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theatrical_muse] 248 - Would you make a good spy? Why or why n
Sep. 17th, 2008 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prodigalwatcher248 - Would you make a good spy? Why or why not?
I really don't see why not.
Now naturally I, like every other young British man of my generation, grew up simply idolising James Bond as the very epitome of everything it meant to be a spy, and a man, as well. Bond is, without a doubt, adolescent male wish fulfillment of the highest order. His life is nothing but an endless series of tough scrapes, villains to vanquish, bad girls to turn good and bed... and good girls to rescue and bed. I know very well that very little of the character's world bears resemblance to real intelligence work.
That doesn't mean I would mind the life, though.
As for that real intelligence work, I'm serious when I say I wouldn't doubt I'd be suited to it. If I hadn't been born into a Watcher family, I do like to think that I would have felt the calling to some sort of public service, defending the world against more mundane and worldly dangers, rather than otherworldly.
I am quite good at keeping my own secrets-- in reference to those otherworldly dangers I mentioned-- and at keeping those of others for whom I work. A good agent is also thoroughly detail-oriented, as the slightest element gone wrong could utterly compromise a cover story or indicate an opportunity to complete the mission.
And, in the tradition of at least the literary version of Commander Bond, a spy completes his work without compunction or moralising. He has a job to do, and if that job requires tactics or behaviour that would normally be frowned upon, a spy must do what he must do.
I'll freely admit that if I'd chosen such a path early in life, my life in espionage would be more likely in the realms of cryptography or analysis, thanks to my, er, lack of physical prowess... but these days, one never knows. Perhaps if I ever feel the need to take a fight to some simple humans, the SIS might have an opening.
(336)
I really don't see why not.
Now naturally I, like every other young British man of my generation, grew up simply idolising James Bond as the very epitome of everything it meant to be a spy, and a man, as well. Bond is, without a doubt, adolescent male wish fulfillment of the highest order. His life is nothing but an endless series of tough scrapes, villains to vanquish, bad girls to turn good and bed... and good girls to rescue and bed. I know very well that very little of the character's world bears resemblance to real intelligence work.
That doesn't mean I would mind the life, though.
As for that real intelligence work, I'm serious when I say I wouldn't doubt I'd be suited to it. If I hadn't been born into a Watcher family, I do like to think that I would have felt the calling to some sort of public service, defending the world against more mundane and worldly dangers, rather than otherworldly.
I am quite good at keeping my own secrets-- in reference to those otherworldly dangers I mentioned-- and at keeping those of others for whom I work. A good agent is also thoroughly detail-oriented, as the slightest element gone wrong could utterly compromise a cover story or indicate an opportunity to complete the mission.
And, in the tradition of at least the literary version of Commander Bond, a spy completes his work without compunction or moralising. He has a job to do, and if that job requires tactics or behaviour that would normally be frowned upon, a spy must do what he must do.
I'll freely admit that if I'd chosen such a path early in life, my life in espionage would be more likely in the realms of cryptography or analysis, thanks to my, er, lack of physical prowess... but these days, one never knows. Perhaps if I ever feel the need to take a fight to some simple humans, the SIS might have an opening.
(336)
