So I've been jossed
Feb. 28th, 2004 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indriand over some pathetic small detail that nevertheless completely destroys my almost-finished fic. I spent some time thinking about possible re-writes this morning, but they would all involve me starting almost from scratch, beginning with my background research. Any half-hearted edit would lose the pacing and tension of the current version.
Besides, the point on which I've been jossed seems quite unbelievable to me. Why, during ten decades of powered flight, would Spike never have been on an aeroplane? I can understand Angel not having flown before, as he occasionally suffers from a mild form of technophobia and he was just a little preoccupied for most of the twentieth century, but Spike? He likes his modern conveniences and he's always out for a thrill. He has great physical courage, no known fear of heights (please don't tell me that's why he fell from the tower), nor any other reason why he wouldn't get on a plane.
Oh, I understand why an intercontinental flight might pose a vampire a bit of a problem, even to one willing to hide under blankets and snarl at anyone pulling up a blind, but can anyone not imagine 1930s Spike, with goggles on and a little leather Biggles hat, scamming his way into a night flight and a near-death experience or two? Like fast cars -- but in the air!
So I think Spike was lying. Of course he's been on a plane, just as he's been on a submarine and a zeppelin and a motorcycle. He was just saying that so be kind to Angel.
[And for my next rant: Spike and languages. An explanation as to why he can speak Fyarl but doesn't know Latin, German or Chinese, despite a nineteenth century education and a century of travel.]
Besides, the point on which I've been jossed seems quite unbelievable to me. Why, during ten decades of powered flight, would Spike never have been on an aeroplane? I can understand Angel not having flown before, as he occasionally suffers from a mild form of technophobia and he was just a little preoccupied for most of the twentieth century, but Spike? He likes his modern conveniences and he's always out for a thrill. He has great physical courage, no known fear of heights (please don't tell me that's why he fell from the tower), nor any other reason why he wouldn't get on a plane.
Oh, I understand why an intercontinental flight might pose a vampire a bit of a problem, even to one willing to hide under blankets and snarl at anyone pulling up a blind, but can anyone not imagine 1930s Spike, with goggles on and a little leather Biggles hat, scamming his way into a night flight and a near-death experience or two? Like fast cars -- but in the air!
So I think Spike was lying. Of course he's been on a plane, just as he's been on a submarine and a zeppelin and a motorcycle. He was just saying that so be kind to Angel.
[And for my next rant: Spike and languages. An explanation as to why he can speak Fyarl but doesn't know Latin, German or Chinese, despite a nineteenth century education and a century of travel.]
no subject
Date: 2004-02-28 01:04 pm (UTC)I listened to the show again to be able to figure out how much German Spike really doesn't know. First, I just watched that one scene, and thought that of course he should have known more than his 'vampire' guess. But, then I rewound to the part where he told us he was nabbed in Madrid; so its not like he was around Germans to have picked up the language.
The driving drunk in daylight is supposed to be unwise: he's drunk. As far as the morning jogs, I think we're supposed to assume that he's mostly running from the closest sewer, which considerably reduces the distance and the risk. I wouldn't be surprised by the idea of him flying on an airplane, but I wouldn't assume it.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-28 10:02 pm (UTC)Oh, entirely. One of them is one of my brothers, which rather skews my perception of things :)
he told us he was nabbed in Madrid; so its not like he was around Germans to have picked up the language
Good point. Maybe Dru loathes the sound of German so they've never been to any German-speaking countries except very briefly.
My point about the drunk driving is just that he has no qualms about behaviour that others might see as foolhardy.
I wouldn't be surprised by the idea of him flying on an airplane, but I wouldn't assume it.
Whereas I did. Really, I'd have much less trouble fanwanking this if it didn't contradict my fic.
Please don't mind my grumbling.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-29 11:19 am (UTC)Didn't Roger Wyndham-Price say they'd last met when Spike was attacking an orphanage in Vienna? I agree with Kita, though, that Spike would hardly need to be able to speak the language in order to eat the orphans. Incidentally, 19th century English speakers thought German was very beautiful, just not very manly (the language was ideal for talking about music, fairy tales and 'love in all its forms' according to Mark Twain, but useless for anything martial) so William probably would have found it delightful. The modern perception of German as an ugly language is a post-WWI development.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-01 05:09 am (UTC)I think I've been presuming that Spike has some capability with languages because of the fact that he'd picked up Fyarl, a language he clearly did not learn at school. I'm just having to revise my perception of him.
19th century English speakers thought German was very beautiful, just not very manly
Very interesting; I did not know that. It is remarkable how fluid these sorts of perceptions are.