That's what bothers me too. They just don't want to make time for personal stories even though that's what made everyone fall in love with the show and the characters. There are enough random procedurals, that's not what made 911 special. They used to give bobby and athena multiple separate stories plus grand romantic gestures as bathena. Where did that time go? If chim/kenny obviously doesn't want to be the leading man, why can't they let buck/oliver take over? He gets to cook like bobby and that's it?
Don't get me wrong I love seeing him in promo interviews but they're just using him. That poor man doesn't even get a story of his own anymore. And they used to be the best, we still talk about the tsunami and the lawsuit and the lightning strike and bi buck today. They still inspire fics too lol while the new eps are giving nothing.
yeah exactly, they've lost the soul of the show
abandoning the individual storylines just makes it worse because now what is there to care about with these characters?
i'm having some thoughts on the baffling lack of individual storylines and poor characterisations so bear with me while i untangle the mess..
everyone was so excited about the move to a new network - it started out so hopeful with finally letting Buck be bi! but the individual storylines since the move has been 90% soap opera trash out of left field for shock value with little regard for continuity and with little to no follow through and what they do follow through on they end up botching.
okay: i do think they did a decent job of Mara's storyline and Henren's family, but it still had the problem of siloing Hen into her family unit outside of work - which has been a problem for every character since season 7:
the 118 has work scenes together, then everyone shuffles off to their family units where they eat a meal and talk, with little to no overlap (let alone intertwining B-plot) except to have someone over for dinner or a coffee, probably while someone does housework or parent the kids in the background, and there's some *drama* which is addressed, like.. huh? i know parenting and kids is an element of their lives and we do need drama in the drama show, but: what happened to actual slice of life scenes? yeah we got some Madney and Henren overlap in s8 but it was: let's have dinner while worrying about Mara.
what happened to the fun side quests????
(i'm not even talking about full filler eps like Treasure Hunt - by omg i miss full filler eps; thankfuck we had Masks but it was still mired in unnecessary shock-value angst for Henren - i just mean all the filler stuff in people's lives that fill them out as people and not just work-and-relationship dolls.)
they took away the fun outside-work interactions but they also refused to let anyone have a fucking personality: no one has any hobbies or fun outings (this is one reason i miss chris!! because we got variable plot and fun outings etc etc!!), there's no surface-level fun friendship stuff (unless it's poking fun of Buck at work) it's just all work and familyORromantic relationships (Masks was a rare welcome gem but again: still not enough) and deep-n-meaningful convos that are then brushed aside while the interesting threads of those characters are ignored.
and we should have seen a lot more Bucktommy in s7/s8 but we barely got any. they introduce this amazing new relationship and dynamic!! and hen.. don't explore it all? [*insert Gru's plane meme*] then they rope Buck into other people's drama instead of letting him have his own rich storyline.
there are sooooo many good dropped storylines - this post would get too long to name them all..
s8 was fumble after fumble: gerrard and ortiz were set up for season-long baddies but instead we got redeemed (*GAG*) gerrard who was also made a goofy old bastard?? and ortiz done away in like ep4 or something?? and instead of exploring Bucktommy and Tommy's character and have them work scenes together (even if Harbor was out of the budget location-wise) and show Tommy's friendships with the rest of the 118, we get a breakup (triggered by reasons that go against canon) and then 2 seasons of a guy pining through baked goods and then some damaging bisexual rep. that's it.
s9 ignoring Buck's grief bc they wanted to introduce *new drama* for Hen. focusing on Harry instead of focusing on Ravi. Buck's absent career progression.
—and that's not even touching on everyone else's characterisation (Maddie's kidnap thing was insane, unnecessary, and obviously done bc they've written her as someone who just works and folds laundry and has no personality for 3 seasons so let's make her the victim of traumatic violence again ig? Eddie's doppleganger was stupid af, his texas move was interesting but again fumbles when he returned to the team to shoehorn in heroics that belittle and overshadow others - and that's just s8 stuff).
..i could go on. my key takeaways of the last 3 seasons are these:
they've lost the magic of writing ensemble storylines
they've forgotten how to write interesting individual storylines
they silo characters into family units outside work
they drop interesting plot points like hot potatoes
they ignore canon events
they ignore characterisation / write ooc scenes/plot
no one has any real personality, everyone feels like a puppet
they shoehorn shock-value plots in for "entertainment"
they ignore everything that made this show so loveable
i think the general fan sentiment towards 911 lately seems to be:
*gonna remind folks that i'm not watching this season, i'm absorbing through dash osmosis, so i may have missed some good things re:plot + character bits so feel free to add those and point out the ways the writers have actually managed to harness some of that older seasons goodness bc we all need a little hope in these trying times 🫶
help I'm reading The Perfect Storm and thinking about @rcmclachlan's Gloucester-born Tommy and thinking of an AU where Tommy is on the helo sent to recover the Andrea Gail that goes down and maybe Buck is still traveling, is a seasonal bartender waiting in the bar with everyone, listening to the radio waiting and waiting.
His name is Evan Buckley and he can spell out his full name at the top of his worksheets (when he remembers).
He lives at 27 Cherry Lane with his mom and his dad and his big sister, Maddie. He can't always remember the 7 digits in his phone number in the right order, but that's okay! Because Maddie wrote it in marker inside his backpack so he'll never lose it! She's the best big sister.
His favorite thing about school is gym because Mr. B shows them tricks with the hula hoops and how to throw a ball as high as they can and see who can clap the most before the ball falls back down and they catch it. His best friend, Michael says he likes storytime better but Miss Gardner reads sooo slow, Evan can't stand it and Miss Gardner always calls him out and says things like "Quiet hands, Evan" or makes him sit at his desk away from everyone else on the carpet. He wants Maddie to come in and read stories. She's way better; she reads to him at night sometimes and doesn't slow down AND she does voices for all the characters too. He likes the way she lets him sound out Chry-san-the-mum. He's not really reading the word, he's just memorized what it sounds like and he recognizes it because it starts with a C and it's the longest word in the book. But Maddie smiles so big when he says the word out loud and runs her fingers through his hair and says "you're going to be reading my books to me in no time" and it makes him feel all squirmy and good that he doesn't tell her the truth.
Evan Buckley lives at 27 Cherry Lane with his mom and his dad and his sister and today is his 6th birthday.
The whole house smells of french toast. When Evan realizes this, he rushes out of his room where he was playing with Maddie's old Power Rangers, shoving the door open before running into the kitchen.
The door bangs against the wall. "Evan!" Mom yells from somewhere deep in the house, "No slamming doors!"
"Sorry!" he calls back.
When he makes it into the kitchen, dad is flipping a slice of french toast onto a plate piled high while Maddie grabs the orange juice and a plastic jug of maple syrup from the fridge before setting them on the dining room table.
"Happy birthday, Evan!" Maddie yells, swooping in to give him a big, squeezing hug and a kiss to his cheek.
"It seems like yesterday you were only 5." Dad chuckles while grabbing a shiny green party hat from the table, securing it to Evan's head before handing one to Maddie and taking one for himself. Mom comes in shortly after, tucking a long napkin into his collar, right as he reaches for the slice on top of the platter. She wears a party hat, only after Dad holds one out to her.
Mom and Dad give him a jump rope and two new picture books and a box full of colorful chalk. He tries to take the chalk out right out at the dining table but Mom, exasperated says "Outside toy, Evan." And he runs right out the kitchen door, forgetting the napkin still tucked into this shirt.
Later they'll go to the petting zoo, and Dad will give him a quarter to feed the goats with an ice cream cone full of kibble. The goats nibble on his fingers, and Evan shrieks with delight, dropping the half-eaten cone inside the enclosure. He turns to his dad, who is already holding another quarter out for him.
Maddie asks Mom to take a photo of the two of them with her poloroid, in front of the goats. But Mom manages to press the shutter at the exact moment the nibble-happy goat from earlier tries to taste Maddie's hair. Her look of shock and Evan's crow of glee are forever immortalized. He keeps the photo tucked in his little bookcase with his copy of Chrysanthemum so he doesn't lose it.
AU where Buck meets Tommy shortly after the truck bombing and is weirded out that he feels so little sadness when Ali breaks up with him
hi friend! this went. uh. somewhat off the rails from what you requested. i hope you like it anyway! buck's first day home from the hospital, redux. remix. au! feat. tommy, lucy, sal, chim, hen and maddie.
under a cut because once again i can do nothing quickly.
buck's in recovery and waiting to get the okay to leave the hospital when he sees another guy ducking into the room. "don't tell them i came through this way," the guy says, winking at buck. "hey, i think i saw a white coat coming down the hall. good luck on getting out of here."
"yeah, thanks," buck says, confused. he glances the way the other guy points and sees his surgeon coming, and by the time he looks back to where the guy was, he's gone.
"kinard!" a firefighter comes hurrying through the room, glancing towards buck. "did you see a guy come through here? about yea tall, brown hair, too many crows feet?"
"i wouldn't say there were too many crows feet," buck says, and then slaps a hand over his mouth. whoops.
"which way did he go?"
buck hesitates and then points in the right direction, never looking away from her. she clocks his hesitation and frowns at him, shaking her head. "he always gets the pretty faces," she sighs, spinning on her heels and heading the wrong way. "kinard! get back here! it's just a tetanus booster! don't be a baby!"
kinard pops out from the opposite door and grins sheepishly at buck. "i have a thing about needles," he says, conspiratorially. "tommy."
"evan buckley," buck says. it's a reflex; all the doctors have been calling him evan the entire time he's been in the hospital. he's about to correct tommy when tommy says "nice to meet you, evan," and the sound curls around buck's shoulders and settles on them like the warmest blanket he's ever had.
"how did you know to do that? give lucy the wrong directions?" tommy continues.
"i have a sister who never trusted me," buck tells him, laughing. "what did lucy mean about the pretty faces?"
"that you have one. probably," kinard says, and throws him another wink before ducking out the door and down the hall.
weird. buck's still baffled when his surgeon comes in to see him. he gets the all clear to go home, and then buck asks about the lafd blood drive poster on the wall. "mr. buckley — sorry, buck — i spent a great deal of time trying to keep your blood inside your body. let's hold off on donating until the cast comes off and you're done your rehab, okay?"
ali's waiting to take him home. he's expecting the wheelchair to leave, but he's not expecting how awkward it is to get into the Jeep. he has to crank the passenger seat all the way back to get his leg in, and the crutches are. well. he's glad he spent two of the six weeks the cast has to be on in the hospital.
getting from the car through the parking garage to the elevator and down the hall into his loft is better left unsaid. he's not sure that it would be much easier in abby's apartment — but he already knows how to rearrange that apartment to accommodate medical equipment.
ali gets him settled on the couch and sits down beside him and — yep, there's the other shoe. he's been tatiana'ed. (not that he would ever say that to chim's face. but it sucks to be broken up with because you're injured.)
he can't exactly blame her. he remembers what it felt like to be trapped there and he kind of wants to divorce his own body. he waves her off and tells her to let him know that she landed in new york okay; at least she was never supposed to stay long today, and because she was going back to the east coast he has a little time to figure out how to tell maddie and the others.
buck eyes the loft longingly. he just wants to lie down. and he has to get used to the crutches and the stairs! now's as good a time as any to try it out.
he gets three steps up, almost overbalances, and sits down on the stairs. shit. is he going to have to sleep on the couch for a few months?
"yo, buck! you get settled all right? maddie's coming over after her shift, remember? hey, it's buck! come say hi!" the sounds of the firehouse filter in as chim puts buck on speaker and he smiles, leaning against the bannister. god, he misses them.
"hey chim, yeah, i remember. all settled. i was actually calling for some of that rosetta stone knowledge of yours. you got a number for a firefighter named kinard?"
"tommy, yeah, he helped out at doheny — why?"
"ran into him at the hospital."
"he wasn't hurt, was he?"
"no, no, just visiting."
"ah, blood drive," hen cuts in, laughing.
"tetanus, actually," buck interrupts, and he can hear the wince. they've all needed a booster because of the job before.
"sure, i can text it to you. …wait, why'd you call it the rosetta stone, buck?"
"cause you're the oldest firefighter i know, chim, i figure you gotta translate it from the hieroglyphs you wrote it in," buck says, after his phone has chimed with a message. "gotta go, bye!"
"buckley!"
buck debates what he's about to do for about thirty seconds before he taps on the contact number chim had texted him.
"go for kinard."
"did lucy catch you?"
"who — oh, evan? how did you get this number?"
"lafd phone tree," buck says, grinning. "you didn't look like you were on shift earlier."
"funny, i don't remember signing up for that… anyway, what can i do for you?"
"remember how you owe me a favour?"
"lucy did catch me, so i'm not sure how much of a favour you actually did me…" tommy teases.
"hey, don't blame me for the fact that you didn't run fast enough. i'm gonna send you an address, i need you and any other big strong firefighters you know to come over asap and pay up on that favour."
"if this is a bachelorette party, i have to let you know that we actually do need to be paid for that."
buck bursts out laughing and shakes his head even though tommy can't see him. "careful, or i'm telling the phone tree you're moonlighting and they're all going to book you."
"okay, hmm. give me a few minutes to round everyone up and we'll be there in about half an hour."
"wait, for real?"
"yeah, unless you're just yanking my chain."
"no, i — no, i really appreciate it. text when you get here, i'll walk you through the keypad."
tommy's time keeping is accurate. he knocks on buck's door twenty seven minutes later (not that buck has been keeping track) and buck hobbles from his card table to the front door and balances on one crutch as he opens the door. "thanks for coming," he says, hopping backwards to let tommy in. the other firefighter from the hospital (who must be lucy) follows him in and gives buck a seriously judgmental eyebrow, and then another guy a few inches shorter than tommy but with shoulders that wouldn't look out of place on a linebacker trails in after. "who got robbed?" the second guy asks, looking around. "should have called the cops, not the fire department."
lucy swats him upside the head and rolls her eyes. "shut up, sal. what are we doing here, tommy?"
"i don't know, you'd have to ask evan." tommy grins faintly.
"asking the consummate liar, good idea," lucy volleys back.
"i told you where he was, it's not my fault you didn't listen," buck argues. "i need help getting my bed from up there—" he points to the loft "—to down here."
"no wonder you called the fire department," sal snorts, bounding up the stairs. "you signed on this place after you wrecked your leg? did you hit your head too?"
"i signed the lease three weeks before the cast, actually," buck snips back.
lucy and tommy wince, and lucy heads up after sal. "tommy, move the couch out further so we can dump this mattress over the edge," lucy calls, peering over the railing. "not much here for having lived here almost a month, kid."
buck shrugs. "i was at work."
tommy grins at him as he muscles the couch out from the alcove, eyeing the entertainment system. "give me a sec to move the tv," he calls up, and buck hobbles forward. "i can help."
"absolutely not," all three of them interject, and tommy points back to the table. "sit down, evan. we've got this."
"so how did you—" sal leans over the railing and nods towards buck's leg.
"shark attack," buck jokes, and sal grins at him.
"yeah, that was rude. working on it."
tommy, lucy and sal have obviously been friends for awhile; they have their own shorthand and while buck winces a little when they flip his mattress over the railing, the couch does muffle the sound and there's no yelling from his downstairs neighbour. sal and tommy move the couch into the kitchen beside his table, and then lucy skips down the stairs with his pillows and blanket and one of the side table lamps and claims a seat beside him as tommy and sal muscle the frame down the stairs. sal swears a lot, but buck has a feeling that he's still holding back. he's a little distracted by the way tommy's shirt shifts against the top of his jeans.
"so who gave you tommy's number?"
"chimney."
"chim - who?"
"howie," tommy calls from the living room. "sal, lift the corner, jesus."
"i throw my back out, i'm sending gina after you," sal grumbles as they resettle the mattress.
"to what, sue me?"
"for lost earnings and emotional distress," sal agrees. "donato! bedding!"
"you're not my real captain," lucy calls back, leaving the lamp with buck as she takes the rest over. "and we gotta get that couch upstairs."
"you don't have to do that."
"sure, if you're not getting a real table in here," lucy argues, looking at the kitchen.
"there's going to be an island," buck tells her, bristling a little.
she laughs at him and nods. "so we'll get it out of the way," she promises, ruffling sal and tommy's hair as she passes them. "and you can order some food."
"please, i have a date," sal disagrees. "i'll take a favour to be named later."
"not a sports game, sal," tommy shakes his head, smiling in buck's direction.
"oh, me too," lucy decides, pretending to lift the couch and then shaking her head, leaving it to the boys. "give me a ride home, sal?"
"i'll drop you in the middle of downtown and you'll like it," sal calls from the loft, laughing. the doorbell rings and lucy gets up, retrieving the pizza boxes and bag of drinks before buck can even put a crutch under his arm.
"don't worry, tommy will eat your pizza," she promises, leering playfully at buck.
"oh geez, luce, be nice," tommy says, throwing lucy a glare. "thanks, you two. i owe you. now get outta here."
"you both owe us, shark boy, and i aim to collect," lucy says, pointing at buck. "thanks for the adventure, tommy. see you at work friday."
"adventure, sure," sal snorts, nodding towards buck. "call us when you get that off and need everything back the way it was."
tommy folds himself into one of the chairs and takes a slice of pizza, looking over at buck. "so how do you know howie?"
"he's sort of dating my sister," buck says, because eventually the bombing is going to come out but none of them have looked at him like he's broken today and he likes that. the 118 keeps looking at him like they should have done something to make sure he never got hurt in the first place, and it's not like it was their fault in the first place. plus it has the added benefit of being true, when tommy does find out the truth later. hard to be mad about that.
"handy," tommy laughs, offering him one of the coke bottles. "this was fun."
"really? didn't look fun," buck says, laughing too. "at least not for sal, he sure swore a lot for having fun."
"wait until you watch hockey with the guy," tommy grins.
"lucy seems… like she was teasing us?" buck continues. he hasn't done a lot today, but he's suddenly starving and already reaching for a second slice. tommy nudges the box closer to him.
"she's terminally sarcastic," tommy offers. "you probably picked up on that."
"probably," buck agrees. "so. what do you normally do on your days off when you're not moving around furniture for a guy you hardly know?"
buck finds out that tommy flies, and he starts asking as many questions as he can in between bites of food. he's always thought that there was something romantic about flying (hence the hot air balloon), and the way that tommy talks about it, he's pretty sure he's right. he loses track of time and it's a shock when the front door opens and maddie sticks her head in.
"hey, buck, sorry i'm late — oh! hi. maddie buckley."
"tommy kinard," tommy says, wiping his hand off before offering it to her. "sorry for intruding."
"any friend of buck's is a friend of mine," maddie says. tommy looks over at buck and mouths 'buck?' when maddie's back is turned and buck shrugs. he probably should have clarified by now. "buck, your place got a makeover."
"yeah, turns out trying to do the stairs on a broken leg isn't all that advisable," buck shrugs, preening when it makes both of them laugh. "i called some friends."
"and we'll come back when everything needs to be put back where it belongs," tommy promises, carefully standing up. buck keeps his eyes politely focused on the corner of tommy's chin. definitely not his stomach. or his thighs. "i should get going before i overstay my welcome."
no chance of that happening, buck thinks but doesn't say out loud. "thanks again for your help, tommy."
"yeah, any time." tommy salutes them both, smiling faintly. "give me a call after that gets off, and i'll take you up if you want to go for a spin."
buck waves, ignoring maddie's look when she claims the empty seat and takes a slice of pizza. "take you up?" she questions, once the door is closed behind tommy.
"he's a pilot. firefighter pilot," buck clarifies.
"impressive." maddie's eyes sparkle as she grins at him, but she doesn't tease him any more. yet. "glad your first day back went okay."
"yeah," buck agrees, taking another drink of his coke. "yeah, it was pretty good all things considered."
…..not even six hours later i got an offer of a well paying full time long-term job with free room and board in queens in nyc, allowing me independence and a way to escape an abusive situation and an unhealthy environment
likes charge reblogs cast, folks, this is the good luck post
the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like.
thanks, @cappuccinoandglitter! (who tagged my main, so i am moving this to my side blog.)
When he makes it into the kitchen, dad is flipping a slice of french toast onto a plate piled high while Maddie grabs the orange juice and plastic jug of maple syrup from the fridge before setting them on the dining table.
Posting the next arc for @saldelucaweek26 ! Yesterdays prompt was AU, so here's more Biker Buck to celebrate!
--
Sal groans as he wakes, sunlight bright behind his eyelids and seeming all to happy to jab into his brain like an ice pick. He throws an arm out to grab Eddies pillow, and how the hell did they forget to close the blinds last night? Means to drag it over his head—
His muscles scream at him and Sal hisses loudly as his entire body protests any movement. He mouths several curses under his breath as he slowly breathes through the pain. The ache bringing with it the remnants of last night. Memories slowly filtering back to him one by one.
Eddie. Shannon.
The Biker.
Buck.
Tommy.
Fuck.
Blue eyes fly open and Sal takes several deep breaths as he stares at the room he's in. The pine paneling and the old desk. The pull out couch he's currently laying on—the lumpy mattress offering zero relief from the middle support bar Sal can feel sticking into his hip.
Double Fuck, Sal curses to himself. His ass and legs throb. Bruised and overused. Stretched and fucked beyond anything Sal has felt in years. Heat follows the ache in his bones at the memory. And… and Sal can't help but let himself sink back into the mattress and blankets that smell like sweat and spunk. Gives himself a few moments to collect himself as he filters through the previous night.
Tears prick at the corner of Sal's eyes, his fiance's betrayal bright and stinging in the dawn of a new day. He can't believe Eddie would do this. Can't believe…
But can't he?
The woman, the Shannon but non-Shannon, now that Sal thinks back on it, had looked just as surprised to see him as he did her. Had Eddie even mentioned him? Told her that Sal was engaged to be married to him. That he was the one who put Eddie back together after the original Shannon's death? That he was Chris's other dad as much as he could be without being related by blood.
Did Eddie even tell that doppelganger anything?
Or did he tell her the same nothing he told Sal?
Sal bites his lip as tears slip from the corner of his eyes. He grabs the pillow he had been using and buries his face in it, hoping it's enough to smother the noise of his sobs.
Wonders if he couldn't just smother himself completely right now.
They didn’t have Ravi in the episode because having Hen justify lying about her illness in front of a cancer survivor would have been too interesting.
Ravi who spent huge chunks of his childhood in hospitals, Ravi who knows all too well how important early intervention is, Ravi who probably still gets regular check ups to make sure his cancer hasn’t come back.
I want her to look him in the eye and say she was in the right.
I’m not even suggesting he do/say anything crazy, but a simple “do you really believe that?” from Ravi could have done a lot.
