...Um...mostly what everyone else said, haha! I think some misinterpret his youthfulness, occasional social awkwardness, and lack of pop-culture knowledge (all compared to others on the team) as helplessness. But if you're raising a mentally ill parent virtually on your own from age 10 (when his father left the family if I recall) you have to be a very capable and independent person for it to work...you're anything but helpless really.
The other issue that seems to bring about "helpless!Reid" in fic is likely that he's not an Alpha Male type in a team were there are 3 other guys, all of whom are. Morgan is very physical and had a tendency to tackle people (including Reid, haha) when needed; Hotch is the leader of the team (I mean in spirit more than title) and has a glare that could stop a weaker person's heart; and Rossi has a self-confident swagger about him that not even Strauss could damper. Now Reid has his moments of bold moves, extreme bravery, and UNSUB outsmarting but...well...he's not Alpha Male so, when you've got a fic with Reid and another guy (slash or not), sadly, Reid gets the "helpless" treatment.
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momijizukamori
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Date: Jan. 1st, 2010 10:14 pm (UTC)The other issue that seems to bring about "helpless!Reid" in fic is likely that he's not an Alpha Male type in a team were there are 3 other guys, all of whom are. Morgan is very physical and had a tendency to tackle people (including Reid, haha) when needed; Hotch is the leader of the team (I mean in spirit more than title) and has a glare that could stop a weaker person's heart; and Rossi has a self-confident swagger about him that not even Strauss could damper. Now Reid has his moments of bold moves, extreme bravery, and UNSUB outsmarting but...well...he's not Alpha Male so, when you've got a fic with Reid and another guy (slash or not), sadly, Reid gets the "helpless" treatment.