While writing this fic and replying to folks’ lovely comments, I thought a lot about Spamcan and what makes him distinct to me. I feel like he’s different from the other rude diesel antagonists.
In my opinion, what sets him apart is that he has a companion. Bowler and Old Stuck Up arrive alone while Spamcan shares his trial with Bear. He also says “we” and “our controller” to Bear. There’s familiarity between them; he thinks of themselves as a package deal.
Bear validates this: “Shush! It’s their railway.” He doesn’t agree with Spamcan’s bigotry, but he still calls the NWR “their” railway. He’s aligning himself along lines of “us and them,” suggesting he and Spamcan are on the same “side” to some degree. He also considers themselves a package deal, even if he’s frustrated with it.
So how did these two become acquainted?
Well, Bear is a diesel-hydraulic engine — a type BR declares non-standard. Spamcan is a diesel-electric, safe for now from the cutter’s torch, but Bear’s position is much more fragile.
Considering what we see of Spamcan, he doesn’t seem like he’d befriend Bear for altruistic reasons. Yet he still refers to himself and Bear as a “we.” He even worries about what Bear thinks of him after he breaks down with his oil tankers.
And that’s what I think is at the root of this. Spamcan doesn’t care about Bear, but about what Bear thinks of him. He cares about maintaining a self-image that convinces Bear to stay with him, to keep following him.
Spamcan wants Bear to be dependent upon him.
I imagine their dynamic on BR was Spamcan demanding Bear’s loyalty in exchange for protection. And by protection, I mean dumping his work on Bear with the excuse of keeping him “out of sight, out of mind” from their controller. Bear didn’t have any better options, so he went along with it. Now he’s at the end of his rope.
But my pre-canon musings aside, do you see what I’m getting at? Spamcan’s one manipulative son of a gun!
He utilizes Bear’s threatened status to keep him close, to have someone who backs up what he says. His use of chummy plural pronouns is a strategy to wear down Bear’s sense of individuality. He tries to create camaraderie while also diminishing him, reducing him to a satellite in his orbit.
Spamcan is arrogant and boastful, but he has a degree of subtlety, too. That’s something that Bowler and Old Stuck Up never managed. The fact they came alone on their trials suggests they don’t have any followers or “friends” of their own, any of Spamcan’s finesse.
But you know who does manage some of that finesse? Diesel.
I like to think that Spamcan hears the story of Diesel’s trial. To him, it’s clear that Diesel worked the best when he flattered other engines and made himself indispensable to them. Messing with the trucks backfired in the end, but Spamcan would never do such a foolish thing. He can do one better than Diesel.
It’s not Spamcan’s plan to go to Sodor — he would rather stay on a “modernized” railway — but he figures it’s his duty to spread modernization. Like a “good diesel,” he volunteers himself with Bear for the trial. The Sodor engines will be on guard now, so who better to go with him than the fellow diesel to which he made himself invaluable? It’ll ensure someone has his back in hostile territory.
Spamcan’s miscalculation is in assuming that Bear will be grateful for recommending him to go on trial, winning him more points with him. But on BR, Bear was vulnerable. Now that he’s on Sodor, he has a chance of getting to safety. He doesn’t need Spamcan’s protection.
And every time Spamcan tries to appeal to him, he’s showing himself at his nastiest. Bear’s personal morals aside, if Spamcan hates “outdated” steam engines, how long will it be before he turns on “non-standard” diesels? How long will it be before Bear stops being useful to BR and to Spamcan?
When Bear tells Spamcan to shut up, he loses his only support right as he makes enemies out of every steam engine on this island. He’s alone and it’s all his own fault, all because he assumed he could manipulate his way out of any situation.
In that way, Spamcan isn’t too different from the other rude diesel antagonists. He fails because he’s arrogant and discriminatory. He fails because our protagonists resist swollen egos and prejudice where they see it.
But I like to think I’ve made a decent case for the ways he is different. I think he’s a bit subtler, a bit more manipulative than the others, even if he’s no more successful. What do you guys think? :)
Hello! For character bingo, what would you say about the Scottish Twins?
I love these two so much. They barrel their way onto Sodor, they have the audacity/desperation to lie to the Fat Controller’s face, and they stick together through thick and thin.
They’re both “beasts” in my opinion, but not in the dudebro way, if that makes any sense? They get in over their smokeboxes sometimes, but it’s all from a place of love and support, a vulnerable center.
Speaking of them in individual terms, I love Donald because he’s so witty, charismatic, and self-confident. He doesn’t feel the need to prove himself. As long as you accept him for who he is, he’ll do the same for you… with the occasional bout of friendly banter/pranking, of course. He’s a good sport.
And I love Douglas because he’s not as confident in himself, but still determined to pay things forward and be brave. He knows how it feels to fear for your safety, and he won’t let anyone else go through it. He can be brash and on edge, but no less capable and committed to doing the “right thing.”
Their pasts and their coming to Sodor is also so juicy. So much potential for angst and stories about overcoming cruel systems! I’m not above the idea of them being squeezed for all they’re worth, lol.
As for headcanons…
-I think I alluded to this before, but I love the idea of Donald training Dilly to do some tricks. At his command (and with frozen peas from his crew), she’ll quack, spin in a circle, and play dead.
-Donald’s still working on the “play dead” trick. Dilly flops to the ground fine, but she keeps waggling her tail feathers in excitement. Donald breaks down laughing too hard to speak every time.
-Douglas, in keeping with his love of antiques, keeps a small collection of knickknacks in the back of his shed. His crew dusts and polishes them at his request. The objects themselves aren’t “valuable,” but there’s a lot of sentiment behind each one.
-He has one of the last tires he got in Scotland, a toy model of himself he received from Oliver one Christmas, and a magnetic pin from his old driver (now retired but still a frequent visitor).
-The two of them are so efficient at plowing snow that they earned a Guinness World Record for it. It was during a time when the NWR wanted to drum up good PR, and they brought some officiants from Guinness to Sodor to find some new records.
-There was intense jockeying among the engines to get their attention. Donald and Douglas were among those who stayed out of the fracas, chuckling to each other while focusing on their work. And they had a lot of it after a heavy snowstorm one night.
-They were so busy that they didn’t notice the Guinness officiants watching them with stopwatches and clipboards.
-All the show-offs fell silent when Donald and Douglas received their plaque.
-Donald and Douglas were taken aback, but happy to see their hard work recognized. To this day, they continue to defend their title and maintain friendly rivalries with their competitors around the globe.
