I wondered whether anyone would be kind enough to help me brainstorm a few ideas about Albert Flight for a fan fic I am trying to write, please?
I wondered what anyone thought about Flight's past relationships (or lack of relationships) with women (things that may have happened before we see him in Leman Street)?
He is a Catholic so would he be saving himself for marriage thinking that anything else would be sinful?
His attempts at trying to impress Bella are quite school boy-ish (villainy does not rest so neither shall I!)
Evelyn - She seems in control of that situation! Flight seems naive but is that an act as part of his cover story as a vulnerable country boy?
Am I just assuming he is interested in women because of the way he reacts to Evelyn?
Does anyone have any other interesting ideas/theories about Flight in this respect? (Flight and Shine?!)
I'd really appreciate any thoughts anyone had about this. I have an idea in my mind of who I think Flight is and his back story but it would be really interesting and helpful to me to know what ideas other people have about the person they think Flight really is.
I know the forumers like to think really deeply about Damien's characters so I thought you all would be the best people to ask!
I think judging by his response that Evelyn was his first kiss. I could be wrong though. It might not have anything to do with the fact that he's Catholic. He's not trying for the priesthood after all (lol). He just may not have had time or circumstances aligned enough to meet women. (I'm 31 and I've never been on a date!)
I would like to read more after releasing Albert from jail, meeting new love and having new life. What happens after he lost his job and respect for Reid? What he will do? Where he will go? Jack the Ripper is dead, maybe he will jump out and saves Reid or someone else life and gain respect again? Maybe he will find Reids daughter? Maybe he will meet Evelyn again?
Rosie, have you already watched Being Human? If not, I will soon send you all the dvd from seasons! You really need to see that show! Just saying cause you could do amazing Hal fic!
Cora - I agree that I think it was his first kiss. That scene where he touches his fingers to his lips was what made me love Flight and Damien, hence my avatar! BTW Cora your avatar makes me smile every time I see it!
Perhaps Flight has avoided relationships because he doesn't want to get close to anyone for fear of revealing his secrets. Or he tells Evelyn that he hasn't had his family to be his example so he is uncertain about relationships? Or was he too busy trying to outrun his shame?!
Jozie - I have watched series 4 and 5 of Being Human now. I bought the dvds as a treat to myself after my exams. I loved it! There are so many wonderful BH fan fics I wouldn't dream of trying to compete! But thanks for your confidence in me!
I have part of a fan fic written where Flight rescues Reid and Councillor Cobden and finally proves himself!
Yes, I think it was his first kiss or major surprise, but anyway, that's the one thing you can cling on to, Albert and how he remembers his first kiss, what will happen if they will meet after years!
No Rosie, I think many of us would like to to in that situation! Albert is so super sweet man, even with his dark past, you can't really resist those puppy eyes, wouldn't you!
Flight seems to be a Catholic boy judging by his confessions in church.
Given his criminal record perhaps he is newly returned to the church, after years away from it (his parents death, the circumstances of their deaths and his criminal history may have all dove tailed together?) so perhaps once he finds his path (ie being a policeman) he also returns to the church.
Now girls. Perhaps in his criminal days he possessed a kind of charm, perhaps superficial but it doesn't really go any further than that or if he does have 'assignations' then they are purely that, there's no emotion or connection in there.
BUT...upon his return to the church and his belief of wanting to be a better man, perhaps he thinks that he has to earn a woman's respect, perhaps he doesn't think himself worthy of such a thing just yet. Evelyn certainly knew what she wanted and perhaps his reaction to that kiss is connected to that, rather than being a first kiss per se. This is all part of the 'new improved' Flight. Perhaps he didn't ever think someone like Evelyn would be interested in someone the likes of him.
You could go anywhere with Flight given that what we know about him is so frustratingly sparse (and may possibly remain that way if he doesn't return for series 3 which i'm not sure he will)
Thank you so much for your thoughts rubyrosettared. I know you are a fantastic fan fic writer so i really value your thoughts.
It's so frustrating not knowing more about Flight's past but as you say it gives the opportunity for so many different explorations.
His confessions always seem to feel very desperate to me. He really wants someone to tell him that he will be forgiven. I hadn't really thought about the church being something he has gone back to. I have imagined that perhaps he had been brought up in an orphanage run by the church after his parents' deaths so the church was just part of his life but only on a superficial level. But the link with returning to the church and his newly found desire to be a good man makes a lot of sense.
I think of Flight as being very lonely and there is a sense of him being rather tightly wound, like a constant tension in him. As he was orphaned at a young age I think he would feel unloved so the idea of not feeling worthy of love seems very likely. He is clearly very ashamed of himself so puts all his focus into his work to try to outrun his shame.
I wish we knew more about his complex relationship with Shine. I think it would resolve a lot of the viewers' questions about Flight and his motivations.
I also think part of his reaction to Evelyn is that he seems to be taken aback that she is kind to him and shows him affection as if this is something he is not used to.
Lol...or maybe the guys who punched him in the eye also cut his lip and it hurt when she kissed him. >.< Which would make him kissing her back even cuter, really. "owowow this hurts so goood" ... sorry... I am in somewhat of a silly mood.
I didn't feel that with Evelyn it was his first kiss, more that he was so taken aback by her brashness that it startled him for a moment.
I agree that Flight would have been brought up Catholic and have had quite an innocent/inexperienced upbringing when it comes to women. However, being Irish and being that he likely lived on the streets for a time, has a criminal past, I find it hard that he would have remained completely chaste. I was wondering if Shine would have taken him to a brothel at some point to impress him/gain his loyalty/make him a man.
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papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
You are writing more Flight fanfic Rosie? brilliant news!
Contemplating Flight's romantic history is intriguing.... despite knowing some key facts about his past, his history is largely a mystery to us still. Jackson certainly assumed he was highly inexperienced, hence his "fruitful vine within" pep talk in episode 4.
But I am with whimsy on this, it didn't strike me as a first kiss, and who knows where Albert had found comfort over the years. Without parentage to speak of.. from a psychological point of view it seems human to seek that in others. Shine and Reid were father figures... what about female influences? (for me ther e is a whole other possible backstory there!)
The thought of Flight in a brothel makes me slightly icky! He always seems to be kind of fastidious (like he would want everything to be perfect/idealised) when we see him but I guess we don't really know what he was like in his criminal past. The way he acts with Shine is a lot more confident (in the boxing ring where Flight helps him take his gloves off) until Shine puts him in his place.
I love that scene where Jackson teaches Flight how to 'woo' Evelyn. I also think that scene is quite important in understanding some of Flight's past. I can't remember Jackson's words but it is something about creating a backstory of loss and suffering and feeling that story in his heart - the expression on Flight's face seems to me that he is drawing on something very personal and that Jackson's description is not too far off the mark. "With your lies you tell your own hidden truths".
I think I kind of see Flight as quite closed off to people and Evelyn's kiss sparks something in him which he has been burying but you can see by his reaction to her that he has been craving affection. But she still seems to be controlling this situation - she is on top of him on the bed - which doesn't seem to be the actions of an experienced man. And he holds back from her, he doesn't tell her the truth when she exposes his lies, he doesn't go to America with her. And also has he gone to see her or is he waiting to arrest her father? Or a bit of both.
It does seem unlikely given his criminal past that he hasn't had some experiences with women but wouldn't we also expect with his criminal past that he would be better at fighting! I don't really understand how that has happened. You would have expected him to get into some scraps in his youth, he lived in Limehouse, he was under Shine's wing (a champion boxer) and he has been a policeman for a certain amount of time and yet doesn't fight well. His terror when Reid hits Werner is palpable. If Flight could have gone through the wall of the cell to get away from him he would have done! I wonder if this is connected to the whole father figure issue? He says that his father would drink so in my fic 'Hiding Places' I have assumed this mean he physically abused Flight when he was a child. When Flight sees Shine kill Hinchcliffe he realises that this father figure is worse than his own father and shifts his allegiance to Reid. I wonder if part of Flight's reasons for going to shoot Shine is that he feels that Shine has betrayed him in not being the man he thought he was. Seeing Reid's violence horrifies Flight and he realises that there is nobody who can set him the good example he is seeking.
I guess the joy of fan fic is that you can take the story anyway you want but I am keen on keeping my version of Flight as close to the character as possible. He is very complex and because so much is hidden/lies/pretence we have no real idea of who he is. He certainly wants to forget his criminal past and finds the man he was abhorrent and shameful so I suppose he could be ashamed of his treatment of women in the past. But I can't help feeling he is inexperienced (although not necessarily without any experience) - he just doesn't seem like a womaniser to me! He doesn't have that easy charm and confidence that Jackson has.
I seem to have entirely written Evelyn out of any of my fics so far! I think it is because I want Flight to love the character of Rosalie who I have created and to not have loved anyone else!
A friend suggested the following about Flight. What do you think?
"I think men like Flight who have had a terrible and unloved childhood, would be very shy with women, especially if he mainly had contact with men growing up and not with women. I think he would struggle with intimacy issues, particularly if he didn't have a proper family to look after to him and parents who could be role models as to how relationships could be. So I can imagine Flight wanting to save himself for an ideal woman who he would marry and wanting to avoid women as much as possible as due to his lack of contact with them he might find them scary and mysterious. I also think that he is emotionally scarred so his lack of female encounters could be from a sort of self defence against getting hurt."
I wasnt thinking brothel i was thinking female patron or simply being in a relationship with a woman, craving love from relationships when you have been abandoned in childhood is a very common thing. And no, I do not see him as a womaniser.
My question came about because in part of what I am writing Flight and Rosalie marry and I wanted to write a wedding night scene. I assumed that as Rosalie is a well-brought up, young lady that it would be her first time but then wondered whether it would be Albert's (I also wanted to write a 'Jackson giving Flight wedding night advice' scene!) So this got me thinking...
I'll stop talking now and let others respond. Thanks for all your thoughts and comments so far.
But would he be scared of being in a relationship after being abandoned in childhood - he would fear being abandoned again so put up walls to stop himself from being hurt?
But would he be scared of being in a relationship after being abandoned in childhood - he would fear being abandoned again so put up walls to stop himself from being hurt?
Absolutely, there would be fierce self protection issues and commonly self blame and low self esteem issues and also fears of forming relationships. but beneath that is the aching void of lack of love that all children need... a craving....which adults go on to try to fill with all kinds of things, including relationships, which can become very dependent on and clingy and intense, i think in psychology it is called 'anxiously attached' or 'adult attachment' becoming over attached and clingy but also fearing being left. Abandoned children, in the broadest sense, not consciously abandoned but even bereaved children are in effect 'left' by their parents and for a child that is a trauma too, can also become abandoners and very self sabotaging. seeking out relationships, but then destroying them. It may seem paradoxical but I don't think it is one or the other and I could see all of that being true for Flight! Just offering some food for thought!
Albert is so super sweet man, even with his dark past, you can't really resist those puppy eyes, wouldn't you!
Frightened, sexy stare, and kicked puppy.
