What really irked me about Bela was that she always won (at least until she was hastily written out of the series)
But that's really not true. Bela's schemes always came back at her - just look at the rabbit foot and the ghost ship. She consistently needed Sam and Dean to bail her out. I never saw Bela as being posited as a real romantic interest; she was an antagonistic foil, someone who knows about the supernatural world and chooses to use it for personal gain instead of saving people, hunting things like the Winchesters. I liked how she fleshed out that part of the world and had been waiting for that kind of character for ages (there should be a black market for talismans!).
There was a lot of tragedy about Bela. She made a stupid decision at 14 (way younger than Dean was when he made his deal) and did it because she was an abused kid who didn't seem to have anyone else to help her. She grew up into adult just as desperate to get out of her deal as Dean, without his support system and without any ability to accept real help from anyone.
I don't know if Gabe is a good comparison. (I don't know who would be better. Balthazar, maybe?) Up until Changing Channels we think he's a monster, and frankly no one has a higher Winchester kill count.:)
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more; I really loved the character and Seanan probably could do without comments on ancient posts popping up in her inbox.:)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-11-12 06:02 pm (UTC)But that's really not true. Bela's schemes always came back at her - just look at the rabbit foot and the ghost ship. She consistently needed Sam and Dean to bail her out. I never saw Bela as being posited as a real romantic interest; she was an antagonistic foil, someone who knows about the supernatural world and chooses to use it for personal gain instead of saving people, hunting things like the Winchesters. I liked how she fleshed out that part of the world and had been waiting for that kind of character for ages (there should be a black market for talismans!).
There was a lot of tragedy about Bela. She made a stupid decision at 14 (way younger than Dean was when he made his deal) and did it because she was an abused kid who didn't seem to have anyone else to help her. She grew up into adult just as desperate to get out of her deal as Dean, without his support system and without any ability to accept real help from anyone.
I don't know if Gabe is a good comparison. (I don't know who would be better. Balthazar, maybe?) Up until Changing Channels we think he's a monster, and frankly no one has a higher Winchester kill count.:)
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more; I really loved the character and Seanan probably could do without comments on ancient posts popping up in her inbox.:)