The last chapter of my mlp infection AU! Thank you to everyone who followed along. Some final thoughts on my twitter @cracklewink if anyone's interested : )
I wanted Elliott's dialogue to be in cursive! sorry if that's hard to read here's the transcript:
E: "Tell me, doctor Harvey. You've been living in the valley for... 2 years now?"
H: "almost 3."
E: "How could someone as handsome as you not have someone to call a lover? Hmm?"
H: "I- er... I suppose... Um... I'm rather shy... And- much older than most bachelorettes. It wouldn't be right (Plus, I'm their doctor...)."
E: "...bachelorettes? And what about the bachelors, doctor? I'm not blind, you know. It may not be obvious to others, but we've been friends for long enough. You're bad at hiding it."
E: "I'm only teasing, you know. I do wish you were less afraid of opening up."
H: "I, um... I suppose this could be the wine speaking, but... you're right. I've- I've never truly allowed myself to... experiment. Maybe..."
E: "Hm?"
H: "M-Maybe I could, I could, you know, open up... Try to... Try... something new...?"
E: "My. Try something new, you say?"
H: "...Yes..."
E: "I suppose... I wouldn't oppose to that."
E: "...It's late. We should get going anyways. Why not stay over for the night, doctor Harvey?"
H: "Um... Okay!" (WHY DID I SAY IT LIKE THAT.)
Anyhow! I very much believe that Harvey & Elliott have a lot of potential. I think Harvey would very much be a repressed bisexual, & I think Elliott would openly flirt with him (in a playful manner), which would kinda help Harvey loosen/open up a bit :-)
why do you think bucktommy has been "hitting differently"? i love them don't get me wrong, but i don't think it's been written much differently than buck's previous love interests (yet)
Hi anon,
I don't think I agree with you there. Well, first of all I think talking about all of Buck's previous romantic relationships as one thing is doing injustice to those different arcs and Buck's character journey. All served different purposes, all were written differently from each other. When I make the distinction that BuckTommy has been "hitting differently" what I mean is that it has what worked in those previous relationships as well as what was lacking. And I think the reason is twofold: the writers being intentional with their choices and how it's all been executed.
Intention:
Just to be clear, I don't mean anyone has had endgame BuckTommy intentions. Tim has been very clear about how he doesn't plan that far ahead and it's hard to talk endgames with a procedural format like this. But we know they wrote the bi Buck arc with more care, hence being more intentional with their choices than some of his previous relationships. We know that their first kiss had taken multiple shapes before it ended up being this gentle, surprising but still mutual kiss. We know that they wanted to create a story where Buck felt connected to this guy but also safe and light. We know that they wanted to make Tommy a character who can be understanding and lead Buck as he stumbles. We know that Tim thought Lou's buy was important because he didn't want to repeat the same mistake of creating a LI who didn't fit with the rest of the cast etc.
Now you can say some of these fit previous LIs one way or another but it brings me to execution:
Many people talked about this before me, obviously, but I think the execution of everything they planned with Tommy has been great. I mean before their first kiss, this guy goes out of his way and shows up at Buck's to "clean the air" with this virtual stranger because he believes he caused bad blood between him and his friend. Not just that, he reassures Buck about his place in his friend's life and apologizes for making him feel excluded. Now as the audience we know Buck is the kid who'd get hurt on purpose so his dad would pay him attention, he's the guy who sued the fire department because he felt pushed out and isolated, but Tommy doesn't. I think an LI addressing one of Buck's core insecurities in such a direct and reassuring manner before even knowing him is a great way to set up why Buck would feel safe with and understood by him.
Another is that Tommy immediately meets Buck at that vulnerable place when he admits to being jealous of the 118's bond and Buck reassures him back. This for example, is something Abby had done with Buck imo but Buck back then didn't know himself enough to embrace his own insecurities and at a maturity level to address Abby's despite his best intentions. With Taylor, their whole issue was that they couldn't be honest and vulnerable with each other. BuckTommy in this aspect feels different because from the get-go as they're being honest and are on the same frequency when it comes to this.
Episode five, we see them on their failing date, then we see Buck being nervous that he fucked it up in the coffee scene. We've seen this Buck before, when he got into that anxious mode to make sure Abby knew he wasn't cheating on her. Obviously, the context and the stage of the relationship are very different and they both reassure Buck about it not being his fault. Great on both Tommy and Abby.
But then, the immediate follow-up in Abby's case is that she's leaving for abroad. I don't think Abby is being evil or mean with this decision (where I have a problem with is when she starts ghosting him and doesn't just end it, but that's another topic) but again knowing what we know about Buck as the audience, we know this is a big deal. We know this - and later Ali leaving - adds on his issues of feeling like he's not worth it, we know it leads to him basically trapping Taylor because he's so afraid she'll leave. Again, Tommy doesn't. But Tommy gives him a second chance and then shows up at the wedding.
You can say showing up on one date is not proof that Tommy will always be there for Buck, but I think the execution is so good in painting Tommy as very reliable concerning this. Because Tommy doesn't just show up. If the writers' only concern was to write Tommy out of the A plot of episode 6, he could just come to the ceremony and be like "my shift just ended". No, Tommy says he'll try his damnest to make it to the wedding and then he enters the hospital all rushed, haphazard, covered in soot, hair a mess. The dramatique of that entrance immediately validates in the audiences' mind that yeah this is a guy who will do his damnest to be there for Buck. It, again, addresses a core insecurity of Buck's.
Back half of the season doesn't do anything different but we again see Tommy notice Buck's emotional state, meet him in that vulnerable place, and also match his flirty vibe. They're comfortable; it feels earned even in such a short span because of the well execution of their initial arc. This to me what Buck said about Natalia when they thought the show wasn't coming back (and before that relationship was recontextualized as being a dud), about how he feels seen and comfortable etc. Only this time, there's intention, effort, and execution.
One final note in execution - and this is very ymmv because I've seen even from some BuckTommys that they wished they did this differently - I genuinely love how little BuckTommy there is in 7x03. More specifically, I love that Tommy's reintroduction to the series is not through being Buck's potential love interest. He's there in that episode for Hen, Chim, and Bobby. In 10 mins screentime he's quickly established with motives and personality quirks, is involved in the main plot, bounces off of other characters. Again, great execution of a thing Tim intended to do: a love interest who can fill more roles than just the love interest. This basically makes him in his own category in how purposeful and functional he can be as a character in the greater narrative. So yeah I think both as a person in-story and a character, Tommy has been hitting different.
A what-if scenario of if Hilda got a Marra after the Mountain King...
OKAY. So this is an awful, half-finished thing I made January last year but hear me out! some parts are good, and 2023 me apparently spent 3 days on it!! so i wanted to at the very least compile all the frames and post it! because i am proud of it.
Anyways, frames im proud of under the cut-
These two have such a great emotion behind them, I'm extremely happy with the way they came out, even if half-finished
THIS!! THIS SEQUENCE!!! This was the whole reason I wanted to make this animatic, I sketched this before anything else and I'm obsessed with how it came out (Even if janky perspective) Drawing the time worm move was hypnotizing.