Buddie Rec List: Canon Divergence
Canon divergence asks one simple question: what if things had gone differently? This week's recs explore the moments, decisions, and turning points that changed everything for Buck and Eddie.
(click here for previous lists!)
30 fic recs under the cut:
1. And The Heart I Know I'm Breaking Is My Own by this_is_moony_lovegood (22.6k, Teen) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
After the call to the Bachelor mansion, Buck applies to be a contestant on the show. Eddie has to sit back and watch as Buck falls in love on live television.
Reccer says: it was such a fun idea and i just eat up anything in the friends to fiances tag lol
2. A Guide to Playing Matchmaker for Your Boyfriend by sammyunhinged (52.8k, Mature) Warnings: none
what if Buck dated Ravi instead of Tommy. Or a Ravi pov where Buck and Ravi date but it's buddie endgame
Reccer says: I love the Ravi backstory in this fic and honestly the Ravi/Buck relationship is done well and both of them know the relationship has an end date.
3. the pain will leave you once it's done teaching you by fruitsdoesnotknow (@fruitsdontknow) (43k, Mature) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings; Grief
"When Daniel Buckley lives a little longer, Evan Buckley dies a little more. And this is how Eddie Diaz saves him, a little later on." Eddie as an ER nurse, and Buck even more reckless and a whole lot sadder.
Reccer says: this fic devastated me in the best possible way. such a beautifully written exploration on grief and the ways it fucks you up. gorgeous gorgeous.
4. Nothing Left But You by Daisies_and_Briars (@cal-daisies-and-briars) (27.3k, Teen) Warnings: It's tagged as "Major Character Death" but it's only temporary since Eddie and everyone else who was Marvel-style blipped comes back
Instead of being shot by a sniper that day, Eddie vanishes from thin air—along with 25% of Earth's population. Five years later, he and everyone else reappear. Eddie finds himself suddenly in the middle of a world he doesn't recognize, where the people he loves most have changed significantly.
Reccer says: I've read over a hundred of Cal's works and I have to say, this one is my favorite. It is so heart-wrenching and visceral. So delightful and enlightening. As always, expert prose. I get emotional just thinking about it. An absolute must-read!! 💕
5. drench yourself in words unspoken by foxwatson (@eddiediazes) (26.1k, Teen) Warnings: none
the one where everything in canon is the same, except eddie diaz is secretly a bestselling romance author, and nobody knows. Yet.
Reccer says: genuinely love everything about this fic, it could be silly with a premise like that but instead it's incredibly heartfelt and just. works.
6. We blossom and ask no reason by lamardeuse (@lamardeuse) (5.8k, Mature) Warnings: none
Eddie works in his tío's flower shop and jumps in to help when a car crash happens outside. That's how he meets the 118, and specifically Buck.
Reccer says: A cute Flower Shop AU still firmly within the canon universe, with a fun different first meeting.
7. Echoes of Your Name by sirencalls (@usersiren) (9.7k, Explicit) Warnings: none
Eddie tries an audio porn site and finds he really likes this one guy's files. After he joins the 118 and listens to a new upload by him, he suddenly realizes it's Buck.
Reccer says: Audio porn is a form you seldom encounter in fics, and it was fun to have Eddie being obsessed with Buck's voice and the way he talks in bed before they even meet!
8. you make the world taste better by farfromthstars (@doeeyeseddie) (11.7k, Teen) Warnings: none
Newly arrived in LA, Eddie signs up for a parent/child cooking class, and the instructor is more than he could have hoped for.
Reccer says: Just so cute, with Eddie, Chris, and Buck bonding before Eddie even joins the 118, and then some shenanigans while the 118 don't know that Eddie and Buck already know each other!
9. Say You Were Made To Be Mine by ElvenSorceress (@elvensorceress) (11.6k, Teen) Warnings: none
On Valentine's day 2018, Eddie saves a man from choking in the middle of a restaurant. After, he notices his hands are full of colour, a sign that he's met and touched one of his soulmates.
Reccer says: Lovely soulmate AU that includes platonic soulmates, something I sorely miss in many other AU:s! And a fun spin on what if Eddie was the one who saved Buck with a tracheotomy.
10. i'd marry you with paper rings by thatbuddie (@thatbuddie) (20.3k, Teen) Warnings: none
Five times Buck and Eddie don't get engaged and one time they do (and one time they get married)
Reccer says: A lovely walk through their friendship with "yes I'll marry you"-jokes that start becoming more and more real as their relationship deepens!
11. darling, the future is better than yesterday by rarakiplin (28.7k, Teen) Warnings: none
After Eddie says he's leaving the 118 in 5x10, Buck wakes up in three different realities: in El Paso meeting an Eddie who's just found out he's going to be a father, in present day meeting an Eddie who never moved to LA, and in a future where he and Eddie are married and have adopted a daughter. This prompts him to think more about his relationship with Taylor.
Reccer says: Absolutely fantastic what-if scenarios of Buck meeting Eddie at different points in his life, finding he can be what Eddie needs even when they're strangers and making him consider the places they keep in each other's lives.
12. i did, i did, i do by hattalove (@hattalove) (4.3k, Teen) Warnings: none
In the weeks after meeting each other Buck and Eddie fell in love, got together, broke up, and forgot to fall out of love. When Eddie kisses Buck's hair right as he's loaded out of the ambulance after getting hurt, it all comes crashing back for Buck, and he doesn't know if he can try to forget it all again.
Reccer says: Delicious, delicious pining!
13. i want your midnights by allyasavedtheday (@littlespoonevan) (36.3k, Teen) Warnings: none
To make some extra cash, Eddie rents out his spare room right around the time Buck, after Maddie's prodding, decides to move out of Abby's apartment. What if you were roommates and coworkers and you realized just how much you like being close to each other all the time.
Reccer says: Super sweet, following their budding relationship and them being even more in each other's business due to living together!
14. ripples all the way down by iriswests (@fcntasmas) (57.2k, Mature) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
Buck struggles with his jealousy over Ana and lets Maddie set him up on a date with a guy, which to his surprise goes really well, but only complicates his feelings. Meanwhile Christopher engages in some parent trapping and Eddie keeps looking at Buck like he's waiting for him to say something specific.
Reccer says: Wonderful post-S4 story of Buck trying to figure out how to move on from his feelings while Christopher is doing his best to pull Buck back in. While the fic is Buck POV, both Buck and Eddie struggle with jealousy over the other's partner and pining for each other.
15. I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Til I Saw Your Face by HMSLusitania (@hmslusitania) (10.5k, Teen) Warnings: none
Total strangers Buck and Eddie meet in a therapy waiting room and decide to go to couple's therapy together to wiggle out of the therapy requirements their captains have put on them.
Reccer says: Incredibly fun take on a different first meeting and getting to know each other through what the therapist drags out of you
16. Close My Eyes and Stumble (Right Into Your Love) by HMSLusitania (@hmslusitania) (21.6k, Mature) Warnings: none
Instead of joining the LAFD Eddie takes a job at dispatch. Or, an S1 rewrite where Eddie is the dispatcher Buck keeps talking to.
Reccer says: Just such a fun take on Buck and Eddie getting to know each other over the phone and how S1 might slightly change with Eddie taking Abby's place.
17. Something Dumb to Do by glorious_spoon (@glorious-spoon) (8.5k, Explicit) Warnings: none
After being stood up by a date again, Buck comments it's a shame he and Eddie can't just date each other. Eddie indulges his train of thought, but what was supposed to be a hypothetical suddenly leaves them standing on shaky ground as they both contemplate trying it out for real.
Reccer says: Stupid4stupid in the best way possible, when you realize hey your best friend actually is really hot and maybe you do want to do something about it!
18. A Dad in the Loft is Worth Two in the House by PJO_Connoiseur (154.8k, Explicit) Warnings: none
Eddie stops running away from his grief and himself, Chris demands communication and vulnerability from his dad, and Buck grapples with the family of it all.
Reccer says: I liked it!
19. Darling, So It Goes (Some Things Are Meant To Be) by thetalee (@thetalee) (811.1k, Mature) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
canon-divergent established buddie au starting from s3 and extending to a full series rewrite
Reccer says: I liked it!
20. nesting season by twoslicetoast (@dampbuck) (22.9k, Explicit) Warnings: none
Post 9x13 - “God created the world in seven days. It only takes Eddie six to surreptitiously move into Buck’s house.”
Reccer says: nesting eddie diaz is so important to me
21. Caught Between (A Dream And A Movie Scene) by LibbyWrites (14.3k, Mature) Warnings: none
divergent from 8x11: “ Buck wakes up the morning after going for drinks with Ravi on a random bus to who knows where, with a hangover from hell and no memory of what happened.”
Reccer says: I liked it!
22. minestra maritata by damnit_aoidee (@damnit-buck) (1.6k, Teen) Warnings: referenced drug addiction/recovery
eddie asks buck on a date while they're cooking together
Reccer says: I liked it!
23. would you lie with me and just forget the world by colonoscopys (@colonoscopys) (45.6k, Explicit) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
AU where buck and eddie were childhood friends and re-unite as adults.
Reccer says: i've read this fic sooooo many times!! i love the author's take on eddie's childhood and love how well it explores buck and eddie discovering their sexualities together and the inevitable fallout from that. their adult reunion is so so sweet, too. the fic feels so in character and true to the show despite it being such a divergence from the canon.
24. i don't swim and you're not in love by hattalove (@hattalove) (32.3k, Teen) Warnings: none
eddie cooks, chris domesticates a slug, and buck tries to figure out why he hates his best friend's girlfriend. to everyone's immense shock and surprise, it goes badly.
Reccer says: this is a sweet and aching look at what it means for buddie when one of them finds someone else, in this case ana, and trying to find the line of their friendship as a result
25. Muscle Memory by Daisies_and_Briars (@cal-daisies-and-briars) (40k, Teen) Warnings: none
Natalia and Buck break up, and then Buck's greatest fear comes true - everyone he loves has forgotten him entirely.
Reccer says: this is a brutal and incisive look at buck's character, his deepest fears, how he would handle obliteration, and how much the 118 love him
26. the patron saint of the lost causes by chromatophorica (32k, Mature) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings; alcoholism and discussions around addiction/recovery
so this is actually a two part series, not a fic, but it's a post lawsuit arc au where buck and bobby have a different path to rebuilding their relationship
Reccer says: this is a really lovely interrogation of trying to renegotiate relationships given the realities of the damage from the lawsuit
27. Finding You by Sabs (@memequeme) (16.7k, Teen) Warnings: none
Buck and Eddie develop a spontaneous soulbond, something they only realise when Eddie leaves for Texas
Reccer says: so beautifully written, such a cathartic look at how much buddie love each other, and what they would do for each other
28. paving hell with energy by Elgney (52.5k, Explicit) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings; some non consensual touching
Just before Eddie moves to El Paso, Buck and Maddie get kidnapped. Eddie spirals.
Reccer says: elgney is so good at thorny and engaging fics - this one really helps Eddie cut the Gordian knot of his s8 emotions around chris and texas and buck in a really compelling way
29. on the run from a losing game by evanfixes (hymbeaux) (@evanfixes) (77.8k, Explicit) Warnings: major character injury
Buck breaks up with Tommy in a panic early on, not wanting to ruin Tommy's friendship with Eddie, and starts dating a different firefighter across town and tries to hide it from Eddie.
Reccer says: dramatic, cathartic, a real tour de force
30. Tomorrow I'll Be Brave (You Make Me Brave) by serenelystrange (18.9k, Teen) Warnings: food insecurity, mentions of past survival sex
different first meeting au - buck is homeless when he first arrives in LA, and meets Bobby when he helps him with an orange tree adjacent accident in his own yard
Reccer says: a really lovely character study in how they would grow and change with a different meeting
