The Black Tapes Podcast

Name: Kim

Age: 42

Contact: PM @aproclivity on plurk,aproclivity#8377

Character(s) in game: N/A

Permissions: here

Character Name: Alex Reagan

Age: 31

Canon: The Black Tapes Podcast

Canon point: The end of 212

History: Short and general version Alex Reagan is a Canadian born journalist who went to the University of Vancouver before heading to Seattle to work at Pacific Northwest Stories (which is kinda like NPR). After working as a segment producer for several years with her friend Nic Silver, Alex broached the idea of doing a podcast on people doing interesting jobs. The first job they were going to focus on was one of paranormal investigator, but while interviewing different paranormal investigators one name kept popping up: Dr. Richard Strand of the Strand Institute, a paranormal investigator who is a rational skeptic(™) and who seeks to disprove all instances of anything paranormal.

After badgering Strand into an interview, Alex stumbles across some black VHS cassette cases, and Strand informs her that those are the cases he can’t scientifically disprove. Yet. From then on, Alex’s podcast takes the form of focusing on the Strand Institute and their “enigmatic founder Dr. Richard Strand” and the videos that he shows her. At first, the videos appear to have no connection, but as we come more entrenched in the shows mythos, the narrative stretches to demons, shadow figures hunting children, ancient religious cults, murders with upside down faces, Dr. Strand’s missing and presumed dead wife Coralee, physics, sacred geometry, murderous music and whether or not Alex’s own show has somehow brought about the end of the word in a demonic apocalypse. Oops. Longer and more in depth history. (in lieu of a decent wiki entry.)

Personality:

• Recklessness: One of the things that is definitely a major part of Alex’s personality (especially at this canon point) is how reckless Alex is. While amplified by her lack of sleep, Alex is so reckless that she seems to lack any sense of self preservation. Running into danger head on is something that Alex does often even (perhaps even especially) when people are telling her not too. When someone tells Alex not to do something it seems to be the fastest way to make her do something. Even when Nic is present with her, Alex breaks into Maddie Franks’ apartment and admits to it on the podcast despite Nic reiterating it with her about what a dumb idea it is. Recording Strand, going into a parking garage to meet an unknown person, going to Turkey to meet with an admitted mass murderer who’s escaped from a mental hospital are all things that Alex does with abandon despite what it costs. Even continuing on with the story itself is a reckless act.
• Determination: One of the things at the very core of Alex’s personality is her determination. It’s shown over and over again in the series, right from the theme that has Strand’s “returning one of 11 phone calls from someone named Alex Reagan.” That’s one of the first things that you need to know about her and how that leads into her persistence. Even when Strand quits the show for three months, Alex still reaches out to him very frequently before heading to Chicago to find where he’s holed up in his office. Moving through the show, Alex just throws herself against brick wall and brick wall until they break. In many ways Alex’s unstoppable force of personality is played to be a foil against Strand’s being an unmovable object as they are both defining characteristics for both characters.
• Single mindedness.:When she is on the trail of a story, especially one Alex is personally involved in (like the Black Tapes) everything other than that is tangential. Things that should be important to her like journalism ethics, Strand’s personal life and even the law go right out of the window especially if she thinks someone is hiding something from her. However, in many ways, Alex’s determination also makes her like a puppy with a bone. Determination and perseverance make her jump into things feet first and recorder out, even when cooler heads prevail. She is determined to understand what is going on around her, and to seek not only her truths but the truths of people around her.
• Curiosity: A large part of Alex’s seeking truth comes from an intense curiosity. Her podcast is first meant to be about interesting jobs done by interesting people because these are things that she is curious about. The fact that Alex’s favorite adjective seems to be “enigmatic” definitely points to things that she wants to understand. Indeed, the reason that Alex lies to get back into Strand’s equipment cabinet to see those black tape cases are because she is curious about them, and of course what they mean to him.
• Empathy: Part of the reason that people tend to connect with Alex other than through her persistence is through her empathy. The closest thing that Alex has to a superpower is her empathy. This empathy makes people want to trust her (honestly even when they shouldn't) so she can get people who otherwise wouldn't open up about people or experiences that they've had. Her charm goes hand and hand with this and it's one of the ways that she gets people like law enforcement to open up files and cases and give her access to things that she really shouldn't have access to. Even when something is horrifying, Alex can still have empathy for it. When watching an interview between Simon Reese and a court appointed psychologist, during which Simon snaps and starts banging his head on a table, Alex’s empathy lies with Simon rather than the psychologist who is being paid to be there.

Suitability: Alex Reagan is from a horror podcast that in part inspired TMA. She’s definitely the sort of person who cannot leave supernatural things alone, even when she knows that she should. Being driven to know things even to the expense of her sleep, health, professional reputation and friendships there’s no way that Alex would let herself be drawn away from the mysteries involved at ADI into the normal world.

Powers/Abilities: Investigative journalist, researcher, annoyingly persistent and easy for Alex to gain someone’s trust.

Entity Affinity: The Eye. Alex is driven to figure out things and to know them even at the expense of everything else. During her show she literally says so. Even though her drive to solve the story and to know things causes Alex to lose her ability to sleep, her health because of not sleeping, her professional reputation and both professional and personal relationships, she never stops and she won’t.

Inventory: 1. Her audio recorder
2. Her bag containing: her phone, wallet, multiple notebooks, multiple pens, a phone charger and back up battery pack, a charger for her recorder
3. Her red trench coat
4. her glasses
5. a copy of the file on Thomas Warren

Samples: Log
Network