Fanficking Criminal Minds

But standing in his kitchen in the midst of her decision to start recruiting for her replacement and the feelers she’s putting out in the FBI Academy, his obliviousness to the inequality in their relationship is just one thing too many, and she can’t help it.  The moment it slips from her lips, part of her wishes she could catch it and stop it before it shatters them, but the rest can see the reality: if this can break them, her silence is all that’s holding them together.  She has spent her adult life refusing to be that woman.

He is confused at first, defensive, utterly unaware that this could be the hill they die on, and she hates how hard she’s willing him to say the right thing.  “I didn’t know you felt that way.  If you don’t tell me what you need -”

She feels a humourless laugh threatening and catches herself just in time – she won’t let herself be bitter in his eyes.  “I need to not be the only one of us who’s in this one hundred percent. I’m about to hand over a job I was headhunted for, running a field office, and move back to a place I had to leave to save myself, because I believe in us and I want this.”

“I want this too,” he says, his voice strained, everything about his body language defensive.

“Sometimes,” she replies quietly, and that shuts him up.  The times he’s panicked and pushed her away stretch between them, the times she’s had to reach out and pull him back, and she knows she could start listing them at this point, and that it could quickly become a sermon.  Instead, she holds his gaze and says evenly, “It’s been too long and you’re asking too much for that to be enough, Aaron.”

She watches her words hit him and register, watches the flare of hurt and fear in his face, and she is relieved she doesn’t have to give him the ultimatum outright.  I’m leaving tomorrow, and if I’m still this unconvinced, I’m not coming back.  “It’s never about not wanting you,” he says, softer, his eyes searching. “I don’t always know the right thing to do.  For Jack, for you…”

“You don’t get to decide what’s right for me.”

“I know that, I do, but when I think about what happened with…”  He trails off, and she knows what he’s thinking: Haley’s name is more than this conversation can handle.

“She fell in love with a high school kid,” Emily says, when it becomes clear he isn’t going to finish his sentence.  “She didn’t marry a BAU Unit Chief.  It would’ve been a miracle if she still wanted to be with the man you grew into. I chose that.  You don’t need to protect me from your screwed up life.  Protecting me is my job – let me worry about it.”  He flinches, starts to speak, and she adds, more quietly, “And Jack?  When do you think this is wrong for Jack?”

This, she knows, is where he could destroy her.  He takes a moment before he answers.  “He can’t lose you too,” he says eventually.  She sighs, tension leaking from her even though on the surface his answer is completely unsatisfactory.

Hey hey hey! Yeah you read the title right. This is my first ever writing challenge and no this has nothing to do with my follower count. Just a simple summer writing challenge!

If you want to participate, feel free too! It’s going to be fun!

So here’s the rules:

1: Must only be for Criminal Minds.

2: Choose only one character (past or present).

3. Can be ‘x reader’, ‘x OC’, ‘x another CM character’, or however you want to write it based on the prompt.

4. Choose as many prompts as you want from the list below. (ones that I’ve found online, lol)

5. Inbox me your choices.

6. Have fun!

Hi.

Anyone still here?

1. Post Break Up Kiss - The kiss that catches both of you off guard, but says I miss you, I’m sorry and please love me again all at once without any words being spoken.

2. Early Morning Kiss - A kiss that’s a wake up call, its barely even lips touching, more like they're kissing your chin because they’re so tired in the early morning haze. 

3. Hesitant Kiss - The type of kiss where their lips touch a brush against each other’s a few times, breath fanning across each other’s faces as one waits for the other to make a move.  

4. In The Moment Kiss - Maybe it’s in the middle of an argument or you just looked to damn beautiful not to kiss, but their lips were hot against yours and it felt too good to stop. 

5.  Can’t Let Go Yet Kiss - The type of goodbye kiss when you keep leaving quick pecks on each other’s lips, but end up pulling each other back for more, which could go on for hours if one of you don’t finally pull away.

6. Empty Kiss - When one of you don’t kiss back, just the stoic feeling of their lips on yours, it’s empty, like no one even cares anymore.

7. Unbreakable Kiss - The type of kiss that really shouldn’t be happening, it’s a mistake, but you just can’t find yourself able to pull away.

8. Breathtaking Kiss - It’s the kiss that you can’t do anything for a few seconds after, you keep your eyes closed with mouth agape of you try to let your mind process what happened. 

9. Distracting Kiss - When you are competing, maybe playing video games or something so you press kisses anywhere available; arms, nose, knees, ears, knuckles, temple, just anywhere to distract them.

Today is a great day to 

Breathe in, breathe out, and let it go

Make a plan

Take action

Apologize

Love those around you

Love yourself

Speed up

Slow down

Invite a friend out

Go out on a self-date

Favorite Character Meme: Jennifer Jareau

And yeah, for validation too. Because you know what? Writing is hard - despite commonly held misconceptions, it takes a shit-ton of effort to take some blank, empty void of a page and fill it with something that lives and breathes and touches the minds and hearts of others. 

And don’t you dare wave that “you should be writing for yourself” bullshit in my face. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been able to do that, and honestly I’m glad managed to recover as much as I have and write as much as I do. Having an audience is an integral part of the writing process.

Let me repeat that.

HAVING AN AUDIENCE IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE WRITING PROCESS.

We fanfic authors don’t ask for much. As someone who is a published author, who has been published in a Real Physical Book™ and was paid hundreds of dollars in Honest-to-God cold-hard cash for less work than I put into my fanfic, let me tell you, a few comments will not pay my tuition or buy my groceries or put clothes on my back. Compared to the hours of labor that went into earning the money I was paid with, comments take substantially less time to create.

And yet, to us, they are priceless. Authors will create entire worlds for the sake of making a single person smile. YOU CAN BE THAT PERSON. WE WILL WRITE FOR YOU HAPPILY.

You just have to let us know you care.

And you’d better do it soon. I’ve heard too many authors all too willing to pull their tumblrs and erase or abandon their fics on AO3 because they have grown weary of screaming into the void. That fanfic you love? Gone. That chapter you’re waiting for? Never gonna happen. How many of you have bookmark lists with fics already missing? I bet you won’t even remember which one it is.

This so fucking much!! Writers write to be read!

being that writer ppl longingly think about all like “if only this writer wrote for my ship”

being that writer ppl have a love/hate relationship with bc “i loath that ship with every fiber of my being but this writer’s works about it are absolute masterpieces”

being that writer ppl read one work for and then read the rest with conSUMING NEED IN ONE NIGHT