Marked, 1/1 (Reid/Prentiss)

[madlorific]

Marked
a "Criminal Minds" fanfiction by Mad Lori

Author's Note: This story was the result of a prompt challenge I exchanged with the fabulous fabrisse after the episode "A Thousand Words." We speculated that Reid has a tattoo, and gave each other the story challenge of "Reid has a tattoo, and Emily happens to see it." We haven't seen each other's stories

Comments

[paksenarrion2]

This was just so lovely.

I started reading it and then got side tracked looking up Euler's Identity and spent about two hours exploring that.

It was unexpected that Reid-the man that can talk and talk could spend so much time in silence but it rang very true to me.

Very well done.

[jujuberry136]

Loved the concept (the silence just worked so perfectly) and choice of tattoos. Gah! There was lots of flailing from this fangirl in the course of the story :D

Thanks for sharing

[teatotaller]

I've read it through twice and it's one of those super satisfying stories that stays with you and you can ponder over later away from the computer.

I loved the initial scene between them in the bathroom. It was full of feelings that you could touch. I loved Reid articulating his addiction, his reaction to Emily touching his tattoo and him telling her not to cry for him. It's a powerful scene.

I know everyone always clamors for more, more, more. But this scenario does leave a lot of room for exploring them as a couple and as parents. Reid seems comfortable in his own skin in this piece and I think that's pretty sexy. I have an image of shirtless, tattooed Reid holding a naked baby. Maybe that image will stick in your mind too and come forth as a sequel!

[madlori]

Yeah, I have been pondering followups. That's a beautiful image to hold in my head while I do. :-)

[tmn1966]

Reid is one of the best characters on television, in my opinion. I love it when he gets up in someone's face, or gets that puzzled look on his face, or OMG, the sadness in his eyes. He's so very expressive and ... okay, enough of that!

Prentiss was not someone I originally thought about being paired with Reid, but you write them so well. The beginning scene is just wonderful and I could see them in that awful bathroom together.

Being silent, at first, seemed so simple, but gosh I wasn't sure how they were going to last past the first few times together. You made it special, having a language without words for them, and I kind of wished they didn't have to talk either.

I really enjoyed reading this and I hope to catch up with your awesome fic How to Fight Lonliness.

[madlori]

Reid IS one of the best characters on television, which is why it's so rewarding to write about him the way I like most to see him. Nerdy, awkward, but still confident and competent. The Reid from "Uncanny Valley" is MY Reid, the one I try to write about.

[eldritchhorrors]

Do you know why I love this so much? It's not just the romance, which was so touching and so well executed. It's because you got it. Completely.

You know what tattoos are for. What they are really about. Tattoos are the storyboard of a life, punctuation put to a sentence or a chapter in it, a healing catharsis, or a talisman to provide a future. Most tattoo fic glosses over the meanings and focuses on the aesthetics and the sexual component, but you wrote so much emotion into them.

I'm covered in tattoos (though they can all be covered because I have a very professional job.) Two of my favorites? The Kanizsa triangles on my inner wrists. I got them to illustrate one of my favorite design principles, because design is what I am. So you can imagine the spastic little dance I did when I came across that part of this fic!

If you had stalked me for months I doubt you could have written a story that pushed quite as many of my buttons as this did. Bravo.

[madlori]

That's so nice to hear. I don't have any tattoos myself but I always thought that they ought to reflect something meaningful to the bearer, and purely from a story standpoint, also illustrate something about the story being told. I spent a lot of time deciding what tattoos Reid ought to have, and what Emily would get herself to show him that she was in it with him.