i feel like we are the fandom who needs this post the most any fandom has needed it ever.
all of these methods require you to know the title, author and/or link of the fic.
[disclaimer: the fic i am using as an example is not deleted, i just can't think of any other fics to use as an example right now.]
Method #1: Wayback Machine
this is my go to method that i always try first.
steps:
every fic on ao3 has a url of archiveofourown.org/[specific-numbers]. you're gonna need that url, doesn't matter if it doesn't work anymore.
eg.
2. now you're gonna go to archive.org and enter your url in the search bar.
3. something like this will come up. it probably won't be saved as many times though, just once or twice.
just click any of the links now, either the dates marked blue on the calendar or the earliest/latest date. that's it.
drawbacks:
often, a problem arises when searching for fics rated mature or explicit.
the site will have archived this page but not the actual fic. though, maybe lady luck is on your side and clicking proceed will lead you to a saved version of the actual fic. but usually not. and not all fics are saved here. in those cases, i have some more methods.
Method #2: Search Engine Cache
search engines like google and yandex often save a cached version of sites, though yandex is much more reliable than google. i'll give you a tutorial for both.
steps (yandex):
the link isn't completely necessary, just the title and author of the fic will suffice.
go to yandex.com and search for your fic by either entering the url or entering the title and author as such.
3. this will probably immediately come up.
just enter the captcha and it should let you in on the first go but there's a glitch i've encountered where you could be entering the captcha completely correct but for some reason the site still won't let you in. for that, you just have to keep trying again and again until eventually the site lets you in. might take more than 10 tries.
4. once you're in, search results will pop up. directly clicking them will only lead you to the not found page. what you're gonna do is hover over the box of the search result and you'll see 3 dots pop up on the right.
click those and a dropdown menu will appear. click the first option 'saved copy'.
and thats it! this is a much more efficient method especially for explicit or mature fics.
drawbacks:
for some reason, when i open yandex in google chrome, i can't see the 3 dots. i can in firefox though. don't really know what thats all about.
i'll show you how to do it with google too just in case yandex doesn't work.
steps (google):
in the url bar, type cache:[link of fic]. that's pretty much it. google doesn't have a lot of fics saved though so you'll probably get a 404 page.
Method #3: Reddit
there's a subreddit called r/DeletedFanfiction that can probably help you out. either search for the fic as it may have already been posted or req it and someone will probably get you a google drive link soon enough. u/throwthisaway11112 is my lord and savior.
afaik it's still up and running fine despite the reddit protest thing (which i recommend taking a minute to look into).
Method #4: Archive.org Database
okay, now you're gonna need a lot of memory on computer for this one. i'm not gonna even bother and try to explain it, i'll just link you to the original post. thank you once again to the anon who sent me this method!
Method #5: Fandom
if absolutely none of those methods work, you can still just send me an ask and maybe my followers or i will have a saved copy. same for any other fandom, i recommend asking around in popular fandom spaces, someone is bound to have it.
its so awesome that you can straight up write fanfiction in your head to help yourself fall asleep and it doesnt even have to be good or something anyone would ever want to read. even yourself
Yes. The Weasleys had too many kids. An analysis. (Part 1 of 2)
Everyone who read Harry Potter read about the prejudices regarding the Weasleys: They all have red hair, are poor and have more kids than they can afford. Insert a sneering Malfoy here.
The books were adamant that that was not the case. The Weasleys are depicted as the best family in the books. (Just look at the others. The Dursleys were narrow-minded, bigoted and abusive. The Malfoys were bigoted terrorists. The Lovegoods were weird. Let’s not even start about Merope and Riddle.)
However, if you look closer, the prejudices have some truth to them: They had more kids than they could afford. However, money isn’t the issue here, not really.
Yes, the Weasleys are clearly depicted as members of the working class. They don’t have much money and fall back on second-hand stuff a lot of the time. Ron in particular is shown to be using hand-me-downs in book one.
However, they don’t live in abject poverty. The family owns their own home on their own land. They have a garden to grow their own vegetables and they have chickens. This means that food scarcity shouldn’t be a big issue for them, because they can produce a lot of it on their own. (Magic should make this even easier, because they can use it for the gardening stuff. And if we assume that you can duplicate food, this should keep everyone well-fed.)
The main issue when it comes to money isn’t that they don’t have anything. They have clearly enough money to stay comfortably over water. They just don’t have enough money to buy all the fancy shit the wizarding world uses as status symbols. (Like racing brooms and dress robes.)
Could things be better, money-wise? Sure. But one can have a loving, comfortable childhood, even with second-hand clothes and working class food. So no. It’s not about the money.
It’s about time.
And it's also about how the parents divide that time (and the work that comes along with it.)
The Weasleys follow a family structure one would expect from a muggle family of their time (the second half of the 20th century): Arthur is the one who goes out to work and earns money, while his wife Molly is a stay-at-home-mother who takes care of their home and kids. It’s also just their nuclear family that lives in the burrow. There are no other relatives (no grandparents and no aunts or uncles, either) living there.
I find this a little bit weird, tbh. The nuclear family (parents and kids) living alone, without any other relatives and with the father as the sole breadwinner, is a pretty new development. The practice only really established itself after the Statute of Secrecy went into effect. It developed first in the upper classes (who used this to flaunt their wealth) and in urban centers (where there was no space to live together with your extended family.) Before this, living with one's extended family was very common, especially in rural areas, where it was beneficial to stick together. The Weasley’s don’t really have a reason to live as a nuclear family. There is no need for wizards to follow the Muggle trend, and things were different before the statute. Living with other, adult family members would also be beneficial, especially for Molly. And the books do suggest that the extended family is quite large, so “They don’t live with other relatives, because they don’t have any” doesn’t fit their situation either.
This is a common theme for Rowling, by the way. She tends to ignore the extended families of her characters, whenever it is possible. The numbers of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that get mentioned in the book is incredibly low. (The only character who seems to have close connections to his extended family is Neville – and that’s because the other members of his nuclear family are completely absent because of health reasons.)
Anyway. When we look back at the Weasleys, this leaves Molly basically as a tradwife. (Minus the religious baggage.) But let's start at the beginning.
(Note: I will focus on the books in this. I don’t consider the games canon and will not use them as a source.)
Arthur and Molly were born around 1950. We know that he went to Hogwarts from 1961 to 1968. They were close enough in age to start a relationship while still at Hogwarts, and they married shortly after graduating. For this to work, she must have been in his year or maybe the year below or above.
Bill was born in 1970 and was followed by six siblings, the last who was born in 1981. So from the age of ca. 20 to the age of ca. 33 Molly was either pregnant or nursing at least one baby at any given time. (There might have been a short break in that pattern between Charlie and Percy, but it only got worse after that.)
As I said before, Molly and Arthur seem to have a very traditional division of labor between them: He works at the ministry and earns money, she takes care of their home and kids. This means that Molly has drawn the short end of the stick.
While Arthur is working one job 9-5, Molly has to work three jobs and at least one of them is 24/7. Let’s pick them apart:
Her first job is to take care of the home. Molly cleans the house and does the laundry. It is also very likely that she is not only responsible for cooking, but for food production in general. This means that she takes care of the garden and chickens. This would be pretty exhausting, if not for her magic. She can likely cut down on time and effort by using magic for most of those tasks.
On top of this, she is also producing at least some of the clothing her family wears. We don't see her sewing, but she knits a lot. She is using magic for that, too.
Her second job is to raise their kids. Molly is their primary caregiver and does most of the parenting. This is a difficult job to begin with, but there are seven of them. This is where her workload starts to stretch her thin. It can’t be easy to do the laundry, while Ginny needs to be fed, Bill and Charlie are arguing in the backyard, and the twins have just vanished. Magic is less helpful here, because a lot of the work requires her to interact with her kids. She can’t really flick her wand to speed that up.
On top of that - and this is where things get even worse - there doesn't seem to be any kind of elementary school in Wizarding Great Britain. At the very least, the books do not mention any form of primary education and Hogwarts seems to be Ron’s first school. But Hogwarts still requires its students to be able to read, write and do math. Having some education about the Wizarding World couldn’t hurt, either.
However, someone has to teach the kids. And this someone is probably Molly, because Arthur is at work, and they don’t have the money for a private tutor. They cant sent their kids to an elementary school, because there is none. (And they obviously did not send them to a muggle school.)
So this is her third job. This is another job she can’t really speed up with magic, because she can’t hex the knowledge into her kids’ brains. (Or at least I hope she can’t, because everything else would be disturbing.)
This means Molly has to take care of their home, produce their food, take care of their kids and teach them elementary school-stuff. All while being pregnant and/or nursing for circa 13 years straight.
Her workload just isn’t doable for a single person. It might have started off okay, when she only had Bill and Charlie, and it probably got better once most kids had left the house to study at Hogwarts. But the years in between must have been hell. And she did not really have any help to do it.
Arthur was off to work most days and seems to spend quite a lot of time on his hobby. Additionally, he just doesn’t seem to be all that involved as a father and seems to take care mostly of the fun stuff.
His parenting style is much more relaxed than Molly’s, too. He’s probably the parent the kids go to when they want to do something their mother would say no to. This, of course, makes parenting even harder for her, because she doesn’t just have to deal with the kids, but also with Arthur’s parenting decisions. There are no other adult family members around to help her, either. They also don’t have the money to hire help. (No wonder Molly dreamed of having her own slave house elf. It would have allowed her to drastically reduce her workload. It’s a really disgusting wish, but I understand where it comes from.)
This is where the family dynamics probably took their first severe hit: It’s very likely that Molly’s workload left her with more work than she was able to do consistently. Whether Arthur pulled his weight in that regard is questionable (and he was at work for most of the day anyway.) She also had no other adults to help her, so she probably offloaded her workload elsewhere: her kids.
Yes. I think it is very likely that the Weasleys parentified their kids, especially Bill, Charlie and Percy. We don’t see it with Bill and Charlie, probably because they had already left the house when Harry meets the family. Still, it’s a little weird that both of them went to live so far away from home. Yes, sure, exploring tombs in Egypt and taming dragons in Romania is fun and exciting in and off itself – but being so far away from home that mom can’t rope you into household chores and babysitting duty is probably a really nice bonus. It would also relax their familial relationships quite a bit, because moving away gives them control over when and how they want to engage. (And it’s probably easier to be the fun big brother to your younger siblings when you aren’t required to watch and control them every day.)
We do see it with Percy, however. He looks after and take responsibility for his younger siblings a lot, especially at Hogwarts. You can see it in the way he looks after Ginny and how he’s constantly at odds with Fred and George because they refuse to follow any rules.
Fuck, he still does this after the big row with his father. Yes, the letter he sends to Ron is pretty obnoxious, but he still wrote it. He did not need to. At that point he had cut all contact, after all. He clearly cared for his younger brother and wanted to look out for him, even if he did it in the most annoying way possible. It would be interesting to know whether he also wrote to Ginny or the twins or not.
Also, did I mention that the Weasleys have too many kids?
They have too many kids.
It’s a numbers game, really. The more kids you have, the more time you have to use for household chores (you need to clean more, wash more, cook more, etc.) You also have less time to spend time with each kid individually. This is especially true for quality time – so time that isn’t spent on chores or education. Time that is spent playing and talking with each other, just to enjoy each other's company.
Molly is already working three jobs. She doesn’t really have any opportunity to spend time with her kids equally. She’s too busy looking after the home and teaching the older ones, while watching the younger ones and making sure the twins don’t burn the house down.
I just don’t see her spending quality time with her kids regularly, because of this. It’s just difficult to talk with Charlie about his favorite dragons or read something to Percy or to play with Ron, when there is always someone else who needs her more. Full diapers. Empty stomachs. Unyielding stains of unknown origin on Arthur's work robes. A sudden explosion on the second floor. And probably everything at the same time and all the time.
So yeah. Chances are that her attention and her affection can be pretty hard to come by at times. (To a certain degree, this also applies to Arthur, because he is away from home so much.)
Let’s look at the timeline.
It probably starts pretty harmless:
1970 - Bill is born, and he’s the only kid for two years. Yeah, it’s Molly’s first child, and she is a really young mother, but she is a stay-at-home-mum, and it’s just one kid. It’s mostly her and Bill who are at home, and her workload isn’t all that big, because she can use magic for most stuff. The war has started, but it probably hasn’t kicked into overdrive just yet, so this shouldn’t affect her too much either.
1972 – Charlie is born. Molly’s workload is expanding, but things should still be pretty manageable. Also, they don’t have another kid for almost four years. This allows Molly to adjust to caring for two kids. She can also relax from both pregnancies and births. If it wasn’t for the war, this might be her favorite years as a mother.
When Arthur is involved in parenting Bill and Charlie, it’s probably on the weekends. I can imagine him taking them out to do fun stuff, so their mother can get some rest. It’s probably a great time for him, because he can bond with his boys. I can’t see him do much more than that, though. Molly has a handle on things, and interfering could be seen as overstepping.
1976 – Percy is born. This is probably the moment, where the attention-distribution in the family gets a little bit wonky. Molly has three kids now, and it’s the middle of the war. Bill is almost six, which means that she has to start teaching him, while simultaneously nursing Percy and keeping Charlie entertained/away from trouble. This is probably still manageable. She can wait a little longer with teaching Bill, so she can teach him and Charlie together. She can also hand him (and maybe Charlie) over to Arthur, so he can teach him/them on weekends.
Additionally, Arthur is probably still taking Bill and Charlie out for some bonding-fun-time. However, the war is in full swing now, so leaving the house gets increasingly dangerous. Their trips will get shorter and stay closer to home. They will happen less frequently, too. He will also end up working more because of the war, doing overtime much more frequently. When he is home, he is going to be exhausted, as a result.
1978 – Fred and George are born. The attention-distribution in the family falls off a cliff.
This is when Molly's workload starts to become overwhelming. Charlie will be 6 at the end of the year, Bill will be 8. She has to start teaching them, if she hasn’t already. Otherwise, Bill will not be ready when he starts Hogwarts.
And on top of everything, Molly has to take care of the twins. She has to do everything that needs to be done for a newborn – times two.
So her workload explodes. Molly is raising five kids, now. She needs to educate Bill and Charlie, nurse Fred and George, and has to make sure Percy doesn’t fall to the wayside completely. She also has her household chores that aren’t related to her kids. The war is still raging on. Arthur is probably tied up at work most of the time, and when he is home, he’s exhausted. And Molly will be pregnant again in a year. (Really, why do they have so many kids during a war? One or two, I would understand, but this is getting irresponsible.)
This is probably the time when Bill has to take over at least some chores, not just to learn how to do them, but to take some pressure off of his mother. This might not be parentification yet, but it will get worse over time. I assume he has to look after his younger brothers a lot.
On top of all that, it is increasingly hard to shield the kids from the war. At least Bill and Charlie are old enough to understand that things are really, really wrong and scary. And there is not much Molly can do about it.
1980 - Ron is born. The twins are already old enough to open cupboards. Molly is not having a great time. She probably hands over Percy to Bill and Charlie (“Go, play with your little brother!”), so she can take care of baby Ron while keeping an eye on the twin shaped chaos that is growing by the day. She will be pregnant again in a couple of months.
Bill (who will be 10 at the end of the year) and Charlie (8) still require teaching. Percy (4) isn’t old enough just yet, but he will be, soon. (And, let’s face it: It’s Percy. Chances are that he wants to learn, even now.)
The war is still in full swing. Arthur is still overworked and underpaid. Everyone is tired and scared. This also affects the kids. There is probably a lot of pressure on Bill as the oldest brother to watch over his younger siblings, to make sure all of them stay safe. They don’t spend much time outside their home, because it’s just too dangerous to do so.
Around 1980/81 is also the time when Molly’s brothers Fabian and Gideon die. (Gideon can be seen in the photograph that was taken of the Order before James and Lily went into hiding, so he was still alive back then. But we know that he dies soon after the photograph was taken.) Molly never talks about her brothers in canon, but this must have been horrible for her.
1981 – Ginny is born. They are seven kids now. Fabian and Gideon will be dead by the end of the year (if they aren’t already.) Molly’s workload is at its peak, while her ability to pay equal amounts of attention to her kids is at an all-time low. She’s grieving, the rest of her family is in danger, and Arthur is stuck at the ministry. This means that she will likely lean on Bill’s support even more. As Charlie is 8 now (and will be 9 at the end of the year), Molly might consider him old enough to help, so he might see an increase in responsibility, too. At this point, we are in parentification-territory.
With each day, the twins grow more into the troublemakers we see in canon. This sucks away attention and affection from their siblings (simply because they need to be watched and disciplined).
I think the following years are very formative for the family dynamics between the kids. It’s probably less pronounced for Bill and Charlie (who are stuck with chores and babysitting-duty and will leave for Hogwarts soon-ish) and Ginny (who gets more attention because she is the youngest child and only girl). It’s worse for the others. Percy, Fred, George and Ron are basically in direct competition for their mother's attention. I think the dynamic develops as follows:
Fred and George are active and pretty extroverted. They explore a lot and start to play pranks on their family members. This is overall harmless, but Molly has to pay attention to them, to make sure that no one accidentally gets hurt. From this, the twins learn that they can get Molly’s attention by causing trouble, so they will lean into it even more.
This sucks away attention from Percy and Ron. It causes Percy to veer hard into the opposite direction: He tries to gain Molly’s attention by following all her rules and fulfilling her wishes. This earns him her affection and will turn him into her golden child in the long run. It will also put a strain on his relationship with the twins, because Molly compares them a lot, especially when angry. This will cause Percy to perform the “Good boy”-role even harder (because he doesn’t want to be treated like the twins), while they start to resent him on some level.
Ron on the other hand is still too young to affect the family dynamic on his own. He internalizes that his mother cares more about his siblings and that there is nothing he can do about it.
The only good news: At the end of the year, the war ends. This will bring a lot of relief. (It’s short term relief for now, things will need some time to go back to normal.)
However, the end of the war also means, that Percy gets a pet. Either late in 1981 or early in 1982 he (or another member of the family) finds a rat that is missing a finger on its front paw. Percy keeps him and calls him Scabbers.
We all know who Scabbers is, of course. I just want to highlight how fucked up this situation is. Percy is 5, when he adopts him. Because he was a little kid, he probably took him everywhere without a second thought – into the bathroom, into his bed, you know, everywhere. There is probably no part of Percy’s body Scabbers hasn’t seen. Percy probably told him everything, too, all his worries, all of his fears. It’s just creepy.
And keep in mind, Scabbers – Peter – is not just a random wizard. He is a Death Eater and mass murderer. We don’t know if he ever hurt Percy (there are fanfics that do explore that possibility). He probably didn’t, but the idea alone is nightmare fuel.
To get this back on track: This could have impacted the sibling-relationship, too. It depends on whether the other kids were allowed to keep pets.
With that, we are done with the war and with Molly’s time being pregnant. The family dynamic is already fucked up – and it will get worse, as the kids get older. However, this post is long enough, already. So we’ll take a break here. Next time, we will look at how the dynamics shift, once the kids start to go to Hogwarts. See ya!
I miss when sci fi was allowed to be goofy and weird and long running, with a lot of daily life plots and silly costumes and fun real sets.
nowadays it's trying so hard to be prestige television, and intelligent, without realizing that the best sci fi could be that AND ridiculous. it's all CGI and brooding and people being sad on sad looking gray planets.
I also dislike how modern sci fi is dystopian this, dystopian that.
you know, farscape is technically a dystopia, but it still let itself be a fun one.
one day after a rescue mission gone wrong Eddie receives a postcard from a stranger describing his trips and joyful days. these postcards become the reasons (along Christopher) why he fights everyday to come back home until Buck letters become sadder, more desperate asking why his sister hasn’t replied yet and well, now it’s Eddie’s turn to write back
thinking about buddie post-getting together and they’re playing a game or something, and Eddie like, teams up with someone else at the last second or something & buck is all dramatic like “Oh! The betrayal!! 😫 And from my best friend, what is this world coming too 😖 I simply CANT go on 😣” & Eddie is smiley and fond and rolling his eyes at Buck’s antics and bumps his shoulder like “you’re so dramatic shut up. Also we’re not best friends” (bc they’re boyfriends or fiancées or husbands or whatever atp)
And then Buck is weirdly quiet for the rest of night for some reason that Eddie can’t figure out, but his internal monologue is like, “what do you mean we’re not best friend? Of course we’re best friends, what, just bc we’re also in love, that means he has to replace me as a friend?? That rule sucks! Who even came up with that? That’s stupid, I can be multiple things & whoever said that you can only mean one thing to a person is also stupid. If I’m not his best friend, then who is? Who else is going to do all the things I did as a friend? I don’t see anybody ELSE lining up to patch up his walls or listen to him talk about sports or whatever, that’s MY job, I’M his best friend 😠.”
idk they eventually talk about it & Buck is all huffy like “you can’t have 2 best friends & just bc I’m also your boyfriend/fiancee/husband now doesn’t mean I can’t be your best friend so tell whatever tramp you have on the side that they can go home now. Trying to break up a home, some people have NO shame 😤.”
& Eddie is standing there staring like, you’re an absolute fucking freak I love you SO MUCH and yes you’re right we’re still best friends now come here bestie. & it’s wonderful and fun and great bc they’re best friends in love and both of this things are very important to their relationship 🙂↕️🙂↕️
Ravi: I can't do this anymore, I wanna quit again.
Eddie: Join the club.
Buck: Eddie, stop encouraging him. You, sit back down and listen!
Ravi, immediately: I'm sat.
Buck: You know what I’ve learned after all these years?
Ravi: What?
Buck: We're all just very complicated roombas.
Eddie, trying not to laugh: Please do elaborate, Buck.
Buck: You bump into things, you get lost, you make weird noises when you're low on energy. And honestly, you're doing amazing. Keep it up. And if you ever need help just make some noise.
Eddie: Oh...
Ravi, laughing: This is the weirdest way I've ever been cheered up, and I'm kinda mad at how good it worked. Thanks, Buck.
Okay, okay so I saw a post about what if Pepa started setting Buck up on blind dates, and I couldn't not do this, because it totally ate my brain and I can't remember who said it now and it's been haunting me. if this was your idea let me know in the notes and if you totally hate it, I will completely get rid of it but....yeah.....
ETA: thanks @belovasyelena for dropping the note, it was her post that inspired it, so glad you don't hate it!!
"His name is Gabe, and he's such a nice boy, you will have so much fun."
Eddie watches Buck nod along with his aunt as she flits around the kitchen, but when her words finally register, he feels himself frown.
"What are you talking about?"
"I set Evan up with my neighbor's grandson, Gabriel."
Eddie feels his jaw clench, "I don't think Buck needs dating help."
"No, he certainly does not, but last week while he was there pruning my roses, they met and a few days later Gabe asked after him, so I thought why shouldn't I, they're both single."
"Isn't he in the one in the Coast Guard in San Diego?"
"Marines. He's a liaison out of the LAAFD."
How does she even know what the LAAFD even is and really, the fucking Marines, Eddie thinks. Of course it's the fucking Marines with their dress Blues and their fucking swords and their dress up balls. And really, he doesn't even know why he cares. It's not like Buck is actually going to go through with it.
He watches Pepa hand a piece of paper to Buck, "Here is the restaurant, 7:30."
Buck smiles at her and puts the paper in his pocket, "Looking forward to it."
Eddie is too stunned at Buck's seeming heartfelt excitement to actually say anything, so he just stares at Pepa as she gathers her things, kisses Buck on the cheek, and then leaves.
"Hey, don't feel like you need to entertain her matchmaking, I know how it can be." Eddie says after Pepa is gone, hopefully giving Buck the out he needs.
"It's okay, I actually...uh...I'm kind of excited about it." Buck rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink while not exactly meeting Eddie's eyes.
"You...you're looking forward to a date? That my aunt set you up on? With a random stranger?"
"Yeah, I mean, I know it probably won't turn into anything. But, he was nice when we met, and it...it'll be fun. I need to get back out there, you know?"
Eddie can only nod, He can't be serious, right? Buck isn't actually going to go on this date. He's not looking for fun, and what exactly does fun even mean when it comes to blinds dates. But he rewinds back to the part where Buck had said he was nice, which means Buck may already like him.
Buck puts his plate in the sink and turns toward the door, "Guess I need to buy a new shirt."
Eddie's brain has stumbled again, this time over the words get back out there. What exactly does that mean for Buck and random blind dates? And why does he need a new shirt? This guy hasn't seen any of Buck's existing shirts. Eddie is positive one of them will be good enough. Before he can ask anymore questions Buck has left the room and Eddie is standing in the middle of the kitchen holding a half eaten sandwich and wondering what the fuck just happened.
If hours later Eddie is still stewing and he happens to see the piece of paper on Buck's dresser with the restaurant name on it, and if he happens to feel Chris' forehead and declare it feels hot at exactly 7:45 then that's his business.
And if twenty minutes later Eddie is striding into the restaurant making a bee line for Bucks table, that's also his business.
He puts his hand on Buck's shoulder, "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but Chris is really sick. He's asking for you."
Buck turns immediately, worry etched in the lines of his face, Eddie feels bad for approximately two seconds before he hears, "Who is Chris?"
And before Eddie can think about it, he blurts out, "Our son."
When he looks down at Buck, forty different expressions launch across his face at once, and when he sees the muscle in Buck's jaw start to tick, Eddie knows he's screwed.
Buck turns back to his date, "Excuse us for just a second."
Buck's fingers grip his elbow tightly as he leads Eddie toward the front of the restaurant. He pulls Eddie into a little alcove before asking, "What the fuck are you doing? I told you I didn't need rescuing from this date."
And really, Eddie has two options here, he can apologize for getting it wrong, and pretend like he's not an insane person, or he can, "Maybe I needed rescuing from your date." Option two it is then.
Buck stares at him, "What does that even mean?"
"It means I...I don't want you going on dates. Especially with Marines with uniforms and swords and balls."
The frown line between Bucks' brows deepens, "What are you talking about?"
Eddie knows it's now or never. With a quick look around, he pulls Buck into him and presses his lips against Buck's. He waits a split second and then runs his tongue along the seam of Buck's mouth. Buck gasps and Eddie takes the opportunity to lick inside.
It only takes Buck a few seconds to respond, and then Eddie is wondering if he maybe should have thought this out a little better. They're technically in a crowded restaurant, not all that well hidden, and Buck is currently trying to turn him inside out with just his tongue. He's not complaining exactly, but the places he wants to put his hands will get them both arrested.
When the kiss breaks, they're both panting, and Buck's eyes are dark and hungry, lit from the inside with a fire that makes Eddie's voice shake, "Come home with me. Now."
Buck nods as he runs his tongue slowly over his bottom lip and Eddie has to bite down on the needy moan that tries to crawl out of his throat.
"Yeah, we should...we should do that." Buck clears his throat, runs his hand through his hair and then straightens his brand new shirt before saying, "Stay right here."
Leaning against the wall, Eddie watches Buck go back to the table and break the news to Gabe. Gabe does not look surprised, in fact he's smiling a little too much. And that's when Eddie realizes he got played by his own aunt. But he's not mad about it.
A thing I tend to do for my own convenience, which is to say: My memory is sh** and I tend to forget projects I’ve already done. So in case anyone’s looking for some of the rando Buddie moodboards I’ve done, here’s where you find them. Hopefully.
Looking for more shenanigan? Then check out my Incorrect Buddie quotes collection.
Buck, the Wedding Planner – A not so cautionary tale of Evan Buckley planning his sister’s wedding, creeping everyone (the happy couple included) out, all the while battling his not unrequited feelings for Eddie...
The Lake House AU – Fed up with receiving his previous tenant's mail, Eddie writes a letter to said tenant to let him know it'd be appreciated if he updated his address. The confusion is great, as he gets a letter back from a guy named Buck who claims to live in the same house by the lake. Turns out they do, just in different times...
LAPD Consultant Evan Buckley and (Not) Personal Assistant Eddie Diaz – A bit of Elementary, a dash of Sherlock Holmes, and a whole lot of nonsense. As part of a personal deal with Sergeant Grant for his illegal underground fighting, Eddie is bound with babysitting one of L.A.'s best and most obnoxious consultants for the LAPD, Evan Buckley. Eddie is tasked to make sure Buck sticks with his treatment regimen, and Buck makes it his personal obligation to make sure Eddie quits. Fast...
No Reservations AU – The one tale wherein Eddie is actually a stellar chef, trying to balance raising his son alone after his wife died, leading a kitchen on his own, and putting up with his new sous chef and former food blogger by the name of Buck...
Being Human AU – An abstinent vampire and single dad, an anxious werewolf working as an orderly at the local hospital, and an amnesic ghost living under one roof? What could possibly go wrong? As Eddie, Buck, and Danny have to find out, a whole lot, actually...
The Baseball AU No One Asked For – Title has it. Bobby enlists Eddie to get the 118 ready for the upcoming baseball tournament for L.A.'s firehouses. Eddie does not know what he's been led into, as his teammates, and Buck in particular, make a sport of it not doing the sport he loves so much...
Castle AU – Working for the LAPD prepared Eddie for many things, but it really didn't ready him for the author B.A. Roo, his actual name's Buck, to tag along on his investigations to get some inspiration for his newest novel. Because said author was stupid enough to kill off the main character in his very successful series not too long ago...
Runaway Jury AU – Lawyer and jury consultant Chase Mackey is in for a big surprise on his latest case, as it is yet to be determined whether the City of Los Angeles is liable for negligence when it comes to the tsunami that hit the city about a year ago. Because what he believes to be a lucky coincidence, a young man who has beef with the city anyway to get stuck on jury duty, turns out to be part of a group making Mackey an offer hard to refuse: 10 million dollars for the verdict...
French Kiss AU – Because I am trash for the movie, simple as that. Still recovering from his leg injury, Buck travels to Mexico to find Abby after she sent him a cryptic letter. Chaos ensues, because of course it does, leaving him stranded in Mexico, with a guy named Eddie who smuggled plants in his luggage. At least it wasn't drugs...
Six Days Seven Nights AU – Did y'all realize I'm trash for those movies? If not, here's to another. Eddie just wants to get off a tropical island, fast, to get back to his son. While not at all fond of flying in small planes, Eddie will go as far as take the risk a flight with pilot Buck. It seems to be his luck that they get caught up in a storm and crash on an island off the grid. Because of course it does...
Erin Brockovich AU - Seriously an AU no one asked for, yet here we are. Eddie is a single dad trying to make ends meet, especially after he got into an accident and lost the lawsuit. He forces his lawyer Bobby to hire him as a secretary, only to stumble upon a case involving pollution of the water supply of an entire city. He receives unexpected help in more than one way from a biker called Buck moving in next door...
The Bourne Identity AU - The story follows a man who doesn't know who he was before he woke up on a fisher boat about six months ago, shot into the back several times. Trying to find out the truth of his identity and the reasons why he is expert for multiple language and combat, he travels to L.A. He runs into kind-hearted veteran Eddie, who helps him put some puzzle pieces together. Buck is not the only one trying to find himself, as he is chased by a government agency that stops at nothing, thus endangering everyone Buck came to know, including Eddie...
Supernatural AU - No matter what the source material turned out to be, I'm channelling my first fandom experiences with this AU. Eddie is living a normal life until hunter Buck winds up fighting a ghost in his very own living room. As it turns out, demons and ghosts are real - and people like Buck and his friends fight them. Buck is pursuing a yellow-eyed demon seemingly after Christopher like he was after Buck's brother Daniel. This prompts Eddie to join Buck in the hunting business to keep his son safe...
Jurassic Park AU - Christopher lies to his father, so not to miss out on his chance to live dinosaurs at Jurassic Park. When Eddie realizes where his son is, he boards the first plane to take him to that damned park. Animal trainer Buck tries to convince the owners of Jurassic Park to finally let the program run its course and leave the remaining dinosaurs to live out their last days in peace. But all hell breaks loose when unaccounted dinosaurs make their appearance at the park. In turn, Buck is bound to get a disabled kid and his fussing dad out of the park before the pterosaurs can eat them...
Pearl Harbor AU - Eddie and Buck are best friends since childhood. Both dreaming to be pilots, enlisting together feels like a dream come true. But the dream may soon turn to a nightmare when Buck leaves for Britain to fight the Luftwaffe, only for horrid news to get back to Eddie and the family they found along the way...
Forever AU - When Eddie and Buck start on the very same day at the 118, hardly anyone could have foreseen just how much the two would wind up having in common. Both have a son of their own. It's just that Buck's son Red is past his seventies, while Christopher is not even ten years old. Oh, and then there is this small detail, also: Buck is way past his 300, but who's counting when you have lived so many lives and died a good number of times, too...?
Modern Mary Poppins AU - Yet another AU no one asked for, exploring a strange journey of single father Eddie Diaz getting himself a most unconventional nanny for his son named Buck. Because if Eddie didn't know any better, he'd have to think Buck actually is kind of magical...
Pacific Rim AU - Because of course it was bound to happen. Eddie Diaz, former Ranger now single dad trying his best to keep his son safe in a world full of Kaiju coming from down below, finds himself back in the place he never wanted to see again. His former partner Buck is looking for a new partner to operate their Jaeger Lucky Nova. As part of the Lazarus Project, they hope to use the old Mark-3 Jaegers to close the Breach. Eddie is none too pleased, finding himself stuck in the dilemma that made him leave: The threat of losing Buck...
Chat Friends (to Lovers) AU - Eddie was honestly just looking for some now almost old-fashioned comfort in a chat room, to talk about his thoughts and feelings without the pressure of actually saying it to someone he knows. When "Firehose" Buck joins the chat, things take a sudden turn. Because soon enough, talking to Buck online is such an integral part of Eddie's life that he wants to take it to the real world, but for some strange reason, Buck dodges the topic. But Eddie is determined to find out why...
Star Wars AU - Buck and Eddie dreamed a lot of different dreams, growing up. Sadly, the couple's greatest dream was short-lived, but they still fight for it to come back. As part of the New Resistance, they are determined to do whatever it takes to protect the people they love. General Nash devises a plan to keep the Liberation Army from overthrowing a weakened senate and establishing once again militaristic rule under a regime running on nothing but false promises. They will do whatever it takes, to fight for hope to begin again...
Star Trek AU - Lieutenants Evan "Buck" Buckley and Eddie Diaz may have had a bit of a rough start onboard the USS Enterprise NCC-118, but since then they have proven themselves as one of the most capable teams, on the job and outside it. While discovering new life forms and find uncharted territories is a dream come true for both, it remains a dangerous job. And in a galaxy wherein a certain species is out to assimilate any other form of life, an otherwise happy life can take a turn for the worse fast...
Enchanted AU - Single dad Eddie Diaz is in for the surprise of his life when he runs into a real-life Disney prince who calls himself Buck. And no, Buck is not insane or hit his head too hard, he really is from a magical world he needs to get back to to reunite with his sister. Buck, set on finding his "happily ever after", tries his best to navigate this most magical land called Los Angeles. Though maybe his happily ever after is not at all what he thought it to be. And of course, there are a lot of unprompted musical numbers in it...
Soldier and War Correspondent AU - While deployed in Afghanistan, Eddie makes the acquaintance of war correspondent Evan "Buck" Buckley. The two develop a great friendship, but after Eddie is injured on his last mission before his son's birth, the two have to part ways. Eddie soon finds his marriage and shambles, doing his best to raise his son by himself. Though Eddie is in for the shock of his life when a journalist friend of Buck's, Taylor Kelly, reports about an incident in Kandahar: People have been taken hostage, and among them is the man who has been on his mind since, Buck...
Mr. & Mrs. Smith AU - An AU no one asked for, really, but here it goes anyway. Eddie and Buck Diaz are the perfect couple, raising Eddie's son together. What neither man knows is that they are both actually spies for opposite secret government agencies. That is until they are assigned the same target, which may take more than some marriage counseling to figure out...
The Eagle AU - In celebration of this very gay movie still pretending to be straight... Edmundus returns from the battle against the Northern tribes wounded, with his Ninth Legion and the Eagle gone. While he recuperates at Robertus' villa in Calleva, the two rescue a slave named Buck, a Brigante who thinks very little of Rome and its people, Robertus and Edmundus included. When Christophorus is taken in exchange for the return of the Eagle, Edmundus and Buck set out on a dangerous quest behind Hadrian's Wall...
Stardust AU - After his wife left Wall, Eddie is determined to make things right with her by catching a fallen star. Curiously so, the fallen star doesn't turn out to be a precious metal rock, but... a very loud, very displeased young man referring to himself as Buck, who is much more preoccupied with finding his sister than he is about this stubborn man trying to win his wife back. Little do they know that Eddie is not the only one set on possessing a fallen star...
Emergency Room AU - Trauma surgeons who are badass under pressure, Dr. Evan "Buck" Buckley and Dr. Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz, have since become known as the ER's dream team. While they were off to a rocky start, the two since developed not just a perfect synchrony on the job, but a deeply felt friendship... and perhaps a little more than that. But with the life they chose, the conclusion of what to do with that may not be as straightforward as the treatments for their patients tend to be...
27 Dresses AU - Because sure, what everyone needed was another wedding planner!Buck moodboard. Be it no matter: Buck is the perfect best man, helping his friends plan their weddings - and now even his sister's. His life is quite shaken through when his favorite writer for the Commitments section turns out to be nothing like Buck imagined E. Diaz to be. Because Eddie may write about weddings for a living, but to him, it is just nonsense. Though Buck remains determined to prove him wrong, for better or worse...
Bones AU - Evan "Buck" Buckley, famous forensic anthropologist/entomologist, and his team are working together to tell the stories of the dead. Albeit begrudgingly at first, Buck teams up with Special Agent Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz to help solve murder cases for the FBI. After all, Bobby gets to call the shots as the head of the Jeffersonian. While the two soon develop a great partnership and a deep friendship, they each have their skeletons in the closet (more than an anthropologist tends to have). And sadly, burgeoning feelings always at the wrong time don't help with solving those mysteries at all...
The Man in the Iron Mask AU - the steampunk version no one ever asked for. Buck resigned himself to the fate of dying in some faraway prison, wearing the mask that has covered his face for years. That is until a handsome priest comes as a replacement to take their confessions. And said priest turns out to be part of a resistance. Eddie's friends plan to overthrow the Baron and replace him with the rightful heir... who is Buck, apparently.
Film Noir AU - Private investigator Evan "Buck" Buckley and his assistant (note: not secretary) Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz run a small private agency in Los Angeles together. Eddie is still determined to find out what happened to his wife, which is what Buck is helping him with in exchange for his services. But their latest investigation may put not just their partnership on the job to the test...
Coast guard AU – Buck and Eddie are two of the top rescue swimmers around L.A. Both are part of the Aviation Survival Technician program, dedicated to saving lives. Though along the way, they often end up saving each other, in and outside the water. But with a job like this, tomorrow is never granted, a tough lesson both have to learn the very hard way…
Harry Potter AU – Eddie Diaz is in for a grand surprise when someone crashes through his roof. Because that certain someone is no other than Evan “Buck” Buckley, his childhood friend and “Wizard Extraordinaire” who took a rough fall from his broom during a chase. Because there is a well-kept secret in the Diaz household: Eddie is a wizard, just like Buck. And before he knows what's happening, Eddie finds himself embarking on a journey back to the world he left behind to be with his family – to keep his family safe…
The Wedding Date AU – Eddie’s plan is absolutely waterproof. Because he somehow has to get through his sister’s wedding in Mexico without his parents trying to snatch Christopher from him again. With a distraction of a lifetime – by announcing that he is engaged to a man now. While Eddie does feel attraction to men, he is not actually engaged to one. Meet Buck, L.A.'s finest pretend-boyfriend, pretend-fiancé, pretend-husband, whatever you want him to be, who will pose as his fiancé at that wedding. Really, this plan can't possibly go wrong, can it? Can it…?
Superpowers AU – The 118 is in for the surprise of their lives. After they got caught up in the midst of a mysterious storm during a call, all have felt a little off. But things take a sudden turn when a very desperate Chimney calls Hen, explaining to her that he has been running at the “speed of light” for hours and can't seem to stop. As it turns out, everyone who was in the storm now has special abilities. And they can be very dangerous, as they are about to find out…
Horror House AU - AKA of course I had to do some good old Halloween horror for this time of the year as well. When the 118 is called to an old house outside the city, Buck and Eddie are separated from the rest of the crew and can't seem to get out. To make matters worse, they are not alone there. Though whatever it is that is with them in the house has terrifying plans for them both...
Eureka Seven AU - Former soldiers turned rebels as part of the crew of the Aion 118, Buck and Eddie don't just navigate their LFO Jabberwocky together, they also have to navigate their more than complicated no-strings-attached kind of relationship. To make matters impossibly worse, Buck discovers a dark family secret that may force him not just away from the Aion, his family, but from the planet. Even though said planet contains the entirety of his universe revolving around Christopher and Eddie...
Criminal Minds AU - Eddie joins a BAU team led by Bobby Nash. He gets off to a rocky start with the youngest member of the team, Buck. But once Buck understands that Eddie is exactly what he seems, a nice, compassionate person and capable agent, he is more than ready to accept Eddie into his life, on and off the job. The team must hold on to each other, though, as the evil residing in many peoples' minds may very well mean their downfall any of these days...
Red, White & Royal Blue AU - American Vice President Eddie Diaz and Prince Evan, Prince of Wales and future King of the United Kingdom, are clashing yet again. While Princess Madeleine's wedding to Eddie's friend Howard "Chimney" Han should be a happy occasion for both, their longstanding feud won't take a break even on that occasion. When their quarrels culminate with both of them covered in cake a the party, both have to work together to save face. And somewhere along the way, the two find out that they might mean much more to each other than it first seemed...
So yeah, I've started rewatching that show. And of course, Buddie jumped right back into my face and wouldn't let go until I moodboarded this. So... the moodboards have won yet again. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Cheers!
Looking back, Eddie Diaz never thought he'd join the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. After his time in the war, he took a long time, figuring out where to fit in, what to do with his life now that he is out of the military. So no, becoming an FBI agent, moving to Los Angeles to join the BAU sub-branch there, as a single dad, and to dive into dangerous situations on the daily is not the first choice that comes to mind. Less so if you asked his parents.
But there is only looking forward, so Eddie is taking his chances with the team under the lead of Special Agent Robert "Bobby" Nash. While everyone on the team is undoubtedly capable and undeniably nice to him upon his first day, one of the agents just returned from some time off seems less than pleased. In his opinion, they don't need anyone else on the team.
It doesn't take a profiler to figure out that the guy's got the heart in the right place, just a bit afraid of change, of people leaving – and someone allergic to being called by his first name. Though after their first together, Eddie and Buck don't just find a common ground, it doesn't take them long to develop a strong friendship.
One of the odd things about being surrounded by profilers is that it becomes all the harder to keep your private life private. Not only do you spend so many hours together, but you are surrounded by people whose job it is to figure other people out. So it's hardly surprising to anyone that each of the team has their very personal demons haunting them: Be it having lost loved ones to unsubs they didn't catch in time, or having found themselves in an unsub's hands and be saved by people of just that profession.
Buck also has his special reasons for being there. And as Eddie finds out early on, this job is so much more to him than a job is to most other people. He considers it his true purpose, more so because he feels like he owes it to Bobby that he ever got there. He used to be a regular police officer who just "tagged along", until Bobby consulted on a murder that happened in the town he was stationed at. Bobby picked up on Buck's innate talent to get inside an unsub's head and his dedication to the cause. Or as Bobby puts it:
"You can teach crafts and skills. But you can't teach talent and attitude. And Buck's always had both of these things."
So Bobby gave him his card, told him to try out for the BAU's special program. And Buck did. While it's taken a lot of effort, he eventually managed to join the team. Which is why he is not only protective of his friends at the BAU, for him, this job is his life. And he will defend that till last.
Buck's life is turned upside-down more than once when his sister Maddie steps back into his life. A few years back, he wouldn't have noticed that something is off, but as a profiler, he knows. He is no longer the kid stuck in a loveless home, believing every soothing word his sister says to keep him out of harm's way. This time, he vows to himself, he will protect her from her abusive husband, he will make her stay. So he helps her land a job at the FBI, filling the empty space his ex Abby left.
Things seem to be moving all the right directions once Maddie breaks out of her shell and dares to fall in love again. Chimney and her are as happy as they can be. That is, until Doug comes back, nearly kills Chimney, and abducts Maddie. The team races to save her, which, thankfully, they manage.
Though this is far from the only crisis the team has to face. One particular event changes everything for Buck and Eddie. After Eddie nearly dies at the hands of a sniper, nothing is as it was between them. Buck doesn't just feel like he failed his best friend. He feels like the feelings he's been trying to put off, those romantic feelings for Eddie that have no space in their world together, are shattered like glass, too.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Eddie quits the BAU. First for his son's sake. Later on, actually for his own. Eddie finally has to reckon with his past traumas, all the things he pushed down over the years. And he can't do that while working a job that forces him into swallowing it all down.
Though Eddie misses his job. He misses the team. He misses having Buck's back. Sure, he is around, but it's not the same as it used to. To top it all, Buck seems to be withdrawing more and more from them for reasons Eddie can't yet fathom. Eddie is hesitant about returning, though, fearing that Christopher won't take it well. After all, he nearly lost him once, and the fear of losing his father is all too painful and all too real in the line of work they do.
The whole world stops turning for Eddie one evening, though. Because he has to watch footage of Buck bleeding out on a street, held hostage by a kid seeking revenge on Bobby, with a suicide belt on and the trigger in his hand. It is then that Eddie decides to follow his heart and join the team as they race to rescue Buck...
