spencer-reids-adventures

[spencer-reids-adventures]

i wanna thank you for all your stories! I hope you're doing well

thank you!! and sorry, I haven't been on tumblr in ages and I don't even know when this was sent 😩 but I appreciate it anyway, so much, and I am going pretty well and I hope you are doing well too!!

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid Characters: Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss Additional Tags: Self-Harm, seriously sorta graphic self harm so please just know that ahead of time i guess, Panic, Blood and Injury, Friendship Series: Part 2 of a very incomplete whumptober 2023 Summary:

whumptober day 5: "it's broken"

Spencer hurts himself. Emily helps.

#criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #whumptober2023

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Grant Anderson & Spencer Reid Characters: Spencer Reid, Grant Anderson (Criminal Minds) Additional Tags: Self-Harm, Anxiety, Depression, Friendship, Whumptober 2023, Violent Thoughts Series: Part 1 of a very incomplete whumptober 2023 Summary:

whumptober day 3: "make it stop"

Spencer struggles. Anderson helps.

#criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #whumptober2023

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Diana Reid & Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Spencer Reid Characters: Spencer Reid, Diana Reid, William Reid, Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan (Criminal Minds), Penelope Garcia Additional Tags: Abandonment, Loneliness, Letters, Family Issues, Mental Health Issues, Autistic Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid Whump, Sad Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid Needs a Hug, Financial Issues, Episode: s02e01 The Fisher King Part 2 (Criminal Minds), Self-Harm, Food Issues, implied/referenced eating disorder Summary:

Diana doesn’t forgive Spencer for having her institutionalized… at least, not right away.

 Written for @tobias-hankel’s Criminal Minds Pre-Whumptober Challenge!

Main Whump-ed Character: Spencer Reid Bad Thing: Abandonment/Loneliness Bad Person: Parent/Family Member One Line Prompt: "You know, I write her a letter every day... She has never written one back."

#spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds pre-whumptober challenge #maya writes

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The BAU Team & Spencer Reid Characters: Spencer Reid, John (Criminal Minds: s03e16 Elephant's Memory) Additional Tags: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, Recovery, Grief/Mourning, Friendship Summary:

Spencer often participates in toasts with the group using water or tea or potato chips instead of alcohol. This fic explores the events that may have led him to stop drinking.

#i wrote a thing #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction

[spencer-reids-adventures]

for @tobias-hankel!

cw: drug addiction

---

He doesn’t think anyone knows.

Last time, of course, they knew. They knew he’d just suffered a major trauma. They knew he kept arriving late to work and snapping at the team. They knew something was very, very wrong. And they never said anything to him about it, not really. Some vague words from Gideon. A few suspicious looks from Morgan. Utter befuddlement from poor Emily. But no one ever said a word, and so, neither did Spencer.

This time, he’s more careful. 

Once again, it’s not his fault, not really. Or at least, that’s what he tells himself. It’s not his fault he wasn’t coherent enough after being shot to tell the EMTs not to give him narcotics. It’s not his fault he was unconscious when the rest of the decisions about his knee surgery were made. It’s not his fault he limped out of the hospital on crutches with a bottle of Percocet, and it’s not his fault he took it, or that he took it upon himself to increase the dose. Small increments, a few days at a time. He’s a doctor. It’s fine.

It’s not his fault his team was too busy focusing on Hotch to notice any of it.

It’s not his fault that when the Percocet runs out, he manages to make his way to a crummy neighborhood in the middle of the night to pay an embarrassing amount of money for a moderate quantity of Dilaudid, and it’s definitely not his fault that the relief is so powerful, it actually makes him cry.

No, it’s not his fault, he assures himself. But it’s still a problem. It’s still a secret. It’s still scary and shameful, and Spencer is weak and broken, and he can’t let any of his teammates find out what’s happening.

He tries to be careful. It’s easy at first, because he’s on leave from work. Once he gets back, he does his best to look normal, to arrive on time, to be kind to his coworkers. He tries his best, and it’s so hard, and he truly doesn’t know if he’s succeeding. He’s not sure of much, at this point. He’s just trying to get through each day the best he can, to manage the pain in a way that’s familiar for him. 

Hotch returns to work not long after Spencer, and from the look on his face, he can tell something is wrong. He doesn’t say anything, though. He never says anything. Spencer tries to brush it off, pretends it doesn’t bother him, pretends he’s not desperate to just talk about it with someone. 

He tries, and he tries, and he tries.

And then one evening, the phone rings.

The call shows up as Unknown Caller, but Spencer answers it anyway, expecting someone trying to scam him or sell him something.

“Just listen,” the voice says on the other end. “You don’t have to say anything right now.”

And Spencer couldn’t say anything even if he wanted to, because it’s Gideon’s voice on the other end of the line, a voice he hasn’t heard in years, though he hears it in his memories and his dreams more often than he’d like to admit. 

He waits, speechless, for Gideon to continue.

“Hotch called me. We talk sometimes, you know. He keeps me up to date on what’s going on. And he told me that something’s going on with you. He’s really worried about you.”

Spencer swallows. Why would Hotch reach out to Gideon instead of just talking to Spencer himself?

What would Spencer have even said if Hotch had tried to talk to him?

“I’m assuming it’s the same problem you had last time, when you missed that plane, though Hotch couldn’t confirm anything. Maybe it’s not that. Maybe you’re just struggling emotionally, or maybe it’s something else I don’t even know about. No matter what it is, Reid, I want to help you. I want to be here for you in a way that I haven’t before.”

Spencer rubs his face with his hand. It doesn’t make sense, none of this makes sense. Gideon left. He left, and he’s gone, and Spencer made peace with that a long time ago. And now—now he doesn’t know what to do at all. Now, nothing makes sense. Nothing at all.

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking, Spencer?”

Spencer sighs. Pulls at his hair. Wrings his hands out a few times, and switches his phone from one ear to the other. 

“I messed up,” he finally whispers. “I missed another plane.”

“We can fix this,” Gideon says immediately. “Are you home? Are you safe? Can I come to you?”

“C-come to me?” Spencer repeats incredulously. 

“We obviously don’t want you detoxing on your own,” Gideon says matter-of-factly. “I’ll come help you.”

“Detoxing…”

“You know you can’t keep going like this. Something needs to change. I’m not going to let you kill yourself with this stuff.”

Spencer is quiet for a long time.

“I’m… at home,” he finally whispers.

“Stay there,” says Gideon. “I’m coming to you, okay? It’s going to take me a little while, but just—don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t,” Spencer promises. 

When Gideon shows up 30 minutes later, a needle and a vial are sitting on the coffee table, but Spencer hasn’t moved.

#maya writes #cw drug addiction #spencer reid #jason gideon #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction

[spencer-reids-adventures]

i have created a new ao3 with the username whateverislovely and moved many of my fics (basically all of my gen stuff except the discord fic) over there. just fyi!

#criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #maya's meta

[spencer-reids-adventures]

2023 Criminal Minds Pre-Whumptober Collection 🖤

To get everyone ready for Whumptober, I figured I would run a September Whump Collection. To join, just click the questionnaire linked below and follow the instructions listed. I will assign you a full prompt based on what you selected. This form will be open from August 10th, 2023 to August 25th, 2023. I will give everyone their prompts by September 1st, 2023. 

✨ https://forms.gle/qVTBXJaSeEkBVZba9 ✨

🖤 Rules! 🖤

1. You must be 18+ to join as the fics can be rated G to E and I will be DMing the prompts.

2. All ships, including readerx, and no ship/gen fics are allowed.

3. You do not need an ao3 account to join this time.

4. Fics are due September 30th, 2023. Chaptered fics don’t have to be finished by this date, just chapter one submitted. Late entries and questionnaires are allowed.

Further details are in the questionnaire.

[spencer-reids-adventures]

can you give some angst writing tips out (more specifically about spencer's addiction/how he acts during it)? i've been scrolling through your spencer whump collection and it's so addicting and ive been wanting to write my own fic

oh wow, i can try! and thanks for reading!!

i've never really thought about this very much before, tbh, so bear with me as i try to figure out what my brain is doing...

ok, for me i think what i really tend to do when i'm writing angst is try to pin down what emotions i want to convey (examples could be hopeless, helpless, afraid, overwhelmed, angry, embarrassed, ashamed, desperate...) and then really try to think about how those things feel. like, i think about a time when i felt that particular way (the memory doesn't have to be clear, just imagine the feeling) and try to remember the physical sensations, and the ways i acted/reacted, and how i communicated, and the overlapping emotions going on. and then try to describe that, and make that fit with spencer's situation.

it's all about the emotions for me. i prefer to write about things i have at least some sort of experience with, usually on an emotional level. for example, i've never been addicted to dilaudid - but i know how it feels to be addicted to something, and i know how it feels to be ashamed of my behaviors, and i know how it feels to lie to the people around me about my mental health, and i know how it feels to experience trauma, and i know how it feels to be scared i'm going to be fired from my job because i can't keep my shit together. even though i don't share a specific experience with the character, i can still write about the emotions involved, and focus on those most of all.

that's why when i describe spencer's addiction, i don't really go into how he feels when he's high, or what it's like to actually take the drugs, or where he gets them, or anything like that. i don't have experience in those things, so i don't write about them. i focus on the emotional journey he's taking instead. that's just me, though - i know there are people who are able to write about things they haven't experienced personally and can make it incredibly accurate and moving. i just don't know that i can do that.

i guess what i'm getting at is, take the experience you're writing about and draw out the parts you can relate to, and then double down on those. in the end, it's the emotions that your readers will relate to more than the specific experience, because emotions are so much more universal. so that's where you really probably want to put your energy.

i don't know if any of that really made sense, and please don't take this as like, The Gospel of Writing Angst, because it's not, this is just my own take. and i recognize that different people process and experience feelings and emotions very differently, and maybe this won't work for you at all, and that's totally okay! but... here's my best attempt at explaining how i do it, and i hope some of it was helpful <3

i'm so excited for you to write your own fic and i hope you'll share it when you do!

#maya answers #writing tips? i guess? #cw drug addiction

[spencer-reids-adventures]

dear anon who saw me lamenting about not having ideas for the discord fic and then was kind enough to send me some ideas,

THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU, YES I WILL ABSOLUTELY WRITE THAT! i'm not going to post the ask right now because it's basically the outline for my new chapter 😂 but seriously, thank you soooo much, I hope you see this and know how much I appreciate you 💗💗💗

#discord fic #wonderful anon #SERIOUSLY THANK YOU

[spencer-reids-adventures]

#i just realized it's been 4 months since i updated the discord fic #nbd that just happens to be the one with the most subs lol whoops #if only i had... ideas... #hashtag yikes

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Chapters: 34/34 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luke Alvez/Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Spencer Reid, The BAU Team & Spencer Reid, Diana Reid & Spencer Reid Characters: Spencer Reid, Luke Alvez (Criminal Minds), Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Matt Simmons (Criminal Minds), Diana Reid, Tara Lewis, John (Criminal Minds: s03e16 Elephant's Memory), Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan (Criminal Minds) Additional Tags: Post-Prison Spencer Reid, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, Friendship, Getting Together, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Canon-Typical Violence, (only in flashbacks and nightmares i think), Sad Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid Needs a Hug, Autistic Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia is the Best, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Food Issues, Anxiety, Grief/Mourning, Forehead Kisses, Sharing a Bed, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Friends to Lovers, implied/referenced eating disorder, Self-Harm, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Injury Recovery, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Therapy, Boys Kissing, Cats, Communication, Mild Sexual Content Summary:

And then, suddenly, it’s over. Peter Lewis is dead. Diana Reid is safe from everything except herself. Spencer is alone in his apartment for the first time since he moved his mom in all those months ago, and he doesn’t know what to do.

Spencer struggles after prison, but he's not alone.

Or:

The team has six weeks of mandated leave between 13x1 and 13x2. Spencer and Luke spend their time together.

#IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!!! #ralvez #ralvez fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid #luke alvez #this was my longest fic ever

[spencer-reids-adventures]

No one ever talks about the fact that Elle Greenaway, Aaron Hotchner, and Spencer Reid all lived at the same apartment complex, The Langham.

We see Elle leaving her apartment when Hotch is following her in 2x6 - maybe that is where he learned about the apartment complex. We can also see Elle getting into her car, which has Virginia plates, so we know this apartment complex is in Virginia - not D.C.

In 5x1, we see Emily go to Hotch's apartment to check on him. This is also when we learn that Hotch is on the first floor in apartment 121. We later see him in this same apartment with Jack and Beth in 7x23 and when he is arrested in 11x22, just to name a few.

We see the outside of Spencer's apartment in 9x24 when Alex goes to leave after taking Spencer home. Spencer looks outside and watches Alex get into a taxi. We can see part of the green canopy and the street when Alex walks, but we can also see Spencer standing at the window. The window matches the same windows on The Langham. We can even see a spot on the sidewalk where the street lamp used to be. This is also when we learn that Spencer is on the second floor, apartment 23.

In 1x22, we see Elle be attacked in her home - not an apartment - meaning she moved into Langham apartments after her attack.

Up until Hotch was divorced, he lived in his home in Arlington, Virginia with Haley and Jack - so we know he moved into the complex sometime around season three or four.

We didn't see Spencer's apartment until season eight but we know in 3x2 that Spencer's Volvo has Washington D.C. plates but when we see his car again in 10x13, he had Virginia plates. We can assume that means that Spencer moved from Washington D.C. to the Langham apartments in Virginia at some point between season three and season eight.

Meaning, Elle lived in the Langham apartments before Hotch and Spencer - but Hotch and Spencer lived there only one floor apart at the same time.

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Spencer is over here having an existential crisis and Hotch is just in the background like good luck, kid 😴

[spencer-reids-adventures]

Nothing will be funnier that that little scene in Memoriam where the rest of the team were trying really hard to see the bright side on William as an "father" by pointing out how he had been stalking Spencer for a while and for his response to be "Oh. He googled me. That fixes it all :)" and storms out to sull somewhere.

Like the intention was SWEET but my brothers and sisters in Christ what did you think was going to happen lmao

[spencer-reids-adventures]

I love how Spencer gets defensive of mentally ill unsubs. Just imagine how many comments he probably got about his mom growing up. That was the 80s and 90s - people were less aware of mental illness, made fun of it more, and people loved to talk.

I wonder if he always stuck up for her or if he couldn't. If he knew he shouldn't snap back at the neighborhood boys that were twice his size or the teacher that talked about things she didn't know about. I wonder if people made comments like that about Diana. Saying oh it's too bad what happened to poor Diana. She is too ill to work and her husband left her... She was so sweet too. And Spencer knows she is still sweet - that she can be sweet when she is lucid enough to remember who he is, when she reads to him and calls him Crash - even though she might never know that she is the reason he is bruised.

I like to think that Spencer stood up for her but he might also be too smart for that. He would have to shoulder those comments about his mom. He would go home and cry into his pillow because the world was hating on the only person he had left for something she can't control. But then Spencer gets himself into the FBI, gets a badge and a gun and a score of degrees, and he never has to listen to another negative comment about his mom - or anyone with mental illness.

Spencer might not have always been able to protect his mom, but he sure as shit isn't going to let anyone bad mouth her now.

[spencer-reids-adventures]

1x06 - L.D.S.K