i feel like it kind of stripped him of who he was. He’s the nerdy, less intimidating, awkward, smart one. He knew he wasn’t an alpha male and he used it to his advantage, like when an unsub wouldn’t talk to hotch or morgan. but then prison reid (and kinda reid after that) became more of like alpha male and more aggressive and it’s a lot different than his original character. people say ‘character development’ but i don’t know i don’t think it’s much of a positive development. He kind of lost the things that made him unique and different than the team.
idk that’s just my opinion
i actually disagree with this. character development doesn’t have to be positive. yes, prison stripped reid of who he was - that’s what prison does to people. i hate the narrative that “trauma makes you stronger” for reasons i won’t get into, but something trauma definitely does do is make you different. no, spencer didn’t use is intellect to his advantage - because he was stuck in a horrible situation with no power, almost no hope - it makes sense that his capacity to think straight would be damaged, too.
i don’t think he became more of an alpha male, i think he did what he had to do to literally survive and not get murdered in prison, and i think that hypervigilance, which morphed into aggression, stayed with him after he got out. he didlose a lot of what made him unique and different than the team. because that’s what prison does. it strips you of your identity. of your best qualities.
on a related note, i know a lot of people take issue with the fact that reid’s autistic characteristics become less as the series goes on, and i think to some extent maybe this is true. however, i don’t think it’s because he “became the hot one.” i think it’s because he realized in his job he needed to learn to mask more and more, and especially in prison - i tried to read about autistic people in prison for a fic once and i literally couldn’t handle reading about it because how they were treated was so horrible. i could see prison causing spencer to mask so hard that he would absolutely burn out (resulting in the previously mentioned aggression) and then continue to mask excessively after that in order to keep himself from seeming vulnerable as much as possible.
and i don’t think he loses all those traits - we see him bond with the little girl over his hyperfixation about fungi, we see him wearing soft sweaters, we see him infodumping. but we don’t see that same awkward, stimmy, socially stunted kid because he’s learned to hide so much of that out of necessity. he understands that he gets more respect when he hides that aspect of himself. it’s sad, and frustrating, and depressing, and awful, but i honestly think that’s the reality of life as an autistic FBI agent.
i know we put all this emphasis onto the positivity of embracing autistic traits and not masking and being who we deserve to be - which is great and wonderful and important - but as someone who has been in the workforce for almost 20 years, i can assure you that you have gotto mask if you want to keep most jobs, and it sucks and it’s isolating and it hurts but there’s not really a whole lot you can do about it most of the time. you have to adapt to what other people want, or they will kick you to the curb and you will be left without a paycheck.
so, in conclusion - not all character development is positive, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. reid’s character develops a lot in season 12, and it’s hard to watch, and it’s very frustrating, but i think it’s actually quite realistic and in line with what he’s gone through, the things he’s seen and endured, the position he’s been put in.
and i do think he gets some of those traits back eventually, but not all of them, and not quickly, and that makes sense given what he’s been through.
This is all right, and you should say it. Autistic adults exist, and showing how life experiences and different stages mold us is important.
Literally no person remains the same over the course of 20 years (even without trauma). Autistic people are just like everyone else. We are not static, nor are we perpetual children. Please let us grow up.
I completely sympathize with the younger Autistic people who no longer see themselves in late seasons Reid… but thats’s because he’s not representative of you anymore. He’s representative of older Autistic adults, and that’s important, too.
These are some of my fic recs from June 3rd, 2022 to June 10th, 2022!
Extremes by flylikeajailbird, T, WIP, Spencer Reid & BAU Team, Autism, Autistic Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia Has ADHD, Stimming, Sensory Overload, Meltdowns, Hyperempathy, Hypoempathy, Ableism, BAU as Family
Autism comes with extremes.
❤️Home for more than oneby@glowingspence, G, 1.7k, Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi, Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Established Relationship, Autism, Autistic Spencer Reid, Parental David Rossi, Parental Aaron Hotchner
Jack and Spencer decide to adopt multiple bunnies. Hotch is not pleased and afraid how Rossi will react.
Prompt:“Bunnies EVERYWHERE!”
Meet Me Where They Stop Timeby@chaotic-librarian, E, WIP, Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid/Sam Winchester, Supernatural (TV Show), Fake/Pretend Relationship, Case Fic, Supernatural Elements, Magic, Bottom Spencer Reid, Top Aaron Hotchner
Prentiss and Morgan decide that Reid is dating FAS Director Sam Winchester, and Reid decides not to dispute it. So what happens when a team of profilers believe in a lie?
❤️Tell Ourselves a Good Lieby@writer-in-theory, E, 4.6k, Spencer Reid/GN!reader, 17+ for suggestive scenes and heavy topics, heavy discussions of addiction recovery, past drug use, narcotics anonymous meetings (only mentions going to them), language, angst, forbidden love
Spencer falls for the one person who is untouchable to him: his sponsor. He knows it’s a bad idea, but is he willing to take the risk?
the closer you are the less you’ll see by@panevanbuckley, G, 3.9k, Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, 5+1 Things, POV Outsider, Secret Relationship, Secretly Married, Established Relationship, Fluff, Spencer Reid is Jack Hotchner’s Parent, i wanna say this is set post season 5, but honestly it can be whenever you want, this is purely self-indulgent, i just want my boys to be happy, no beta we die like every damn member of the bau’s hopes and dreams of a normal life
5 times the team completely miss the signs of Hotch and Reid’s relationship, plus 1 time they finally get it
❤️Consequencesby@justiceforralvez, T, WIP, Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Fuck Or Die, Aftermath, Mutual Pining, Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, References to Depression, Shovel Talk, Sexuality Crisis, Miscommunication, But only a little because that’s annoying, Getting Together, Eventual Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Protective Derek Morgan, Protective David Rossi, Domestic Fluff, Fluff
Hotch and Spencer deal with the aftermath of what happened. Both feeling guilty for different reasons, but mostly for enjoying what happened so much.
This is them trying to navigate potentially being more than just coworkers, despite the unorthodox beginning to their relationship.
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