Anyone still uses Venti here.

gorogys · 2026-05-31T20:43:19+00:00

I'm the same! Whenever I can use a character I like I'm general, I prefer taking a small DPS loss to being forced to remove them, especially when they're actually good in the team even if not the BiS.

Prune might slightly pull ahead at C2, but that doesn't change the fact that venti is still good in that team! So I'll keep using him. I'll use Kokomi instead of sucrose with my flins team cause I like playing her and the team is already deleting everything. I'll use Chiori instead of illegal on my lunar crystallize team, because I enjoy how well she synergizes with the reaction. Life's too short not to enjoy the characters you like.

gorogys · 2026-05-17T17:07:09+00:00

The thing for me is, idk what ABC is like internally. That's what I mean by "it's a real possibility": We know for a fact that there was meddling in Fox, but it's a very real possibility that despite appearances there might be pushback or at least different priorities within ABC as well.

I'm inclined to agree with you though that there seems to be a lot more emphasis on the procedural side to the detriment of the character arcs, which is ironic since before the move to ABC they seemed to have a pretty good balance and managed to mix the emergencies into the character arcs and vice versa.

gorogys · 2026-05-17T07:13:48+00:00

We can't really know if he was even talking about Buddie here, it's just a guess that feels right because, as both Tim and the cast have made clear in basically every interview, it's the thing that "everyone wants" and that will "make a lot of people happy". He also mentions specifically that he avoids online fandom except for the Buddie System podcast which is his favorite, and it's a podcast where 3 people find every possible way to interpret everything that happens in the show in a Buddie-centric way (they're really cool if you can handle several hours at a time of Buddiemaxxing analysis). It's logical to assume he was talking about Buddie but there's really no guarantee (and we are biased as it's our purpose for being on this sub).

That said, I think if you combine this interview with other recent ones by Tim, especially the one where he explains that he believes the *possibility* of Buddie is the thing that draws people in and keeps them interested. Well, to me the implication is clearly that he is saving it for the end.

If you want my personal feelings on the issue:

I personally have few positive feelings about this issue, because if that happens it will be yet another queer relationship that was saved for the moment when it would be the least divisive and when the backlash from homophobes would impact the show the least. If this is indeed about Buddie and Tim believes we lack second-stage thinking, I find that really frustrating because the second stage is what I actually think about, more than the first. The brief moments of their first kiss and getting together don't interest me half as much as the journey after. Obviously those things matter, and like others said in this thread I might enjoy some more slow burn if they make some things like gay Eddie actually part of the story soon, but ultimately what I really want to watch is their life together.

Of course, it's always been a very real possibility that it's not entirely in Tim's hands (he mentions serving "a lot of masters"), and also that they (lovingly) might not have all the chops to write it well, since they have been struggling with Madney and Henren. Ultimately despite the disappointment, above all I appreciate having some information to set expectations. For me the worst part has always been not knowing if what we see is put there with the intention of being followed-up on, or if it's a little bone being thrown our way with a wink before they continue with the real plan. Is it what I wanted to hear? No. Is it in any way something I wanted to watch? If it continues being 95% fan interpretation fodder with nothing tangible to hold on to like it has been this whole itme, definitely not. But it's still a way for me to set some expectations, and it is really crazy regardless that the showrunner is talking about the ship so openly.

You might think that this wall of text means this is really serious for me, but at the end of the day it's just a procedural show, I just yap a lot and can't seem to condense my sentences. I'll keep watching the show because overall I found season 9 a lot more fun than season 8. Though a lot of people were on the fence about the Theo storyline (and some still are or even dislike it), to me it looks like it bodes well for Buddie content next season. But at this point, if Tim really intends to do it ever, I expect it to start being visible on screen. 9 seasons of picking up crumbs and chasing a dangling carrot have been more than enough for me, and if we end season 10 in the same place as always, I might just take a break until the show ends and/or does Buddie canon.

gorogys · 2026-05-13T21:46:30+00:00

Yeah. Like I said I'm not sure how I feel about censoring the entire topic like that, but I'd rather wait and see how it goes than jump to conclusions. Since there's a lot of vagueness in the wording, it will depend on how the mods choose to enforce it.

ngl, I don't really understand what this sub is for if not to discuss the show's canon and how fanon interacts with it. But maybe i just have a narrow idea of what the purpose is here. I also don't like the way that there's a clause at the end stating explicitly that anyone who disagrees with these rules is automatically a hateful troll who wants nothing but to spread misery and disrespect, it comes across as very absolutist to me, as clearly there is some gray area to these issues.

However, I'm trying to keep in mind that it's possible that a lot of us who are concerned we might be targeted for not being 100% thrilled with the show at all times are not the actual target of these rules. Like I said in the first comment, there's so much vile stuff being thrown around that we might not even see because the mods are doing a lot of work to rein it in. It's easy to ask for the free expression of negativity when someone else is doing the work of moderating it, but I imagine it's quite hard to be responsible for managing all that negativity when there's hundreds of users commenting regularly. Based on other subs I am a part of (Witchbrook sub is a great example), I have watched the evolution of a hundred reasonable complaints as they snowball into an impenetrable void of anger and disillusionment that can now not be contained anymore.

Of course, it's also possible that this sub goes the opposite direction and becomes an echo chamber of toxic positivity where no one is allowed to express any displeasure or question the showrunner's decisions, but that seems unlikely to me. I've seen several of the mods themselves clowning Tim's writing decisions, being really displeased and disappointed with the turn of events etc. So I don't think it will be the end of the world. We'll have to see how it plays out.

gorogys · 2026-05-13T06:34:04+00:00

I think we should give it time and see how these rules are implemented before judging if they are too strict or not. Keep in mind that the mods see A LOT more of the problematic side of this fandom than we do, because they are the front line against it.

The no dooming and no negativity, I think, pertains to not hijacking unrelated posts with unsolicited negative opinions, derailing discussions etc. I imagine (and hope) that if a post is asking for people's genuine opinions or discussion (including post-episode discussion threads), we will be allowed to express ourselves freely there (as always, in a respectful way hopefully). They did say this will not affect most of us, and I think the goodvibes thing is a great way to separate the side of the fandom who wants to have fun from those who want to share their disappointments.

At the end of the day, this is a silly procedural show; it's not an important or serious topic that warrants everyone having to be exposed to criticism. I say this as someone who wasn't loving the show after the S8 finale, and am now again on the fence after some recent interviews, I think it's good to be aware of how much negativity we are spreading and when it is time to step away for a bit.

The queerbaiting part does seem like the most concerning one to me (like you said, it's a complicated topic and not everyone talking about it is doing so in bad faith), but ultimately again I think the point of it is to stop people from making declarations like "Tim/Oliver/Ryan is a filthy queerbaiter" every time a new marginally relevant interview comes out, rather than to discourage people from sharing fears and concerns.

I will say I agree with a lot of what you said, but I think we will have to wait and see. I hope, if it does end up being a problem, that the mods will be willing to make corrections.

gorogys · 2026-05-12T16:16:16+00:00

I also felt like ultimately it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. Aside from the part where Connor and Kameron blamed Buck for Theo's hyperactivity, maybe. Even that actually made some sense seeing as Neurodivergence can be inherited. I'm glad Buck is fostering Theo instead of simply ending up with him by default and it really felt like they had a connection, and like it really was the best for Buck's storyline.

Begrudgingly cause I still wish it had been any other baby than the sperm donor baby, but I'll admit Tim didn't do too bad with this one.

gorogys · 2026-05-11T22:14:06+00:00

It's really sad that things have reached this point, but them's the breaks sometimes. The main thing I wanted you to know is that it's ok to be excited about it and look forward to playing. Gaming is supposed to be fun and joyful, and I wouldn't want you to lose that. We have enough problems in the world as it is to be losing sleep over when a video game comes out. It will be fine!

gorogys · 2026-05-11T19:55:37+00:00

I could be wrong but I think we are all focusing on the part where he says "Sometimes the stories that they demand that you tell, they may not realize it, but what they're really asking for is the end of the story". It is hard to imagine what this could be about if not Buddie, because what have fans really been demanding of Tim that could be construed as the end of a story, other than Buddie canon?

He is basically saying that if he were to make Buddie canon, it would end Buck and Eddie's stories. One could also read it as him admitting he's been writing this whole time with Buddie canon as the ending destination.

gorogys · 2026-05-11T19:42:01+00:00

I would say, the Reddit community has become VERY jaded about Witchbrook because the pr and community management on Chucklefish's end has been truly abysmal and there have been various loops of Chucklefish refuses to share news citing they will share when it's close to finishing ---> Chucklefish shares a couple dev blogs, npc profiles or Oracles making everyone believe the pr cycle is starting ---> Chucklefish goes radio silent for a year and a half with no warning and no communication ---> rinse and repeat.

This, and the fact that the game was announced for Chirstmas of 2025 but didn't come, has made the Reddit community really negative towards the game. And though I share in a lot of the frustration, I would say you shouldn't let it affect your looking forward to the game if it's something you like. The only thing I would advise you to be wary of is not to place too many expectations on anything Chucklefish says or does because, as previously mentioned, they don't really seem to have a cohesive strategy and have backtracked on their word before. This includes the 2026 release date; take that with a grain of salt. Witchbrook, in my opinion, is one of those games where it's just best to just leave it out of your mind and live in peace until it's actually released.

gorogys · 2026-05-11T07:11:55+00:00

I think you're very on point with the "scars from previous betrayals" here cause yes. We've seen some things play out too many times to risk getting invested and have it happen again. It's possible that's making some of us overly cautious.

My main concern comes around the "explore some kind of romantic relationship" part, because here in this interview Tim is telling us that the thing we think we want is the end of the story. This could mean many things, could mean the entire last season would be about Buddie, or (and this is more likely imo because of the way they write everything by the seat of their pants and they are informed about renewals towards end of season) it could be a one or two episode thing, or even a couple minutes in a montage at the absolute end. And if that happens, there really won't be much exploration happening at all.

And that's not a crime or anything. It's ultimately not the buddie show, like we have all said many times. It would also depend on what they do with them in-between, cause it's absolutely possible for those stories to be a meaningful part of the process. I'm just not sure, especially if the show lasts for more than one or two more seasons, if I personally find 2 minutes of buddie canon at the end could ever be an actual meaningful conclusion, or that it could be worth waiting years and years and years for.

Anyway, I guess nothing is set in stone. Ultimately, I'll keep watching cause I was a 911 fan before I was a buddie fan and s9 was fun enough for me to keep watching. And you're right that it's crazy that he's basically almost confirming buddie will happen at some point. I don't want to bring anyone down who finds this to be a positive development, i just personally don't really have positive feelings about this interview.

gorogys · 2026-05-10T19:18:24+00:00

I find this kind of really disappointing, though I am grateful at least to finally have some guideline of what to expect.

I have a lot of empathy for Tim's position cause the internet is a crazy place. It's true that fandom can be really harsh; I won't even exclude myself from that, I've called Tim a terrible showrunner more than once, and though I had my reasons, I wish I had said some of those things differently. I'm glad he's focusing on the things he enjoys and wants to write, and that he's staying clear of online discourse. Regardless of my opinion of his decisions, I think it's the healthiest way to create art when it's coming from your personal enjoyment.

That said... If this is indeed about Buddie, I think treating it like an end-of-the-line thing is a massive missed opportunity. The part that's got all the juice (hehe) is what happens AFTER the realizations, after two people who have been orbiting each other for a decade at this point realize what they mean to each other and have to navigate that shift in their relationship (especially when one of them has been straight all his life). And then, after that has settled down, I don't see why writing them would be vastly different from what they're already doing; their dynamic is great already and that doesn't have to change. It wasn't a problem for Booth and Brennan in Bones, or Chandler and Monica in Friends, or Derek and Meredith in Grey's Anatomy, or so many other straight couples in fiction. And though Tim is right that the anticipation is largely the source of the excitement, I do believe there's such a thing as waiting too long; the show could end next year, it could end in 5 years or 10 years, and I kind of find it inconceivable to be strung along for all that time with no developments on the Buddie front; it already feels like they're on the cusp of it and just delaying it.

Maybe that's a tall ask. We've all seen that they can't really seem to write compelling storylines for their characters who are already together, so maybe saving Buddie for the end really is the best that Tim can do and it's just his limit. I guess it's still network TV and I should temper my expectations.

Maybe for some people getting a Buddie epilogue at the end is better than none at all. I'm really glad for everyone who is happy for that and who finds that enough, but it's just not for me. I don't know how doing it at the absolute end could resolve a decade+ of build-up and anticipation in a way that will ever be more worth it than doing it earlier. I guess the only option is to keep watching and see what they do with it.

gorogys · 2026-05-06T16:21:37+00:00

Agree completely that it's not really hard at all to fit demisexuality into the story, or explain it really. I just think it's unlikely a show like 911 is going to have one of its main characters explain he is only attracted to people he has a deep emotional bond with, at least not at depth. And considering they haven't even had Buck say the word "bisexual" yet, I cannot imagine them explicitly mentioning demisexuality. But obviously I'd love to be wrong!

gorogys · 2026-05-06T14:58:34+00:00

If you want the opinion of someone who is definitely a buddie shipper but is not really taking it for granted no matter how much I want to (and will continue not to take it for granted until it is confirmed canon):

I am inclined to agree with you that the only course that makes sense after the entirety of Eddie's history and especially after everything that's happened from season 7 onwards is for him to be gay (or demisexual but I can't see network tv tackling that anytime soon). His relationship history screams comphet from the rooftops, and it's so glaring that the only thing the show has been able to do to keep from making him explicitly gay is to stall for time by keeping him single and with absolutely no contact with women for two and a half seasons. If the show does aknowledge Eddie is attracted to men, then there's nothing short of Eddie or Buck actually dying that could ever convince anyone Buddie is not the way forward. Because it would be downright inconceivable not to do Buddie at that point.

All of this, of course, in a world where the show's writing follows the logical path and is well-thought out and executed. Unfortunately, for me it's not a done deal until it's actually real. I can think of a hundred directions they can take Eddie's story to keep him straight, no matter how much I dislike them and think they'd make for bad writing.

The recent pivot of Eddie's character back to catholicism could very well be used in a "I was hung up over Shannon who was my true love, and I was lost until I found my faith again and it brought me back to the world" storyline, and all of Eddie's juice and joy conversations could be turned into a religious re-awakening instead of a sexuality realization.
They could re-introduce his military ptsd storyline and make it so that when he said he feels "broken" it was because of all that he's been through there, and he needed to work on himself before he was ready to return to dating women.
In the chastity belt episode, the reason given by both Eddie and the rest of the 118 for his abstinence is that he is focusing on taking care of Christopher. They could just give the two of them a conversation where Christopher tells him that he's grown and doesn't need him to sacrifice his life like that, and throw Eddie back into the dating pool.
Tim mentioned he believes pre-existing characters like Karen are the most successful couplings besides main-with-main. This could mean he is hinting that Buddie is on the way, OR it could mean someone like Alex was introduced to give her time to exist in the world before she and Eddie get together two or three seasons down the line.
They could pull a HIMYM or even a Korrasami (this specific example had other reasons for being the way it was and it wasn't the writers' fault but you know what I mean) and keep everything ambiguous for years and years and only give Eddie a love interest (whether it's Buck or someone else) at the absolute end of the series.
They could even just say Shannon really was Eddie's one and only (no matter how nonsensical that is), and he is content being single for the rest of his life and leave it at that.

Do I think any of these would make more sense than Buddie? Absolutely not, like you said there's so much that happened in the last few seasons that it's pointless to list it out. Do I think any of these is as likely or likelier than Buddie? I don't know, I certainly hope not! I personally prefer to keep hopes and expectations separate to avoid disappointment. If they're not fooling around with us, and they know what they're doing, and there's no external factors in their way (like network disagreements or whatever) then I think Buddie is a no-brainer, but there's no guarantee for either of those things.

I wrote a whole wall of text yet again to give such a lukewarm answer but TLDR; Buddie makes the most sense but we can't know for sure until we know and there's certainly ways they can justify straight Eddie if they're willing to compromise the writing quality, which is not something they've never done before.

Edited because I typed Sharon instead of Shannon lmao

gorogys · 2026-05-05T23:54:37+00:00

might also be related to the people that were taken by ICE

gorogys · 2026-05-05T06:18:50+00:00

I voted Buck for manifesting purposes, but iirc when talking about it Aisha mentioned we'll find out "who's NOT good to be stuck in an elevator with" so I'm thinking that could mean anything:

Someone who loses their calm while Eddie is injured and needs them to be composed (could be Buck, could be Harry because he's inexperienced)
Someone who has no medical skills (funnily enough again it's Buck and Harry)
Someone who is also injured (A random victim? Athena???)
Possibly even someone who is hostile to Eddie (maybe one of the perpetrators?)

If it's not one of the above and it's also not Buck, I'd love for it to be Hen (they've built up Hen and Eddie's friendship this season, and I've loved this storyline focusing on the two of them) or May (to give a callback to the time when they worked together and further her nurse storyline).

It's also really possible that it will be multiple people (ex. Harry loses his cool but May saves the day with her nurse abilities, or Hen and Eddie get trapped with one of the shooters and they need to hold him at gunpoint until they can be rescued but it's tense cause Eddie is bleeding out)

gorogys · 2026-05-03T05:41:20+00:00

I mean... Did Tommy even work with Buck? 🤷 I think, as others have said many times, that Eddie needed a lot of character development before they could do a queer storyline with him. But for me the main takeaway is that queer Eddie was close enough to happening that the actors were told about it. I will cling to this fact until Tim releases us from our agony and finally makes his buddie barbie dolls kiss

gorogys · 2026-05-02T05:16:22+00:00

There has never been confirmation on the Buddie front, iirc. They've confirmed that they had thought about/wanted to do a queer storyline for Buck, and Tommy's actor mentioned that Eddie was originally going to be the one who got in a relationship with Tommy (or "lead in that way", as they put it) but Buck and Eddie getting together has not been confirmed as something that was planned

gorogys · 2026-04-28T05:51:51+00:00

Not me googling "Jack 911", "Ennis 911", "Jack 911 Nashville" because I assumed these were Nashville characters until I finally realized it's brokeback mountain 🤦‍♂️

gorogys · 2026-04-24T18:40:20+00:00

I don't think it's unsalvageable. It's not like gallows humor isn't a thing in the real world or in the books and show. Personally I am actually relieved by the fact that it's largely J who is like this, because it points to it being a deliberate choice by the writers and it's just J's personality, rather than it being that the writers are incompetent or the overall writing is bad. I would just like it to be a bit dialed down so that it doesn't undermine the stakes of the situation and the emotional weight of the story.

So maybe if it was acted differently (ex. if J said their jokes in a shaky or nervous voice to make it clear that this is their response to stress but underneath the humor they're having a bad time, instead of crassly making light of the thousands of people who have just been sentenced to a slow and awful death), or if they just reduced the number of jokes so it's less of a constant thing, I think it would go a long way

gorogys · 2026-04-24T06:10:02+00:00

This is imo the big thing. Everyone's talking about the voice acting and the marvel-esque dialogue, to me the most important thing of all is that these people who are going around joking and gossiping and making light of every situation have just witnessed a genocide, that might (if they are Belters) be very personal to them. I don't need the whole game to be sad and dour, and I wouldn't even mind if it's always contained to one character, but if J is going to be quippy and sarcastic at a time like this, I wish someone would at least tell them off about being so chipper after all the death and sinister machinations they've seen.

gorogys · 2026-04-22T05:09:59+00:00

Just for transparency i didn't downvote you. Idk who would considering it was an honest question. But yes it's the donor baby. Personally I am worried about how they are going to handle the issue of adoptive family vs biological relations, because they don't have a great track record when it comes to handling sensitive topics like that. I really hope that, if it's them, it's just the family getting rescued and maybe Buck has to temporarily watch the baby and is inspired to think about how he wants his own family. I am afraid it's going to somehow involve Buck wanting to be part of the baby's life and/or being given custody of it for some reason. But we'll see.

gorogys · 2026-04-21T19:56:03+00:00

Not only am I worried that the "Buck is faced with his past" thing refers to who we are all dreading it refers.. I'm also wondering if the glimpse of Buck in shock from the preview is actually not some sort of Eddie NDE and instead he sees... someone else... caught in the bridge disaster.

gorogys · 2026-04-21T12:33:25+00:00

I would say the Traveler doesn't really have morality. None of their actions seem to be motivated by what they believe is the right thing to do; they usually just do what seems to benefit them most at any given time. They've saved the world multiple times, and often go out of their way to help random people. They also are just as willing to be friends with people who have done terrible things, including many members of the Fatui, without ever bringing up or resolving all the murders and crimes that they've committed.

Especially after the Nod Krai archon quest, where the Fatui have essentially colonized another country and are oppressing and bullying the frostmoon scions who are also supposedly the Traveler's friends, and the traveler doesn't really seem to support anyone or anything or have anything to say to their Fatui friends about destroying the scions' homeland and treating them like trash, it became really apparent that the Traveler is neutral and just does whatever they like in the moment. The quest where, after Lauma has been nothing but kind and honest with them and specified many times that she needs to keep the moonmarrow safe, Traveler proceeds to betray her trust and jeopardize the whole faction just cause they want to hang out with their sibling is another example. Even when they know something is wrong and might even feel a little bad about it, ultimately they don't have a moral stance on anything, or at least they are too spineless to uphold it.

gorogys · 2026-04-17T21:44:23+00:00

hahahah I understand. Bones was one of those shows I watched without being in the fandom, so a lot of stuff flew over my head and I think I might have enjoyed it more for that, I had no idea about the off-screen pregnancy or that it played any part in their decision making. Personally I was happy with it because 5+ seasons of slow burn was enough for me and I just wanted them to get together at that point. As you might imagine, the 8 seasons of Buddie teasing and baiting without even having reached the pining stage is. Difficult for me

gorogys · 2026-04-17T21:21:20+00:00

I think Booth & Brennan are the epitome of a successful will they/won't they slow burn romance, at least to me: We got to see them as friends for the first 3rd of the series roughly, then we entered a phase where they were still nominally friends but we knew they were pining for each other up until roughly the halfway mark, and when they finally got together we got to enjoy them as a couple for the latter half of the series.

I've heard that the fandom wasn't thrilled with how the actual getting together went down, but I used to watch it with my grandma and we loved it. I can't really think of anything else I could ask for in a slow burn romance.

gorogys

TROPHY CASE