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A meme of sorts
I saw this recently on FFA and didn't want to answer there, but I immediately thought of Biggles, as one does.
Pick one of your canons and let us know which characters would be the best at the following tasks!
1. Shadowing/stalking a complete stranger without getting spotted
2. Capturing and tagging rare birds
3. Participating in a swimming marathon
4. Lead the defence of a besieged medieval city
5. Writing and drawing a comic that makes people laugh
1. obviously von Stalhein, it's canon (though in canon he seems to get caught a lot when he does it)
2. this seems like a Bertie thing
3. I swear I'm not trying to spread it out intentionally across the whole cast but I honestly could see Ginger doing this more easily than any of the others; I don't think they'd be interested. (Biggles: does it have wings? then no.) Ginger seems more, idk, intentionally sporty than the rest.
4. again (more or less) canon for Biggles and von Stalhein, and I feel as if the two of them together are the ideal anyway; von Stalhein's strategic thinking combined with Biggles's out of the box brilliance. (But I think either of them could do it alone, too.)
5. Algy, for sure
What about your canons?
Pick one of your canons and let us know which characters would be the best at the following tasks!
1. Shadowing/stalking a complete stranger without getting spotted
2. Capturing and tagging rare birds
3. Participating in a swimming marathon
4. Lead the defence of a besieged medieval city
5. Writing and drawing a comic that makes people laugh
1. obviously von Stalhein, it's canon (though in canon he seems to get caught a lot when he does it)
2. this seems like a Bertie thing
3. I swear I'm not trying to spread it out intentionally across the whole cast but I honestly could see Ginger doing this more easily than any of the others; I don't think they'd be interested. (Biggles: does it have wings? then no.) Ginger seems more, idk, intentionally sporty than the rest.
4. again (more or less) canon for Biggles and von Stalhein, and I feel as if the two of them together are the ideal anyway; von Stalhein's strategic thinking combined with Biggles's out of the box brilliance. (But I think either of them could do it alone, too.)
5. Algy, for sure
What about your canons?
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I love that #4 is basically canon :D I would have said Biggles in general, since von Stalhein at that point is good as a second in command more than a leader. I think EvS could do it better in the early canon when he isn't quite so messed up.
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... And now I want fic that puts him in this kind of "strategic leader" role, at any point in canon, honestly - it would be interesting to see him do it in, say, Flies East era, when he definitely *would* be good at it; interesting to see him do it in the general pre-Hatchet time period when things are falling apart for him, or post-Hatchet when he's maybe pushed into filling Biggles's role if Biggles is hurt or absent ...
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Surely 2 and 3 ought to be reversed? Ginger seems at least vaguely interested in (...though perhaps it's more like Is Commonly Beset By) nature, and we know Bertie is a strong swimmer from Takes Charge, in that scene where he goes "if I can't swim a couple hundred yards I deserve to drown" about a cold lake and Biggles instantly morphs into the Mom Friend :-D
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Absolutely the first thing that comes to mind in RE: air-crime-related reasons for collecting and tagging birds:
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Help this conversation has given me 4 or 5 fic ideas already ...
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Now I’m amusing myself by giving each of them the job they’d be worst at:
1. Tricky, they’d all be fairly good at this. Ginger has conspicuous red hair, but he also has that streetwise background. Perhaps Bertie might be the worst at it, he’s a straightforward soul.
2. I think they’d all find this a bit of a challenge! I don’t think any of them alone would be much good, they would need to operate as a team.
3. I think Biggles would be the least naturally good at this, but we all know Biggles is entirely capable of overruling any physical limitations with sheer willpower <3
4. Ginger would not enjoy being in charge of a besieged city, and nor would Bertie. They could do it, but they would spend the entire time going ‘if Biggles was here he would do x.’
5. Even Biggles has to admit that EvS is a bit lacking in the sense of humour department, though I daresay with a gentleman’s education he can draw.
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Honestly, von Stalhein *does* have a sense of humor, it's just very dry and deadpan - close to Biggles', even. And I actually do headcanon him being able to draw because of having a classical education. Would love to see it come out that he's been supporting himself in London with a secret career as a political cartoonist ... :D
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The trouble with the ‘worst at’ way round is that it shows up that they’re all very competent guys, at least with this range of skills. So now I’m thinking up a list of different tasks that they might struggle with a bit more:
1. Take charge of a class of 5yos for the day
2. Prepare and serve a three course dinner
3. Conduct a group of musicians
4. Assist to deliver a baby
5. Look after a garden
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1. EvS, although the idea of Erich being mobbed by 5-year-olds is adorable. But he would probably be the one most prone to being completely unable to either get them to do what he wants or get down on their level and play with them.
2. Biggles (all food groups are represented by bully beef, biscuits, and cigarettes)
3. Toss-up between Biggles and Ginger; we know Biggles can't sing, but might've encountered at least *some* musical education at school. Ginger probably doesn't even have that much.
4. I mean, honestly, all of them, though I think wateroverstone is right that Biggles is probably the one who would be least hopeless; he'd just apply determination and get the job done. Bertie probably also has some experience with animal babies that might come in handy, and EvS is suave enough to act like he knows what he's doing even when he doesn't. Algy and Ginger would just be a ball of awkwardness.
5. Biggles for sure. The others would probably all at least TRY. Biggles would plant some seeds and then proceed to think of nothing but airplanes for the next 6 mos and wonder what happened to the garden.
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2 Must be a Bertie skill. He’s the hunin’ shootin’ fishin’ one who knows about animals so I imagine he knows birds too.
3 Definitely Bertie. He’s described as a strong swimmer in Combined Operation and Fails to Return gives him athletic pursuits though I agree with Philomytha that ’we all know Biggles is entirely capable of overruling any physical limitations with sheer willpower ‘EvS also is a strong swimmer
4 Biggles would always take charge of a besieged city, aided and abetted by Algy. .EvS would gather intelligence for them whilst Bertie would want to blow things up.
5 I think EvS. I think his drawings would be sharp precise and caricatures: not kind but funny
For the second five
I think Biggles might be quite good in charge of a class of five year olds: he’d arrange them in immaculate crocodiles for a long walk and teach them drill and inappropriate history and geography from his lived experiences. The kids would all adore Bertie who would make them laugh.
Bertie’s the only one in canon whoever does more than heat up a can of soup or make porridge so I think he could prepare and serve a three course dinner. Biggles’ entry of a tin of soup followed by jammy crackers or cheese and biscuits obviously would be disqualified for him not actually cooking anything from scratch. Likewise Ginger’s mixed all sorts aren’t quite a balanced three course meal.
Despite Algy’s ability to bang out a tune on the Mess piano,I think Bertie with his ability to play twiddly guitar tunes is the more musical so he can conduct, although EvS violin player extraordinaire may be the better and more able to complete this task successfully.
Delivering a baby is obviously in Biggles’s line. He loves to give first aid so I doubt he’d consider any of his comrades more able to deliver a baby than himself, and as long as everything goes smoothly he’ll probably thoroughly enjoy the experience and insist on being godfather.
Algy’s sunflower growing experience obviously makes him the most competent to look after a garden.
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1. there's a number of options of characters who COULD do this if they felt sufficiently motivated, but of all of them Hua Cheng would be the most successful I think due to his Supreme ghost powers
2. depends on the kind of bird. cute songbirds: nie huaisang, canonically. dangerous monstrous birds: shen qingqiu will fight anyone else for the honour.
3. Black Water Sinking Ships, no question. though several Jiang disciples would believe they would be the best.
4. lead an attack against a medieval city: many options. lead the DEFENSE.......I suppose I'd go with Yue Qingyuan. He did canonically fail to defend Cang Qiong in PIDW but in his defense that was against the protagonist halo of luo binghe. Otherwise Yue Qingyuan is overpowered as heck and absolutely has the mental game to handle a siege. As long as it isn't og!sqq doing the besieging.
5. Wei Wuxian would write amazing comics. I would read that. (shen qingqiu would also write very funny comics but the key difference is that he would not intend them to be funny.)
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Apologies for being slightly off topic for this post, but I think this is relevant to your interests. Hypothetically, suppose a person discovered their spouse owned a very old Biggles omnibus which included the following books: Biggles, Pioneer Air Fighter, Biggles Flies South, Biggles in the Orient, Biggles Defies the Swastika and Biggles in the Jungle. Which one might be a good place to start?
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I'd recommend starting with either Pioneer Air Fighter (short, atmospheric, fairly realistic WWI stories, probably what Johns was best at) or Defies the Swastika (a swift-paced and breathless behind-the-lines WW2 action-adventure set in Norway that also features his nemesis Von Stalhein), depending on which you're in the mood for.
I don't think I'd necessarily begin with Biggles in the Orient but it's a fun and genuinely mysterious WW2-era murder mystery with - as the title suggests - some racist elements. Of the other two, Flies South is 100% 1930s pulp adventure with a not inconsiderable amount of Oh No This Is Pretty Racist, and I haven't read In the Jungle but have a bad feeling from the name.
I hope this helps!
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I haven't read In the Jungle but have a bad feeling from the name.
I LOL'ed because almost certainly yes. Consider my expectations managed! I will give Pioneer Air Fighter a go.
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