some of my fave buddie fics for anon in no particular order! please mind all the ratings, tags, and warnings of these works while browsing:
plot-focused:
about the present series by Amiril
The day of the shooting, Eddie got stuck in a time loop. But that was three months ago. He's completely fine now.
boys, when my baby found me by nondz (pinkjook)
Three months later, things are mostly back to normal.
And then there's an accident.
the city is a jungle and i’m a beast by putanauhere (TRUST ME.)
“There are no wolves in Southern California,” Buck states, another bit of trivia. He just doesn’t know it’s a lie.
The Things All Come and Gone by moodlighting
“I didn’t—it’s not that I couldn’t be alone,” Buck explained, pausing to find the right words. “I just. Wanted to be here.”
I Broke What You Gave Me, But You Kept Giving More by rcdwings
Evan Buckley wakes up without eight years of his memories with some guy named Eddie Diaz on his bedside. Which could mean nothing.
lonely little love dog by littleghost
When the 118 is closed for reconstruction after an earthquake, Buck is a floater for different stations around the city. He tries not to let it get to him. Much.
kerosene by mandolare
He doesn’t— need more of Eddie. This is enough. This is plenty. This is more than anyone else has of him; he can deal with the marrow-deep want that’s begun to choke him every once in a while.
all my little words by youbetsya
Eddie: Did you just send me an email??
Buck: yeah lol
Eddie: Why…
I dont think you’ve ever emailed me actual words before. Just stuff to print when your printer is broken
Buck: did you read it?
Eddie: Not yet
Too busy trying to figure out why the fuck you’re emailing me
Buck: just read it dude 🙄
instructions on not giving up by Wildehack (tyleet)
Eddie gave up in July.
Live and (Don't) Let Die by xylodemon
The guy gets straight to the point, asking, "What do you need?" in a dull, bored voice.
"My best friend is going to die. I want that to… not happen."
"No small feat, bringing back the dead. And it comes at a cost."
It's Eddie. Buck says, "Yes," without a second thought.
good pretender by likeshipsonthesea
“Okay, but what are the rules?”
Ravi stares. “The rules for…?”
“Casual sex.”
Ravi continues to stare. It is 5:39 in the morning.
i can tell just what you want (you don't want to be alone) by Talls
In which Eddie keeps secrets and Buck is incredibly normal and rational and even brave about his reaction to this.
here’s my hand, there’s the itch by signetsealed
"I wasn’t kidding when I said I could talk about Chris all night,” Eddie says. His voice is quiet and close in Buck’s ear. “But that’s not why I called.”
been lost for a while by trysetmeonfire
Eddie's wife has been dead for two weeks. There's a firefighter in bed five. These are not necessarily related facts, but Eddie will have a hard time separating them out, later.
Downward Facing Doggy Style by Survivah
Eddie and Buck pick up a new hobby while Chris is in Texas.
slaughterhouse by kithmet
Eddie announces he’s leaving. Buck, naturally, begins a slow descent to madness.
Choosing Joy 'Verse series by ithilien22
In which Eddie mends fences with Chris, starts something new with Buck, and navigates the complex emotions he has around his parents.
the sweetest apparition by hyruling
Eddie moves to Texas. Buck keeps accidentally telling people Eddie's dead. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
pluperfect by unreckless
Buck is always good for a ride to the airport. He’s good at lots of things, like being a good friend and goodbyes.
beating the horse by doitgently
Eddie is moving to Texas. Buck finally figures out what he wants.
Burn a bridge, learn how to swim series by WatermelonShots (AvocadosUnderTheEaves)
In which there is some unexpected making out, some pining, one third of an existential crisis and a lot of unhelpful advice. Not necessarily in that order.
you drew stars around my scars by ladieslunching
Someone at the 118 doesn't know how to leave Buck's clipboard alone. Buck would be a lot more upset about it if it didn't bag him the love of his life.
Hot Ghost Problems by ebjameston
The ghost would prefer to go by Buck, if Eddie wouldn’t mind.
ripples all the way down by iriswests
This is the tumultuous road to finding out what Buck truly wants, paved by pebbles.
throw a bone, i’m finally home by fleetinghearts
“Oh, Buck,” Eddie says softly, torn between unbearable fondness and an ache that threatens to crack his breastbone.
when everything's on fire by beartowns
Eddie and Chris move in with Buck after a fire. Buck breaks up with his boyfriend, buys a house with Eddie, and realizes he's in love. In precisely that order.
ice cream before dinner by cloudydaisies
The problem is—well.
Actually, backtrack for a sec. There were a few problems.
Eddie’s got a whole lot of them, lately, and maybe that was The Problem.
Something in the Air (Is Giving Me Bad Ideas) by paramountie
After Christopher comes back from Texas, Eddie makes an important decision: he is not going to blow up his life anymore.
crossed the muddy line by Anonymous
Eddie Diaz is from El Paso, Texas; a fact which accounts for both more and less than he ever expected it to.
the tortured poets department by colonoscopys
The first time Buck touched him, Eddie blew an ambulance up.
still by brewrosemilk
For the first time, Buck longs for a bullet wound to treat. Dirt to dig at. A door to break through. Something. There’s nothing.
somewhere to stand and stay by teaspoon
“What are you doing right now?” Eddie asks. He sounds distracted; Buck can tell immediately that he’s driving.
authentication by v_greyson (greyson)
"Yeah, Eddie picks the guys so I don't make stupid decisions," Buck says, flicking through menus to pick a new racetrack.
The combination of Hen munching peanuts and looking back and forth between them makes Eddie feel like he's a zoo exhibit. Best Friends, captured in the wild, still feral, exhibiting behaviors heretofore unknown to science.
"Well, good luck with - all that," Hen says pointedly to Eddie. She is definitely not talking about the video game.
keeping score by arcanaphora
After getting dumped, Buck is left with two tickets to a weeklong cruise. Eddie steps in to support a friend in need, but complications arise when his friend becomes his fake husband. All's fair in love, war, and trivia.
if i said you could never touch me by marviless*
Eddie pulls back from him with a half-confused, half-concerned furrow in between his eyebrows. “Buck?”
Buck sags against the wall. “Sorry,” he says, wiping the back of his forearm against his forehead in a mixture of frustration and newfound exhaustion. “Sorry.”
Counting Pulses by tinyydancerr*
Eddie Diaz’s life is going great. He’s in therapy, he’s got a great girlfriend, a great kid, his friend is getting married to the woman of his dreams, and his best friend just came out to him.
Now his best friend is dating their new friend.
Things are going great. He promises.
porn-heavy (only a few of these are straight up pwp though):
Feel You Forever by semperama
“Is this…” Eddie meets his eyes again. “Is this new?”
a mess of my creation by Anonymous
They’re in the fucking bunk room. There’s someone snoring in the bed over by the bathroom, a good twenty feet and two beds away, and Buck doesn’t know if it’s Hen or Chimney or Bobby, but they’re in here, they’re asleep, and this is awful, this is so fucking unprofessional and if they get caught they are going straight to HR.
blood in the highs and count the stars by seachanged
“Go on,” Eddie says, nosing into the soft spot under Buck’s jaw.
Buck laughs, a little hysterically. ”You’re not serious.”
look straight ahead if you like it slow by hattalove
“This gets you going, huh?” Eddie grins, propping himself up on his elbows so he can move higher on the bed, reach the pretty pink bow of Buck’s mouth. “Devotion? You being it for me?” He stretches up toward Buck’s ear, whispers: “Monogamy?”
hang me up on your bedroom wall by eddiegettingshot
“You’re going to be a great father someday,” Eddie says eventually, because he’s worse than he used to be and Buck’s reverent eyes make him feel—they just make him feel.
“Eddie, I—”
“You are,” he repeats, firm. “Don’t you think I’d know better than anyone?
buck and eddie's red hot infidelity summer series by cranberrymoons
He’s not thinking about it. He’s not. He’s definitely not.
the moon like a spotlight by dykeries
Three months after Eddie moves to El Paso, Buck comes to visit.
this ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living by glorious_spoon
"You guess," Eddie repeats under his breath, but he sounds amused. He sets the boxes down and kicks the door shut behind him to wind through the chaos of Buck's half packed away kitchen. "You're insane."
love's not a game by thatbuddie (talktothesky)
“So that goal, huh?”
Buck groans, his hands clawing at the sheets beneath him as his toes curl up, the fire that’s been building up inside him for what feels like hours sizzling and uncontrollable in its path through Buck’s body.
i might kiss you on the back of your neck (because it’s christmas time) by sibylsleaves
Five Times Captain Diaz and Recruit Lieutenant Diaz fail to sleep together and one time they do.
would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? by brattybuckley
Evan Buckley is currently on cloud nine.
Well–
Honey on the Vine by sirencalls
Buck wakes up to an Eddie with stubble for the first time in months and refuses to let a good opportunity to go waste.
lock me down tonight by lecornergirl
Buck tells everyone Eddie talks him into it, but when it comes to Eddie, he’s never needed much convincing.
Mind Blowing Mess by EtoileGarden
"I’d like to have a threesome. I think.”
“You think?”
“Yeah,” Taylor eyed him for a moment, and then leaned a little further over the table, her chin in her hand. “Have you ever had one before?”
songs and poems and promises by lesbianrobin
“It’s crazy how different sex is with men,” Buck says, and everyone around him groans.
rodeo queen by okanus
“What’s the saying again? Save a horse…hm, y’know, I don't quite remember the rest of it.” Eddie can’t help the smile curving up the corner of his mouth.
“You’re an asshole,” Buck says, scowling. The tips of his ears are pink.
hi hello, hope you're doing good. loved the last essay on the dog and the dragon, it gave me a really interesting perspective i hadn't considered!
i wanted to see what your thoughts were on that one Navani quote about also 'being a child of Roshar' or whatever she says when working with Raboniel. that immediately rubbed me the wrong way when i read it because while yes, the descendents of the colonialist from a thousand+ years ago is technically born and raised on that planet, it's still very- yikes. like sure you're a child of Roshar, but come on queen, what are you doing to help the others who are in much worse, significantly more miserable situations than yours, because they are also children of the planet.
i think you'd have a very interesting, and a very well articulated opinion on this, so i'd love to hear it if it's a rant you wanna go on lol
lots of love 🫶
Hi! I'm glad the essay was of any benefit to you, too, thank you! Thank you so much for this question, and for being my first ask :)
Honestly, long answer made short: I rolled my eyes. Yes, Navani, you didn't do anything, but you still benefit from what your ancestors did (and still participated in a genocidal campaign against these people anyway). Do you care more about not feeling guilty or more about helping the people that are suffering under your ancestors' decisions. <- that would be an interesting thread to follow, but ROW already has the answer in place, which is: "I didn't do anything!" followed by an angry pout. That's why I think you're absolutely correct. If Navani really were a queen who cared about the people of Roshar, why don't we see more empathy from her? (Moash being right again, what a shocker)
The long answer:
This exchange between Navani and Raboniel is interesting. Both characters are expressing their beliefs on one's relationship to the land, which is a big discussion under the topic of colonization. Navani grew up on Roshar, but Raboniel is from among the original people who were attacked by Navani's ancestors.
I would trust the development of this conversation and the questions/arguments it raises under an author that isn't Brandon Sanderson, because he's shown time and time again to take the pro-colonizer stance. This ideology runs rampant in his body of work, and shows in his answers during Q&A's about this topic, and there's little reason to expect for this to change until he does.
You know how in OB, Dalinar had to build diplomacy with nations that distrusted Alethkar for very justified reasons, and all he would do was just talk about how "it wasn't his fault" and that "his ancestors did it, not him" and thereby he was absolved of having to seem like the bad guy? Like that one conversation with Venli, where she was upset about what happened to her people and all Dalinar said in response was that it wasn't his fault? The same thing happens again here with Navani.
Navani and Raboniel's plotline is written through lenses sympathetic to the colonizer*, and this scene is no different. Though they're expressing their beliefs here, the book doesn't spend time analyzing this concept of indigeneity and crimes of the past, etc., because that would make Navani's behavior seem questionable or make Raboniel seem sympathetic.
When Raboniel tells her that her ancestors don't have the same tie to this land as her, Navani's response is to ignore what her ancestors have done and talk about herself and how she didn't do anything. Is this an interesting belief for her character? Sure, but we don't explore her beliefs. It's just supposed to be an epic clapback, because this is the book where the descendants of colonizers are whining in every scene how it's not their fault slavery and genocide happened (despite benefiting from it, which is the more PRESSING CONCERN).
Anyway, so many other readers also have pointed out Sanderson's tendency to take what is supposed to be a wider conversation about systemic and historical issues and just flatten it by reducing it to personal character issues. It's what was done with Moash, Kaladin, Rlain, Yanagawn, the Mink, the darkeyes, the singers, and so on. So of course when Raboniel brings up a big issue, not only does Navani not treat it as a systemic issue (poor diplomacy), neither does the narrative.
While we're here anyway, this is why I deeply dislike ROW. It's not because I don't care about the magic system (I don't), but because of the pro-colonizer ideology and behaviors that are rewarded and preached in every storyline, right down to even one of the most celebrated scenes (Adolin vs. the honorspren).
*In basically every scene, Raboniel is amazed at how talented and smart Navani is for figuring out everything, despite Raboniel having been around forever (MILLENIA!!!!). So when I read their interactions, it only stood out to me as Simple Minded Indigenous person vs. Enterprising and Industrious colonizer, who knows how to innovate and come up with solutions that the simple minded indigene never could.
Unshockingly it got long and kinda rambly, but thank you so much for asking :)
<you have a feeling they’d have an odd look on their face if you could see it properly. they tilt their head to the left, apparently genuinely intrigued by the question.>
you got my pressure points all wrong, why are you even targeting me? I’m just protecting people. Isn’t that what a good person is supposed to do?
and I don’t have anything for you except some fluff I pulled from blade’s jacket from a previous timeline. You seem to be in to those type of stuff, no?
Sincerely, someone you got their pressure points wrong
[sure enough, there was some fluff in the letter. Pretty stale but that sorta made sense]
