Buddie vs Tevan

Ship War
ShipWar:	Buddie vs. Tevan
Date(s):	April 2024 — present
Location:	Tumblr, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit
Fandom:	9-1-1
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

This article documents a currently unfolding situation within the fannish realm. Content may change quickly, and the page structure itself may undergo major revision. New details are very welcome.

Buddie vs. Tevan is an ongoing ship war in the 9-1-1 fandom, between fans of two Evan "Buck" Buckley pairings: the currently fanon Buck/Eddie (aka. Buddie) and the previously canonical Buck/Tommy (aka. Tevan). As of October 2024, the ship war is still very much an unfolding event as Tommy Kinard only returned as a recurring character in March 2024, after guest appearances many seasons earlier in the show. Though the canonical element of Tevan has ended, it seems unlikely that this ship war will end due to how passionate fans in both camps are.

Overview

Buck/Eddie have been the juggernaut pairing in the 9-1-1 since shortly after Eddie Diaz's introduction to the show in season two; with many fans anticipating that the pairing may eventually go canon. There have long been debates over whether the show's crew and promotional team are queerbaiting the pairing, as the cast and crew are aware of the significant fanbase for the pairing.

In March 2024, the seventh season of the show, the character of Tommy Kinard was brought back to the show, having previously played a small role as a minor character in flashback episodes. His introduction to the show also came with it the confirmation that Buck was bisexual and the relationship developed into a romantic one over a few episodes.

This has led to growing conflict between fans of the Buddie pairing and the new Tevan fans — including arguments against multishipping — which continue to escalate. Originally, it was anticipated that Tommy would be a short-term character, with many Buddie fans certain he would only be around for a few episodes, allowing for the stage to be set for a Buddie endgame.

[Miya22101]

i’m not getting attached he’s only in a few episodes i refuse to hurt myself for no reason 😭 he’s a placeholder for eddie and im sticking to it

[crustynubs]

I feel totally the same lol, he's literally just off brand eddie and I can't see him as anything else

[Miya22101]

i forgot he was on the show previously so whatever episode he helped hen was my first look at him and i like him hes cool but hes no eddie he’s bucks bi realization for me and that is all good friend tho

However, Tommy went on to appear in more episodes than some fans previously expected him to, though his screentime remained relatively limited. Additionally, the story-line of Buck realizing he is bisexual received both positive coverage and the character of Tommy appears to have been relatively popular for such a minor character, leading to speculation that he might return for season eight as well. This belief and much of Tommy's growing fandom, despite his limited screentime, could be attributed to Tommy's actor Lou Ferrigno Jr. accepting money on cameo even as late as October 2024. Despite this being after the Tevan break up scene was filmed Ferrigno continued promising his fans future storylines.

This has led to heated arguments between Buddie shippers and Tevan shippers, across multiple social media platforms, with escalating behaviours between a small number of fans. Accusations of and occurrences of bullying, harassment, and other toxic fandom behaviours have become increasingly commonplace. This toxic behavior has now extended past the end of Tommy's tenure on the show. Tevan broke up in episode six of season eight, this led to toxic reactions from the ship's fans, including the harassment of actors on the show, including some fans calling for Oliver Stark to be fired and Ryan Guzman deported (despite him being a natural born citizen). There has been gloating from Buddie fans as well now that their claims that Tommy's character was temporary, at least as Buck's boyfriend, has been proven true.

Possible Topics for Expansion

• Claims of toxic relationship/abuse/mistreatment etc. aimed at both pairings by the fans of the opposing pairing.
• Criticisms and debate over the actors engagement with the fandom, particularly as the actor who plays Tommy, Lou Ferrigno Jr., seems to be involved in quite a few of these recently.
• Weaponisation of the Hen/Karen pairing in criticisms of both achillean pairings (and the resulting frustration from Henren fans because of that).
• See Talk page for more topics and discussions.

Meta

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• 'I don’t get the Tommy hate', r/911FOX, 5 June 2024, ^{Archived version} - A discussion thread about the reaction to Tommy and Tevan, including arguements about Buddie vs Tevan in the comments replying to the thread.
• 'I've seen a lot of discourse about why tommy [..] Is there anything specific that started it?' Tumblr 28 August 2024 An answer to the question of why fan don't like Tommy or his relationship with Buck, with specific examples from episodes.