#jj meta

[tremorsmackenzie]

i really love the way noone even pretends that jessica has actual fight training. like, shes a woman who got experimented on and randomly gained superstrength, shes not a ninja like matt or an ex cop like luke. any fight scene, shes basically just winging it, she only really shines when shes up against people who are also just normal and not martial art gods.

its just fucking funny to see matt kick and punch and parry at lightning speed and jessica just jumps in from the sidelines and shoves someone

[jenny-from-the-bau]

Can I say that I don't think that JJ would be a good girlfriend to Emily? Lol I feel like Emily would need a lot of assurance that she is loved in order to actually believe it and I don't know that JJ would be able to give that.

Oh, JJ is an awful girlfriend hahaha like in canon, too. She doesn't have a lot of emotional bandwidth, and she's bad at showing how much she cares and wants to be in a situation. I think she'd just assume that Emily gets it because she said she wanted to be in a relationship, so she wants to and Emily should get that. I think it takes Emily having a bit of a melt down for JJ to realize that she needs more than a one-time confirmation. Most people need fairly consistent showings of affection, and Emily is a person. JJ is the one who is removed.

I honestly think JJ is on the Aro spectrum. She loves Will and wants to be with him, but she definitely sees him as like a Best Friend Plus.

I think she'd be the same with Emily. She loves Emily, likes being around her, likes sleeping with her, living with her, etc, but she just doesn't have that unconscious drive to be affectionate and loving and all of that. She's not a romantic! She appreciates quality time and likes being in a relationship because it means she has a reason to be around her best friend all the time, but she'd also be fine being single forever and just having a good friend group, you know?

[artist-issues]

I just NEED everyone to agree with me that Rey's parents are nobody. We should all agree about that. We should collectively, as an audience, say, "clearly the best idea was to have Kylo Ren be a dynastic heir to the major legends of the Force who wants to throw off his family's shadow, while his rival is nobody from nowhere who wants to belong--so we're going to stick with that."

And then, what should have happened is, Rey can finish her story by being able to say, "My parents might have abandoned me, but that doesn't mean I'm worthless." And eventually Kylo Ren can say, "My family might have been powerful, but I don't have to be," and all those other things that they can bounce off of each other as great foils.

It can keep being a good story about accepting past failures and choosing to grow beyond them.

Let's just all collectively ignore Rey Skypatine because of how silly that was. I mean. If they can just ignore the setups in the previous movie, we can ignore their choices in the conclusion. Right?? Right? Tell me I'm right

[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

[wistfulwatcher]

emily prentiss + leaving and coming back for her family

[waitmyturtles]

I LOVE 4 MINUTES.

I love it! GAAAAAHHH, I love it. While Be On Cloud’s KinnPorsche was so BL-referential, I just love this juicy Dr. Sammon-mystery genre that takes us out of trope-land. Queer murder mysteries, my beloved.

I have no theories, per se, about where I think this show is going, but I am going to jot down some observations for my own posterity and memory. After reading some theories on Twitter (including one that Dr. Sammon herself retweeted), I went back and fast-forwarded through all the episodes so far, so here are my notes (and these VERY WELL may have been repeated in the tag, so I apologize if I’m just pooping what we’re already assuming here).

1) This Twitter account noted that Tonkla saw his cat in episode 1, after what-we-assume-to-be present-day boing with Korn. Tonkla sees this AFTER Korn rushed off after getting off the phone. After this week’s episode, we seem to be informed that said cat had died in the past.

We also know that Tonkla has a habit of lighting up after sex and during times of duress.

There might be more than just tobacco in those cigarettes he’s lighting up, I’m not sure, but we also know he hits the shabu, pipe-wise.

Besides Great being in what I assume to be, and what I call, a fever-state, or better phrased, a cardiac episode, I am assuming that Tonkla is transcending his own lines of reality through drug use.

1a) [(A quick aside: I just wanna say that I will be VERY. CURIOUS. as to how Tonkla’s drug use is positioned alongside his predilections for unprotected sex, and if I think there will be public health commentary in this. Drug use is, of course, generally not recommended by medical professionals, and at the same time, it’s a culturally important element of many facets of queer culture that many physicians who work with LGBTQ+ patients are trained to be aware of; for example, using poppers to ease the process of preparing for intercourse. I don’t know if the show means to indicate that Tonkla, vis à vis being on PrEP and meth at the same time, is an automatically unsafe person…but he also might be a murderer… so yeah, I will be curious about this underlying public health messaging.)]

1b) (Speaking of public health, yo, we needed those Durex bottles in episode 4, YOWCH.) (😬) (ANYWAY.)

2) So, speaking of Great and Tonkla living in their own realities, I also want to posit that Tyme has created his own sense of delirium by literally not sleeping.

Homeboy is on his shifts, he’s working out, he’s solving mysteries, he’s kicking literal ass, he’s investigating and courting Great, he’s following Korn. He’s doing a lot! We haven’t caught him sleeping yet, again, literally.

I wonder if this may be Dr. Sammon commenting on the culture of insanely long shifts for doctors, which impacts their mental and physical well-being. We’ve also separately learned that Tyme is driven by revenge, and by a need to support his grandma and save Nan. But how can he do all of that, if he’s physically depriving himself of the ability to rest? I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere, but I do notice the camera work, whenever Tyme is scrubbing out of a shift, re-centering from a tilt, which makes me wonder about what these shots are telling us about his mental state (and we saw comparable camera work when Tonkla thought he saw Dome).

(I’m also not forgetting that the show shows him stabbed at the very start of the series, and I’m constantly wondering about that.)

3) Finally, I want to offer that Korn, Great, and Tyme are not out. At least for Great and Tyme, does that contribute to a delirium mindset (and maybe even Korn, too) by way of the stress of holding in secrets? (Please note that this linked article is from 2004 and does not have fully updated terminology.)

I don’t know if this theory holds for Great, because a popular theory for him at the start of the series was that he may not have realized he was gay until he met Tyme. I don’t know that I saw that in my very-fast rewatch except for his surprised looks during the stitches moment in the hospital. Great’s comfort with Tyme in the car after the claw machines makes me think he knew more about his sexuality, and his physical separation from his family at the dinner table in episode 1 also makes me wonder if he realized his preferences were always going to separate him from his nuclear family. I’m not sure, but I’m chewing on this.

4) So, where I’m gonna go entering into episode 5 is that there isn’t a centered or accurate “present day” for anyone….mayyyybe except for Korn, who is certainly living his own fever dream of being stuck in a reeeeeeally bad job, but maybe isn’t being subjected to mental delirious psychoses (just, you know, the general stress of hating your work thoroughly). But I could be wrong there, too, because we know that Korn is driven by greed, filial piety, and a desire to take over the family business. So maybe that’s creating a delirium of his own, one that takes him away from his boyfriend for weeks at a time.

4a) (By the way, isn’t it interesting that we are not seeing NC scenes with Korn and Fasai? I know, I know, Be On Cloud does queer/BL content, but. I think it’d be interesting if the show ran the gamut of intimacy. Just a thought.)

Anyway! This show is so good, it’s making me babble. I absolutely love it, and it is the comeback that Bible Wichapas deserves.

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Why does JJ freak out in the Grand Prix Final?

(I never thought I'd write a JJ meta, but here we are)

JJ has competed in the Grand Prix Final before. One season ago, he finished in third place, right behind Viktor and Chris. The pressure of competing against only five other skaters in the final round of what has the vibe of a deathmatch, is not new to him.

There's a huge difference to last time, though.

For many seasons, Viktor has dominated the men's field. In Sochi, he won his fifth GPF gold medal. No skater could get past him and this was a well-known fact among male top skaters. It's a bit akin to what the current situation with Ilia Malinin will likely develop into, although comparing him to Viktor is a capital crime. Skaters are starting to accept that this one skater scores so high that they can't surpass him wihout breaking their bodies. In YOI, Viktor has cemented his reign with a sublime combination of technical skill and artistry and every top male skater had to face this reality.

And now he's gone off to coaching.

Suddenly, the field is wide open. Everyone's motivation suddenly spikes up. Everyone wants to be the one who claims Viktor's title. Most of all Yurio, Chris, Yuuri. And JJ.

JJ sees himself as king and the rightful heir to Viktor's throne (watch his monologue in episode 9 and roll your eyes). Of all the skaters, he's the one with the least respect for Viktor, not that he respects the other skaters, and his ego is bigger than all the egos of his rivals combined. And this defines his mindset.

In addition to that, JJ is the only skater who won both qualifying events and thus goes into the final as the top contender for the title. Suddenly, dethroning Viktor has turned from a wet dream into a real and likely possibility. Add his own expectations to the expectations of fans and press and you get crushing pressure. Not even JJ is immune to pressure (I suspect that he covers up his own insecurity with arrogance).

There's another aspect that could affect JJ, but it's based on speculation:

Considering JJ's age, he can't have competed at the GPF too often. Depending on at which age he had his senior debut (not every skater pushed into seniors at the tender age of 15 before the ISU raised the age limit) and his development (growth spurts, skating skills etc.), he competed at the GPF between one and four times before Barcelona.

My personal guess is that Sochi was JJ's first GPF, but my only clue that supports this theory is Viktor struggling with his memory when he introduces the finalists in episode 10. Maybe JJ just isn't that memorable to him. But if my guess is right, JJ likely approached his first GPF with innocent fearlessness. JJ totally is the type who would do that. It's JJ style. However, when he qualified again, he already knows how tough the GPF is and that makes him vulnerable and prone to lose his nerve, especially since he is going into the event as the favourite and he wants Viktor's throne for himself. Ironincally, that's JJ style, too.

The Grand Prix Final is a tough competition. It's tougher than Worlds or the Olympics. The fact that only six skaters per discipline can qualify for the final raises the stakes. Unlike at the end of a big event with six groups or more, the judges have a very keen eye on every skater. That's often reflected in stricter scores and mistakes being punished harder, especially when the skaters are equal in skill. It's nerve-wrecking to watch and I imagine it to be more nerve-wrecking than any other competition for the skaters as well.

[whatdoyoumeanitsnotawesome]

Frankie’s story this series does a couple interesting things. again we get an Hey! Vous Autre segment where his exes spill the tea, again he’s distracted from the games, he’s no longer scoring, and he’s not around when the team isn’t playing. in s2 when Fish stopped scoring, Sanger issued the ultimatum, ‘score us a goal or you’re cut’, and it wasn’t a threat. granted, Shoresy isn’t scoring either, but it’s repeatedly pointed out that he finds other ways to contribute, which Frankie isn’t doing. he’s not skating, hitting, or fighting, he’s just floating. and we know what Shoresy and Nat think about floaters, about players who don’t hate to lose.

in @undeadasdisco’s post from 28 October 2023, they argue that “the scene where jj’s exes collectively shit on his diet and weight is not supposed to be something you agree with or like. you are supposed to come out of that scene hating the way jj is being treated.” at the time, this seemed completely correct. in light of the follow-up scene in s3, though, it now appears that it’s a set-up to establish that Frankie is a chronic floater in all aspects of his life. just like in his hockey career, he’s simply not putting any effort into his love life.

all these women are interested in him, for whatever reason, and the moment he feels like he ‘has’ them, he consistently takes their affection for granted, he behaves as a slob, he doesn’t take any care of himself, and he messes them around emotionally and cheats on them. every. time. Laurence even gave him a second chance, and he immediately squandered it by trying to get her to agree to a threesome, i. e., allowing him to sleep with someone else.

this consistent demonstration that Frankie doesn’t care about anyone but himself is the exact opposite of the ideal hockey player that Nat and Shoresy hold dear, and the opposite of their organisation’s core philosophy: by the community, for the community. Shoresy is a hockey player, so despite not wanting to, he spends his time and effort to give back to the community. Frankie is nowhere to be found during the salmon arms or the webisode. Shoresy sacrifices his body, takes injury after injury, protecting his fellow players on the ice. Frankie never once makes the same sacrifice and only scores one goal the entire tournament.

last series it appeared that Shoresy and Hitch were one end of a spectrum, wanting adult relationships and stability, with Goody and Dolo on the other end, chasin’ skirt and never looking back, and Frankie in the middle, taking his first steps from being more like the younger guys to being more like the more mature guys. this series we see that’s not the dichotomy we’ve been shown at all; rather, it’s the ideal hockey player, an acolyte of the sport, as embodied by Waffle, versus the poseur, the hockey ‘lifestyle’ guy, as embodied by Frankie.

[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

[live-from-flaturn]

My DFF Theory:

Phee and Tan are in it together, and they are fucking with legitimately supernatural forces.

Deets under the cut:

Phee is obviously guilty over saying what he did to Non after catching him seeking comfort in the arms of a literal groomer. And we don't yet know if they spoke again after that or before whatever tragic roofie bullshit is about to happen to Non. That being said, Tan is also new to the group. He "joined them later" just like Phee, after Non had already disappeared, but has no romantic attachments (unlike White).

Personally, I think Tan may be Non's mysterious older brother, New (not all older siblings have to be taller than you, as the shortest and oldest kid in my family).

Especially since he has zero qualms asking about Non despite how squirmy and uncomfortable the others get.

He's also in close proximity with Phee during most larger group shots.

At first I thought they might've been rotating who was under the Janta mask/taking turns harassing the group at large or doing their spooky window peeping. But after the bathroom incidents with White and Top, and the rate at which Janta appears/disappears in the woods, I think they may have actually sacrificed Keng in exchange for supernatural help.

I'm not going to go on a tangent about how "Phi" is also the casual term for 'ghost' in Thai folklore, but it's a detail to keep in mind.

Mophi folk priests are also said to work "using trances, sacred objects imbued with supernatural power (or saksit), possessions, and rituals". What's the best way to get your group's most annoying and shitty guy to dress up as the killer and take Por out for good? Or to convince someone that a nearly-dead guy just jumped off the couch and tried to kill them? Trances, baybee!

(the Janta costume and setting may also be soft references to Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Remember His Past Lives" but I can't say for certain since it's just a passing similarity)

Now you may be asking, "Well what about Phee and Jin?! Phee protects him in the faux-cemetery even though he's a certified weenie nibbler!" Or even, "Hey! Tan and Tee are in the woods together when they see the monster and both of them are scared!"

And my answer is: No duh! You don't want to give away the act by not freaking out when you see the creepy masked figure in the woods. And you certainly don't want to be the only guy who hasn't been harassed. Those would be the two biggest red flags!

Plus, how else are you going to make sure that the guy who posted revenge porn of your boo being groomed on Twitter gets what he deserves? Being at his side and offering comfort only to rip it away at the last second??? Priceless. And well fucking deserved imho.

So yeah, that's my theory so far. Thoughts?

[personinthepalace]

Odd Squad agents in Tiny Time Travel and Dino Dana -> thanks to @serendertothesquad for the heads up!

[tremorsmackenzie]

currently rewatching jessica jones and fucking hell, the parallels to daisy and also yelena. again, how are there no fics about these characters interacting. i know ive said it already, but i dont care. daisy after hive and jessica after killing kilgrave are during the same time period. it lines up. omfg.

[jenny-from-the-bau]

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.

[the-bensolos]

No no no I can’t stop thinking about how JJ is a very stubborn person, a very dig your heels in deep person, like yeah I did that thing on to the next thing kind of person, but he’s not for kiara, for her he is accountable. He’s made a lot of dumb choices and he rarely ever apologizes for them he knows what he does, knows what he is. But he knows he can’t do that with Kie, he wants to be better with her. So he does, he goes to her hat in hand and says the hard thing, does the hard thing and she know him so well, knows what exactly that mean for him. Oh that’s love baby. That’s love.

[cuppajj]

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[resurgentclass-stardestroyer]

There's just so many little 'why...'s in TLJ... They brought the last bombers the Resistance had to the fight over D'Qar, but actually they didn't plan on using them, they were just meant to distract the FO from the Resistance's base evacuation. They were meant to turn around and leave as soon as the evacuation was complete. But Poe goes through the trouble of clearing all of those surface cannons. To make way for the bombers that aren't supposed to be used. Was there no better distraction they could think of? They lose every single bomber and quite a few pilots for this mess.

AND, ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS — the giant fuck-you cannons on the Dreadnought could completely bypass the bombers. All of the distractions in the world would not have mattered at all if Canady had been just a little quicker on targeting the Resistance flagship. The only reason the evacuation was successful at all is that the Dreadnought took a little too long to charge and fire on the base. The bombers had nothing to do with it. A+ plan???