Het!Reid vs. Slashy!Reid

[poeticpathetic.livejournal.com]

We had a great discussion going on here about Reid as written in slash fics.  Some people touched on Reid written in het fics as well and I was hoping to explore that a little more.   I know het isn't as popular amongst fandoms as slash is (and this is across the board), but I've seen two distinct variations of Reid in het fics, and I'm new to the genre.  There's the confident, self-assured Reid who's clearly aware of what he's doing, and then there's the Reid who is a total fumble and fail and lets whoever he's with sort of take over.  What do you think is more accurate and why do you think we see two ends of the spectrum?  What episodic evidence do we have when it comes to formulating Reid's sex-life, if any, and how do you interpret it?

Comments

[emmakitty.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. Reid's self confidence is seen a lot even in non-sexual encounters (like in that halloween episode and when he blows up the film canister in the bullpen) but his awkwardness is there too, sometimes. Like in that episode with the bartender, he says something like he doesn't know how to start the conversation, but then once Morgan gives him some tips on how to start it, he totally works it on his own. I think that's one of the things that makes him such an interested character (and that really speaks to MGG's skill as an actor) -- how so many seemingly contrary characteristics (shyness and self-confidence) legitimately exist in this one character