babylonwood application
There's no exit from the speed of traffic sweeping you along,
And nobody really cares whether you make it through the wars.
The Player
User Name/Nick: Lauren
User LJ: thecowboycliche
AIM/IM: whycarolina
E-mail: geekilicious[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters: none currently
The Character
Character Name: Spencer Reid
Character Journal: numbersnfigures
Canon: Criminal Minds
Age: 28
From When?: At the end of episode 6x02 "JJ". Let me explain what I want to do with him regarding his canon point and him coming into this RP in the wake of a choice he made. This involves a bit of headcanon, so if this isn't acceptable, let me know and I will change his canon point.
I've picked this time because it was the last episode of a character named JJ who canonly got a promotion and moved on to the Department of Defense. JJ and Spencer were very close throughout the entire series. In the early episodes, it is implied that Spencer has a crush on her. He asks her on a date and they end up going out. It's never really stated how the date went, but the two don't ever start an official relationship. As the series progressed, JJ met another man and had a child with him, who became Spencer's godson. In my opinion though, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that Spencer never got over his crush on her. The writers of the show chose not to focus on the characters' personal lives much or to have the agents date each other.
My idea is that Reid had a moment to tell JJ how he felt about her before she left and he chose not to do it. He'll use his time in the wood to think about the consequences of that decision and basically to get over JJ.
Abilities/Powers: Spencer is a genius. His IQ is 187. He also has an eidetic memory and can read 20,000 words per minute. There's little that he doesn't know something about, unless it's something in popular culture. Then you'll find that he's pretty clueless. Unless it's Star Trek.
Spencer's weapon skills are moderate, though he has improved vastly over the 6 seasons of the show. During the first season, he could not even pass his weapons qualifications test, which is something that bothered him greatly because it made him feel inadequate as an FBI agent. He's put to the test during a hostage situation with an unsub and (through the magic of television!) manages a perfect shot to the unsub's forehead. Reid is not a man who is quick to use his gun. His best weapon is his mind and his words - his ability to persuade people to not harm themselves or himself or others. However, Reid is not afraid to shoot if he feels that his life or the life of somebody else is being threatened. Like many law enforcement agents, he walks the line of preferring NOT to have to shoot anyone, but being willing to use it at a second's notice if it is absolutely necessary. Short answer: he can shoot.
His biggest weakness is probably socially. As with most highly intelligent people, he has trouble reading social cues. He'll say things at inappropriate times, or not understand that people really don't care about traffic patterns in Chicago during the month of June. He has a problem with emotions and feelings too. He tries to let logic govern his life, not feelings, so sometimes he has some issues relating to others.
He's afraid of the dark because of "the inherent absence of light". He also fears that he's going to inherit his mother's schizophrenia, as it's a genetic disease, even though he's beyond the age where he typically would have developed it. Many of the cases he's done have left a permanent impact on him, particularly the one involving Tobias Hankel where he was held hostage and drugged.
Power Limitations: Since Reid's powers aren't beyond the scope of human ability (Criminal Minds presents itself as a realistic show, not sci-fi or fantasy), I don't think that anything of his needs to be limited or taken away. I will change this if you feel that it should be.
Inventory
Clothes
- boxers
- undershirt
- white button down men's shirt
- black wool button down vest
- black tie
- gray wool cardigan
- black men's business pants
- socks (mismatched - one is purple striped, the other has a green pattern on it)
- black Chuck Taylors
Items
- silver .38 Smith 65 3' revolver, loaded, with holster
- FBI credentials
- wallet containing: some cash, a debit card, his ID, a photo of he and his mom and a photo of JJ's son Henry
- wristwatch
- cell phone
- brown leather shoulder bag containing: a book, some case files, pens and pencils
Personality: Overall, Spencer Reid is a pretty friendly guy. He enjoys talking to others, although not usually about things the average person would want to talk about. He's very into numbers and statistics and comes off sounding like a textbook more often than not. Because he has a tendency to go off on a tangent like nobody's business, he's gotten used to people telling him to shut up.
He's shy when it comes to girls, mostly because he doesn't have that much experience. Being made fun of so much as a child hurt his social self image. Over the seasons he's grown much more confident in talking to women in general. Now he only flounders if some kind of a romantic element is thrown into it.
Spencer's life is governed by logic, not by feelings. Logic makes sense to him. It's based in fact, in science. Despite the fact that he studies human behavior for a living, he feels like human emotions can be erratic, while logic always makes sense. He can give you a million reasons WHY somebody does something, but as soon as you ask him how that makes him FEEL, he's at a bit of a loss. He's not a man who "goes with his gut" very often. Everything must be carefully reasoned out.
He's very curious. He always wants to know why something's happening or how something works or what's going on. Chock that up to his being a man of science. He's not nosy though. He does know when to stop asking questions (eventually).
Like the other members of Spencer's team, he is a master at observation. Little habits people have or statements that they make can be attributed to patterns of behavior that might stereotypically belong to a certain kind of person. With Spencer, he notices behavior and compares it to the myriad of statistics in his head in order to determine what such behavior could be indicative of. For example, he notes that someone has been abused as a child and that 60% of people who were abused as a child (made up percentage, jsyk) become abusers themselves. Thus, since whatever case he's working on has to do with child abusers, he can determine that he's most likely looking for someone who was abused as a child as well. His incredible ability to remember statistics is an asset to his team because it saves the time that it would take to research such information.
He can pick up well on little behaviors and idiosyncrasies. However, he is not a psychic. He cannot determine someone's entire life story based on the fact that they bite their nails. He can make assumptions, based on statistics, but people have been known to defy even statistics. There might be a concern with the mods that I will automatically make him able to determine everyone's deep dark secrets or that I might use OOC knowledge ICly in order to help him do that. Assuredly, I will try my best not to do that. If some character has a deep dark secret that they don't want anybody to find out, I would not have Spencer reveal that. I might have him suspect things in his mind, but I wouldn't want him to be such an annoying character that automatically knows everyone's secrets. IF a player wanted to have Spencer find out their secret, I would definitely plot that with them first.
Despite appearances, Spencer is actually extremely brave. He uses his wits to survive, and once kept a criminal from killing him by talking long enough for help to arrive. He takes his job seriously, and he's not afraid to do what he has to do in order to bring about justice, even if it's shooting and/or killing someone in the line of duty. Spencer doesn't like to have to do these things, and he'd rather not dwell on them, but in the moment he doesn't blink.
Spencer's also resilient. He's snapped back from a hostage/torture situation, a drug addiction, anthrax, and being shot in the leg. With his brain, he could have chosen to be a scientist and work in the private sector and make a ton more money than he is. Yet, he still does this job because he loves it and he loves the fact that at the end of the day, he's helping people.
Overall, he's pleasant, hardworking and a sweet human being who also happens to be a major geek.
History: Spencer Reid was born in Las Vegas, NV to William, a lawyer, and Diana, a college literature professor. His parents were both brilliant scholars, a trait that they passed on to their son, who turned out to be a genius with an IQ of 187. His father left the family when Spencer was about 6 because unable to deal with the fact that his wife had schizophrenia. Growing up in Las Vegas, Spencer ended up gaining an appreciation for magic, as well as for gambling and card games.
Due to his massive intelligence, Spencer skipped ahead in school, and ended up graduating high school at the age of 12. Being socially awkward and so much younger than his classmates did not lend him to making many friends. He read a lot - just about anything he could get his hands on. Since he can read 20,000 words per minute, he got through books rather quickly. They became his friends and confidants when the older kids would make fun of him (which they did quite frequently). Pretty much all of what he knows he learned from books.
After graduating from high school, he attended CalTech had earned three PhDs by the age of 21. His PhDs are in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering, and he also has degrees in Psychology and Sociology as well. Due to his interest in human behavior and scientific background, he was recruited by the FBI to work as a criminal profiler in their elite Behavioral Analysis Unit. He's the youngest member of the team, which is based out of Quantico, VA. At first, he couldn't even pass his weapons qualification, but he's grown into an agent that can fully handle himself against the unsubs ("unknown subjects" or the people they profile) he encounters.
During his time with the BAU, he has had to shoot and kill two unsubs, talked various unsubs out of killing themselves/himself/someone else, been captured by an unsub who held him hostage and drugged him, contracted anthrax, and was shot in the knee, which put him on crutches for most of a season. He also developed an addiction to dilaudid after his hostage experience and was subsequently rehabilitated. He's been clean for 2 seasons now.
When Spencer turned 18, he had to institutionalize his mother because he could not be around to take care of her full time. She resides in a sanitarium in Las Vegas, and he writes her letters every day.
First Person Sample: I wish that I had a few more sweaters with me because this one cardigan isn't enough. It may be wool, but it only buttons up to about my breastbone, thus it does not provide substantial warmth. Blankets are somewhat helpful, but I still tend to be cold. I wish there was coffee here. I feel that I'm already experiencing symptoms of mild hypothermia, including shivering, hypertension, tachycardia and vasoconstriction. There are approximately 600 deaths due to hypothermia per year in the United States. Being so thin also does not help my chances of not being part of that statistic.
Prose Sample: The bullpen was dark, but Spencer still sat at his desk, rubbing a paperclip between his thumb and forefinger and tapping his foot lightly on the carpet. He could see her standing across the room hugging Garcia as tears rolled down Garcia's cheeks. Finally, JJ turned, her bag slung over her shoulder. She gave Garcia one last goodbye, then headed out of her office towards the elevator to go home - for the last time.
The scant light in the hallway still managed to illuminate her blonde hair. Spencer rose but was rooted to his spot. His heart pounded. This was it. Who knew when the next time he would see her could be? Still, his mouth was dry and he licked his lips. "JJ, I just wanted to tell you…" "Before you leave, there's something I had to…" "JJ, you really mean so much.." All he could muster was another step forward. No, he couldn't do this. Spencer knew what her reaction would be. He knew what she thought of him and the word "love" didn't mean the same to her as it did to him. He watched her go. She couldn't see him in the dark. As he saw the metal doors to the elevator close, Spencer heaved a sigh. There was no point in sitting in the office anymore.
He started to move towards the elevator himself, but in the next moment he was falling. The blackness seemed to go on long after he should have hit the floor. Finally he found himself face down in what seemed to be wet grass. Sore from hitting it rather hard, he turned himself onto his back with great effort and stared up at a bleak looking sky framed with leafless trees. Spencer rubbed his head, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. He suddenly became aware of how cold he was, and he wrapped his cardigan more tightly around him. That's when he realized that he was laying in snow.
Spencer sat up. There was a white stone arch to his right, and it stood in sharp contrast to the surroundings. He had never seen this place before. Confused, he got to his feet and pulled his gun out of his holster. His hand shook slightly, but he kept his resolve. This would not be a repeat of Tobias Hankel, if he had anything to do with it.
"Is anyone there?"
Special Notes: none
Thanks!