-Jemma is just as smart as Fitz
-Jemma is just as smart as any male character, in some cases smarter
-Jemma will not be written as less smart, especially not because she’s a woman
-Jemma already struggles to be in the ‘hero’ role, she struggles with her emotions, she struggles with interactions with other people, and her arcs are not about her learning to be around people in a perfectly appropriate way. She’ll learn to be around people the way she is, adapt a little but she’ll always be the one who blurts out inappropriate stuff. Who doesn’t some metaphors or figure speech. Who suggests scary things.
-Jemma is a very rare example of female character who is a genius, who has a faulty moral compass, who is not apologetic nor ‘needs to be put in her place because she’s sassy’, you love her the way she is or you don’t but you can’t change her. In and out of the verse.
-Jemma can and will take care of the people around her, including men, but needs help too, emotionally speaking. Probably more.
-If there is a scientific problem, Jemma is going to be trying to solve it. She’s not going to be there to cheerlead other scientists. She’s also not the best at understand what’s appropriate to say and she can be accidentally mean. The way male characters usually are. Jemma likes to be in charge, and looks down on people when she has no right to, and it’s not good (the second part, the being in charge part is fine) but it’s also a subversion of ‘female genius is always slightly less clever than a male genius and there to be his emotional support while he solves problems’.
-Jemma has an incredible memory, she is above average in every area due to her intelligence and her curiosity which brings her to know a bit about everything, she has already canonically shown to be incredible at biochemistry, astronomy, alien biology, hacking, memorizing scripts, memorizing facts about nature in general. She had 2phds before seventeen, just to get those she must have finished taking her degree in her early teens to focus on one phd at the time. I checked, in the UK I’ve found that you usually can only do one at the time anyway, same as here in Italy.
-It was presented as something special, the fact that she had 2phds at that age, it’s not common. not even in SHIELD. Let her have this as a sign of her intelligence too.
-Jemma is NOT just a sandwich-maker, emotional support. She’s not just a genius. She’s not just anything. She’s a person, so she switches roles, but she’s sure as hell going to be focused on solving scientific problems, which is her specialty, before she tries to be just a person in the sidelines hoping for the best. She’s not the Watson to anyone’s Sherlock either. And she TRIES to help. Including helping Fitz when he’s stressing out over the job by helping him with her brain, not just with comforting speeches. He needs more than that. The work together, she doesn’t help him work.
-Jemma tries to help people emotionally as well but if she gets shut down and people refuse to speak to her, not just Fitz, she’s human and she will eventually back off because upset by it. While feeling guilty because she feels it will be perceived as her giving up on them.
-Jemma is morally ambiguous and self-serving at times, while still being kind. She’s distrusting, she makes exceptions for friends, she loves being in charge, she loves being sassy and getting the last word. She loves taking care of her loved ones. But she also loves science. And Fitz doesn’t need to let her win, doesn’t need to work alone, and wouldn’t want her to let him win arguments either because that’s not what their relationship is like and I refuse to ever have it anywhere near my writing. They are equally smart, they enjoy bickering, they don’t get really angry nor feel small next to each other just because they can’t win a debate, and he’s not smarter than her.
-season 5 doesn’t exist. season 4 with her just giving hopeful speeches and being caring and accepting to not be part of the actual job unless it’s as a secretary/manager/medical doctor doesn’t exist. She’s a biochemist, she’s good in charge, she’s a genius, use it. Jemma being perfectly okay and emotionally comforting the rest of the team all the time without breaking despite her traumas while simultaneously doing like one hour of actual work in her field per week, and blindly siding with someone without that being a sign of her mental breakdown/not showing any sign of doubt when in the middle of her friends fighting without that being a sign that she’s falling apart and that she needs to follow one direction no matter what, doesn’t exist.