so you want to learn about the lawyer husbands, barisi?

welcome to barisi!

barisi is a ship between rafael barba and dominick "sonny" carisi jr., on law & order: special victims unit. sonny is a detective-turned-ADA, while rafael barba was the ADA from season 14 to season 19 (left ep 13). though, rafael makes an appearance in season 21, and as of right now, ep. 4 of season 22.

made by: rion, with help from auggie & matt!

what is barisi?

as stated before, barisi is a ship between rafael barba & dominick "sonny" carisi jr. they have many interactions throughout the show, some more intimate than others. rafael treats sonny as his equal, someone who shows promise as an up-and-coming lawyer.

their dynamic WORKS because of the banter between them, and how easy they can play off one another. if sonny says one thing to rafael, rafael has an easy come back, and vice versa. rafael teases sonny a whole lot, but it's strictly playful.

you can see that rafael truly cares about sonny. from season 16 to season 20, sonny has been working to become a lawyer. rafael helps in in different ways to acheive this goal: letting sonny shadow him in court, setting sonny up an interview in brooklyn, and actually valuing his legal knowledge (something the squad berates sonny for).

sonny's love is different. he admires and looks up to rafael, offering to help him with legal work and bantering with him. perhaps his love isn't as obvious as rafael's, but it's there.

one of the most important things about barisi is the way they look at each other. do colleagues, friends, look at each other in these ways?

and that's just the beginning.

here are a few barisi pictures! i won't be able to put them all, but here are ones that i personally love.

why is barisi important to so many people?

barisi is so important because of this show's lack of lgbtq+ rep and, well, their relationship is really special. this show severely lacks in lgbtq+ rep. the only representation for lgbtq+ characters are victims. only a few characters, who are part of the recurring cast or squad are lgbtq+ (kat tamin, ken randall, and george huang). though, raúl esparza and peter scanavino are open to their characters coming out!

their relationship is very special, whether you think of barisi as platonic or not. they both know each other very well, and they fit together like a glove. but if i sat here and explained every barisi moment to you, i'd be sat here for ages. and where's the fun in that?

watch the barisi episodes, read the great fanfiction out there, consume the art, watch barisi edits! i hope you see something in yourself with sonny, or rafael, or them both--have fun!

barisi quotes!

SONNY: after they lied to us and obfuscated our investigation?
RAFAEL: obfuscate... yummy.

RAFAEL: what are you, a bat?
SONNY: what?

RAFAEL: i hate to say this, carisi, but you're right.

RAFAEL: well give yourself a kewpie doll, detective.
SONNY: oh rafael, you mad that you didn't think about it first?

SONNY: alright so listen, you know i’m going to law school at night, right?
RAFAEL: i've alerted the bar association.

SONNY: you've been pretty hard on me.
RAFAEL: mhm.
SONNY: but i want you to know, that if i did pass, a lot of that's because of all the time i spent working with you. i admire your, uh...
RAFAEL: suicidal streak?

RAFAEL: i'm not worried. not in here.
clinks glass with sonny.

SONNY: am i right, counselor?
RAFAEL: seldom.

RAFAEL: booyah, fordham law!

SONNY: you going for insanity?
RAFAEL: i'm going for straight up not-guilty.

SONNY: mr. barba is going to play on your emotions.

barisi episodes!

here in barisi nation, we value your sanity! should you watch all of svu? no. but if you're here for our lawyer husbands: here are their episodes. what do i mean by barisi episodes? it means every episode they stood by each other, talked to each other, etc.

these are just BARISI episodes. TO KNOW RAFAEL, watch s14 or s15!

(taken from this tumblr post! please read for the full notes!)

SEASON 16
girls disappeared 16x01, producer's backend 16x03, decaying mortality 16x13 ("booyah, fordham law!), december solstice 16x16, parole violations 16x17 (sonny centric w/ barisi!)

SEASON 17 (probably the best barisi season.)
devil's dissections 17x01, criminal pathology 17x02, institutional fail 17x04 (they interrogate together), community policing 17x05, depravity standard 17x09 (one of the BEST barisi eps.), a misunderstanding 17x12, forty-one witnesses 17x13, star-struck victims 17x16, unholiest alliance 17x18 (my personal favorite. it also includes sonny's "subtle" coming out!), intersecting lives 17x22, heartfelt passages 17x23 (very sweet barisi wise, but mike dodds wise? ouch.)

SEASON 18 (this was hell.)
terrorized 18x01, making a rapist 18x02, imposter 18x03, next chapter 18x07 (lots of fics reference the sonny moment here. you'll know it when you see it.) motherly love 18x10, genes 18x13, the newsroom 18x16, spellbound 18x18, conversion 18x19 (rafael centric), american dream 18x20

SEASON 19 (ouch.)
contrapasso 19x03 (obfuscate? yummy.), unintended consequences 19x06, something happened 19x07, intent 19x08, gone baby gone 19x09 (sweet, domestic barisi.), pathological 19x10

SEASON 21
not a barisi moment, but sonny is now the ADA! he references practicing rafael's summations in the mirror in i'm going to make you a star 21x01, right at the beginning.

SEASON 22
sightless in a savage land 22x04 (barisi flirting. go watch it.)

barisi twitter!

barisi twitter is full of amazing people! we're very open to new people and love when people start shipping. we do not tolerate hate towards other ships, such as barson or rollisi. PLEASE, PLEASE, respect these other ships and the people who ship them.

one thing to note about barisi twt is that almost all of us are part of esparzanation! :D we just really, really, love raúl. but without further ado, here's SOME of us (i am aware i'm missing people, so please, DM me to be put in! i didn't want to infringe on anything! pls also be aware that this is specifically twitter):

barisi resources!

here are some barisi resources to get you started! remember to supporter all our artists' fanfics, edits, and art! also remember to RESPECT OTHER SHIPS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO SHIP THEM! if you had to walk away with one thing from this whole carrd--please, please, remember this.

this resource section will be continuosly updated as i find more things to add. enjoy!

BARISI FICTION ARCHIVE: an archive of all barisi fics found on ao3!
EVERY BARISI SCENE: self explanatory!
SONNY CARISI GIFBOT
RAFAEL BARBA GIFBOT
BARISI FANCAMS
INCORRECT BARISI
BARISI TAG AO3

RAÚL ESPARZA'S TWT
ESPARZA UPDATES: because this acc is better at PR
PETER SCANAVINO'S TWT