#cm reference

Tara proposes to Rebecca in front of her 'family'

Criminal Minds Evolution S18 - Full Trailer

✨Celebrating #MultiamoryMarch with Fooled Around (and Fell in Love)✨

Thank you to @polyamships for all you do to promote polyam in fanworks. As part of #MultiamoryMarch I wanted to hype my ongoing Criminal Minds fanfic series. Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) is a queer rom-com AU exploring queer identities and relationships.

This series focuses largely on the relationships between Tara Lewis, Emily Prentiss, and Jennifer Jareau, but it also delves into all types of relationships (platonic, romantic, and polyam) between the ensemble of other Criminal Minds characters.

Primed For Your Love: Prelude

Rated: Teen || WC: 15,800 Ships: Jennifer Jareau/Will LaMontagne, Tara Lewis/Doug Fuller, Emily Prentiss/Linda Barnes

Set before Part 1 of the series, 'Primed for Your Love' focuses on the defining moments in Will, JJ, Tara, and Emily's lives that led them to where they are at the start of Part 1.

Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) - Part 1

Rated: Mature || WC: 80,800 Ships: Jennifer Jareau /Will LaMontange, Jennifer Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Tara Lewis/Emily Prentiss

Jennifer Jareau had the perfect life. She worked in an elite sector of the FBI known as the behavioural analysis unit. She had just married the love of her life, Will LaMontagne. She had everything she could have ever dreamed of—

Or so she thought. JJ’s personal trainer, Emily Prentiss, managed to upturn everything JJ had thought she wanted.

So what will JJ do about it?

Ready For Your Love: First Interlude

Rated: Teen || WC: 25,000 Ships: Derek Morgan/Luke Alvez, Luke Alvez/Spencer Reid

Set between Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) Part 1 and Part 2, the first interlude of the series features all of your favourite Fooled Around characters from a new point of view. Largely focusing on Spencer, Luke, Derek and Penelope, 'Ready for Your Love' tells the story of how Derek came to realise two very important facts:

1. He has a massive crush on Luke. 2. Perhaps, he isn't as straight as he originally thought.

Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) - Part 2

Rated: Explicit || WC: 88,000 Ships: Emily Prentiss/Tara Lewis, Jennifer Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau/Tara Lewis, OT3: Je T'Emily (JJ/Emily/Tara)

It's been nine months since Emily Prentiss began dating both Tara Lewis and Jennifer Jareau.

Tara and JJ work together and have always been friends, but now they also share a girlfriend. The three of them have become incredibly tight knit but JJ and Tara realise their friendship has been shifting towards something...more.

There are plenty of reasons why they shouldn't journey into this new territory but the heart wants what the heart wants.

[Untitled Second Interlude] COMING SOON!

The second interlude will bridge the gap between Part 2 and Part 3 and include backstories of Beck Wilson and Elle Greenaway.

Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) - Part 3

Rated: Explicit || WC: 219,000 Ships: OT3: Je T'Emily (Jennifer Jareau/Emily Prentiss/Tara Lewis), Tara Lewis/Rebecca Wilson

When JJ/Tara/Emily decide to buy a house together, Tara volunteers to renovate it into their perfect dream home. In order to follow through on her promise, Tara enlists the help of a general contractor, Beck Wilson -- but Beck's construction skills aren't the only thing that garners Tara's attention.

JJ, Tara, and Emily, must find a way to navigate all of the changes in their lives while keeping their relationship afloat. Will unexpected feelings, secrets, and jealousy threaten the foundation of everything they've worked hard to build?

[EXTRAS]

A collection of add-ons for Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) including: art, playlists, author's commentary, screenplay mock-ups, character bios, and more

All art for Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) was done by the incredible @artcake

This is all based on what we know from canon. To establish ages of characters who don't have a canon birth date, I used info in canon and worked backwards to form an educated guess. If anyone sees errors here, let me know so I can update.

Emily Prentiss (born 1970): 55 years old

*Paget Brewster (born 1969) : 56 years old

- CANON. Emily was born in 1970, confirmed in canon on her headstone in 06x18 'Lauren'

Jennifer Jareau (born 1977) : 48 years old

*AJ Cook (born 1978) : 47 years old

- CANON. In S1 (2005) JJ is 28 years old. I can't remember if this was said on screen, but it was confirmed by showrunners in interviews.

Penelope Garcia (born 1980): 45 years old

*Kirsten Vangness (born 1972): 52 years old

- CANON. (Updated thanks to @swpf) In 13x20 'All You Can Eat' (2018), Garcia goes to the trial of the man responsible for her parents death. It is established he's been in prison for 20 years, and we know she was 18 when her parents died. (We all know Garcia's backstory is a messssss, but this is the best estimate)

Tara Lewis (born 1973): 52 years old

*Aisha Tyler (born 1970): 54 years old

- ESTIMATED. We don't know that much about Tara, but again, working backwards from what we do know, I put her at about 52 years old. I'm hoping 18x08 'Tara' will actually give us more of her backstory without destroying us completely

Rebecca Wilson (born 1970-1975): 50 years old

*Nicole Pacent (born 1985) : 40

- ESTIMATED. While Nicole is only 40 irl, Rebecca is MUCH OLDER. In S16 Rebecca has a line about being 'one step away from becoming Associate Attorney General' - based on the required years of experience she would need to achieve this, her youngest possible age is 50.

In Conclusion:

All of these women are middle aged! They're all in the peri-menopausal or menopausal age range. And with the shit they've been through, you KNOW they have The Joint Pains™.

18x05 Emily says the reason she and Andrew broke up was because he kept pushing for a threesome with another woman.

Fic Quoted: Between You and Me (2023)

18x05 JJ tells Emily "You told me to prioritise myself, so I am. I need to be here. I need it."

Fic Quoted: Between You and Me (2023)

18x05: Dr. Ocha calls JJ and the rest of the BAU 'The most' emotionally constipated' group of experts she's ever worked with.

Fic Quoted: Let Her Go (2024)

18x03 Rebecca warns Tara not to make short jokes about her.

Fic Quoted: Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) - Part 3 (2023)

18x02 Tara tells Rebecca the rush of endorphins they're feeling will wear off once they're out of the honeymoon phase of their relationship

Fic Quoted: Love They Say (2023) [See Also]

^ THIS is a tragedy!!! There are only 44 works on AO3 tagged Tebecca and once you filter out fics where they're only background -- there are merely 28 TOTAL fics of the ONE CANONICALLY QUEER SHIP in 20 years of Criminal Minds (And I happen to be 18 of those 😩)

But Jemily?!?!!? 3100+ fics. (Note: There are actually a total of 3600 fics tagged Jemily. The above was using the F/F filter.)

I know JJ/Emily have been on screen together for nearly 20 years now. So naturally, they're going to have more fics! BUT, prior to the CM renaissance in 2020, Jemily had a total of 600 fics on AO3. In a mere FIVE years, that total has grown by 600%

To make things more even, let's just look at new Jemily fics since CME S16 aired in November 2022 (when Tara/Rebecca became canon)....

1700+ Jemily fics vs Tebecca's 28

No matter how much we love Jemily, it's not canon. Neither Emily, nor JJ are canonically queer.

Fans begged and pleaded for YEARS to have a canonically queer MC on this show. And not only did we FINALLY get that with Tara, but we also got her on-screen girlfriend (who has become more of a MC too) -- and yet, very few people seem to care about either of these groundbreaking things.

I am NOT saying you can't ship other characters. (I will always be Jemily trash too) What I'm saying is, the showrunners are watching. The people running the Criminal Minds official social media accounts ARE WATCHING.

When we, as fans, do not celebrate and uplift our Canon Queer characters (especially our POC queer characters), the Powers That Be take notice. They ALREADY have. I mean, why do you think the CM socials never post about Tebecca, while actively posting queerbaiting Jemily stuff?!

@bau-babygirl requested: Fics featuring Emily as a mom [X]

JJ/Emily + Kids

[Find all of these and more fluff in my Domestic Jemily collection on AO3]

Mother's Day by w00t4ewan (me) Rated: G || WC: 715 Summary: Henry helps Emily surprise JJ on Mother's Day

Dreams Do Come True by w00t4ewan Rated: G || WC: 2000 Summary: Emily and JJ take Henry to Disneyworld on their first family vacation.

Breakfast by w00t4ewan Rated: G || WC: 840 Summary: Emily tries to let JJ sleep in and winds up with her hands full of a certain toddler.

Love is an Open Door by w00t4ewan Rated: G || WC: 1010 Summary: Emily and Henry work together to plan an unforgettable evening for JJ.

Jemily Ficlet Archives by w00t4ewan Rated: M || WC: 31,000+ Summary: An unrelated collection of Jemily ficlets and headcanons which were originally posted on my tumblr and up until now hadn't been shared on AO3.

Sand by @otahkoapisiakii (Phoenix_Falls) Rated: G || WC: 2630 Summary: JJ and Emily incorporate Henry in their wedding ceremony

Steps by Phoenix_Falls Rated: G || WC: 4670 Summary: Modified prompt from tumblr: "you asked me to the store with you and your child, and now my distant relative we met thinks im married with a baby"

Darwin by Phoenix_Falls Rated: G || WC: 831 Summary: Henry has an odd nickname. Likely takes place in the same verse as Steps, but 11 years later Mittens and Hats by @velutluna Rated: G || WC: 1944 Summary: JJ and Emily take their sons for a walk in a winter wonderland.

Perfect by velutuna Rated: G || WC: 660 Summary: A perfect evening at the home of the Prentiss-Jareau family.

Happy Birthday! by @ellegreenawayslover Rated: G || WC: 2028 Summary: Emily’s feelings during her birthday, her feelings years ago, and how she finally is truly happy with her life and how it turned out.

Morning Cartoons and Middle Names by @vhsrights Rated: G || WC: 2634 Summary: A shift in the numbers on his digital clock indicated that the time had arrived. 7:15 am. No sound of an alarm echoed through the upper floor of the Prentiss-Jareau house. There was pin-drop silence, and then the quiet chaos began.

Bonus: My Master List of MomEm Headcanons & Fanworks

Other Fics: Emily + Kids

A Year in the Life by @gaelic-symphony (thelarkascending) Tara/Emily || Rated: T || WC: 8455 Summary: Twelve vignettes from the married life of Tara Lewis and Emily Prentiss, written for the Year of the OTP writing challenge.

handprints on my soul by @prrentiss (unitchiefprentiss) Tara/Emily || Rated: T || WC: 32,000+ Summary: tara and emily after the events of just a dream. Maternal Instinct by thelarkascending Alex/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 1207 Summary: Motherhood brings with it complicated feelings for new moms Emily and Alex. Written for the CM fandom gift exchange Halloween Interlude by w00t4ewan Tara/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 1573 Maternal Instinct by thelarkascending Alex/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 1207 Summary: Motherhood brings with it complicated feelings for new moms Emily and Alex. Written for the CM fandom gift exchange

Bluey Mom by @alexblakeisgay (ArwenLalaith) Alex/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 2713 Summary: The adventures of Emily Prentiss as she navigates running the BAU, being a wife and mother, and her relationship with gender.

Oh, My Darling Clementine by ArwenLalaith Alex/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 930 Summary: Emily Prentiss is not above bribing her toddler daughter to get her to call her Mama…

Book Ends by ArwenLalaith Alex/Emily || Rated: G || WC: 18,500 Summary: Emily's life revolves around Lux - her four year old autistic daughter. She hasn't had a relationship since she got pregnant and certainly isn't looking to start one when she meets Alex Blake: phenom children's author.

Breaking It Down By My Top Ships:

* Only filters used were F/F and ship tag.

3% of JJ/Emily (100 out of 3370 total fics)

17% of Tara/Emily (37 out of 200 total fics)

56% of JJ/Tara (25 out of 41 total fics)

36% of Tara/Rebecca (18 out of 42 total fics)

7% of Tara/Penelope (4 out of 28 total fics)

Find me on AO3: w00t4ewan