What kills me most about discorporated Aziraphale appearing to Crowley (aside from, well, everything) is that Aziraphale doesn’t really have control over where he goes. In the book, at least, we see him hop all around the globe from host to host until finally he gets himself to London. He seems to have no idea who he is going to or where. The only deciding factor seems to be that they’re all individuals who are spiritually open in some way- shamans and preachers and the like. Madame Tracy might be more or less conning people but she still puts herself in a position where possession makes sense.

ANYWAY, this is all to say that I think this is why Aziraphale is able to find Crowley right away despite his lack of control and even ability to see his surroundings. Because he’s sort of cast about, otherwise, and doesn’t really know where he is but he knows he’s found Crowley. Crowley might not be open to the spiritual (any more than any demon or angel would be by nature) but I think every fiber of his being is open to Aziraphale. In that moment, there was absolutely nothing he wanted more than Aziraphale to still be with him. That had to be like a beacon, like the universe’s strongest magnet, drawing Aziraphale to the one person most open to him.

So, yeah, whether or not that was the intent, that’s why I die a little every time I watch that scene. Aziraphale flings himself back to Earth on the faith that it will work out and that he’ll find someone in time to help him avert the Apocalypse. What he finds immediately is Crowley, every bit of him aching for his angel’s return.

12x17/15x07

I woke up at 4.30 am out of a dead sleep with this in my brain. 

Aziraphale looking at Crowley’s lips and wanting to be kissed probably

#the fact that tennant compensates for the sunglasses by pining with his ENTIRE BODY is a lot for me to handle (such-heights)

And to think it’s Michael Sheen going on and on in interviews about how all he does is gaze lovingly at Crowley.

ANTHONY JANTHONY CROWLEY HAS BEEN PINING FOR LITERALLY SIX THOUSAND YEARS

WHY DOESN’T THIS HAVE MORE NOTES?!

How dare you make this video to a Glass Animals song, YOU ABSOLUTE SADIST

Hee hee hee c:

Actually, since I’m here, there’s something I wanna discuss. I want to take a minute to marvel at how EASY it was to edit the conversations between Aziraphale and Crowley so they’re only talking about their relationship rather than the plot.

I mean, I say ‘easy’... it did take me two days to edit a 3-minute video, but what I mean is, it was a thoroughly straightforward task to remove context from their conversations, yet still have them run seamlessly and coherently without feeling like a part of the script was tossed out. The directing, the script, the way David and Michael delivered their lines, the way the audio was edited originally - once I dug into remixing it all, it kind of came across like they were never actually talking about escaping the guillotine, or acquiring holy water, or driving too fast, but that Crowley is consistently seeking a more intimate relationship, and Aziraphale shoots him down over and over and over, but then sometimes asks him out on a date.

(This probably sounds obvious to anyone who watched the show and paid attention. But I love when people state the obvious when it comes to queer subtext. And yet this ain’t subtext, it’s text.)

Once all the plot is stripped back, six thousand years of their interactions consistently reveal themselves to be this:

Every visual interaction between them is more deeply symbolic than what might seem obvious - for example, Crowley releases the shackles (because Aziraphale was commanded not to use so many angelic miracles), thus Crowley releases Aziraphale from his angelic obligation to do what he’s told, at which point Aziraphale immediately asks a demon out for lunch.

We all know how Aziraphale’s hearteyes are out of this freakin’ world throughout the entire show - but while Crowley may be less outwardly obvious about his affections, we also know how he couldn’t bear to leave Earth and head to Alpha Centauri without his best friend. They’re obviously aware of each other’s feelings (”We could go off together!” / “Go off... together? ... I don’t even like you!!” / “You doooooooooo”) but while Aziraphale pines via hearteyes and interrupted compliments, Crowley pines and shows his care through saying nothing to rush the poor angel until the timing is truly critical. He’s just giving him the space he needs. Six thousand years of space.

My point is, removing the context of the plot does not fundamentally alter the core issues of the overall story. Why? Because their developing relationship IS the context of the story. Their love is the framing device for the entirety of Good Omens. It’s the start and end of it. Their story (and this video) begin and end with a garden - and they’re the only couple in the garden, because Adam and Eve already left. (There’s even a shot where Adam and Eve are together in the distance, and Aziraphale and Crowley are together in the foreground, drawing a romantic parallel within the first minute of the show.)

Also for the record, here’s some fun things I noticed while editing:

13x01 + 14x01 [insp.]

Dean is a great big goddamn faker

From this picture, we would assume that Dean passed out in the middle of a particularly kinky fling.  

How did he get back? Did he and the woman have this soft-bondage fling in the room, without waking Sam up? Did Dean walk home from her place, fully dressed, bra and tie and flog around his head, only to pass out mere feet from the bed?

The last time we saw Dean hungover was “Beyond the Mat,” where he had to get drunk for case purposes and Sam was a total dick to him. In contrast, this time, Dean’s gotten drunk for fun, and Sam gives him a pitying look and lets him sleep in. 

And then there’s breakfast. 

When Sam gets back from the interview, it’s exactly in time to see Dean, in sunglasses, loading up on bacon. His favorite food, bacon. 

Because as Dean knows, nothing treats a hangover better than a big pile of bacon. 

Basically?

Dean’s being a massive faker, trying to pretend that everything is fine. He’s weirded out that Sam is mothering him, and so he’s determined to prove that he’s living the same great life as always. 

He wasn’t nearly as drunk as he’s pretending to be. The flogger and the bra are plants. The alternative is that a woman decided to leave at least $40 worth of stuff with her random drunken fling.

This is a thing that women generally don’t do, and what’s more, the writers know they don’t do it. Once previously, they used a pile of discarded lingerie and clothing to imply that a massacre, not an orgy, had taken place. 

That scene, like this one, requires the viewer to look deeper in order to see a truth that is much darker than what is originally implied. 

Sam and Dean can track each other’s phones. Dean knew when Sam would be on his way back, and he timed it so that his brother would have front-row seats to the breakfast scene. Dean went out of his way to play up the contradictory states of 1. craving bacon and 2. being massively hungover from partying. 

Dean says “whatever happened to you being nice to me” hoping that he’d worn out Sam’s patience and things would go back to normal. Instead, Sam pulls out a gift bottle of alcohol. 

Dean instantly drops the pretense of being hungover. He takes off his glasses, doesn’t protest the volume of Sam’s voice, and starts working the case. He’s also eating his bacon as obnoxiously as possible- not because he’s hungover, but because he’s fucking with Sam. 

Stop blowing holes in my beautiful BDSM!Dean is canon theory!

@hazeldomain- Your theory is very plausible, and I hope you’re wrong. Because if you’re right, then the scene is also probably a No Homo moment for the viewers who aren’t up for the destiel reading, in order to soften the blow of the (beautifully shot, if unfair to Sam) end sequence.

Because if you don’t look deeper, it totally reads as Dean reconsidered and took Sam’s advice (possibly because he cares about Sam and doesn’t want him to worry), and got hammered and had a wild, kinky, one night stand, probably with a stripper from the Clam Digger, to cope with his grief. Can’t get much more het than that (I mean, obviously *I* know that doesn’t mean you’re het in the slightest, but I would not be the target market for that reading).

I would rather just accept it on it’s face, although sadly, I suspect you’re right.

UNSUBSTANTIATED HEADCANON TIME: I think that Dean goes to women when he feels manly and wants to be a manly man’s man, and I think he’s more into guys when he wants to allow himself to feel vulnerable. This is a headcanon I have. 

If that’s true, which I think it is, and if Sam is aware of it, which I think he is, then coming home with a giant frilly pink bra says “I just fucked the girliest girl this side of the Mississippi and she loved my massive manly cock so much, she gave me her bra.” 

Which is exactly the sort of thing you’d brag about if you were trying to convince your brother that you were Fine ™. 

Setting Destiel aside for the moment-

Dean says during this episode “I’ve fought my way back before and I’ll fight my way back again.” The same way he always does- ‘bullets, bacon, and booze.’ (The ‘babes’ goes unsaid.) 

For the audience watching with their heteronormative glasses on, Dean’s gotten all those things. He went out, he had a great time, he had a wild night with a whip-wielding pair of tits, he had a massive pile of bacon for breakfast, he got to shoot some ghosts… and he’s still depressed enough to be transparently suicidal. All the things that usually work are not working. 

Even to the heteronormative crowd, this is a clear message that something vital is missing from his life. 

listen, there is absolutely nothing that gets me going like mutual seemingly unrequited pining like? i live for both people losing their minds over the other person in bitter silence. savoring every single accidental brush of their fingers, elbows, thighs, every stray glance, memorizing every gesture or expression they catch while the other isn’t looking, all while being absolutely convinced that it’s one-sided only to finally!! finally find out it wasn’t in a triumphant moment of bliss after years and years of delicious, soul-rending, torturous, heart-wrenching pining. i literally don’t care about the fact that this trope is predictable af and always plays out the same way i will still go wild over it every single time like they’ll be doing the same reveal scene i have seen a million times and i’m still on the edge of my seat gasping “are they gonna kiss???”

this is my kink 

jack wants dean’s approval and dean is so upset about losing cas that jack literally fucking woke cas up from being dead so dean will like him am i understanding this correctly

Song of Solomon

Do I think the Song of Solomon was referenced in this episode because it loosely relates to Asmodeus? Yes. Yes, I do. 

According to this biblical footnote from the Book of Tobit, “Asmodeus: in Persian aeshma daeva, ‘demon of wrath,’ adopted into Aramaic with the sense of ‘the Destroyer.’” Asmodeus once unseated Solomon from his throne (according to this account of Jewish legend of Solomon). He was also contained for a time by means of “a chain, the ring on which the Name of God was engraved, a bundle of wool, and a skin of wine”

Are these clues about what may lead to the downfall of Asmodeus? I think they are - or perhaps it’s just a wink to the audience. 

HOWEVER

Let’s dive into Destiel land, my friends, because as soon as I saw Song of Solomon I shouted and slapped my friend’s shoulder. The Song. Of. Solomon. Well known to be the most romantic book of the Bible. In an episode where Dean and Cas are separated. How can you include that and not trigger heavy romantic feelings in viewers? Well. Let’s unpack this, people.

The Song of Solomon begins by adjuring one of the protagonists to 

Follow the tracks of the flock

and pasture your lambs*

near the shepherds’ tents.

Is Dean’s reported hallucination of sheep while driving a veiled reference to Song of Solomon? Is his seeing sheep a way to say that Dean is seeing shades of Castiel - his Shepherd, his lover, his king - on the road?

The Song of Solomon is full of passages where the lovers are separated. Asmodeus is known as one who separates lovers. (Asmodeus lore) What two potential lovers in this show yearn for each other more than Dean and Castiel? (The mix tape was romantic DAMN IT.)

On my bed at night I sought him*

whom my soul loves—

I sought him but I did not find him.

I’m…fine. I’m definitely not picturing Dean right now, sitting on his bed, a collection of empty bottles by his side, longing for Castiel’s return. 

Set me as a seal* upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm;

For Love is strong as Death,

longing is fierce as Sheol.

Its arrows are arrows of fire,

flames of the divine.

Love of humanity, love of Sam and Dean, love of…Dean. These are the things that will motivate Castiel to tear his way out of The Empty and back to Earth - and the lives of those he loves. 

These two lovers, interrupted before they could come together, will fight to end their separation. Where is my lover? Have you seen him? He is there, in the darkness, fighting to find you.

Yes!!!

There was SO MUCH sheep imagery and referencing in this episode.

Sheep and shepherds obviously a hugely biblical reference.

Cas who tried to be the sheep (allowing God then Dean then Lucifer then Jack to use him rather than taking the lead himself).

Cas who needs to be the leader. Same goes for Sam.

Then the “3 sheeps” in bisexual colours again jeez, and right behind Asmodeus… perhaps because the 3 sheep are his downfall?

TFW who are so often alluded to as the holy trinity, the 3…

There’s just so much to go on for all this. So much meta.

I’m so ready!

Sam trying to reassure Dean.

The 12.22 Family Hug

At the end of 12x22, we had that beautiful moment where the Winchester family was reunited and had forgiven one another their transgressions. They all go in for a massive family hug, and it’s fucking beautiful. But…something was off. Take a look at these faces during the hug.

One of these faces is not like the others. Can you pick out which one?

When I first saw this moment, my gut reaction was “Aww, Dean, after everything you just went through, your family is together! Why aren’t you smiling and happy like Sam and Mary?!”

Then my brain came to a screeching halt, because I knew the answer and I was shocked it hadn’t immediately occurred to me.

We’re still missing a Winchester, one who is very important to Dean. 

In fact he mentioned earlier in the episode that, like Mary, he had just found this person who is now lost.

He got Mary back, but it’s not enough to bring him that joy that Sam and Mary seem to have here. 

He is still pining. He still needs Cas. And his expression in that moment tells us both of these things very loudly and very clearly.

Everything about this post is so on point. I only wanted to add the one scene where we do finally get a genuine smile from Dean: after Cas heals him.

Look at that adorable, shy little asshole.He loves his Cas, and he can’t hide it

Why DOES Castiel look down and away when he sees a woman give Dean attention? Putting aside all “because he loves him” knee-jerk responses, what other feelings would motivate him to react like that? Because he loves Anna? Because he feels bad that he’s making Dean risk his life? I just don’t know. Destiel looks more and more canon the longer I spend on tumblr.

I actually edited the sequence of the shots in order to show the parallels; but if anything, I made the top gif look less like Destiel than the actual show. In the episode (S4 Heaven and Hell), Anna pulls Dean to her after stroking his arm and kisses him, and Castiel responds by … staring. They cut from Anna kissing Dean to Castiel’s face and it’s doing this:

Then they cut back to the kiss, and Anna pulls away and tells Dean she forgives him. It’s at this point that Castiel finally looks away.

I kept going back to this part when I first watched the episode because I couldn’t put my finger on what Cas’s expression was supposed to be. One of the big themes of “Heaven and Hell” is how angels don’t have emotions, they don’t feel; they’re marble statues, cold and distant, merciless andriods. And then suddenly Uriel shows up in Dean’s dream and tells him Castiel has this weakness, he likes Dean. Since when do angels have weak spots for people? How can Castiel like Dean if Castiel can’t feel anything? I mean, Castiel was going to follow his orders and kill Anna, and when he said he was sorry and she said, “You don’t know the feeling,” he didn’t argue with her. But he likes Dean? Dean is his weakness?

So I kept going back to Castiel’s expression when Anna kissed Dean and tried to figure out what it was. It doesn’t look like jealousy to me. It’s not anger, disgust, curiosity, or Cas doing his humans-are-strange what-are-these-interlocking-mouth-parts alien thing. It’s not sadness, if he was embarrassed he’d look away, it’s not fondness, he doesn’t look regretful until he turns away. Finally it hit me: it’s longing.

And maybe you could argue that Castiel isn’t longing to be kissing Dean or to be kissed by Anna specifically; maybe Castiel is just longing for that kind of connection, that human, physical connection of being lovers. And that makes sense, but then you are forced to consider the fact that Dean is the only person with whom Castiel has tried to form that kind of connection, the only person to whom Cas has tried to be close. 

So, yes, I literally cannot think of any explanation for Castiel’s behavior except that Castiel is in love with Dean. I didn’t even want to ship Destiel. The show made me!

I know Lucifer, me too

THE SHOW MADE ME DO IT. Literally couldn’t apply better to me.

Reason Number 1.

Yes, this precisely. Because the subtext is not merely the writers/actors/directors/et al “having a laugh” - as so many non-shippers or whoever else that just doesn’t see it seem to keep falling back on as an argument - the subtext is there for a reason, it is intentional, because the subtext is a narrative tool to build character relationships and, through these relationships, build and point to a slow, but steady, character growth.

Castiel is already exhibiting a longing that shows us he is not like every other angel, which makes him feel unique, makes him stand out, makes us - the audience aka the deciders of the show’s very survival - love him. And we come back for the characters we love, we cheer and cry and scream and worry about the characters we love. Building that bond between the audience and a character is what keeps a show on the air for twelve years.

Subtext is the most powerful narrative tool a writer/actor/director/et al can ever wield in order to create an emotional hook into their story. And I dare assure you, when it comes to securing those ratings, a tool like that is always taken absolutely seriously.