Intro and discussion

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

Name: alphabet26
Age: late 20s
Location: Iowa
Favorite TV Show: I'm fickle. Right now, I'm totally in love with CM--it's all new and shiny and wonderful. But look below, and all those shows were considered favorites, too. ;)
Other Shows Watched: Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, SPN, Merlin, Project Runway, Law and Order.
Favorite Quote: "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis
Favorite Color: Purple
If I was a criminal, I'd be... not the kind they catch on "Criminal Minds." I'd be caught by the Law and Order cops, I'm sure.

*****

And now onto my discussion point. Disclaimer: I've only recently started watching the show and I pretty much marathoned my way through all the episodes thus far, so I definitely could have missed something. I'll feel kind of foolish, but you know. You'll have that.

Anyway, I've been reading a lot of fanfic lately and it seems like a lot of authors make Reid kind of...helpless. Like, can't cook, can't take care of himself, that kind of thing. Which isn't bad, but when I was watching the show and learning his backstory, I immediately thought that he'd have to be fairly decent at that kind of thing. "My mother is a paranoid schizophrenic who'd forget to eat if she wasn't properly medicated and supervised." So he had to take care of her and himself until he went off to college. It's obvious she got worse as time went on, but he said his mother didn't notice he didn't get home until midnight when he'd been tied to the goalpost because she'd had an episode.

And once he got to college...well. I guess I don't know about prodigies, but do they let 12-year-olds live in the dorms? He went to Caltech, and it seems like Diana stayed in Las Vegas. Hmm. Maybe he stayed with a host family like a foreign exchange student might?

Plus, he has Ph.D in chemistry--surely he can follow the directions in a simple recipe to make something? ;)

Anyway, your thoughts? If this was discussed previously (it doesn't look like it was discussed recently, at any rate), sorry, and if you wouldn't mind linking, I'd appreciate it!

Comments

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

Having been blessed with a bunch of friends with genius level IQs, i doubt they'd set the kitchen on fire, but I also doubt they eat properly. They just have different priorities, but I also see them able to function "normally".

I imagine Reid knows the ideas of basic nutrition and makes sure his mother ate some form of food every day. Given his...slender physique, I doubt he eats well, but I imagine he can follow a basic recipe as a set of instructions.

The question is, can he lose interest in a few minutes and just order take out and spend the time reading? Likely.

Wow, I just realized that they tied a twelve year old naked to a goal post? That is just...wow, about as horrible as I can imagine.

[jujuberry136.livejournal.com]

I know :( Even if he was a super bratty kid, what 17/18 year old could justify doing that kind of thing?

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

I just wonder how people could have let that happened. I was pretty badly bullied in school, (chased off trains) but for the most part, but I can't imagine them picking on someone so helpless? It borders on sadism, and really makes me wonder what kind of school Reid went to. No one pitied the adorable little kid?

Any fanfic about that incident?

[jujuberry136.livejournal.com]

Tons. The one that immediately comes to mind is by Nebula99, http://nebula99.livejournal.com/151392.html#cutid1

I know there are others out there, but this is one I can find immediately. Hope you enjoy.

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

buffyaddict13 mentions it in her fic Transference (http://buffyaddict13.livejournal.com/143199.html), too.

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

Right?? I sort of wonder if the writers forgot he was supposed to be 12 when they wrote that.

[jujuberry136.livejournal.com]

Bullies can tell which victims aren't going to say anything. Given that Spencer was probably in his senior year, I'm sure he figured it was better to keep his head down. Besides, his mom didn't notice he was gone. Usually the parents report these kinds of incidents, not the kids. If he reported, I'm sure the school would have wanted to talk to his mom- and he wouldn't want any increased exposure on his home life (fear of social services, I'm sure).

I think the writers knew and were just trying to think of one of the cruelest things they could imagine. I know I feel sick every time I think about it in too much depth (I'm also praying no writer was drawing from personal experience)

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

That's true, too.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

Again, speaking from personal experience, (sorry!) when I got chased off a train, I didn't tell the school. My mum was a single mother at the time and the last thing I wanted to do was tell her anything to upset her. So I get why he didn't, who wants to admit it would happen?

And that's a great point. If he reported it, his mother would have been investigated and he'd have been taken away. I wonder if that would have been better for him.

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure, Reid doesn't strike me as the type to be freaking out about getting his servings of fruits and veggies every day, either.

The question is, can he lose interest in a few minutes and just order take out and spend the time reading? Likely.

Yep, exactly. So it's more that he doesn't have the experience than the ability.

Wow, I just realized that they tied a twelve year old naked to a goal post? That is just...wow, about as horrible as I can imagine.

Yeah, that was horrible.

When he was telling that story, I sort of cringed, thinking, "Oh, Reid, you were 12. Why would you think the prettiest girl in school (who was probably, at the youngest, 16) wanted to see you?" It was just hormones and a wild hope overriding logic, but I felt so bad for him for falling for it. Poor Reid.

And seriously, how could those high schoolers do that? I mean, I can sort of wrap my head around bullying a kid the same age as you. But if you're 17, 18 years old, a 12-year-old is a child. How could you do that to a child?

I had two younger brothers who were 5 years apart, and my youngest brother was getting teased pretty bad in elementary school when he was in fifth grade. My other brother was all, "ARGH I can't do anything; I can't go beat up 10-year-olds when I'm 15!"

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

As a gifted kid myself, (though nowhere NEAR that level), I often bonded with older people far easily than kids my age, and had wildly inappropriate aged crushes. I considered my 25 year old private tutor my peer when I was 12 and truly believed that we were mentally the same age, and therefore, he would find me attractive and desirable. Happily, my tutor was a good guy and let me down gently. So I can imagine Reid had a similar experience with a worse end.

I can't get it either, I would have thought they would have treated him like a weird pet or used him for homework. Again, that's a level of sadism that freaks me out.

Good on your brother!