the thing about buckthena's dynamic is that i feel like there tends to be a compulsion to anchor their relationship to that of their individual relationships to bobby, in one way or another. either buck is bobby's child and therefore athena's child or buck is bobby's dog that athena kind of tolerates. and i think both views are kind of fundamentally misguided because buck and athena have always had their own relationship outside of bobby that informs their dynamic far more than reducing them to who they are to bobby. like, this duo has had their own dynamic since the literal pilot, before bobby and athena ever started dating. their relationship was founded on the ways that their similar strong senses of justice and stubborness combined with their divergent views on responsibility and accountability and authority lead to them clashing and then ultimately learning to respect and understand each other.
in many ways, while athena is often exasperated by buck and buck sometimes disagrees with athena's methods, they treat each other more as equals than people often give them credit for. they really love each other and have a friendship outside of bobby! buck goes to her when he wants to plan a surprise party and athena immediately takes maddie under her wing because she has an established fondness for buck! they sometimes solve cases together and get one another's heads on straight and yes, bond over their love of bobby, because he is someone that they both love. but more than that they're just like, two people who love each other, and i don't know that i need to analogize it in the terms of a nuclear family either way lmao.
