#this is why Martinez is the one man I'd pick for Jane

[anthrofreshtodeath]

Yes- like who’s more romantic or are they the same. I’m curious because on the show they weren’t very romantic but they were very affectionate in various ways with each other and with James family

Ok, got it!

I think that they are both the same level of romantic in different ways.

I agree with you that they weren't portrayed as particularly romantic- the writers and actors tried with Jane, but she just ended up being a waste receptacle for Dean's and Casey's emotional abuse (hmm... I wonder what that says about conventional heterosexual relationships and patriarchy... don't get me started).

But, I would argue that they actually were both very romantic with one another. Here we go: for Jane, she is the classic protector/provider type. She opens doors for Maura, she touches Maura when they encounter crowded or dangerous situations, and she says grandiose things like "I don't know if I'd die for you, but I'd come damn close." In later seasons, sometimes Jane is mean (honestly think this is the product of trauma from AH's divorce/menty b more than an intentional pulling away or writing change), but she provides Maura with a kind of love Maura's never experienced before. She contemplates prison time for Maura (most I'd get is two years, Maura's lookin' at life), she spits at God for Maura (using the confessional and the priest to put God on notice - I will commit murder, I will defy you, for her. I'm premeditating a cardinal sin. Because Alice put her in danger). These things seem to contradict her entire personality, and are the most romantic things she ever did - she chose Maura over her badge and her religion (hot). So, she's not kissy-kissy, take you out to dinner and bring you flowers type of romantic, but she's extremely romantic in the way that counts. For Maura. I think that if she actually got with Maura she'd be affectionate in all those traditional ways, too.

Maura is the other side of that romance coin. She's the steady for Jane's storm, giving Jane a calm love she's never experienced before. Would you like some tea? When Jane's dad is sick, a soft, quiet, why are you talking like this? when Jane denigrates herself for being stuck on a case. She opens herself up and lets Jane fall in with just her words (and physically, too. Remember "you're my nutballs, you're my family?" She literally spreads her arms out wide). She kind of gets stuck in that using-money-to-buy-love stuff with Jane (offering to pay for her lawyer, the Ferrari experience, the couch), but I think the show actually (unintentionally) does a good job of tracing Maura's evolution here. Like when she races to the be the last person Jane sees before she gets in the ambulance after saving Tasha. Or like when she sits with Jane and holds her hand, telling her that the case can wait just a little longer while they spend some quality time - because she knows Jane craves it but will never ask, so she just gives it (hot). Maura's a very reserved person physically, but she's all over Jane (I'd argue because Jane is all over her and it feels so fucking good). Also when she calls Jane to tell her she's got her back? She's a fucking quick learner.

I think this all is what makes it so easy for me to write them as romantic partners - from these schemas you can extrapolate the way they'd physically be with one another (Jane falling into that "I'd be the guy" stereotype she clings to, plus her more dominant, masculine energy, but slowly allowing herself to be vulnerable; Maura open and pliant but ultimately in charge).

Hopefully this makes sense!