I totally agree with your overall point--I've seen far too many people write to cater to their audiences instead of to themselves, and the result is just bad fic. I write fic because I enjoy doing it, and I post it because I think other people might enjoy it too.
That said, I ask the fanon question because for me, no matter how good the writing is, some things just slam me out of the fic every time (for instance, I'm so used to seeing Liam as "O'Connor" that seeing him as anything else throws me and just keeps throwing me). As you say, they're little details that can't make or break a fic; I was just interested in whether anyone else experiences the slamming sensation ;o)
Since there’s no firm canon on his age at turning, my advice is to write Spike as the age you believe he was. If you are doing your job as a writer, your readers will follow where you lead. (And, in my experience, you are doing your job as a writer.)
Why thank you! And I agree with you here, too--I think it'd be safe to say Spike was anywhere from early 20s to late 30s when he was turned.
About vanilla--at first, I loved this detail, and yeah, I thought it was canon too. I loved it because I think the scent does suit Buffy for the reasons you state--someone else (dlgood, I think) pointed out how it fit her theme of being golden and sunshiney. Also, I love the scent of vanilla, and I knew a girl once who always wore it. She was nothing like Buffy, but she was beautiful, had golden hair, a lotta charisma, and could change the dynamic in a room just with her scent, I swear. But I've read the vanilla detail SO many times that it's been driving me nutters, lately.
As for a2zmom's point: yes, a woman can coordinate her soap scents etc with her perfume. However, there're other things that contribute to your scent: what you've eaten that day, who you've come in contact with, where you've been. Buffy just out of the shower and just done primping might only smell how she planned to smell, but by the time she has breakfast, coffee, and goes outside to get the mail, she'll smell like a billion different things to discriminating nostrils. Then again, the show never makes it clear just how discriminating vamp nostrils are. Spike can follow Buffy's scent across Sunnydale, but sometimes he can't tell if he's alone in a room or not. Given the inconsistency of the writers, it's probably fair to go either way on the subject.
As someone who's never worn perfume for a single day of her life after she was 8 years old, this subject is fascinating ;o) (speaking of which--even cosmetics have a scent. You just might be able to get scented lipstick, but scented mascera? Mascera has a definitive scent that would mix in with the scent of foundation, blush, eye-shadow, right in there with a billion other things).
Re: Chiming in
That said, I ask the fanon question because for me, no matter how good the writing is, some things just slam me out of the fic every time (for instance, I'm so used to seeing Liam as "O'Connor" that seeing him as anything else throws me and just keeps throwing me). As you say, they're little details that can't make or break a fic; I was just interested in whether anyone else experiences the slamming sensation ;o)
Since there’s no firm canon on his age at turning, my advice is to write Spike as the age you believe he was. If you are doing your job as a writer, your readers will follow where you lead. (And, in my experience, you are doing your job as a writer.)
Why thank you! And I agree with you here, too--I think it'd be safe to say Spike was anywhere from early 20s to late 30s when he was turned.
About vanilla--at first, I loved this detail, and yeah, I thought it was canon too. I loved it because I think the scent does suit Buffy for the reasons you state--someone else (
As for a2zmom's point: yes, a woman can coordinate her soap scents etc with her perfume. However, there're other things that contribute to your scent: what you've eaten that day, who you've come in contact with, where you've been. Buffy just out of the shower and just done primping might only smell how she planned to smell, but by the time she has breakfast, coffee, and goes outside to get the mail, she'll smell like a billion different things to discriminating nostrils. Then again, the show never makes it clear just how discriminating vamp nostrils are. Spike can follow Buffy's scent across Sunnydale, but sometimes he can't tell if he's alone in a room or not. Given the inconsistency of the writers, it's probably fair to go either way on the subject.
As someone who's never worn perfume for a single day of her life after she was 8 years old, this subject is fascinating ;o) (speaking of which--even cosmetics have a scent. You just might be able to get scented lipstick, but scented mascera? Mascera has a definitive scent that would mix in with the scent of foundation, blush, eye-shadow, right in there with a billion other things).