#balthazar

Two Cas fans.

One, his loyal kohai/subordinate hero worshipper, the other, a recalcitrant tsundere who pretends he's not a fan.

I think Balthazar would make it his personal business to prove Metatron "doth protect too much" when it comes to Cas.

I had a good brainstorming with some folks earlier, I promise. :D We compared his runaway status and hedonism to Gabriel and Endverse Cas (Keroac-character-coded nihilism), and we thought about his thievery being comparable to Bela Talbot, and we thought about how he was almost the Supreme Villain of Aaron Birch's life, and what it would be like if he got redeemed for real, and what that might take for it to feel believable, right? (Like, what if Aaron called on him again, maybe found out his name somehow... would Balthazar ever be in a position to have guilt and empathize?)

I'm not sure Bal dislikes humans, even! He uses them for sex, fantasy, and power play, or at least says he does, and he enslaves a vulnerable young boy. He seems to look on them as Gabriel and Chuck do at first: toys.

I think Balthazar will have to cook for me, because he is -again- such a nihilist of sorts. But it IS interesting how Cas inspired him to abandon Heaven for a life of nihilism in the first place, right? And honestly, it seems more complicated than "inspire," because Balthazar cares about NOTHING after he abandons his post. It's almost as if Cas's rebellion was something he admired AND hated insomuch as it destroyed Balthazar's faith in Heaven and the mission itself, which adds a tragic layer to his nihilism...

And then Cas shows up AGAIN, asking Balthazar to CARE? It must be frustrating, right? And exhausting. And yet, by mid-season Bal is brave enough to fight with Cas, or at least brave enough to lean into the sunken cost of going against Raphael out in the open. And by the end of the season, brave enough to stand AGAINST Cas despite verbalizing how dangerous/scary he actually finds Cas at BASELINE: "very old, very powerful friend: I think this words were.

Those are no small things. He is at heart, a cowardly figure, preferring the shadows and professing both nihilism and fear, and Yet...