.

The thing is, we are all cherry picking out points, yk? Sure, Buck did ask for the hangar tour and was all starstruck by it on his own, but if we wanna make that argument as Buck initiating contact, we need to consider the way Buck lingers by the helicopter to talk to Taylor because he’s starstruck by her and he approaches Natalia to ask about being a death doula. He didn’t have romantic intentions with any of those, he wanted to know more about them. At the end of 206 he goes after Taylor to talk to her about the news piece. Buck didn’t know Tommy was an option romantically until Tommy kissed him because he was too focused on the Eddie of it all. Buck asks Taylor out during the whole thing with Albert and Veronica and doesn’t realize Taylor might be an option until she tells him she was expecting sex because he was too focused on how he was feeling about the Veronica of it all. Buck reaches out to Tommy to apologize after he walks out on the date, points for him, but he only does it because Eddie told him to. And after Taylor walks out from Veronica’s place, Buck keeps calling her to apologize, she just doesn’t pick up. And at the hospital after the baby is born, Buck saying he thought Natalia wasn’t speaking to him, implies he did try, she just didn’t answer. Buck repeats patterns in the way he keeps waiting for the other person to clue him in before he does something and goes to the worst case scenario first. Buck just never assumes someone wants him around. And I can apply this to Eddie too. He tugs on Eddie’s ponytail until Eddie lets him know he’s not trying to replace him. We talk about grand gestures and the insanity of asking someone for a second date to his sister’s wedding when they left the first one, but he got an apartment with Ali, he asked Taylor to move in because he cheated, he asked Natalia to buy furniture after 3 dates and a birth. But by this logic, you can paint Carla is a grand gesture. Buck wants people to stay and he doesn’t measure efforts to make it happen. Buck sitting down and cooling off after the basketball trying to figure out what was really bothering him before talking to Eddie is just as much of a sign of growth as actually talking to Tommy about his expectations for the relationship. But both have their set of problems because Buck is hiding from consequences when it comes to Eddie and he’s jumping off the deep end with Tommy anyway. Buck is complex in such an interesting way and no one is looking at the full picture anymore. Yes, Tommy parallels Abby and Ali and Taylor and Natalia. But he also parallels Eddie. And the Eddie ones are very explicitly said because the episode plays that twist. The parallels with Taylor are glaring, the ones with Ali and Natalia are there and all, and the Abby ones, if you want to say I’m pushing, I wouldn’t fight you on it. Every argument can be hollowed out if you see it on its own. Buck assumes no one really wants him around and that he needs to prove he’s worthy of it before getting someone to stay. That’s the actual hamster wheel. Buck goes all in. And it’s a fine line to walk. Even more when the show is making a point of showing that applied to situations that blew up on his face before. If you wanna say Buck was healed by the power of getting dicked down, that’s your prerogative, but is he?

Sometimes you could’ve chosen to pick a fight… But then you walk away because nothing you say is gonna change their minds anyway.

Anon with the mass hysteria ask, the Tumblr who posted that has me blocked me 🫡🫡🫡 I did see it, don’t wanna go there.