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whiskyinmind
whiskyinmind
18 April 2008 @ 01:48 pm
I like Bela.  
Here’s the thing. I like Bela.

I know that makes me a rare commodity in SPN fandom, but I like her character. I like the intrigue, I like the fact that she epitomises the shades of grey that has been built into the show. I like the snark. I like that she's a bitch who isn't rolling over when the boys say so. I like the fact that she's got some possible backstory and some potential future.

The accent doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others, to be honest I came up through the Buffyverse fandom and god love her, but Juliet Landau does not do cockney well. Bela at least sounds like there are actual words coming out of her mouth when she speaks as opposed to garbled nonsense.

I like Bela.

Yes, it may be my own personal fanon version that I like, it may be my optimistic belief that she is just as broken as the boys are when you get under the surface, it may be that I'm being blinded.

But I like Bela.

If you don't like her, then that's fine, I get that, and I get that I'm not likely to change your mind at all.

But if you want to see my fanon Bela? do not go gentle is quite possibly my favourite thing I have ever written, and Mind Games* was just fun. (eta and there's also Sleeping Soul which has a Bela focus but isn't really about her. I write more Bela than I thought! end edit)

I think she's broken, I think she's running from something far darker than any one realises. I think she stole the Colt for her own purposes and I think that those purposes are nothing to do with pissing off the boys or making money. I think she needs it. I also think the reason she needs it is one which the boys would be more than willing to help her with if she could but ask them.

I don't think she can ask.

I think she's shattered under a glossy surface, and I think we're going to see her crack wide open.

I think she might just be the SPN equivalent of the 'little girl lost' we saw in a Slayer called Faith.

And I can't wait to meet Lauren Cohan at Asylum.

* and this was actually a means of me pimping my new fic – Mind Games. Bela, het, R rated.
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wenchpixie: Dean hmmh[personal profile] wenchpixie on April 18th, 2008 02:39 pm (UTC)
You know what I think about Bela, I think they've sold her down the river a bit already in the writer's room and there's a fair chance that it's her story we've lost with the forshortened season, but I am willing to wait and see.

I enjoy the boys having a human enemy; and with Hendrickson gone she's the only enemy they have that won't just immediately kill or be killed which is good for a story dynamic. Her accent is icky, but it's not like it's not something we end up with all the time, I fanon her to being canadian and I'm all good :).

So, yeah, I don't like Bela, but I quite enjoy her badness, and I really like Lauren's protrayal, I'm looking forward to meeting her very much.
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on April 18th, 2008 02:51 pm (UTC)
*snugs*

I know, and the discussions we've have about Bela have been really interesting to me. I like the shares of grey thing, the fact that you identify her immediately as enemy is interesting to me - she's not an ally, and yes she's done a shitty thing in stealing the colt and putting the Feds on their tail again, but is she really their enemy?

Like Ive said above, I really hope we do get to see her developed more. I don't know if we'll get it, given fandom's overwhelming reaction to her, but I hope we do. (And I just found more places to x-post - cheers!)
wenchpixie: Dean against wall[personal profile] wenchpixie on April 18th, 2008 03:03 pm (UTC)
She Shot Sammy! Shooting Sammy makes you an enemy - bad guy and enemy aren't neccessarily the same thing though. Hendrickson (who I thought was pretty awesome) fitted in there too, until half way through Jus in Bello.

Yeah, there's a time where fan service gets to be too much, really - and where really they'd have been better without releasing the spoilers over the summer (fandom wouldn't have gone as mental over the eps if they'd not thought the girls were coming in as other leads. They'd have watched and reacted more naturally).

[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on April 18th, 2008 03:13 pm (UTC)
It was only a flesh wound "Please, I can aim." - although it was a really shitty thing to do. I like to think that she's more trying to illustrate that it's not all about them and there are some things that she just has to do in order to get by.

Also, there is the fact that Dean broke into her sanctum earlier in that episode, which could have rattled her more than she was letting on, resulting in her causing harm to Sam (since she couldn't hurt Dean at that point). Not that I'm saying she was right to shoot Sam because she really wasn't, just that there are other ways of seeing it.

*g*

yes - a thousand times yes. Fandom exploded when two girls were announced as regulars because of course they were going to be the love interests that fandom doesn't want (for whatever reason). Knee-jerk insta-reaction meant that they were going to be hated no matter what. Whereas if we'd first seen Ruby as a freaky-ass fighter with an odd knife and Bela as a thief? We'd have been prepared for their stories.

*sporks spoilers*
[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/amy_star_/ on April 20th, 2008 08:19 am (UTC)
I will have you know I sound nothing like Bela. *snorts*
And if I'm trying to sound British, I aspire to sound more like Juliet-Landau-as-Drusilla, because if you're gonna do it badly, do it ALL THE WAY.
wenchpixie: Alec sneaks[personal profile] wenchpixie on April 20th, 2008 10:29 pm (UTC)
*snorts*

Fair enough, and well, yes, if you're going to do it, do it properly :D