Dr. Lance Sweets

Bones

An FBI psychologist hired at the age of 22, at first Lance spends a lot of time and effort trying to get the people he's assigned to counsel--Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan--to take him seriously. When he finally succeeds, the three of them slowly grow to become close friends and form one of the most important relationships of Lance's life.

Gentle and compassionate, Lance is a perfect fit for his chosen occupation and is very successful as a psychologist and a profiler for the FBI. Although that remains his primary occupation, he also ends up becoming an FBI special agent so he can watch his friend and coworker Booth's back while out in the field; Booth initially opposes the idea but Lance persists, too determined to be dissuaded, and that determination extends to pretty much everything he does.

Quick-witted and socially adept on top of his psychology training, Lance navigates professional situations easily and effectively but has more difficulty in his personal life, where he sometimes allows his doubts and insecurities to take over. He's empathetic and even-tempered but can be quite scathing, and often responds defensively to personal remarks despite constantly dishing them out to other people. Ultimately, he cares deeply for other people and tries to both be a good person himself and help others to be as well.

His last words show off his personality best of all; he uses his final moments to reassure a shaken, angry Booth that, "The world is a lot better than you think it is." And Lance genuinely believes that to the very end.

Mediator

Strengths:

EMPATHY: Naturally attuned to people and and their emotions, he feels strongly for others and his moods are easily influenced by those of the people around him.

DETERMINATION: He's exceptionally difficult to deter from a goal once he's set his mind to it, especially if it's something he's personally invested in.

INTEGRITY: He has a strong sense of wrong and right, and sticks to it even in difficult situations. He's also generally pacifistic on a personal level, only resorting to fighting in cases of self-defense, and can't even bring himself to kill spiders or lobsters.

INTELLIGENCE: He's very highly intelligent, and although he doesn't pretend otherwise he also usually doesn't call attention to it.

ALTRUISM: Although he does have limits, he generally puts his friends and innocent people's needs first and will go to great risks if necessary to help or protect them.

RESILIENCY: He's quick to recover from and mentally process traumatic events, although not always without suffering some lasting effects.

SELF-RELIANCE: Despite preferring to have friends he can go to if necessary, he grew up very quickly and is extremely independent. He'll ask for and accept help on some issues, but is entirely capable of and willing to handle most situations on his own.

Weaknesses:

INSECURITY: His confidence varies wildly and is usually fragile; he often takes insults and judgements toward him very personally. This also causes him to become competitive and jealous in some circumstances.

DEFENSIVENESS: If he feels threatened or judged he can be very defensive, and this sometimes leads to snappish comments or passive-aggressiveness.

INSENSITIVITY: Despite being very compassionate and empathetic, sometimes his curiosity or personal interests take precedence and he can end up acting insensitively.

DISTRUSTING: Although expressive and warm with his friends, he's still very secretive about more serious personal issues and takes a long time to trust people.

SARCASM: He can be very sarcastic, and not always at appropriate times.

MANIPULATIVENESS: He can be very purposefully and skillfully manipulative, and although it's a trait he doesn't like to encourage in himself he definitely uses it to his advantage if he feels the situation calls for it.

Abilities:

PSYCHOLOGY: He's professionally trained in psychology and also works as a criminal profiler, and so is adept at analyzing and predicting actions and personality traits. He's particularly good at reading when someone is lying.

CHESS: An officially-ranked chess player while in college, he admits to becoming too obsessed with the game and having to quit. He's still very skilled ten years later.

PIANO/SINGING/MUSIC: He's a talented piano player, even playing professionally for a time, and is also a capable singer. He has a general knowledge of music structure and composition.

MARKSMANSHIP: He's ranked as a master-level marksman in the FBI, although he rarely ever uses his weapon in the field.

WRITING: He has written three books, as well as several psychology-related papers.

FIRST AID: He's capable of advanced first aid techniques, including stitches. Some of this is from formal lessons, such as the basics taught to agents at the FBI, and some picked up from his own experiences or taught to him while in Hadriel.

MAGIC: A new skill learned in Hadriel; Lance is naturally talented at magic and has learned several spells.

Description: Lance is 6'0", with dark brown eyes and hair; his hair is naturally curly and gets even more so (and more ridiculous) the longer it gets. Although difficult to see without the right lighting or being close to him, he has freckles on his nose and under his eyes. He tends to appear much younger than his actual age, which is 31, and has a slender but athletic build.

Demeanor: In a normal social situation, Lance is very expressive; he gestures a lot, makes faces, and is outwardly casual and relaxed. With strangers he's friendly but reserved, but with the friends he's dramatic and active. In a serious or formal situation he's usually intense and controlled, and gets quiet and withdrawn when seriously upset. He isn't a huge fan of physical contact with anyone other than friends, and tends to subtly keep his distance from people.

Voice: He has a low but not particularly deep voice, and can sing; he and his girlfriend Daisy attend competitive karaoke competitions. He's just as expressive with his voice as he is with his face, although he's fond of delivering his sarcasm very dryly. He normally speaks softly and rarely raises his voice unless surprised or trying to be heard over environmental noise.

After a difficult and traumatic early life, Lance was adopted at six by a loving couple. With them, he excelled in music and academia, going to college at 14 and ending up with two doctorates by the time he was 22.

He was soon after hired by the FBI as a clinical psychologist, where he met Special Agent Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperence Brennan when he was assigned to provide counselling to them. Even after their mandatory counselling was over he began to get involved in their cases, offering criminal profiling knowledge and beginning to form an incredibly important friendship with them and the others on Dr. Brennan's team. He also began a relationship with Daisy Wick, one of Dr. Brennan's interns, and Lance and Daisy dated on and off for the next several years.

As Lance became more and more involved in cases and spent more time with Booth in the field, he decided to become an FBI agent in order to avoid relying on Booth to protect him in dangerous situations. When he was 26 he officially became an FBI Special Agent, which gave him more options in helping investigate cases.

The stress of working with the FBI took a toll on him, and he temporarily quit after a particularly difficult case. He returned to the FBI shortly before a conspiracy within the organization was uncovered, and that conspiracy caused Booth to be falsely imprisoned for several months. Lance assisted in the investigation, but was murdered by a hitman in order to prevent evidence he'd collected from falling into the hands of Booth and Dr. Brennan's team. Lance was 29.

Lance arrived in hadriel in the middle of the fight that claimed his life in canon. Almost immediately he became involved in just about everything, and over the next two years he was a part of many of the big conflicts and decision as the plot progressed. He survived the final battle and left Hadriel for another world, but that didn't work out quite as he expected.

(@meadowlark history to be added!)

R_Character

Descriptor. Lorem ipsum

R_Character

Descriptor. Lorem ipsum

R_Character

Descriptor. Lorem ipsum

Shine On Bright Star
James Harland-Wright, Louise Dowd

♫

I will follow you
Out of the dark
I will promise to
Protect you from harm

Trust in me and I will trust in you

Shine on bright star
Know love's never far
Know there's always hope
Know you're not alone

Not I
I Fight Dragons

♫

Everything you plant will die
The seasons all will pass you by
All your plans will go awry
So who's afraid to live?
Not I

Everyone you know will lie
Those you trust will make you cry
All hellos end with goodbye
So who's afraid to love?
Not I

Name
The Goo Goo Dolls

♫

And now we're grown up orphans
That never knew their names
We don't belong to no one
That's a shame

But you could hide beside me
Maybe for a while
And I won't tell no one your name
And I won't tell 'em your name

Love Song Requiem
Trading Yesterday

♫

She belongs to fairy tales
That I could never be
The future haunts with memories
That I could never have
And hope is just a stranger
Wondering how it got so bad

Run
Snow Patrol

♫

Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak
I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

The Driver
Bastille

♫

Hey now
What’s the gravity upon your face
So I’m the one who’s bleeding
Real men always thinking with our fists
My turn to be the victim

Big boys don’t cry
They don’t ask why

Edge of the Ocean
ivy

♫

There's a place I dream about
Where the sun never goes out
And the sky is deep and blue
Won't you take me there with you

Oh we can begin again
Shed our skin
Let the sun shine in
At the edge of the ocean
We can start over again

Sinking Man
Of Monsters and Men

♫

I push you away
Although I wish you could stay
So many words left unsaid
But I'm all out of breath

Cold dark sea
Your waves are rocking me
I close my eyes and fall asleep
All eyes on me
Your eyes on me

Same Sea
Lights

♫

And when the currents take us out again
To opposite oceans
Out of the hands of safety
From the shallows to the deepest end
Places we break and bend
You're the one in it with me

No matter how far we get
Oceans we are in still connect
And when the currents circle back again
They'll carry us with them
To the arms of the same sea

Sunlight Through the Flags
Snow Patrol

♫

These accidents of faith and nature
They tend to stick in the spokes of you
But every now and then the trend bucks
And you're repaired by more than glue

Why don't you rest your fragile bones
A minute ago you looked alone
Stop waving your arms you're safe and dry
Breathe in and drink up the winter sky

I Lived
One Republic

♫

Hope that you spend your days
But they all add up
And when that sun goes down
Hope you raise your cup

I did it all
I owned every second
That this world could give
I saw so many places
The things that I did
Yeah with every broken bone
I swear I lived

My Friends
Oh Wonder

♫

Oh my friends
I am ready
Can I beat within your heart
Can I bleed within your love
Oh my friends

And I can't forget it
All of the love, all of the love
As we stood tall together
All of the love, all of the love

Holding On and Letting Go
Ross Copperman

♫

Is anybody out there?
Is anybody listening?
Does anybody really know?
If it's the end or the beginning

It's everything you wanted
It's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open
And one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go

☄ OOC

♚ BACKTAGGING: Go for it! My tagging speed ranges so I totally understand delays and backtagging is great. If it's something time sensitive though I'd love to work out generally what happens through PM while we continue tagging.
♚ FOURTHWALLING: I doubt this'll come up, but I'd prefer to avoid it.
♚ PHYSICAL AFFECTION: Feel free to go for it in a tag, just make sure to leave opportunity for a reaction!
♚ PHYSICAL VIOLENCE: I'm generally fine with this without needing to check first, again as long as there's room left by your tag for a reaction. For anything serious, though, please PM or contact me on plurk! It'll probably be fine, but there may be details that are relevant that need discussed.
♚ RELATIONSHIPS: This would be something I'd definitely want to discuss before doing anything.
♚ OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS: Generally nothing for me, although I'll PM or message if something does come up. Otherwise just put in content warnings where appropriate for anyone reading the threads.
♚ WARNINGS: Lance's backstory contains child abuse, and due to his jobs as a psychologist, criminal profiler, and FBI agent, he's seen and dealt with a lot of crimes involving triggering subjects. I try to make sure to warn for everything when it comes up, but if there's anything in particular you want avoided entirely (or if you don't want me to tag you at all) please let me know!
♚ SENSING LIES: Being a psychologist and criminal profiler, Lance is very adept at reading body language, tone, and other subtle indicators of motive and intent. He's particularly talented at discerning if someone is lying, whether outright or by omission, but this is by no means any sort of supernatural power and he's been wrong before. Is it okay to use info from narrative/brackets to figure out if your character is lying or omitting information? He won't know what the truth is, just that they're not being at all/entirely truthful.
♚ READING EMOTIONS: Similar to above; is it okay to get a sense of your character's feelings using narrative/brackets information that isn't obvious? This is basically for reading subtle changes in emotion or expression that exist but aren't readily apparent.
♚ CODE: If you'd be willing to fill out the form below for what's okay or not, it would help me out a lot! All comments are screened.

<span style="color: #97291a; font-size: 8pt; font-weight:bold">♚ WARNINGS:</span> (Is there anything you'd like to avoid?)<br /> <span style="color: #97291a; font-size: 8pt; font-weight:bold">♚ SENSING LIES:</span> (Is it okay to use info from narrative/brackets to figure out if your character is lying or omitting information? He won't know what the truth is, just that they're not being at all/entirely truthful.)<br /> <span style="color: #97291a; font-size: 8pt; font-weight:bold">♚ READING EMOTIONS:</span> (Is it okay to get a sense of your character's feelings using narrative/brackets information that isn't obvious? This is basically for reading subtle changes in emotion or expression that exist but aren't readily apparent.)<br />

Ami