One Of The Things That Drive Me Batshit Crazy About Hotchniss Is The Endless AUs We Can Explore With

one of the things that drive me batshit crazy about hotchniss is the endless AUs we can explore with them for pre-canon/pre-show events and yet you can still make them both end up at the BAU working together

allow me to elaborate:

we see their first interaction on emily's first ever episode on the show (2x09) BUT they also acknowledge that this is not the first time they've been in each other's vicinity because hotch worked for her mother during his early days in the bureau

that alone opens a lot of possibilities that may have happened with them, and you can get insanely creative with it.

did they have a crazy love affair that ended badly (one of my favourite hotchniss fics is actually about this AU and it's AMAZING)? did they have a summer fling? or do they start out as a summer fling and continue it even after hotch has moved up to the BAU?

was hotch assigned to her specifically and we get to see the "bodyguard who really just wants to do his job x absolute menace" trope? did hotch overhear emily being scolded by her mother and had to go comfort her afterwards because she may be a pain in his ass but he knows that she really is trying her best to make her mother proud and just helps her get away from the house for a little while? at one point, did she call hotch to come pick her up from a party when she got too drunk/someone spiked her drink/she just wants to go home in general?

THE LIST AND POSSIBILITIES GO ON.

this is just with the pre-show details, too; i can write essays on canon hotchniss and once again, the possibilities are endless ESPECIALLY if we talk about season 5

AARON HOTCHNER + JACKET | 8.24 “THE REPLICATOR II”

THE BAU @ THE BAR

CRIMINAL MINDS 2x14 | The Big Game

Favourite Aaron Hotchner photos part 2

Anyone who says he looks better smiling is a fake fan bc his rbf is so hot

there are quite a few hotchniss episodes that prove my theory of them being soulmates but my favorite will always be 3x02 because that’s the one episode where everything Shifted between them: emily preferred to literally resign from her dream job rather than become strauss’ birdie and snitch on hotch (this despite hotch being a bit awful to her since her joining the team) and hotch 1. realized he had always been wrong about this little smartass charming brat, 2. had the worst fight with his wife, 3. right after, went straight to emily’s to convince her to join him for one more case, 4. said ‘I WANT YOU ON THAT PLANE WITH ME’ to emily, 5. most likely flew commercial with her bouncing off ideas re the case and strauss’ trashy strategy to get rid of both of them, 6. defended her and her idea to get into david smith’s house and 7. swore that her return to the bau would stay official even if his wouldn’t be. AND THEN, we see parallel shots of them at their respective house/apartment looking off into the distance, satisfied about being back but sad about their ill perceived loneliness.

in this other essay i will-

vampire who’s married to an archaeologist voice: my love, stop trying to carbon date me