles encouragingly at him, Chim says, “We’re here for you, man.” 

Eddie looks away, mutters, “Esto es tan vergonzoso,” color staining his cheeks. 

“Nuh uh.” Buck answers, firm. “None of that. No tienes nada de que avergonzarte.” 

Hen knows Buck spent a while in Peru. Bartending, she thinks. She’s heard him speak Spanish to people on calls before, but his accent has historically been horrendous. It sounds like being in the Diaz orbit has been helpful for that. Hen doesn’t speak Spanish well, but she’s been in LA long enough to get the gist most of the time. 

“Sorry you guys had to see that.” Eddie apologizes anyway, ignoring Buck.

Bobby shuts that down immediately. “Everybody’s got their demons, Eddie. We’re just happy we can help with yours.” 

He tells Eddie he should take the rest of the night, even as Eddie protests that he’s fine and he doesn’t want to leave them hanging. “It’s just a few hours, Eddie. Take him home, Buck?” 

Buck nods, looking relieved that he didn’t have to ask permission. Eddie still looks a little mortified, but it’s tempered by Bobby’s careful hand on his shoulder. “Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“When do you think they’ll give in and just get married?” Chim asks after Buck bundles Eddie into his Jeep. 

Bobby snorts. “I’ve had the paperwork ready to go for years.”

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—qays ibn al-mulawwah

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Actual footage of me digging Eddie out of the closet with my bare hands

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I can’t get over the fact that Buck accidentally came out to Maddie because he was so worried about lying to Eddie that he had to talk to Maddie about it and made a pronoun slip.

Even in (most of) the scenes without Eddie, he gets brought up.

Eddie’s haunting Buck’s coming out arc because Buck can’t stop talking about him to everyone BUT Eddie.

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You know when Buck gets married he's going to be an absolute groomzilla. Imagine this but in a tuxedo:

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Fighting has been an important narrative vehicle for Eddie’s character over the years. It’s always about his deep emotional life, Big Feelings, and the stuff he won’t or can’t even look at, consciously approach and/or deal with out loud. Eddie’s cage fighting arc in season 3 was all about him wrestling with grief and feelings of inadequacy as a husband and father. That arc was also wrapped up in Eddie’s feelings of abandonment brought on by Buck’s lawsuit against the LAFD.

The OG Kitchen Scene in 309 was monumental for so many reasons. Eddie and Buck had a vulnerable and intimate conversation about everything that happened and they repaired the rift caused by Buck leaving Eddie (and Chris) in their time of need. But the wild part that we ALL talk about TO THIS DAY was the sexually charged ‘wanna go for the title’ flirtation that Buck (King!) delivered right to Eddie’s face. The belt buckle grab. Eddie’s smirk and later averted gaze. The phallic beer bottles. All of it. My Beloved.

Now in season 7 we have a (healthier and more emotionally available/mature) return to that same internal fight symbolism via Eddie’s 704 Vegas Unification Fight trip with Tommy and his Muay Thai sparring with Tommy. I wrote a meta about some of this last week.

Before Eddie can go for the title with Buck, he’s got to win his fight/sparring matches with Tommy. Right now he and Tommy are going ‘toe to toe’ as Eddie said in 704. It’s a draw between them at the moment. But Eddie has to actually win the symbolic match/fight by taking Tommy’s title aka unequivocally claim his own queer identity and then go get his man.

Eddie is clicking with Tommy and jet-setting to Vegas with Tommy, playing sports with Tommy and sparring with Tommy because, in terms of Eddie’s character arc, Tommy has something Eddie needs! It’s the queer identity piece. It’s gotta be. The show has already established that they’re basically the same person, with the main noticeable difference being that Tommy is an out gay man who knows that part of himself well. Eddie doesn’t fully know the shape and nuance of his own queerness yet. But he will. And when he sorts it out for himself. He’ll be able to return to Buck’s dimly lit (romantic af) kitchen and ‘go for the title’.

Bonus Point #1 - Buck didn’t really know his own queerness either until Tommy kissed him in 704. Buck did in fact ‘go for the title’ but with Tommy four seasons later instead of with the love of his life Eddie. It’ll happen though. It’s been foretold!

Bonus Point #2 - The Kitchen as a setting in 911 is so damn perfect and unhinged. Buck’s kitchen is where the ‘go for the title’ challenge was originally issued and where romantic/flirtatious encounters happened. Eddie’s kitchen is mostly where messes are made. (Honestly I’m just thinking about the Ana break up here.) I think Buddie will eventually find themselves in Buck’s kitchen again, both fully ready for what they mean/are to each other and what they can be together. They will get their kiss. Their unification bout. I also think we’ll finally come full circle with the mess in Eddie’s kitchen and Buddie will clean it up together…as a newly minted couple.

Yeah. Underlying sexual tension is the definition of Buddie at this point. It’s only gotten louder and more textual via Tommy’s introduction. The fight (especially for Eddie) continues. The Buddie tension won’t be ‘underlying’ forever tho. Just. Let ‘em cook. For now.

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trapped dads season finale theory has never been more real

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Maddie’s word choice when Buck told her about his date with Tommy in 705 was so gentle and supportive, as we’ve all discussed. But her words were also SO SLICK!!!

She was treading lightly because she of course knew that this was a sensitive time for Buck AND she also did some math in her head over the course of the conversation and realized that there’s a piece of the equation that Buck is missing. She couldn’t just give Buck the answer though. Some puzzles he’s gotta work out on his own.

So. Looking more closely at the actual dialogue…

Buck gives Maddie the rundown of the evening’s happenings. Maddie notices the date’s pronoun. Then:

Buck: Yeah, okay, I was on a date with a guy. Again, not-not really the point.

Maddie: Mmm, it could very much be the point.

Remember, Buck is upset with himself for lying to Eddie *and doesn’t understand why he did that* He thinks it’s about dating a man in general. I think Maddie suspects it’s actually about Buck’s unrealized/unexpressed feelings for Eddie. The lie Buck is reeling over probably isn’t about dating a man, but about dating the wrong man.

Back to the conversation. Buck explains his allyship, then:

Maddie: So-so now you’re more than an ally?

Buck: It was my first time, it was dinner and a movie, and I - I didn’t even make it to the movie.

Maddie is following Buck’s reasoning in the ally part of the conversation, but clearly not quite vibing with parts of it. She’s in support mode, basically honoring Buck’s process and his journey. But still trying to navigate her own in the moment reactions without freaking Buck out. Treading lightly.

After Buck’s last remark above, cue Maddie’s haunted facial expression in which she clearly reviews countless past events and conversations with Buck in light of his new discovery about himself:

Maddie: Wow.

Buck: What, ‘wow’?

Maddie: No, not ‘wow’. Like, ‘Wow. I didn’t think that’s where your interests would lie.”

From my perspective she clearly and firmly rejected the ‘wow, you’re queer, what the hell. Way to be a massive enigma little brother’ interpretation…because obviously she would reject that. But that second clarification ‘wow’ doesn’t mean what Buck thought it meant. I honestly do NOT think she was saying ‘I didn’t think/know that you might be into guys too’.

Maddie is basically Buck mom for all intents and purposes, and she knows him well. To be fair, most people close to Buck know him better than he knows himself in key ways so with Maddie’s canon comments about Buck’s sexuality over the years, there’s no way she didn’t have her hunches. Period. What I think Maddie actually meant was that she didn’t think Buck had eyes for any guy but Eddie at this point. After doing the new math in her head real quick, of course.

I think that tracks with what she said a little later and how she said it:

Maddie: Okay, I don’t think you’re a fraud, I just think that maybe you’re not sure of your own feelings yet. And if there’s something that you need to tell Eddie, you will. Just, in your own time.

Between that line and her facial expressions, Maddie was on a damn journey! Imho it took everything in her to not just say ‘Wait what?! Eddie is your person my guy let’s be so for real right now’. She was a mix of confused and exasperated in the home stretch of that conversation lol. Still she showed up, met Buck where he was at, and supported him.

Then to top off that whole ‘coming out’ and ‘feeling like a fraud’ scene, Maddie says to Buck “so tell me about the hot pilot” and the scene immediately transitions to Eddie in bed with Marisol. Yeah, Eddie is the hot pilot in question. Buck just hasn’t figured it out yet, and Maddie realizes **all of that** now!

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first base is saving his child from a tsunami. second base is being yelled at in a grocery store. third base is clawing at the mud. fourth base is tasting his blood. fifth base is kissing another guy. sixth base is—

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some actors will throw tantrums and blatantly show their homophobia when people interpret their character as even slightly queer and then there’s oliver “fuck you he’s always been bisexual” stark

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The whole "Make sure you're following your heart, not Christopher's" of it all and Eddie only understanding what his heart wants when he's shot in the chest in front of Buck who will always remember the taste of his blood....I don't know where I'm going with this I'm just stuck here thinking about missed opportunities and filled with rage at the thought of all the queer people who worked hard to tell this story and were let down and are still going and trying to find other ways to bring this out into the world.