#jennifer jareau meta

[carnalish]

thinking about how JJ buries her trauma the most she can. she's someone so deeply afraid of vulnerability. and i think that we sometimes forget that JJ, at a very young age, didn't only lose her sister (which is already hard enough), but lost her support system entirely.

i don't remember the exact episode, but JJ's mother says "I got so caught up in all my troubles that I forgot there was another little girl under my roof who had just lost her sister. You needed me, and I wasn't there." Jennifer lost her family, all she had when she was only eleven years old. and since then, she's been caught up in running away from being hurt in any way, and hurting others just the same. because the moment people know, it becomes real, as she herself stated.

Jennifer Jareau is a woman who trusts very few people, even though she's someone so reliable herself. and why she's so reliable is because she had to learn to be since she was a CHILD. it breaks my heart.

[youbutstupid]

Ages of the Criminal Minds cast because PSA: life doesn’t stop at 40

Mandy Patinkin, 71. Thomas Gibson, 61

Lola Glaudini, 52. A.J. Cook, 45

Matthew Gray Gubler, 44. Kirsten Vangsness, 51

Shemar Moore, 54. Paget Brewster, 55

Joe Mantegna, 76. Meta Golding, 52

Rachel Nichols, 44. Jeanne Tripplehorn, 60

Jennifer Love Hewitt, 45. Aisha Tyler, 53

Adam Rodriguez, 49. Daniel Henney, 44

[blackbird-brewster]

Something I've been thinking about this week :

S17 has had such LIMITED locations and it's probably because of how many people they added to the cast for this season.

Even when we finally saw Emily out of the office, she was at Garcia's instead of her own house.

Will and the boys haven't been in this season because JJ has never been at home.

In two seasons, we still have yet to get a single scene of Luke outside of work (again, not at Garcia's).

Tara and Rebecca too. They apparently lived together last season... But we never saw that.

In the lead up to S16, all the interviews were like 'You're going to get to really see these characters outside of the job. You will get so much more personal with them' - - but that translated to Will being in every episode and Rossi.... Well, being The Main Character.

In S17, instead of following through on the aforementioned promise, they spent the budget on promoting (Voit) to main cast, while keeping Tyler around all season too.

WE DIDN'T NEED MORE CHARACTERS.

We already had an ensemble cast!! I felt like Tara barely had any screen time this season because that time went to Voit, Tyler, Jill, Damien and Jade, etc.

I would take some personal character growth (unrelated to the case!!!) of the profilers, over Elias Voit being a main character any day. I would much rather have complex character development of the six BAU members and less side characters, than having 12 completely underdeveloped characters vying for screen time.

[neve-gallus-girl-detective]

I think one of the most tragic things about Jemily in canon for me is that there’s always a sense that both women know. JJ and Emily are both aware that something almost happened between them. They know that there’s tension, that they love each other. JJ knows why Emily keeps leaving and Emily knows why JJ has to stay with Will. Every time they talk about how hard the past is, or how happy they are to be reunited, there’s such a sense that things could be different.

If they’d made a different choice somewhere along the line, then this reunion would be something else entirely. They may never have been separated at all. The sad look on Emily’s face when she pushes JJ toward Will. The little headshake JJ gives Emily when she tells them she’s leaving and Emily says “you’re too good”. JJ and Emily on the plane to Paris, JJ and Emily’s look at the wedding, the constant checking in later as they try to be close and keep their distance all at once. They know how great they could have been and they know they missed their chance.

[wizardofahz]

Saw a Criminal Minds gifset and suddenly started thinking about canon vs. fanon JJ.

TL; DR: Fanon JJ is the facade canon JJ puts on to hide trauma.

(This discusses JJ's sister, so content warning for suicide)

The obvious starting point for understanding JJ's characterization is her sister's suicide. That's a traumatic event for anyone, and even more so for an eleven year old child. So it's quite understandable that JJ decides she will do whatever she can to avoid experiencing hurt like that again.

In episode 3.17, JJ tells Will about their relationship, "I didn't want to tell anyone because the minute I do it becomes real, and when it becomes real, people get hurt, and I've always run from getting hurt. Always."

But JJ didn't only lose her sister.

In episode 14.12, JJ's mom admits, "I got so caught up in all my troubles that I forgot there was another little girl under my roof who had just lost her sister. You needed me, and I wasn't there."

At eleven years old, JJ was a traumatized child without a support system. So she learned to rely on herself. Other people were just avenues for hurt, and she decided that wasn't worth it.

All of which leads to this confession from JJ in the season 14 finale: "There are only four people I trust in this world."

My three non-negotiables are Will, Hotch, and Emily. The fourth is between Reid and Garcia, but I lean towards the former given Garcia's penchant for invading people's privacy.

Even if anyone disagrees with that list, there's not a lot of room for choice. At any given time, the BAU usually has seven members, and given the amount of turnover they've had, JJ hasn't learned to trust most of them.

Do they know that? They probably know her facade masks trauma, but I doubt they know the extent of it. There's a reason that episode starts with the team playing poker, and JJ showing Reid he doesn't know her as well as he thinks he does.

So let's talk about that facade. In contrast to Reid, who wears his trauma on his sleeve, JJ buries hers as deeply as she can. She takes care of the people around her, and while it's not disingenuous, it's part of a prettily painted reinforced fortress wall that says, "hey, look at me, such a put-together person that doesn't have problems of my own, so I can help with yours."

And it does the job because it has fandom fooled too.

[wereoz]

how i feel about jeid is something i haven’t seen agreed upon by proponents or antis but i feel like i can’t be the only one so:

what’s crazy is that jj being in love with reid DID add an interesting spin to their friendship i feel.... it’s like. it fits?? for jj’s character: in s2 (?) she wanted to be with will but let other things get in the way and her fear of settling down/intimacy was revealed. and later in the show like s11? 12? she still struggled with it: after a difficult case she finds it hard to stick with will and let him see her, she needs to be moving and have space and be doing other things. in a way, she is doing the same ‘moving’, moving towards spencer.

and all along she's found it hard to talk to reid and it’s a thing fans have picked up on: some odd teasing, just generally not understanding why he continues to say things that stick out; one example is when she said about a case “god how weird”, and he explained it’s common and she looked at him so put off he backtracked and went “yeah weird...”

but none of that ever stops her from caring for him. small things like telling him the candles on his birthday cake are trick candles and bigger stuff like saying he doesn't need to hate himself for anything that happened in prison.

so to me it does make sense to me, on some level that she finds space, arguably refuge, from her love from will with spencer.

and it does add interest that who she loves is someone she’s devoted to but will never truly have closeness with because of many insurmountable reasons: she already passed him up, she’ll never understand him enough to build that intimacy, and she can’t get that close to anyone without feeling caged.

one final one, which matters to me most: the second she acts on it he loses all desirability. his appeal is that he’s a safety net. if she feels too overwhelmed by her marriage and life with will and all the secrets she can't tell him, she turns to reid because he’s safe as long as none if it is real.

on reid’s side of this: there’s something tragic about the fact jj finds it hard to understand him and reid hates not being understood yet puts up with it because he thinks if he holds out for a person who understands him to love him he will never be loved.

so all of this to say: fucked up dynamic of all time that seems normal at first until you pick beneath the surface <3

[dr-george-ordell]

This is like a 4am post but anyways, am I tripping or has little to no one thought of a Criminal Minds and Yellowjacket's crossover? Because our beloved BAU team has a private jet they always use for travel for cases, which is a perfect recipie for then to also crash into the Canadian wildernesses unintentionally. To top it all off JJ likely remember's the Yellowjackets' disappearance due to being fifteen and also being in a football team around that time. Tbh just imagining how especially Spencer, Aaron or JJ would cope in the Wilderness with no rigid rules or hierarchy would be genuinely interesting.

[carnalish]

[blackbird-brewster]

Meta: Jemily Queerbaiting

With the huge influx of posts saying 'Jemily is gonna be canon', I really appreciated seeing this post because OP was completely correct. I didn't want to write an entire dissertation as a reply, so I'm making my own post with my personal opinion on this. (All sources are noted in footnotes)

Before I began this rant, for anyone who thinks this is anti-Jemily. It is not. I have shipped Jemily for 18 friggin years and that's never going to change. This post is specifically my thoughts about queer baiting.

First off, I need to note that the showrunners (and the cast members who use social media) KNOW what a huge queer following this show has and that's why we got pansexual Tara Lewis in S16 [1]. Which, in itself, was SOOOOOOO important!!! Our first canonically queer main in SIXTEEN seasons was a middle-aged Black woman!!! That's phenomenal. (The fact it was horrible rep, because they instantly ruined her relationships once her queerness served it's plot point is a whole other post entirely)

In my opinion, the 'big Jemily moment' Paget posted about on Twitter [2] (and AJ hinted at during a recent IG live) is simply queerbaiting to get people to watch S17. I know a lot of you are newer to the fandom and I love your enthusiasm, I really do, ship and let ship, but listen, let's be real, Jemily is not going to be made canon. The showrunners aren't going to suddenly say (after 17 seasons) 'Surprise, Jemily is endgame'. This show has never cared about queer rep and now that CBS/Paramount have already ticked their queer rep box with Tara, they won't be in any rush to add any other characters to it.

Please buckle in, I've got a lot of thoughts on this matter --

What is Queerbaiting?

If you aren't aware of what queerbaiting is, here's a good definition:

Historically, queerbaiting has carried two meanings: the first is an act of aggressive heterosexuality to shut down queer subtext on screen while still teasing and catering to the queer audience in advertising, public relations, and fan engagement strategies; the second is an existing homoerotic tension between two characters played up on screen while met with derision by the professionals behind the scenes. [3]

The Medium article quoted here is from 2017, a time when parasocial relationships were really starting to take over social media. In 2024, actors are now only a mention or tag away online, they have direct conversations with fans, and this process has allowed for an even deeper form of queerbaiting.

Oftentimes online, actors are asked directly about certain ships and while some ignore these questions (usually to avoid breaking their contracts or other repercussions), others (looking at you, Paget) choose to instead tease fans about queer ships. She's done this for years upon years and if I've learned anything in the past twenty-years of existing in fandom spaces it's this -- don't hold your breath. In it's original meaning, for something to be deemed as queerbaiting there had to be malicious, or at least, purposeful intent to string queer fans along by teasing them with suggestive content about the ship in question, while knowing this ship will never come to fruition in canon.

The thing to remember is, Paget and AJ aren't the only ones who know about Jemily shippers -- the network and showrunners are well aware of this ship too. When networks/showrunners figure out they have a strong sapphic fanbase, they love to use that to their advantage to get more viewers and higher ratings. Queerbaiting is a goldmine to keep fans watching long running shows, look at Rizzoli and Isles, Supergirl, and OUAT for examples of this.

Jemily and Queerbaiting:

Ever since Emily joined the BAU in S2 (2006), there have always been fans who ship JJ/Emily (shoutout to the old LJ forums!). Way before celebs were just a tweet away from fans, back when all our fics began with disclaimers so we wouldn't get sued by networks, we went to great lengths to keep our fanworks far removed from actors/showrunners attention.

As far as Jemily goes, this reply from Paget in a 2009 interview with TVGuide.com [4] (which has now been deleted from their site unfortunately, but there are quotes on Tumblr still [4.a]) confirmed some fans' worst fear -- the actors had found our fanworks online.

TVGuide.com: Of course, a band of fans want her to hook up with Hotch.

Brewster: I know! I didn't realize that fans make these videos on YouTube? A.J. Cook sent me a hilarious one that made it look like Prentiss and J.J. were having a secret lesbian affair. You know, when Hotch was blown up in the SUV, we shot this scene where he's in the hospital and I'm standing next to him, looking at his bleeding ear. Our director came in and said, "Paget, you're looking at Hotch like you're in love with him. It looks really weird." So now, every day, Thomas [Gibson] and I flutter our eyelids at each other.

This was the first time I recall anyone acknowledging Jemily shippers publicly and at the time (Jan 2009), the show was still in Season Four (just before CBS fired both AJ and Paget [5]). Paget genuinely said it's 'hilarious' that fans shipped JJ/Emily. Even now, I'll see people say 'We know Paget and AJ have seen Jemily fanvids, so they obviously ship it too' -- but those same people rarely acknowledge the full context of the original answer. Paget not only thought JJ/Emily were 'hilarious', but then she doubled down and turned her reply back to how she and Thomas liked to play up the chemistry between Emily/Hotch.

While no one can say for sure which video it was that AJ sent Paget, just knowing they were watching JJ/Emily fanvids sent a bit of a shockwave through the femslash side of the fandom. To some it felt like an invasion of privacy, fanworks are by fans for fans -- knowing the cast were poking around in fandom spaces added an extra layer of worry around what we fans were posting online. Fifteen years ago, it used to be quite taboo for actors to outwardly discuss shipping or other fanon for whatever show they were in, and we fans were usually comfortably removed from the actors altogether.

Of course, now it's the norm for fans and actors/showrunners to co-exist online and interact with one another. This connection has opened new ways for shows to queerbait their fans. Pretty much every show has some form of social media account now and there is no doubt that the people running those accounts keep up with the most popular ships and hashtags. Not to mention that actors are constantly barraged with questions about whether they ship their character with x,y,z, or whether they think a ship should be made canon, etc. These interactions only serve to benefit the shows themselves, because whether the conversation is for or against a certain ship, it's all just free publicity (Why do you think CM now has a TikTok account?)

Every time AJ or Paget say anything about Jemily, the queer side of the fandom loses their minds. But this has been going on for YEARS now and every single time, it turns out to be nothing but social media hype and queerbaiting. Remember this AJ post? [6] Or what about the notorious reply by Paget to a fan, where she talks about how she and AJ held hands under the table 'for the shippers' [7] I've seen this cycle over and over again, so perhaps I am cynical, but I'm not getting my hopes up that Jemily will ever seriously be canon.

It's widely known now, after both Kirsten [8] and Paget [9] have talked about it, that there was an early idea where Prentiss was supposed to be queer, but that was ultimately scraped before it ever made it on screen. For context, please remember, this show has been airing for nearly twenty years. It began in 2005, during the highly conservative Bush administration. Queer people didn't have rights in the US, we couldn't get married, we were rarely protected under discrimination laws, and we could even be fired for simply being queer (in some states). Diverse queer representation on screen was extremely limited to things like 'The L Word' and 'Queer as Folk' (both aired on Showtime, so they were behind a paywall. And as far as tLw goes, that show was extremely male-gaze focused and is horrible in nearly all regards if you try to rewatch it now). As far as prime time shows went, queer rep was even more rare. Which is why Emily wasn't queer from the get-go.

Yes, things have changed since 2006 in terms of queer rep on TV. We have a myriad of queer identities represented in TV and film nowadays, which is why I think it's so easy for newer fans to say 'lf she was supposed to be gay anyway, they should just make Emily queer in canon!' I know this is what fuels most fans' demands for Emily being confirmed queer, and I get it, I DO. I would be all for it! However, I do not, in one hundred years, actually believe that is going to happen after they already canonically queer confirmed Tara in S16. The fact we even got ONE queer character is ground-breaking for this show.

It's also worth noting, that in the time between Paget's departure in 2012 and her return in 2016, she became very active on Twitter. This was when more and more fans began asking her about Jemily and after Kirsten's AfterEllen interview, fans also pushed for Paget to address the possibility of Emily being gay. 'Pushed' is actually an understatement for some of the outright harassment she would receive. (AJ received some of this harassment too, but less so because she doesn't use social media ass often) Back then, neither of them replied to these things directly. Yet, no matter what either woman posted, the replies were full of Jemily stans begging for her acknowledgement. (Did you know 'stan' is literally a term coined for stalker fans?) I remember one time AJ's friend was missing and she posted info on her IG about it, you know what the replies were? People asking her about Jemily. It was genuinely sickening.

Within this context, it was no surprise to fans when Emily came back in S12 , she and JJ's friendship was seemingly erased. The two women were rarely on screen together in the late seasons, plus the writers saw fit to even give Emily not only one (Mark in London, but two, on-screen boyfriends for the first time in the entire series. I personally do not think these changes to Emily's character were coincidence, I saw the hellscape of what people would say to AJ and Paget online and I fully believe that upon Paget's return to the show, the showrunners purposely tried to distance JJ and Emily to dissuade the more abusive side of the fanbase.

Can I prove that, no. But it is the only reason I can think of as to why Emily S12+ seemingly didn't care about JJ anymore, despite their deep and meaningful friendship. I mean, they both CROSSED THE WORLD to go rescue each other in prior canon -- but when Emily comes back, they acted like they barely knew each other. This was even more prevalent in S16, when JJ's main storylines all revolved around Will, and Emily barely looked at JJ in the entirety of ten episodes. (Remember how Prentiss didn't even hug JJ after bomb, but she did go hug Luke?)

So, do Paget and AJ earnestly ship Jemily, or are they continuing the long tradition of queerbaiting us? Who fucking knows, not me. But based on the history of this fandom, I think I can make a safe bet. (Interestingly, if you search all of Paget's twitter for the word 'Jemily' [10] she only has 3 direct tweets mentioning the ship. I don't think it's a coincidence that two are within the past few months since they started filming S17 (the other one was a RT of Kirsten (who tagged something Jemily)

This is all to say --

Just because Paget and AJ have publicly talked about Jemily,, this doesn't mean it's ever going to happen on screen. And you know what, THAT'S OKAY!! There has been this constant outcry (after Tara became queer confirmed) of 'Do Emily next' or 'Why wasn't it Emily with a girlfriend!?' and 'Jemily needs to be canon in S17!' -- as if people believe their ships aren't worth anything unless they are canon.

That couldn't be further from the truth! Fandom is built on headcanons and fan interpretations and rare pairs and all types of shippers. Your ship does NOT need to be canon for you to enjoy it. I will ship Jemily forever, no matter what. I don't think there will be some magical queer plot in S17, at best, we might actually get to see Emily/JJ on screen together again and after the train wreck that was S16 -- I'll take whatever I can get.

And hey -- if I am completely wrong, if Erica Messer pulls a Korrasami out of her hat, I will be ecstatic. I will be happy to be proved wrong, but at the same time, I'm not going to lose sleep over it and I'm DEFINITELY not going to go hound the actors about it on social media.

Sources:

[1] 2022 Digital Spy article about the importance of Tara's coming out

[2] 04/18/24 Paget Tweet

[3] 2017 Queerbaiting article from medium.com

[4] 2009 Broken TVGuide link

[4.a] Tumblr quote from the above TVGuide Interview

[5] 2010 Kirsten interview screenrant.com

[6] 2019 AJ Instagram Post

[7] 2020 Paget video on Twitter (via @karasluthqr)

[8] 2015 Kirsten interview AfterEllen.com

[9] 2016 Paget Interview CriminalMindsFans.com

[10] @PagetPaget search 'Jemily'

[neve-gallus-girl-detective]

I think Emily and JJ both have an interesting struggle of like…. How do you complain about your personal struggles when you come from places of such privilege? Like Emily could complain about child neglect and being made to grow up too fast and like no emotional support, but those things happened because she was filthy rich, lived in a million countries, and her mother paid for her to do whatever the fuck she wanted. JJ could complain about childhood trauma and constant misperception and no coping skills for emotions, but that happened because she grew up in a white, protestant middle class town and she’s a very pretty white, blonde girl and she wants more. Does that make sense?

Like they have (in fanon, I guess) some minority struggles. Emily grew up a lesbian and JJ grew up closeted/repressed and now they work for a government that hates gays and DADT is still in effect and there’s no gay marriage in sight, etc etc. But they’re still white and wealthy and all of that. So, how much can they complain, really? Just some thoughts.

[spencer-reids-adventures]

For real though, the endgame jj/reid was such a disservice to both characters. Maybe we shouldn't revive storylines that were buried 14 seasins ago. Like jj married will despite being in love with someone else, and reid never got over his "pretty lady is nice to me 🥺"-puppy crush? Okay great.

Yes! I I'm going to copy a thing I wrote somewhere else because it encapsulates my feelings about this storyline:

I do think JJ is a mean girl even if she won't admit it, and I think she believes she "loves" reid because she's always seen him as her backup.

she was reluctant to share her relationship with will with the team, it took her ages to actually marry him. She's afraid of commitment. But I think she's also afraid of being alone.

And I think subconsciously, ever since the "Red Skins" game, she's seen spencer that way - she knows he had a crush on her, and she's always thought, well, no matter what happens, spence is always there. like her "if we're not married by 40" friend, only she IS married by 40, but she still keeps him in mind as her "just in case".

and I don't think she realizes she's doing it and I don't think she realizes what a dick move it is to tell spencer, even if what she's feeling isn't actually Love, but more like...idk, security?

because for spencer it's completely different. it didn't work out with JJ. it (in my opinion) didn't work out with stephen or ethan, lila or austin. maeve died. spencer is perpetually alone, and i don't believe he loves JJ - i think he idealizes her in a similar way, like a nostalgia thing - he loved her before hankel, before maeve, before prison - and that's why he gets sort of confused after her confession.

but it's not fair of her to say those things to him because he has no one and she has everyone. she has a FAMILY. and he wants a famliy, and he's alone, and she's basically flaunting that in his face. "oh, i always loved you, but i actually have everything i want and you don't, so."

it's just so messed up but it's also totally in character for the JJ they've created who is selfish and not very nice to spencer and doesn't want to end up alone.

[qvid-pro-qvo]

do you have a favorite Criminal Minds episode overall? Do you have a favorite for each character?

mmmmmmm very good question to think about as i comfort rewatch :) also, probably gonna do favorite here and not best, because i think those are two separate questions. you’ll also see my bias toward earlier episodes here. whoops. 

favorite episode overall - this is a tough one, but i LOVE the episodes where we see the work of profiling, and in some episodes this is really shown as an art form. i would have to say “seven seconds” (3x01). i love the enclosed space the mall serves as geography, i love how they interview the family, i love the way they bounce off of each other. i could watch this episode every day. shit like this is why criminal minds is great. there are other episodes that i could classify as favorites but probably fall into the category of character episodes. 

this unsurprisingly got long, like novel-lengthy, so i’m sticking the individual characters under a cut.

hotch 

aaron hotchner. there’s a reason i write fic for this man, besides the fact that i feel like in later seasons he is the epitome of one note most times. we see him smile every so often, but i also think i latch onto earlier episodes because we see so much of his care for those he cares for. i LOVE “lessons learned” (2x10) for him. i LOVE the way he is so blatantly shown to adore haley and jack. i think this is one of the episodes that speaks volumes across the show, even as his humanity kind of gets stripped away in the later episodes. i think this is a great intro for emily prentiss, too, but i don’t put it with her because while she does shine, i like other episodes for her better. the foyet storyline, of course, all the way through its conclusion in “route 66” (9x05). i really love the way we see his adoration for haley and jack, i love the way we see him grapple with his guilt, and. fuck. i just care about aaron hotchner a lot. also i can’t not say “it takes a village” (7x01) - beard hotch? inspired my first ever fic for him? yeah.  also, i think it also shows the things he is willing to do for his team, because i truly think that if any member of the team was in that situation, he would be there for them and do the exact same thing. hypothetically. 

rossi 

rossi isn’t my favorite character for a variety of reasons, namely because i never really felt connected to him and i think he... is a tool for the writers to bring things out of left field. but i think a huge growth moment for him and for me in terms of appreciating him as a character is “zoe’s reprise” (4x15). the rossi that comes back to the bau is definitely one who is a lot of things, and this episode pretty much expertly breaks down every wall that he’s put up since he left. we see him empathize with a victim, see him get told off when he tries to use money to fix the situation, we see him reflect on the consequences of his actions and the way that even though he’s kind of an ass when he first comes on, there’s more underneath. like i said, he’s not my favorite character, but this episode does a good job of working in much needed humanization of him. also, of course, the dinner scene in “proof” (7x02) could be an episode all on it’s own. “as a family.” you’re so right, rossi, you’re so right. 

derek 

god, i fucking love derek episodes. i love, love, love derek morgan. i high-key think that shemar moore does some of the most incredible/versatile acting on this show, and i’m not even speaking in hyperbole. we can talk about microexpressions from hotch and mgg’s portrayal all we want, but the way shemar moore delivers a man who suffered from some of the worst childhood trauma and creates a layered character with some of the most incredible empathy towards others on his team and victims is just jaw-dropping. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - derek is the most emphathetic character and the most in tune with the rest of the team. he is 100% the character who knows what others are feeling and actually acts on it. his relationships with spencer and penelope and emily -

but the episodes. there are tons of points in episodes focused on other characters where he shines (”penelope” and “mayhem” are two that come to mind) but honestly? “profiler, profiled” (2x12). not because of the trauma, but because how derek reacts to the trauma. we see him go through the five stages of grief when it comes to watching his persona, his shield, crumble around his team. we see him get taken apart and put himself back together. it is one of those episodes that makes me cry every time i watch it. derek confronting carl buford, that scene - f u c k. that’s all i have to say. 

penelope 

i absolutely adore my girl penelope. her character-centric episodes are some of my absolute favorite in the show. and it’s more like, i see a lot of myself in her even if i don’t absolutely identify with her personality (i am not nearly as sunshiney, unfortunately). so for her, i have to go with the classic “penelope” (3x09) for one. first of all, i think that the way the team cares for her is so vital. she is the heart of the team. and this episode shows it. more than that, i think it also shows how important a role she plays when she’s fully functioning, and we get reminded of how much she so desperately cares for others. i rewatch this episode often. another one for her is “exit wounds” (5x21). once again showing how much she cares for others, and also a really good/great/awesome derek and penelope moment. i love how often we get reassured that the team wants her exactly how she is, and she doesn’t have to change to catch the bad guys, and the moment where she says she looked into that man’s eyes so he could see something brilliant and bright as he died? god. sticks with me. 

emily

now. i’m not gonna lie. i think while i simp for hotch, emily is the most interesting character in the canon besides derek. i think while there are some problems in terms of continuity in her storyline, i think her journey in season six is one of my absolutely favorites to rewatch. i love watching her manipulate doyle. do i think the show could’ve done more in terms of fallout? yes. do i care? not totally. it’s a procedural, i get it. i love emily prentiss (probably am in love with her). i think her introduction in “lessons learned” is expert. while “demonology” (4x17) isn’t my favorite episode overall (i felt a disconnect with the story they were trying to tell in terms of unsub), i think for emily it’s such a brilliant look into her psyche and the way she thinks about her past. and i think “lauren” (6x18) is awesome at making the audience really look, watching her grapple with the consequences of her actions, her breakdown when she hears garcia’s message and having to quickly put herself back together... yeah, i love it. another one? “minimal loss” (4x03). i LOVE minimal loss. not only because of the story and the unsub, because emily throwing herself verbally in front of spencer to protect him is one of the top tier moments in the show. her and spencer’s relationship... fuck, so good.

spencer

there is a reason that spencer reid sticks around through fifteen seasons and it is because he is the soul of show. no, i’m not kidding. i think there is a lot of development that happens with spencer and when his individual relationships are highlighted the show shines. i think when the show, well, showcases his ingenuity it thrives. one episode that i just rewatched that comes to mind is “derailed” (1x09). the intensity of the episode is highlighted by spencer’s moments of humor, humanity, and intelligence. i like “revelations” (2x15) for the same reason. we see his genius through the eyes of the team and we’re just as in awe of him as hotch and gideon are. (did he get the support he needed after that episode? no, and i’ll die mad about it.) also his relationship with his mother, i will cry about it at any moment of the day. i LOVE their relationship, i love the way they develop, i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fact that we see the both of them throughout the whole series. “the fisher king, part two” (2x01) and the growth moments between the both of them - like, god, rip my heart out kind of love. fuck, and don’t even get me started on HIS empathy. the way that he reaches out to so many people who are suffering through his ability to just... listen. he doesn’t overlook anyone. he can’t. he knows what it feels like. some examples i love “the uncanny valley” (5x12) and “coda” (6x16).

jj

jj. there’s a lot i could say about jj, but i will say this. i do think liaison jj is more interesting, inherently, than profiler jj, and i do think that her character is reduced as the series goes along. i honestly think she is more of an equal with the rest of the team when she is liaison and plays that role. i will say, though, that i think her own exhibition of empathy, namely through the way she is willing to take the brunt of communicating with victims and families, is brilliant throughout the show. she does so much and i wish we saw her do even more (also she is canonically one of the best shots on the team, and i LOVE that). my favorite episodes for her is “risky business” (5x13), because as someone who has lost a friend in the same way jj lost her sister, i really felt for her and i think this gave us so much insight into WHY she does what she does. and “the longest night” (6x01) because her speech impacts the unsub almost as much as it impacts me. there’s a reason hotch wants her to be the one on the radio waves, and she nails it because she’s competent and incredible and... yeah. i do love her.

[j-reau]

I was yelling at @memoryfaded about fandom’s interpretation of JJ (yes again) and i got in my feelings about JJ + her feelings, and more importantly JJ in love. 

We all know I hate that fandom only sees JJ as the “mom friend” because she’s a mother and because she mothers the fuck out of Reid. But the reality is that’s only ONE of her canon team dynamics. JJ sees what people need and she becomes it. She sees that Reid needs someone to guide him emotionally and care for him and mother him so she does that. She sees that Hotch needs a good soldier who stays tight lipped and follows orders so she does that. She sees that Penelope needs a friend so she does that. And Morgan needs a brother, a soldier in arms so she gives him that. And Emily needs an equal so she is her equal. It’s not calculated. I don’t think it’s fake or on purpose. I think it’s her instinct. I think it’s years of growing up in a small town, as an athlete, learning what people needed her to be. And years of growing up around grieving parents and wanting to be the daughter they needed after her sister’s death, and coming up in a career in the early 00′s in a male dominated field where she had to learn to be the kind of woman men wanted her to be (see season 1 JJ: bossy, mothering ‘hot’ flirty, tough but warm.)

JJ is a chameleon. Her feelings are real, her vulnerability is real, when she gets down to it. How much she loves her team is real, it’s true, it’s who she is. How much she loves her family is HUGE to her. I’m not negating any of that, but I am negating the idea that JJ is the warm loving mom friend simply because that’s the role she plays with Reid. 

In reality, JJ has a very very subtle, slow, satisfying progression from being the type of woman she needs to be in her field, to becoming a profilers, to learning to swallow things, to being what I think is probably a slightly more realistic version of her in later seasons; a good soldier who holds the line and does the work and helps her team, and is damaged and tough as a motherfucker. 

"But JJ, you said this was a post about JJ in love.” Yes I did. I am easily distracted. 

But think about JJ in relation to her relationship with Will. JJ who refused to tell her team for years that she and Will were secretly in a relationship. And when confronted about it, the reason she finally gives him is that she was afraid that if she told people it’d be real and when it’s real people get hurt. JJ spent YEARS being afraid her feelings were real? honey get a therapist. Your feelings are real. People will get hurt. You will get hurt. 

And then, in season 7? 8? After she and Will have been together for five years with a kid and still aren’t married she says to him -- and I quote -- “ask me again.” AGAIN. That suggests that Will has proposed to her before and she turned him down. Despite having a kid with him, despite them living together, despite spending what 5-7 years with this guy? Gee, wonder why she would have done that. Because JJ has a LOT of trouble confronting her own genuine feelings and opening up to them and telling other people and letting them in for real. And frankly, I think that’s part of why considering her the mom friend is a little bit off base because it takes her THAT MUCH to open up to her husband. Which leads me to believe that all that vulnerability she appears to share, with victims, with her friends, etc is SUPER measured. It’s on her terms, it’s when she needs to say it and she only lets it out because it’s what they need from her. If given the choice, Jennifer Jareau would keep everything back to protect her own heart. It makes her incredibly hard to get to open up. Not because she doesn’t love but because she does and she’s awful at admitting it. 

[blackpilledkremlintsarina5294]

Both Rossi and Gideon are unique in their own ways. They contributed differently to the team. I like both. I think it is because he was on the show for a short time like the way Elle was on shorter than Emily. I felt like Elle was prettier and had more charm than Emily though.

Idk why everyone paints Rossi out to be the perfect father figure and Gideon out to be a cold hearted bastard.

I mean, Jason knew JJs favourite football team, his obvious relationship with Spencer. He shares food with Derek, Aaron and Elle. Do I even need to mention the scene with Aaron when Vincent strangles him with a wire? How he's the only one to not jump onto the Aaron hate wagon when Reid is kidnapped. How he trusts Elles judgement, treats her like a daughter, Spencer like a son. I mean, Morgan literally shits on him every second during the first episode and yet Jason never gets angry at him or yells at him or anything. Also, the episode in which Hotch sends Garcia flowers off Jason and he's just like 'tf why?' Because he gets her something that will 1. Last longer and 2. She will use nearly everyday, and a lot more expensive than flowers.

And this is off the top of my head, there's probably more

Why do people write him out as such a monster just because he's cold? He aloof yeah, he isn't your typical friendly face. I mean yeah he left without saying goodbye but that man is a explosive ball of trauma. He isn't perfect but he isn't how half yall paint him out to be. He's definitely one of my favourites, idc what that says about me.

[carnalish]

[blackbird-brewster]

Blanket personal statement to address the fandom rumours/theories about Will in CME S18:

I would be livid if they kill off Will. I don't even like him as a character, but who I do love is Jennifer Jareau. And she has been through Enough fucking trauma. I do not want her to suffer that kind of loss again. She already survived losing her sister, plus a miscarriage. I do not want the boys to know that loss either.

Beyond that, from the meta standpoint it'd just be absolutely rubbish writing. This series has already seen the deaths of so many partners/spouses (Off the top of my head: Hayley, Krystall, Maeve, Strauss) of the BAU members. Do the writers just have ZERO other ideas??????

Regarding the inevitable rise of people who think killing Will would be a gateway to making Jemily canon, it will never be that. There's a massive difference in fanfic authors choosing to kill Will as a plot device (in this argument, to create a Jemily story) and the show canonically killing him.

These two things are not the same.

I have shipped Jemily for nearly 20 damn years now. And I don't believe it's possible to truly love a ship without first loving the individual characters. JJ losing her husband would cause irrevocable damage to her as a person/character and I love her far too much to wish that upon her.