you stink, mister

[zoicite]

I'm so confused as to who can smell what on Being Human.

Can ghosts smell at all? Annie doesn't seem to have any issues hanging out with Sasha, which suggests that they can't (and I think that would make sense), but then Kirby does that thing where he just kinda inhales that shot while talking to Hal as though he's smelling it in 4x04 and Alex makes that comment about Hal's breath in 4x07.

And then there are werewolves and vampires. Herrick can smell human blood on a different floor of the house. Hal can smell that Allison is a werewolf while he's inside the cafe and she's outside and across the street. Tom, on the other hand, doesn't seem to pick up on the whole werewolf thing and questions if she's a vampire at first. Mitchell realizes that Tom's in the house in 3x04 based on smell (though it takes him a while, really) but in 3x03, George can smell Sasha rotting when she's still outside, and Mitchell's surprised by this, all "What? From here?" which suggests that he can't smell her.

Do werewolves have a heightened sense of smell except when it comes to vampires and their own kind? Tom doesn't seem to realize that Dewy is a vampire until he sees the bite marks on his neck in 4x01, but then he knows that Hal's a vampire right away in 4x02. That might be because Hal looks out of date and out of place and have nothing to do with smell at all, though.

Do vampires only have a heightened sense of smell when it comes to blood specifically? Or blood and, perhaps, werewolves? ...though Lauren had to get pretty freakin' close before she realized George was a werewolf. She was also pretty new to the whole thing. And Sasha's pretty gross and bloody, though I guess Mitchell might not think that's notable, because he can see the blood, so of course he can smell that aspect of the situation. On the other hand, he's surprised a moment later when Annie says that Sasha has a body, so who knows.

Really, I mostly care about the ghost thing right now, as I have a section in the fic I'm working on where Annie mentions not being able to smell, and I'm wondering if that's actually the case or if I should remove it/change it. Hm.

Comments

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

I got the impression that werewolf smelling depended on the proximity to the full moon.

[zoicite.livejournal.com]

Ah, yeah. Somehow I blanked on the whole "that time of the month" aspect when I was writing this up. And that makes sense as, when Mitchell questions the fact that George can smell Sasha, George returns with "Yes, even without the wolf." or something to that effect.

[shaitanah.livejournal.com]

I was always under the impression that ghosts can't smell. They seemed to retcon a lot in the later series, but who knows... As for werewolves, George says in the semi-canon pilot that his senses heighten a week before the full moon, so maybe there's that))

[zoicite.livejournal.com]

You're right on the werewolf thing. I totally forgot about the heightened senses around the full moon aspect when I was thinking about this earlier. Oops!

And yeah, I was under the impression that ghosts can't smell as well, but those moments with Alex and Kirby made me pause. I think it's possible that Alex and Kirby were just being smart-asses and didn't necessarily mean their comments/gestures literally though.

[shaitanah.livejournal.com]

I think it's possible that Alex and Kirby were just being smart-asses and didn't necessarily mean their comments/gestures literally though. Most likely! Esp. since Alex f.ex. makes that comment after she sees Hal drink her own blood. Could be just a way to mention that again.