Her character is one of the reasons I got so into Criminal Minds! In a lesser show, she’d have been the dumb, blonde secretary and her role would be played by a stereotypical nerdy guy! As a short, curvy blonde who is very empathetic, I was so happy to see her on screen!
I am in love with Penelope Garcia. Obviously.
As a plus size woman, i love having plus size representation in the media. It’s really hard to find.
Most of the time, if there’s a plus size character at all, their only character trait is that they’re big. They’re always pictured eating and talking about how much they love eating.
I love Penelope Garcia because I want representation.
Because Hollywood is unfair to people who wear anything bigger than a size 2.
Because Penelope has a successful career.
Because Penelope built healthy relationships, platonic and romantic.
Because Penelope wasn’t held back by being big.
Because Penelope isn’t just fat.
She’s a person.
Because Penelope is beautiful and funny and sweet and has amazing characterization!!
Bless the Criminal Minds writers and casting agents, and bless Kirsten Vangsness for the amazing character that she embodied and gave to people like me to look up to.
Aww, the good luck/semi-goodbye party for Sonny was perfect. He definitely deserved it and was happy to be surrounded by his work family ( he seems to be universally adored, with good reason).
He’s unsurprisingly doing a great job as ADA, and he always goes above and beyond for the victims. I loved that he contacted his former law professor. He really does keep in touch with everyone and gets on with 99% of people. His righteous anger at injustice/stupid laws is really touching, he’s so morally upstanding and it makes me love him more.
He still seems to be a cop in some episodes, so maybe the episodes are yet again out of order on the site I am watching them on?
Wish he had more time with Amanda outside of work. Those two are my favourite pairing and I am dying for them to get together.
The new DA, Hadid, is great, and the new recruit, Kat, seems to be proving her worth/doing a good job. The new unit boss seems like a decent guy too, and it is interesting to have so many female characters in the precinct at once. Fin is officially outnumbered.
SVU is still recycling its guest stars, with Zach Gilford playing a douchebag again, but this time as a grown man, not a teen like he was in Contagious ( Season 6, a favourite episode of mine).
Loved Amanda having Billie christened and choosing Olivia and Carisi as godparents for her. I think Carisi is guideparent to Noah too, alongside Barba and Amanda, unless I am mistaken? Olivia had a Unitarian blessing ceremony for Noah a few years ago, Carisi was definitely there.
His story to the religious judge about his mum getting pregnant and having an abortion in her 40’s was very moving, but I wish we know how old he was at the time. Did his mum tell his dad she’d miscarried?
Arrghh to people letting Olivia in/her giving them a chance and then they leave or die! I was particularly upset when Stone left, I thought he would have been a great match for Olivia, they had a lot of chemistry and similar values.
The episodes are interesting. It’s good to have minorities represented and not judged as they were in earlier seasons.
Also the jump in tech is incredible. Even going from Season 12 to 16, the computers/phones/devices the team uses are so much more developed than the slightly older episodes.
Is there a specific episode/moment that made you fall in love with Carisi?
I loved how good with the kids he was with the ultra-Christian vlogging family, how he didn’t judge his sister for considering an abortion when her partner was in and out of her life, how respectful he was of everyone when he joined the team ( always using their rank, taking on board their constructive criticism/feedback and letting them take the lead, while also managing to get himself opportunities to try to do things without help, volunteering for the boring/tedious jobs, making sure everyone on the team was included in social events and inviting people who were having a hard/sad/bad time to join him or others for socialising/food). How he cares for Amanda throughout her pregnancy with Jesse and once she has given birth… So lots of little things from the start ( he arrives with zeppole, which was a nice touch for a guy who shows his affection for those he loves by providing foid for them) that all added up over time. Also Liv asking him to be Noah’s guideparent after only knowing him a year or so says a lot about his character. If Liv or Fin think the person is a good one/innocent, they are usually right, so that also helped consolidate my feelings for him. He’s just a kind, funny, hard-working family man who talks about his feelings and dreams.
Evidently, losing the god awful moustache helped a lot too!
I am currently re-watching Season 4 and have got to the start of the Riley Jenkins episodes.
I am struck by Diana’s repeated assertion of “ You were in danger. A mother knows” and how it could relate to William Reid potentially sexually abusing Spencer, which has been discussed here in quite a lot of detail. He comes in, sits on Spencer’s bed and Spencer pretends to be asleep, plus some other details I cannot recall make it seem “off” , coupled with Spencer having completely blocked out his childhood and perhaps now, subconsciously pinning the blame on the male he is genetically related to for Riley Jenkins is his way of dealing with it. The fact that William just leaves and that Diana, in her lucid moments, never thinks to have Spencer spend time with him just makes me suspect that perhaps she thought William could be molesting Spencer.
hotchner or prentiss? Reid or Morgan? season 3 or season 6? garcia or jj? cruz or strauss? dad bod hotch or athletic hotch? season 1 reid or season 15 reid? profiler prentiss or unit chief prentiss? megan kane or the reaper? haleyor beth? profiler jj or liaison jj? jack or henry? sean hotchner or aaron hotchner? jotch or jemily ( neither)? Tara or Kate? matt or luke? domestic aaron or unit chief aaron? reid’s long hair or reid’s short hair? Gideon or Rossi? Suit Hotch or quarterzip Hotch?
Thank you for tagging me @eldrai <3
hotchner or prentiss? reid or morgan? season 3 or season 6? garcia or jj? cruz or strauss? dad bod hotch or athletic hotch? season 1 reid or season 15 reid? profiler prentiss or unit chief prentiss? megan kane or the reaper? haley or beth? profiler jj or liaison jj? jack or henry? sean hotchner or aaron hotchner? jotch or jemily? tara or kate? matt or luke? domestic aaron or unit chief aaron? reid’s long hair or reid’s short hair? gideon or rossi? suit hotch or quarterzip hotch?
No pressure tags: @masterwords @olivinesea @louisaland @hotchner-clemmons @hotchgan
And, when you do eat, make sure you have food with a bit of salt content, as if you’re drinking lots of water, and therefore urinating more, you’re losing salt and other minerals. I had sushi for lunch, it was so good!
It is nearly 40C here today, it’s hideous!
🐨 Yo! Saw there’s a heatwave coming at you—it’s been in the 90s (F) here in my part of the US lately, so I sympathize. Luckily, as someone who bikes and treks through the heat with small children on a regular basis, I’m an expert in avoiding heat exhaustion!
1) Windows and fans are the best. The last thing you want is stagnant air. Some circulation is always good.
2) Water! You should be drinking more water than usual. Ideally, you want to drink before you actively feel thirsty. You’ll be sweating most likely, so your body will become dehydrated quicker. Better to pee a lot than pass out!
3) Make sure you’re eating. Sometimes heat can mess with your appetite, but you need to fuel your body since you’ll already have less energy than usual thanks to the heat.
4) Don’t be a hero. Maybe you CAN work out/go outside/other strenuous activity, but that doesn’t mean you have to. My mom is driving me to work on the worst days of the week for this reason. A chill day won’t hurt you, but heat stroke will.
5) Feel free to treat yourself. I like iced coffee or ice cream. It’s cold, and lifts spirits!
Hang in there!
I converted it to C and we're pretty much at the same temperature then... good luck to you, especially since you're working- I got lucky and one volunteering position is closed and the other should be when it's cooled down a little hopefully
These are very helpful and good tips, thank you so much!
If you're like me and suck at drinking water: put a straw in the glass. I don't know what it is about having a straw in my cup, but I've already drunk more water than I would in a day.
The food thing is so important as well. I know eating isn't always easy or fun, but you deserve food. Now and always. It isn't something you have to earn, it's simply something that you should have because you are a person and you need it. Eating something is better than not eating anything and there is no such thing as bad food.
A CHILL DAY WON'T HURT YOU, BUT HEAT STROKE WILL!
Please, just because it's hot does not mean you need to go sunbathing or to the beach. There will hopefully be other days where there isn't a threat to life but are still warm enough for all of these trips.
Funny story: my window of tolerance for lactose has increased e.g. I was able to eat some pizza and chocolate without feeling unwell, but it would appear that ice cream is still very much off the table... it was not good...
Iced coffee is good though! We have syrups so I may have some :)
You're the best, good luck with the heat and the children! We're in this together so if they share any other tips on the news/the internet I'll let you know (even though you'll probably know all of them since you're better acquainted with the heat lol)
Hotch and Garcia’s friendship is so underrated. They appreciate and understand one another so well.
He makes sure she understands that he, under no circumstances, would ever want her to change. He’s aware of her cutting edges and hacking into places she shouldn’t and takes up for her every time she gets in trouble for it. When she gets shot, he doesn’t stay the hospital like the others, he’s out there busting his ass to find out who hurt her.
She understands he’s a little more guarded than the others and doesn’t appreciate the full brunt of her humor but they both give and take. She keeps track of his birthday and while she takes the time to remember it, she also doesn’t bring it up in front of the team. Knowing he wouldn’t like that kind of attention. She stays with him after his surgery. She makes him cookies when he’s hurt and keeps a level head during the bombing so that he can’t get proper help.
It’s easy to recognize that Reid is baby and Hotch let’s him get away with everything but Garcia is very much baby as well. How many times has he had to pull her out of whatever trouble she’s wiggled her way into? Then reassure her that he’s neither mad nor disappointed.
Hotch and Garcia are underrated characters so we miss so much of the subtle brilliance between them.
I too have started rewatching Downton Abbey, as it appeared in my Netflix suggestions/new in.
Love the Dowager Countess and Cousin Isobel and their jibes at eachother. She must be the only one who can counter the Dowager’s snippy remarks, with absolute class. She’s also very kind, seeing to Moseley’s hands, looking after Sybil when she is injured and supporting the social reforms quietly.
Also, I obviously have a thing for quiet, stoic, dark-haired men who have a temper but fundamentally good people. When Bates smiles, it reminds me so much of Hotch!
Mary and Edith are dreadful to eachother, the writers must all have been only children as what they do is something I would never even consider doing to my siblings! Daisy’s crush on Thomas is so heart-breaking. I have been there, except the guy I liked was not only gay but taken! O’Brian and Thomas are truly awful people, why on earth are they so horrible to Bates and just generally scheming scumbags?
Sybil is gorgeous, I love her blue harem trouser ensemble and Branson seeing her and smiling! She’s so kind to Gwen too, so encouraging and positive.
Throughout Season 1 and 2, I love that we see Bernie and Elliot going to feed the ducks independently of each other.
I think Elliot says he grew up in this area, when he goes to dig out the bullets he shot into a tree when his dad was teaching him how to use a gun, so it would be somewhere he went fairly regularly as a child with Bernie, which is confirmed by what Bernie says when she thinks the young child feeding the ducks near her is Elliot. I guess it was her way of protecting Elliot and herself from Joe’s alcoholic rages and violence.
Once again, the casting director/team did a great job finding a kid who realistically looked like young Elliot, both for that scene and for the home videos at the end of the Season 2 ep. The actors for young Joe and Bernie were perfect too.
While I think it is good that Elliot had some good memories of his father, we know that the smallest thing could send him into a violent rage as in S7, Elliot says he moved a tree on the diorama they had worked on together and Joe threw it on the floor and stomped on it until it was destroyed, then beat Elliot for crying about it ( and probably beat him again for getting an F). The scenes we see of them together in the home videos made me think of how Elliot interacted with his kids when they were little as well as when they were older, but Elliot is consistent in always doing that.
I like to think Elliot took his kids to feed the ducks, maybe even going to the same place he went.
Eli’s decision to join the police force I think must have been sparked by the brand new officer who helps him when he runs away and is going to jump off the bridge, as Eli grew up with Elliot no longer in SVU, just doing security and less dangerous police work. I’m sure he heard about what Elliot did from his siblings and maybe Elliot himself, and, like most little boys, I’m sure he thought it was super cool that his daddy was a detective. So maybe he was thinking about it then the interaction with the police officer really solidified that idea in his mind.
I also really like how Eli is super protective of his family, just like Elliot is. He’s also just as stubborn as his father and 3 out of 4 of his siblings. He also internalises his feelings until they come out as anger and has trouble asking for help, just like his dad.
Eli wanting to jump off the bridge made me think of Dickie wanting to join the Marines in Turmoil, S 11, as they both seem to think it will be easier if they go away and stop disappointing their dad.
Aw Becky, maybe the saviour of the episode.
Not that it's a bad episode and it needed saving but this conversation *finally* happening.
I like how Becky says Elliot looks well rested after what had happened and he just makes a non-commital 'mm' noise. I think this man can survive on miminal sleep by this point.
Her little pat on the bed to make his sit down beside her. It's adorable. And it shows a sweet side to Becky who has had so little to do so far.
Becky letting Elliot into some secrets between her and Eli, things that he's not been able to speak to his Dad about. His obligation to become a cop. Her telling Elliot he really loves him and he doesn't want to disappoint him.
Admitting to him how scared she is and Elliot telling her to breath, a nice callback to when Bernie talked about her fear of being a cops wife in episode 2. How El just hugs her to reassure her.
The release from confessing all of this to him.
Becky confiding in Elliot.
39, she/her, New Year’s Day baby. Voracious reader, passionate about the arts and culture, a foodie. Modern Languages graduate. A true Hufflepuff.
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