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jencsi · 7 months

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1-25 for Finn because you deserve to gush about your favourite. Take as long as you want, or if you don't wanna do all of them then just answer the ones you want to.

*Disclaimer*- I had an absolute blast doing this and yes I know I could have written about all of these without waiting for someone else to ask, but it's much more fun and motivating when someone else thinks of you. :) So thank you. This is a long one. But so worth it.

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?- I like Finn because she reminds me of myself in some ways but in other ways she is the person I wish I could be/the friend I wish I had. She tries to be the best version of herself everyday, even when she might fail. She pushes through even when things do fail because what can you do? She is stronger than me, tougher than me, smarter than me, things I wish I was. She forces herself into the world and makes people pay attention to her but I feel like I am always picked last or not picked at all. She emulates so many qualities that get her into trouble but somehow it all works out for the best. I give up much too easily on things when they don’t go my way. She knows she deserves to be respected and treated where often times I just take BS from people and let it consume me instead of fighting for what I want. She forces others to deal with her instead of being silent. She makes sure she is heard. She also was a good friend to Sara and Morgan and helped Sara grow as a person and be separate from Grissom because Sara is a separate person who deserves happiness even if it wasn’t with him and Finn sort of showed her that its okay to want love but want what you deserve and not wait around for someone else to make the decision. I dislike her because sometimes there were moments where she probably shouldn’t have kept pushing and maybe held her tongue and just let things go but she didn’t and it's more of a second hand embarrassment feeling when she pushes to far but that’s really the only dislike I have for her.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?- Desk sitting. Getting into trouble. Getting Russell angry with her only to have him actually care deeply for her. The Jules nickname she hates allegedly but lets him call her that anyways. Sports. Violence. Blood spatter. Having multiple love interests in just a few short seasons.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?- um dying? Lol yeah we know what the OG script said but the final nail in the coffin literally and metaphorically is that she died.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?- I think it would be neat to see Finn in a Harry Potter type setting. Mostly because I grew up reading those books and low key she’d make an excellent Ravenclaw or Slytherin. I would also like to see her in the Kinsey Millhone series which was written by Sue Grafton and was a private detective novel series featuring titles like A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc. Kinsey was a great character and since the author died, she made it a legality so none of her work can be made into movies or series but it would be cool to see Finn in that world and the world of Temperance Brennan (book version) by Kathy Reichs.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?- Brighter Than The Sun by Colbie Caillat because I heard this song on the radio shortly after Finn’s first episode aired and then the team baseball episode aired and I felt that she just radiated during those scenes and it just stuck. I have an entire Finn playlist but this one is the first one I had on there in 2012.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?- we are both underdogs. CC- Under A Cloud. Finn was not everyone's favorite in the fan group and I understand that and relate to that personally. I’m never a first choice, I’m always left out of so many things, and I have very few positive life experiences because of this. The show didn’t really project these feelings about her onto me, but it was negative fandom experience over the course of 2012-2015. The experiences I have now with fandom are much better but those early moments will always resonate with me. So much unnecessary hate and disregard for no reason.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?- Seeing as I am always shocked to find a fan who likes her, I guess the simplicity of someone saying “Hey Finn is/was cool” is something I like from the fandom.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?- *see number 6* Also, on a deeper level, hating Finn because she seemed too much like Catherine or came to replace her is odd when society is always screaming about how we should be lifting women up, putting them all on the same level, not pitting them against each other. You can’t share a quote to me about women supporting women then go and slander one female character just because she took a job opening that someone else just vacated. If we did that in real life, we wouldn’t have jobs. Things like that happen so much in workplace settings. Catherine wanted out. Finn wanted in. It’s a simple thing but got blown way out of proportion by some in the fandom.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?- unfortunately no. I am too rigid in my routine and organizing and Finn is pure chaos. She's loud. I’m quiet. I’m up early, she's a late sleeper. Just polar opposites.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?- probably. I would love to have someone like this in my life, someone fun and bright and bubbly who would not forget about me or leave me out of group activities or forget I exist.

11. Would you date this character?- Yes! She’s fun and silly and full of zest for life and has such a big heart and clearly wants to love and be loved. I would adore this in real life.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?- that she didn’t die. Along with so many others- she originally wanted to be a doctor like her father, she's an only child, her first husband was a cop who was killed on the job and that spiraled her into pursuing police work, he was killed the same night he proposed to her so therefore she wasn’t officially married but she refers to him as a first husband, his case was never solved. She was adopted and raised by her uncle (biological moms brother) and aunt but doesn’t discover it until the Gig Harbor Killer reveals it. She always felt a stronger bond with her father growing up vs her mother and now this all makes sense to her but she never felt unloved. Both her adoptive family have passed on and she has to dig for clues and piece together her life. Her biological mother finds her and has been keeping tabs on her for 50 years but was terrified to reveal the secret since she was only 16 when she gave birth to her and why she gave Finn to her brother and his wife when she was a baby, they could raise her in a more stable environment.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?- heart eyes, hearts in general, the sun, sunflowers, stars, anything bright and flashy remind me of her. Things she would use alot- the silly face emojis, winking face ones, the sports ones.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.- I would say she is casual when she’s not working, jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, athletic wear. At work, business casual I suppose, she always had leather jackets and sleeveless shirts/blouses. Wish they would have had more opportunities for her to dress up and do undercover assignments and explore being different that way as well.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)- Finn and Nick send me into another dimension. They both understood the job well, both could relate to each others pains, could fully support each other in a difficult time. I feel like Finn and her lightness would lift Nick out of his darkness (not that people are supposed to save each other in a relationship) but more of helping him be the best version of himself that he could be, not weighed down by his past, he could see her as a light at the end of the tunnel. He could help her relax a bit more and not be so wound up about cases and injustices. Not that she needed to be reeled in but he would give her a reason to stop and think of the consequences of her reckless actions if she had a reason to care about not getting hurt, maybe she would stop.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?- I honestly can’t think of any. Finn gets along with everyone. She bonded well with Greg and had a good time teasing and poking fun at Hodges.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?- I guess Finn with all the random suitors they gave her. Like her Seattle ex Mike, I don’t hate it, but we knew it wasn’t going to be more than one episode's worth of backstory for her and him. Her thing with Shaw wasn’t great either seeing as he led to her death as well as his own but lowkey at least she had some romance before her demise. Moreno wasn’t awful but his partner was a dirty cop who beat the crap out of her in Karma To Burn so that would make things awkward. Finn is shippable with pretty much everyone.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?- The dynamic she has with Russell is beautiful. Not even being over dramatic either, what they have is poetic, magic, understanding on a level so deep, respect, care, admiration, chaos. Something so profound and resonating that I can’t even describe it properly but also could write an entire essay on it just screaming about it. Is it love? Is it platonic friendship? Codependency? Mutual? None of these things and yet all of these things at the same time? Spiritual, soulful, stellar, when her lifeforce is drained so is his, when she hurts, he hurts, it's just so *chefs kiss* magnificent.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?- Nothing that I can think of honestly. Finn didn’t get much of a chance to develop as a character before the show ended. She pretty much vibes well with everyone.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?- Finn seemed to have alot in common with Henry during season 12, teaching him baseball for the game, talking about fantasy novels, but she also connected well with Morgan and Sara. I think out of all of them, she needed a good girl best friend like Morgan. Morgan seemed more down with the fun and chaos Finn caused and they could laugh and be silly and make jokes and just hang out like normal friends and drink and sing karaoke and just go crazy.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?- my favorite thing to do for fics for Finn is let her be loved. Soft affections and comforts and just giving her as much love as I can pour into a fic is my main goal. I do like getting her into trouble and the subsequent “talking to” she gets from Russell. I can’t think of anything I don’t like in writing for her besides not having ideas, going through a dry spell of having zero ideas for her, that’s torture.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?- I love when people post fics about Finn because they are hard to find in the fandom. I don’t think I have read a Finn fic by another author that I didn’t like. Anyone who makes an effort to expand on a character in a creative setting is top tier, there are no bad fics in my mind. 23. Favorite picture of this character?- Oh man, just one? This is tough. Quite literally any screen shot from her first episode will do.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?- Ellie Bishop from NCIS sat on desks for a while and had a very spunky personality. Chris Connor from Becker (also stars Ted Danson) had a similar positive optimistic attitude as Finn (plus curls for days) and her scenes with Becker remind me so much of Russell and Finn but in a late 90’s-early 2000’s comedy setting, it's hilarious if anyone stumbles upon it.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?- First impression was shock because I was going into the rest of season 12 knowing Catherines loss would be prevalent and I wasn’t sure what Finn would be like. First episode with Finn had me hooked. The energy she brought, the playful banter, the anger issues, the back story with Russell, just all of it grabbed me and sucked me in and I felt this strong emotional pull to her after Seeing Red. She even walked with a spring in her step and there was something about that little quirk in just one episode that drew me in to wanting to see more and know more. And as a byproduct of that, I absolutely adore Elisabeth Shue. She made Finn so real and brought so many layers to her. Everything I’ve said about Finn in these 25 questions come from Elisabeth bringing her to life. I would have none of that if anyone else had been cast to be part of the show at that exact moment. Like how lucky did I get? Thank goodness she said yes to it or the casting people picked her or however the process went down. I can’t imagine anyone else as Julie Finlay. I will always carry this character with me (as I have since 2012) as like a little sidekick, a little voice that tells me I can do something, I’ll make it, I’ll keep going for some crazy unknown reason. Finn was Russell’s voice inside his head that guided him that he became dependent on overtime and she’s mine too.

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!- What hopes did you have for this character?- Back in 2015 when Finn’s fate was left in limbo, of course I was hopeful for her survival. As time went on and the show was officially canceled, I was still left in limbo wondering how they would handle the coma. Then they announced a 2 hour movie, okay no big deal. Then it was announced that Elisabeth wouldn’t be joining that finale movie and I was devastated. Looking back on that time, I think I gained a better understanding as to why. The obvious answer would be, she was busy and couldn’t fulfill the time needed to film any potential Finn scenes. Or the decision to kill Finn was made and she didn’t want to be part of that so she dipped out, fair enough. But I hoped with all my heart and soul that her character would survive and not be tossed aside and forgotten like garbage. Oh it’s just Finn, who cares as long as we get Grissom and Sara and Catherine etc. The disregard hurt as a long time fan of the show, I was torn between being excited for certain things but gutted because, no Finn. Overall I just hoped for respect for her, dignity, a decent conclusion to her story because it mattered too. And once again I found myself feeling as if I didn’t matter because if Finn didn’t matter, then how could I ever expect anyone to think I mattered? That sinking underdog kicked in the gut feeling was too visceral and I don’t think I will ever accept what we got in the end for Finn. She deserved the love she gave, it was greater than most realized.

#thank you so much for asking this #this made my day #Julie finlay #long post #ask games #csi cbs #csi crime scene investigation

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