Okay I Have So Many Thoughts About That Episode But Chief Among Them Is The Amount Of Allusion We Got

BUDDIE ★ EDDIE'S WORDS OF AFFIRMATION (S08E09 + S08E10)

bobby’s boybestie and co-dad michael won’t even be at the funeral. btw. which is not only sickening for the sanctity of male friendship which everyone seems to worry about but is so mean to athena bc michael would never leave her and the kids alone at a time like this. tv sucks.

it’s a good day

One thing I hope they write/have written into the show is Buck getting a bunch of tattoos as another coping mechanism he uses to deal with Eddie leaving. It's a realistic coping mechanism that also, in a way, doubles as a form of self-harm that isn't just him reverting back to being Buck 1.0 in Eddie's absence. Plus, tattoos are hot imo, and I want to see Eddie's reaction to them once he comes back to LA lol.

Also, Oliver has a bunch of tattoos already that they've had to put so much effort into covering up that it would just make the makeup and costuming department's job way easier if they write it in.

if taylor shows up again just so tim can do a scene direct from fanfiction in which buck is like "oh btw i'm bi" and taylor is like "me too. congrats on finally figuring out your feelings for eddie" and buck's brain implodes well. that would be the funniest thing he could possibly do

911 (2018 - ) 2.01 // 8.12

OH MY FUCKING GOD NO NO NONONONON MADDIEEEEE. I SAID NO MADDIE NDE ON MY PREDICTION HOW DARE YOU 😭

Further thoughts on Buddie following episodes 8x11.

I'm speculating here, but I think this episode was about setting up a coherent and satisfying narrative around Buck and Eddie's feelings for each other. Look. Buck's recently figured out he's bisexual. If he's going to end up dating Eddie, Eddie needs to come out too. But how do you get two main characters to come out as queer when they've only ever dated women before? That's a wildly convenient coincidence.

(Audiences hate convenient coincidences.)

Now Buck is insisting he's not interested in Eddie. Why isn't he interested in Eddie? Well, Eddie's straight. Okay, that's not really an answer. But it doesn't matter! Because Eddie's straight! Why does everyone think he's in love with his best friend? His best friend is straight!

Suddenly Eddie's sexuality is a question. Is Eddie straight? Why is that important to Buck? What would happen if he wasn't? Fandom has been asking these questions since day one and we've already got more than a few answers of our own. But now Eddie's sexuality is being made salient by the narrative. And we're being told, Buck is not in love with his straight best friend.

So, hypothetically: Eddie comes out as Not Straight. This is no longer a wildly convenient coincidence. It's a complication. (Audiences love complications). Because now Buck has to answer the question that we've just established he does not want to answer. Are you in love with your best friend?

They can also reverse the order. Have Buck answer that question and move on to What Now? In this case, Eddie coming out is now a resolution. (Audiences also love resolutions). I think this is the less interesting path but it's also possible.

Usually when I dissect narratives like this I think in terms of "what I would have done." This is not what I would have done. This is better than what I would have done, because I've never had to convince my audience that People Can Be Queer, Actually, Yes Even Him. I would not have thought to structure it this way. I didn't think to structure it this way, and I've given a lot of thought to how I would hypothetically structure a getting together arc that would be convincing to a mainstream audience. I've been thinking that the only options for Eddie coming out are either Buck is supportive and excited for him as a friend, or Buck is painfully hopeful because he's been pining. Way, way better: Eddie comes out and Buck, who's been insisting for months that just because he's queer doesn't mean he's in love with his best friend, immediately realises he's in love with his best friend. And spirals.

hot take but its possible to enjoy the angst of buck being sad wet dog abandoned in the rain AND acknowledge that his grief is not Eddie's responsibility and that eddie is in fact not a horrible person for putting his son first by leaving and maybe some of yall need to stop infantilizing a fully grown man again