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#and he makes this crowley's problem until the apocalypse but then the second he gets the chance to cram crowley and his feelings for him
eefaevie · 2 months
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✨ my official good omens s3 prediction post ✨
which accidentally I guess comes with a side-order of analysis and a soupçon of meta because I can’t shut up
The quote "The plans for Armageddon are going wrong. Only Crowley and Aziraphale working together can hope to put it right. And they aren’t talking." is intentionally misleading.
I think with Aziraphale gone, Crowley is going to become Grand Duke of Hell. He’s hurt, he’s tired, he’s got nothing to lose anymore. He’s also a bit of a dramatic petty bitch (affectionate), and after suffering what he considers the ultimate betrayal from Aziraphale, he wants to hit him where it would hurt equally by joining the “bad guys” fully. Crowley thinks of himself as unforgivable, and since (in his mind) Aziraphale refuses to “see” him for who he really is, he’s going to force him to by acting out like this (beside the fact that we know that this isn’t actually who Crowley is, but he’s injured and lashing out, even if it hurts himself, too.)
So, that quote. The plans for armageddon are going wrong. as in heaven can’t get it to start. And the only way they CAN get it to start is to get the Grand Duke of Hell and the Supreme Archangel to work together, which they are refusing to do. Think about all those meetings between Gabriel and Beelzebub — those definitely didn’t start off as dates, they were business meetings. And so Aziraphale and Crowley REFUSE to speak to each other (with MAXIMUM pettiness and passive aggressive comedy) because they’re both mad at each other for their mutual miscommunication, but also because they KNOW that if they do work together they’ll end up fucking it up somehow (and actually set the second coming back on track, which they obviously don’t want). The one thing that is a common thread through Good Omens is that Aziraphale and Crowley are actually kind of useless at their jobs, and they usually end up accomplishing the opposite of whatever it is they are supposed to do. Aziraphale is still in the grip of heaven, and can be manipulated — while Crowley is probably still terrified of Satan, and now that he’s kind of recklessly agreed to such a big promotion, that’s now his immediate superior.
(So really, if you’re useless at your job, and consistently do everything wrong, and you’re trying to stop a massive project — the best place to be would probably be in charge of that project, no?)
So anyways, cue Muriel being used for the most immature go-betweens (“Muriel, dear, please tell the Grand Duke that I won’t be able to make our dinner reservation this evening because he is a lying snake.” “Muriel, tell the Supreme Arseangel that I never made the reservation anyways and his holiestness was presumptuous to assume so.” etc etc)
I’m also betting that the Metatron orchestrated his offer to Aziraphale very intentionally, because he knows that they’re each other’s most precious thing, and he knew that raising Crowley would be the best possible offer to get Aziraphale to agree, but also, he knew that Crowley himself would never agree to it. Which left Aziraphale in a tricky position. He’s still too afraid of heaven to back out, and by separating him from Crowley, the Metatron thinks he has succeeded in both eliminating the biggest threat to the second coming (the earth’s only professional apocalypse-thwarters with extremely powerful joint miracles) and planted (what he believes to be) a huge pushover of an angel in the seat of power — essentially a puppet for the Metatron’s commands.
(I’m not even going to get into the alleged threat of the book of life at this point, but that’s it own big bag of worms)
Problem is, the Metatron severely underestimated how much these two are idiots, how far they’re willing to go for love (or how far they’ll go when they believe their love has been scorned), and again, I cannot stress this enough — how much they’re both idiots.
Crowley accepting the position of Grand Duke seems out of character, until you realize it absolutely is not. (The same thing goes for Aziraphale accepting the position of Supreme Archangel, btw.) With everything else happening, it’s going to be effectively Crowley’s only option — Aziraphale is gone, the second coming is coming, and there’s a convenient little vacancy at the top of Hell’s hierarchy. He’ll take it because he’s upset and hurt by Aziraphale, but he’ll also take it because he’s angry, and it’s the only way he can possibly have any impact on what happens next.
I’d go so far as to say that Crowley loves Earth primarily because he loves Aziraphale, and Aziraphale loves Earth. Crowley is always the one to suggest running away when the going gets tough, because his top priority is always Aziraphale’s safety. If the Earth ends up a casualty, well, boohoo, at least he’s got his Angel with him. Now, though, he’s got no Aziraphale — so what’s the point in sticking to Earth? Remember how he pretty much immediately gave up on stopping the apocalypse when he thought Aziraphale was dead? Yeah. (In fact, he probably realizes very quickly that if he wants any hope of having Aziraphale back and sharing their lives together — this time for real — he has to take drastic measures to make sure Earth and humanity survives. He’s an optimist, and he’s also selfish.)
So, surprise, Metatron! You just took these two will-they-won’t-they eternal virgins and made them business partners. Which is an issue.
Because remember, for one supreme archangel to fall in love with the grand duke of hell during dubious business meetings makes a good story. For it to happen twice makes it look like there is some kind of… institutional problem.
We’ve taken the “workplace” in “workplace comedy” and dialled it up to 12. Now it’s not two salarymen from rival companies just kinda begrudgingly doing what they’re told until they don’t, it’s two high-ranking executives from rival companies who’ve decided they’re in love with each other, they’re done with this shit, and they’re taking the whole industry down from the inside.
Never forget that Good Omens is, at its core, a comedy. I believe we will get the romantic south down ending, for sure, but the path to get there is going to be a farce. They’re not talking — perhaps only in the business sense — so who knows the hijinks and shenanigans and making out they’re going to make everyone around them put up with this season. Aziraphale orchestrated an entire Jane Austen ball for Crowley before they’d even touched mouths. They’re going to be insufferable and I’m praying for Muriel’s sanity.
Finally, the final element of my prediction: Jesus will be there, probably. Maybe even Adam, too! Maybe it’ll even be lost celestial baby pt. 2: electric boogaloo. (as you can see my priorities are mostly regarding what happens with Aziraphale and Crowley lmao)
(and also, you know that dinky little half miracle they pulled together for jimbo? They were a couple of nobodies then. Imagine a full-powered joint miracle between a Supreme Archangel and a Grand Duke?)
(…Imagine a full-powered joint miracle between two supreme archangels and two grand dukes? 👀 ok ok who knows but also I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of beez and gabe)
ok bye ❤️
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God's role in Good Omens is fascinating to analyse over two series.
In Series 1, God acts as the narrator, indifferently dictating the events of the story as they unfold as a neutral observer. She seems divorced from, even annoyed by the affairs of Heaven, and at NO POINT do they get involved. When Armageddon gets subverted, when Aziraphale and Crowley fool their respective celestial authorities and live on Earth together, she makes no effort to interfere.
As an audience watching Series 1, we are led to the conclusion that this means God is effectively on our side: that they aren't bogged down in the ineffable bureaucracy of heaven and hell, and simply want the best possible outcome for everyone. Which happily happens to be the one we like.
Series 2 comes out and completely flips that on its head. Because in retrospect, God doesn't refrain from getting involved because she's 'on our side': rather, because up to that point, everything was going according to plan.
We realise that Aziraphale's 'insane gambit' at the air base was CORRECT: the Great Plan failing was absolutely part of the Ineffable Plan, or as God describes it in episode 1, 'her Ineffable Game of her own devising'. Armageddon 1 was always meant to go down like a lead balloon, as was everything else up until that point: maybe they wanted the also seemingly-omnipotent Antichrist Adam out of the way before they got to business. Agnes Nutter, a mortal human, KNEW that the apocalypse wouldn't happen in 2019 because she wrote a second book of prophesies: it isn't impossible that she was more powerful and prescient than literal God, but it does seem unlikely. Hell, God is narrating right up until the very end, down to the nightingales. Everything is going exactly according to plan.
Until that Ineffable Bureaucracy they refused to get involved with rears its head in an unexpected way.
Gabriel and Beezelbub falling for each other was. Not. Part. Of. The. Plan. Gabriel falling was. Not. Part. Of. The. Plan. Metatron didn't show up to Aziraphale's trial, the trial of the guy who directly prevented the event that the entire universe was purpose built for, but they do turn up to Gabriel's. Armageddon 2 was meant to go ahead, but the Ineffable Game is coming off the rails. God is not narrating Series 2.
Originally, Crowley and Aziraphale were a means to an end, but they've just become symptomatic of the gravest institutional problem God has ever faced: the accelerating dissolution of the absolutist moral divide separating Heaven and Hell. The idea that there's more to life than God's will. And this will not do.
With that in mind, lets look at 2:6.
Metatron seems equally exasperated with both the Archangels and the Dukes, but they're extremely friendly to Aziraphale and deathly cold to Crowley. 'Well Crowley's a demon' yes but God knew that Crowley would fall by design. The malice in that glare makes no sense when compared to the indifferent annoyance they direct towards the LEADERS OF HELL.
God is trying exceptionally hard to bring Aziraphale back into Heaven's fold for completely bullshit reasons: Aziraphale is good in a crisis, but he can't lead his way out of a paper bag. Even though he's technically 'leading' in the Battle of the Bookshop, that mostly boils down to Nina and Maggie throwing random bullshit down the stairs as he nervously protests. Aziraphale and Crowley have become an unpredictable entity, and unpredictability is anathema to God's plan.
Crowley is frustrated that Aziraphale doesn't recognise the toxicity of heaven and hell, but he still can't see beyond that dichotomy: he's hell-bent (no pun intended) on avoiding the chess pieces to the point where he can't see who's moving them.
God is not on the audience's side. God's interests were briefly aligned with ours, and now it's time to correct course.
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raina-at · 8 months
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I have some more coherent thoughts on why GO S2 didn't quite land for me. Under the cut because spoilers and because I don't want to harsh anyone's squee.
First, and I've said this before, pacing. Most of the season was either spent running around headlessly doing something or other, and the "real" plot (what actually happened to Gabriel and why) was condensed into two five-minute exposition dump scenes, with Crowley in Heaven finding the file and with the memory flashbacks for the Gabriel-Belzebub stuff. And the problem is that I felt none of this was especially well set up. None of this information was integrated into the plot organically or foreshadowed. It was "tell, don't show", unfortunately.
Second, efficient storytelling. I especially noticed this in Episode 5, where they spend so much time with Aziraphale running around getting the shopkeepers involved. Yes, it was cute. But it went on faaaaaar too long. I heard somewhere that no matter how delightful a scene is, if it doesn't contribute something essential to the plot, or make us understand something about the characters, it should go. And some of the stuff we saw this season was just so very self-indulgent and just there because it was cute or funny. And if they'd managed to set up the plot and the big twists in the end properly while having fun with the cute and funny and the whimsy, I wouldn't have a complaint. But fucking around for five and a half episodes and then cramming all your story and character development into two five-minute info-dump scenes doesn't make for very efficient storytelling.
Third, characters. I'm sorry, I don't buy Nina and Maggie's "romance". No, they're not together at the end, but it's strongly implied that they might be in the future. And I don't see it. What did work for me was the feeling I got near the end of the series that Aziraphale and Crowley were actually using Maggie and Nina to dry-run how they might move forward with each other. The feeling I got that Aziraphale actually set up the dance not for Nina and Maggie, but for himself and Crowley. And that's why it was so important for him. (another pacing issue here, since we spent so much time in flashback, I a) couldn't remember Maggie's name until Ep 5 and b) had by that time forgotten why they started messing with them in the first place because, you know, it's never mentioned again.)
Next, Gabriel. So I get that Gabriel was saying no to Apocalypse II at his "trial" because he didn't want to fight Hell at this point (not because he gives one shit about humanity). But why did he and Belzebub meet at the pub and agree not to have an Apocalypse II? What's the motivation for this sudden raprochement? They were eager for the war before. They punished Aziraphale and Crowley for stopping it. The jump from "shut your stupid mouth and die already" Gabriel to the Gabriel who met Belzebub at a pub was so jarring and extreme. Gabriel comes off as a complete and utter dick in S1 and in the Job flashback. And now he's making arrangements with Hell? WHY?
Third, why, WHY didn't Crowley tell Aziraphale about why Gabriel was memory-wiped and demoted? He had plenty of time during their talk when Aziraphale told Crowley he was going back to Heaven. Crowley says "I understand a whole lot better than you do", but he doesn't tell Aziraphale vital information. And it makes. no. sense. Especially since he knows that Aziraphale might well be walking into the exact same situation, and might get treated as badly or worse than Gabriel if he refuses to go along with what the Metatron wants. And he has to suspect that the information he has might actually change Aziraphale's mind. "They want you to ogranize Apocalypse II and will mind-wipe and demote you if you refuse" MIGHT be information Aziraphale needs, is entitled to, and would have an influence on the decision he makes. It makes no sense from a character perspective that Crowley wouldn't give Aziraphale this information because a) Crowley knows Aziraphale is risking his life, but Aziraphale doesn't and b) it might just lead to Aziraphale changing his mind, which is SOMETHING CROWLEY DESPERATELY WANTS. IF the writers wanted Aziraphale to not have this information, they should have made sure that we as the audience know this, but Crowley doesn't. Because it makes NO SENSE for Crowley to let Aziraphale run head-first into danger without even trying to warn him, and not just about the general toxicity of Heaven - fair point - but also about the extremely concrete, real and present situation Aziraphale is walking into. It's entirely possible that Aziraphale would have gone to Heaven to prevent Apocalypse II anyway, but at least he'd know what he was walking into, instead of being completely blindsided by it. Essentially, Crowley lies by omission to Aziraphale because he wants him to make a more fundamental choice "our side or your side" "heaven or me". But the thing is that this isn't just about their relationship, it's about Aziraphale's life and very existence. So the way it's written now, he deliberately withholds vital information from Aziraphale because he wants to force Aziraphale into choosing Crowley on principle, and not because of concrete circumstances. And while that's understandable, it's also a Bit Not Good. It's him deciding what Aziraphale needs to know, not Aziraphale making an informed decision. And I see this aspect of it, but at the same time it's also wildly out of character because he's deliberately withholding information that Aziraphale needs to protect his very existence. He was so panicked the whole season about something happening to Aziraphale, and then suddenly he's not even going to tell Aziarphale that he's walking into a death trap? The longer I think about it, the less it makes sense to me. Especially because everything else about the scene was so, so good. So real, so emotional, so understandable, from both sides. (I also thought Crowley was being an asshole about the kiss and Aziraphale's "I forgive you" was both warranted and the worst thing he could have said at the time (I want to hurt you as much as you just hurt me), but at least I felt it was in character and earned - "I need to kiss you now because I need you to know unambiguously what I want from you" "You asshole, you made our first kiss angry, desperate and violent instead of gentle and loving, the way I've been wanting it to be for about a thousand years or longer" is brilliant and perfect and heartbreaking)
So, like I said before, it's not like it's bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I just felt with a bit more discipline and structure, it could have been as truly great as Season 1 was.
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aziraphales-library · 2 years
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do you know of any fandom classics that are post canon and preferably on the longer side?
Let's see!
A Memory of Eden by ImprobableDreams900 [M] (mind the tags!)
When Crowley gets captured by angels and dragged up to Heaven, Aziraphale knows he has to rescue him—no matter the consequences.
The Sandford Flower Show by Mussimm [E]
Crowley had waited six thousand years, kept it all in check. But this was the slipperiest slope he’d ever set foot on and as soon as he’d indulged in a few discretionary acts of kindness he was falling face first into pining, tumbling into flirting, about to dislocate his knees on the sharp rocks of intimacy.
Was this really it? What he had waited six thousand years for? A stupid flower show? Aziraphale wasn’t pulling away from him. Maybe… maybe this time he wouldn’t? Maybe they’d hold hands again. Maybe tonight with a bottle of merlot in them he’d finally work up the courage and just kiss him and he wouldn’t pull away.
The very moment he’d thought it he spotted the problem at the flower show.
~Mod N
And a few from me...
Good Endings by WyvernQuill (T)
A Narrative of Certain Events following the Ending of the World (Except Not Quite), as vaguely hinted at in The Slapdash and Not Very Helpful Prophetic Tidbit of Agnes Nutter, Witch (And Matchmaker.)
"Their lives are in horrible, terrible danger that only we can save them from!" Anathema held up the Prophetic Tidbit. "It says so. Right here." Madame Tracy peered at the page. Raised a meaningful eyebrow. "Dearie, as a woman of, well, considerable experience, I really don't think that's what 'the lyttle Deathe' means in this context..."
"Huh." Anathema squinted. Flipped the page. Read another bit. "....huh."
(Or, alternatively: Eight - give or take - matchmakers trying really, really hard, honest; two clueless ethereal/occult beings mutually pining their endless days away; and one witch, who can't leave well enough alone when it comes to matters of the heart, no matter how many centuries ago she died.)
Instructions Not Included by Atalan (T)
"They'll leave us alone. For a bit."
One year after the Apocalypse-That-Wasn't, Crowley and Aziraphale have settled into a new routine: keeping an eye on supernatural happenings in the world and preventing Heaven or Hell from interfering too much with humanity. It's not a bad job - despite occasional rains of fish - and if there are some unspoken things they really ought to talk about, well, they have all the time in the world now to get around to that, right?
At least, until the Archangel Raphael turns up on their doorstep looking for help... and it starts to become clear that the world is changing fast, and so are they.
Or: Crowley and Aziraphale start a detective agency. Shenanigans ensue. Slowburn continues. Apparently, there is plot. I have some thoughts about Heaven, Hell, and humanism. There will be stupid jokes and a healthy sprinkling of angst.
A Curious Case of Miracles on Marlborough Street by akfedeau (M)
After stopping the apocalypse, Crowley and Aziraphale finally take the next step in their six-thousand-year friendship. But when a spate of miracles sweeps across Soho and Mayfair, they realize their amorous escapades may have an unintended side effect. As they scramble to restore balance and an archangel arrives to investigate, Heaven and Hell’s messengers learn that you can never have too much of a good thing.
Vita Nova by AMidnightDreary (M)
“Angel, bloody hell. Hi. You doing okay? Do you have any idea what’s going on?” It was quiet for a few seconds. “I’m sorry,” Aziraphale said then, still polite, but a bit perplexed. “Who is this?”
*
Crowley, upon finding that Aziraphale does not remember him, is very much Not Okay with the changes Adam made after the Apocalypse That Wasn't. He can't do anything but try and make the best out of it, though.
- Mod D
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goodduckingomens · 3 years
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You remembered?
Crowley had always been fond of knowledge. And for most of his life he had also been fond of Aziraphale. So it wasn’t too surprising that over time, he acquired a lot of very specific knowledge relating to Aziraphale. Aziraphale himself, however, did seem surprised, when after the apocalypse, Crowley started to make use of it.
“Here, have some of the coffee-flavour chocolates, I know they’re your favourite.”
“Oh, you remembered that? Don’t mind if I do.”
“Angel, come on, I bought us cards at the globe for Much Ado! It’s the anniversary of the time you let me win the coin toss after all!”
“Oh really, you act like it was the only time I did. I can’t believe you remember that time.”
“Angel, I got you some new gloves so you can stop dithering about whether to ditch the old ones.”
“Oh, you remembered that? I don’t even recall telling you about it.”
It was the same every time.
Surprise. Gratefulness. Joy.
And while he loved surprising Aziraphale with nice things, he sometimes did get concerned about how often the angel was surprised by it. Made him realize how little Aziraphale expected people to care about the things he cared about. He could only hope to fix it in time.
They were having a nice evening in at the bookshop, arguing amicably with a bottle of wine, and something was off. Aziraphale kept huffing to himself irritatedly. Crowley had written it off as something external at first, like maybe a particularly annoying customer. But then the angel had started to give him looks when he didn’t think Crowley saw, the annoyance creeping into his voice. Until he heaved one more big huff and crossed his arms.
“Alright angel, what’s the problem?” he asked, feeling a tad annoyed himself at this point.
“Oh, you really DID forget then!”
“Forget? Forget what!”
“Our anniversary,” Aziraphale scowled.
“What? Which anniversary!” Crowley griped, baffled.
“Today marks the 3512th anniversary of the first time we ate a meal together.”
“What, no, that’s tomorrow!”
“No, no, I remember it with perfect clarity. We started before midnight, even if the other 6 hours of the feast were the next day. Thus, the anniversary is today. I cannot believe you forgot!”
The angel huffed once more and re-crossed his arms decisively, pouting.
Crowley gaped at him in disbelief, not quite sure what to say. Then he started to grin.
“You mad bastard. So you did expect me to remember after all.”
“Well, of course I do! That’s what it is like when you love someone, you remember important things and celebrate anniversaries and stop laughing, I’m being serious!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Crowley wheezed. “It’s just, I can’t believe I thought I had to worry about you expecting so little when you were actually acting coy!”
The angel kept looking at him with a sour expression and Crowley only laughed harder.
“No, no, angel, you don’t understand I was actually starting to get worried! And then it turns out you’re just as much of a bastard as I thought you were and you get all technical at me about the 30 seconds the feast started before midnight. Come on, that’s hilarious. And also of course I got us reservations for Mongolian tomorrow. You know on the date that’s sensible for this anniversary.”
“Oh, so you did remember!” Aziraphale said, brightening immediately, which sent Crowley into another fit.
Aziraphale sighed and rolled his eyes. But his mouth was already twitching and it wasn’t long until he joined in.
When they finally both calmed down, Aziraphale was sitting up against Crowley, who had one arm around his shoulders, his own still shaking slightly from laughing.
Aziraphale sighed and snuggled closer into his side, placing a kiss on his jawline.
“I do appreciate all that you do for me. You know that, don’t you?”
Crowley hummed and hugged him closer, which also allowed him to sneak a look at his watch.
“I do, angel. Happy anniversary.”
“Happy anniversary, love.”
Crowley grinned and held his watch up to the angel’s eyes.
30 seconds after midnight.
“OH FOR THE LOVE OF-”
Crowley cackled.
Read the rest of the prompts HERE.
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lostsoulaltair · 3 years
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OnS Theories (23S). First Theory and Analsys - Urd and Rigr. The past and the future. Forgotten Present
Hello everyone, after so long, I welcome you to a new theory, I must say that after a long break, it feels nice to return to update theories. (To be honest, I’ve been busy with stuff, this time I wish it was slacking but it comes between getting busy along a bit of feeling not so motivated, but anyways, let’s pull through these theories to the very end!)
I hope everyone’s alright, make sure to stay healthy dear readers!
P.S: Theories are held within a neutral view and ships are excluded.
“People lament that there is always a precedent for trying something new. But everything that the future brings will be similar to something from the past. But nothing like the present will ever come again, nor has it ever existed “
-Kouhei Kadono, Inside the Apocalypse Castle
Back in the chapter analysis, I focused on the characters that made its appearance after so long, which of course, are the vampire Progenitors; of course, within this, there’s such a quote that truthfully applies to the main two Progenitors that took different paths, who do I mean?
Correct. Those are Rigr Stafford and Urd Geales.
But, what does the quote above have to do with them?
It’s well known that humans alone seek progress, they envision the future as promising, but, within the story, this is something that it’s not only applied to humans but vampires too, what do I mean?
Rigr Stafford - Saito: Vampire living in the future
Rigr Stafford who is better known as Saito is a fine example of that and that’s heavily reflected on the latest chapter:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 105
The very first thing Rigr understood within the amount of time he spent with Urd as the remaining two Progenitors that sticked together was, “what was the purpose of staying?”
The question alone seems like a rebellious phase even to some extend, but in fact, there’s something else behind; just like he stated after this panel, he envisioned an Utopia for vampires, but why?
That’s because the First Progenitor, by the time he sired the very first vampires, he made illusions for them, promising dreams that were a possibility but just like the phrase “Sometime it snows in April”, when a possibility is presented, it depends a lot how it’s handled down; in this case, all the vampires believed there would be an endless dream, a perfect world that is labeled as Utopia which at the very end, it ended up disappearing without notice.
But now, you might wonder, what does this have to do with him seeing the “future”?
Rigr didn’t want to stay behind and remain stuck with the old times, he wanted a change, he wanted answers; he wasn’t satisfied with the current life he had; and thus, he decided to leave, but within this, there’s something curious, what do I mean?
Among all the vampires that don’t know why they exist, that question their existance, Rigr technically bestowed his brother, another second Progenitor the key to what defined a human, what could it be?
Correct:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 105
Indeed, Rigr gave Urd a reason to live even if it meant making him have a negative view towards him for abandoning him after the First did. And thus, this was the first stone Rigr set into the future, and with the flow of time, he reached the current self, the one that diistortioned its own body in order to defeat the threat of the world, which is no less than the First Progenitor.
But why do I state that even between the two Progenitors there’s a forgotten present?
Before that, let’s talk about Urd.
Urd Geales: Vampire living in the past
Urd is well known to represent order which is something considered by many such as @black-sapphire57​ , @mikaisyuudere​, and @sonali6661​.
But even still, even if Urd is a figure that decided to take care of the vampires, that decided to shoulder the responsibility the First had:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 105
There’s something rather interesting within Urd, what do I mean?
Urd Geales despite being a character that shows discipline, along the authority figure he is towards the Vampire Society, Urd is the type that doesn’t accept changes well, what do I mean?
After the First Progenitor decided to leave the Vampire Council along with his Apostles or chosen ones, the vampire society he managed to create entered in a phase of negation, expecting the First to eventually return and take them with him, but even with such dream, the First Progenitor never came back until 1 000 years later when he gave away his presence:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 74
Urd Geales took full responsibility of the Vampires that eventually left by their own, he might have designed them which territory to rule underground, without the sight of humans along the laws that were made by him and Rigr many years ago; and, within this, it wasn’t needed to say that many vampires thought the same as Urd; they were afraid of changes, they treasured a lot the past that used to be their lifestyle, even if it was a different path from humanity, they enjoyed their carefree life, that time wasn’t something that could worry them, the fact they had their sire with them to guide them against the world.
And the very fact that an opportunity of “change” presents, it has been reflected with doubt and a discret fear:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 68
Back in the old chapters when Urd, Ky and Lest attempted to interrogate Krul Tepes, they had a small clash of ideals, what do I mean?
Correct. For Krul, the ways and methods they dealt with the problems were obsolete to the point that even if they tried to find a solution, in fact, they wouldn’t; which, to surprise of many, the first one to take the step of taking action was Ky Luc.
This only allowed the other Progenitors to proceed into knowing what exactly happened in the past that was unkonwn to them along the actions they could take for the future that was bound to come.
But now, what do I mean by statingthat both Urd and Rigr have forgotten the present?
This question might seem to some point confusing but in fact, it’s rather simple; what do I mean?
Both Urd and Rigr decided to stay or choose their respective ideals; they decided what it was best for their own.
In Urd’s case, he considered that remaining the same way as the Vampire Council was made, was the best way to keep order, to keep old traditions and costumes in order; but, time never forgives, time keeps flowing despite inmortality, everything changes around the world, and this was something the Vampire Progenitors that decided to abide the Rules noticed.
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 68
They noticed that the World made a drastic change; that humans weren’t the same compared to those they met millenia ago; in contrast, they entered to forbidden zones, they even touched taboos that which for them were considered acts of violation of the rules made by the First, Urd and Rigr.
In Rigr’s case, he considered that the First Progenitor didn’t leave just out of interest, but rather, he discovered the secrets he hid from the Progenitors, what he considered to do, his goals and ambitions that would eventually affect the World he once knew but, why did he take the risk if he was a vampire?
Despite being a vampire, and just like Ferid:
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Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 91
Indeed, he was seeking for an answer to the same question most vampires ask, which is their reason to live and the meaning of life.
Furthermore, this discovery of how the world was dancing in the palm of the First was revealed in the World Resurrection at 19 LNs, when Guren finally had a time to speak with Rigr Stafford, along learning facts of how the First Progenitor dealt with the world and chose what would prevail and fall; all together with the fact on how Rigr himself altered the Ichinose DNA.
But once again, why is it that both forgot the present when they’re living it?
Forgetting the present isn’t something literal but rahter, if the mind aims for the future and dismisses everything that’s going around, then the answers for what the present beholds are eternally lost, what do I mean?
The Vampire Progenitors and Rigr Stafford have an enemy in common to some extend; in Rigr’s case, his main target is the First Progenitor yet he dismisses the fact that the JIDA has self awareness that the monster they’re fighting is the very same enemy Rigr pursuits; so it applies with the squad and the duo of Mahiru and Guren along the integration of Krul, Ferid and Crowley.
In Urd’s case, he still can’t acknowledge the very fact that the threat is the First Progenitor and this is, to some levels understandable, he was fond of something that was built millenia ago, he treasured what was built at such time until everything was laid on his shoulders.
Urd considers as threat humankind and depending on the answer, the First Progenitor along Rigr Stafford for walking into the forbidden, for abandoning his duties from the Vampire Council and most of all, for all the things he has done, altering many things such as his body along those who decided to follow him.
It is to say that this lack of visualization of the Present isn’t something that’ll be permanent, in fact, it can be said that chapters will escalate sooner or later, they’ll make the world reach its peak and breakdown which only leaves for a future truce between those who want to keep seeing a tomorrow and possibily, a goodbye for the everlasting lifespan they were granted.
What do you think dear readers?
Let me know!
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spn-romantica · 3 years
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So I watched SPN for years, right up until the end of S11, when they brought back Mary. I heard that S15 would be the last season, and I was like ‘oh ok I’ll rewatch (for like the 8th time) and finish SPN then’ BUT THEN 15x18 happened and I was violently pulled back into the SPN fandom. I still haven’t caught up fully watching yet, but I’ve read so much discourse now...and I have thoughts. Hypotheses currently. I’ll wait to finish the whole show for real to call any of this theories but, I wanted to record my thoughts.
They’re about Chuck. As a villain. Which weirds me out. As an antagonist? Sure. As evil? No. Can’t envision it. I just finished my rewatch of S5 and, damn, but if Chuck is the ultimate villain, S5 reads very differently. :0
But I recently saw a post comparing Dean’s reaction in 1x18 (I believe) to his in 10x05 (for sure) about when someone mentions his mother’s death. In 1x18, it’s Sam when they were children and Dean gets angry. In 10x05, it’s a group of high school girls and Dean just bops his head along to the song. The post was framing it as 10x05 not understanding Dean’s thoughts about his mother, but I think that both episodes understand Dean. When Dean is a child, the trauma over his mother’s murder is still fresh. By 10x05, the event is 70 years in the past. Of course it still affects Dean. Of course. You never really get over something like that. But I’d argue that after 70 years, Dean has moved through the stages of grief to acceptance. It still hurts, but like an old ache, not a fresh, still-bleeding wound.
Interestingly, 10x05 is when we see Chuck, after a long absence. He’s watching the play, probably happy that someone loves his work enough to even make a musical, but he is also watching the Winchesters. The actual episodes of the show, aka the books Chuck writes, are what Chuck knows/cares about regarding the Winchesters. Despite being God, I’d argue he doesn’t pay attention to every second and all the little minutia of the boys’ lives. So, here in 10x05, we have confirmation that Chuck is around to see that Dean has healed from his mother’s death.
Later, in S11, Dean acts as therapist/life counsellor to Chuck/God, regarding Amara and Lucifer. And it works! Dean teaches God about family and about healing. Why does God listen to Dean Winchester, a random human? Perhaps it is because of S1-5. Perhaps it is because Dean and Sam were part of God’s test, as God himself describes it in 5x22.
What was the test? Was it God’s experiment about choice and free will? About freedom vs peace? Or, perhaps, was God trying to understand sibling relationships? He and Amara are two faces of the same coin. They are siblings, but with very different outlooks and it caused a rift between them, caused Chuck to seal Amara away before she could destroy his creations. Chuck regretted this, but saw it as a necessary betrayal. But then, some time later, Chuck’s angelic children experience their own betrayal and sibling rift. Lucifer tries to turn the angels against God, rebel and reject God. He makes demons, for sure, and maybe even Hell. But why? God figures that Lucifer was maybe jealous of the new baby (humans) like others in the show postulates. Or maybe Lucifer had beef specifically with Michael, because humans are little more than amoebas from an angelic perspective. Aside from Castiel, Anna and a handful of other angels, angels consistently view humans as humans might view dust mites. Maybe humans were the cause of the rift between Michael and Lucifer, but it was Michael and Lucifer’s relationship that needed fixing in the end, regardless.
So God is left with the sad conclusion that maybe close siblings will inevitably betray each other and be unable to forgive and heal. He wants to heal with Amara. But he also wants Michael and Lucifer to be able to heal. (It doesn’t occur to God that maybe Lucifer’s problem was never with humanity or Michael; it was with God.)
So God has research to do, to see if it’s possible for siblings to experience such deep betrayal and still heal. He turns to his little hairless apes, the only sentient species on Earth with potential to parallel the angels. He starts testing siblings. Cain and Abel are first up. Needless to say, but the betrayal was too strong and left no room for healing. But on down the line of Cain, God continues testing. Eventually, we come to Sam and Dean.
God has scheduled Michael and Lucifer’s family counselling session for 2010. All the data up to this point says it can only end badly. Maybe it’ll half-kill the Earth, but it’s finally time for Michael and Lucifer to meet and for one of them to die. God isn’t happy about this conclusion, but it’s what the data says. So, finally, the last test subjects, the last in the line who will be the vessels for Michael and Lucifer’s showdown, arrive. Sam and Dean Winchester are to be the last sibling test. The conclusion seems foregone at this point, but there is no point in cancelling the last bit of the test after so long, so it continues. God watches. And Sam and Dean surprise God. Siblings after siblings had failed for millennia to heal. Betrayals too strong, healing too little, too late. But Sam and Dean. no matter how badly they hurt each other, find a way to come back together and heal. They don’t give up on each other, despite millennia of data to the contrary. Still, the angels and demons push and push at Sam and Dean until their rift is as wide and as deep as Michael and Lucifer’s, as God’s and Amara’s (in late S4). It seems, despite the brothers’ best efforts earlier on, it’s all for naught.
But there is a further element of randomness, something God couldn’t foresee. Castiel. God hasn’t had occasion for romantic love in his own experience, so he is entirely blind to what choices Castiel is likely to make. He provides an element of randomness to the experiment, an essential part that gives Dean the ultimate chance to go back to Sam and begin to heal (4x22).
Throughout S5, Sam and Dean heal. There is hurt, still, of course, but they love each other and forgive each other. By 5x22, they’ve surprised everyone. Even the angels have given up on turning them against each other, and have shrugged and settled for using Nick and Adam as the vessels for the showdown. Sam and Dean passed their test. They were siblings who betrayed each other and healed from it. God reconsiders how family counselling will go with Michael and Lucifer. He figured it would be the Apocalypse, the end of the problems between Michael and Lucifer, as one of them dies, as had always happened before. But, Sam and Dean showed God, that though it is rare, it is possible to heal. So God gives Sam and Dean an out. He gives Sam the strength to seize back control from Lucifer, should things go south.
Finally, the showdown arrives. Michael and Lucifer meet. They talk things out. To God’s surprise, Lucifer reveals that he never had a problem with Michael. He had forgiven Michael long ago. But Michael couldn’t forgive Lucifer. He had to be a ‘good son’ and do what he thought God wanted him to do. But Michael didn’t realise, that God doesn’t give orders. Free will all the way, baby! But the whole thing comes as a surprise. Apparently, all this time, the problem relationship wasn’t siblings, it was parents.
Oops.
Good thing God had a back-up plan.
Sam throws himself and Lucifer (and Michael and Adam) into the Cage. Michael and Lucifer have an eternity to figure things out between each other now. But that’s beside the point. The point is, now, that God has to start testing all over again. Not how to fix sibling relationships, but how to fix parent-child relationships.
God restores Castiel, perhaps for a few reasons because God exists outside of time, but originally it may have been just for one. He likes Castiel. He is impressed that Castiel invented free will for himself, broke free of angelic programming (multiple times over), and did it all for love. It’s novel. It’s interesting. God might even think it’s sweet. But God has had time later, and thought about it, and he has a plan. And Castiel is essential.
But Dean Winchester is the key.
Sam and Dean’s relationship with their own father has been strained, but both boys find a way to forgive John his flaws and failings, and love him. Whenever they do get a chance to see him again, post his death, they don’t hate him. They’ve healed. John’s relationship with Sam and Dean is one point of data, Abraham and Isaac another. There are many data points that God can reflect back on and consider.
But as S6 through S10 roll on, God watches Sam and Dean and Castiel. He even watches Crowley and Rowena for another data point. Dean is his main focus, however. (This is a little meta, but as the story focuses more on Dean than Sam post S5, it ties in. Prior to S6, both Sam and Dean were essential - the sibling test. Now, post S5, the parent test, Dean is the most essential. Of course, Sam and Castiel are important too. But Dean is key.)
Dean is a good father. He was a good father to Sam, even when he was only 6 years old himself. He was a good father to Ben. He was willing to die for Bobby John. He’s always good with kids. Not only that, but Dean is blunt enough, brave enough, and crazy enough to tell God to God’s face what he thinks. God needs Dean’s advice, his perspective and opinion on family relationships, but he also needs to see what Dean would do if he were in God’s shoes.
[Edit (1/04/21): After seeing Michael and Lucifer (mostly) heal, and after seeing Sam and Dean heal their relationship, God finally has hope for him and Amara. So God logically wants to retrieve Amara from her prison. But how? Well, he could just wander on up to Cain and do it himself, but what would Amara say? “So I see you’ve come crawling back, eh, Chucky?” She wouldn’t be impressed with God. She wouldn’t understand, because she’s hopeless too. SO how to give her hope? How to make her see that she and God can be okay again? Why, stick her near Dean Winchester, of course! So God sets things up for Dean to get and lose the Mark of Cain, thereby ensuring that Amara will feel a connection to Dean and stick around him/keep him alive long enough for Dean to work his life-coach magic.]
In S11, God and Amara heal their relationship because of the hope Sam and Dean gave God, and also the direct advice Dean gives God. God and Lucifer, not so much.
God needs more data. He needs to see what Dean would do. In comes Castiel’s relevance. God sets things up so that Lucifer can have a son. A nephil. Jack. And God points Castiel in Jack’s direction, trusting Castiel’s ability for unconditional love to keep Jack alive long enough for the experiment. Castiel becomes Jack’s father. But Castiel will never betray Jack, the way God betrayed Lucifer. And, besides, Castiel isn’t the target of this experiment. But it is Castiel’s relationship with Dean Winchester that provides the link needed to get the experiment rolling.
Because Jack is Castiel’s son, he is therefore Sam and Dean’s nephew. Except, God has been watching Castiel and Dean. And, frankly, their romantic love for each other is so obvious even God cannot miss it. Through Castiel, Dean sees Jack as his son too. He loves Jack, exactly like a son. In this way, Dean parallels God, and Jack parallels Lucifer.
But God knows Dean would not easily turn on any child, let alone his own child. So God had a plan for that too. One that Amara helped him with.
They brought back Mary Winchester.
Mary is the one person in existence whose loss would hurt Dean enough to spur him to action. So, she was brought back to die. It was a matter of only a few years of gentle prodding to get everything in position. Jack causes Mary’s death. Dean is faced with a horrible decision. If Jack can kill Mary, what’s to say that Sam and Castiel wouldn’t be next? Mary’s death is like everything beginning all over again for Dean as well. Her first death set off a chain reaction, a series of unfortunate events that spanned decades and nearly caused the ruination of not only Dean’s life, but Sam’s and John’s and even the world. That scar, which had healed as well as it could after 70 years, that God saw was healed in 10x05, has been violently opened up again. It’s the only thing that could force Dean’s hand, that could get him to betray Jack and try to kill him. If Jack had killed Sam or Castiel, it wouldn’t have had the same effect. Both Sam and Castiel had died and come back so many times, and while it would hurt Dean and make him doubt Jack, their deaths would be a sacrifice that Dean would feel obligated to respect, to give Jack a second chance like they would both want. (And God has been laying the groundwork for Dean, convincing him that Jack is evil, will be evil like Lucifer, can’t be allowed to live. All things God has thought about Lucifer over time. Was Lucifer inherently evil? Was their rift inevitable?)
So, here it is. The big test. Will Dean kill Jack? Will he betray Jack and cause an unhealable rift? Or will he find a way to heal, like he did with Sam against all the odds?
And, once again, Dean impresses God. He refuses to kill Jack.
But now we’re in the endgame. Sam, Dean and Castiel are aware that Jack’s life was only on the line because of God. It’s not something they can forgive, or understand. They’re all God’s guinea pigs, and while he loves his guinea pigs, he knows he’s hurt them in the name of science, of knowledge. or healing, and God can’t undo what he’s done. Free will is linear, after all. So it is time for the Winchesters, Castiel and Jack included, to be done with God. God is done with them, too. It’s time for them to be free and at peace. The experiments are done. God has decided not to kill Lucifer. He has decided to try to heal. He can get Lucifer out of the Empty and talk and try to fix things. He has forever to fix things, now that he knows he can. (The last element of this, Jack forgiving Dean for trying to kill him, is something I have limited knowledge of, but I am under the impression happens so... To be added in the edit once I finish the series.)
But the only way the Winchesters will be able to rest, is if they think God, the last and greatest villain, is out of the way. They know they’ve been manipulated their whole lives, first towards the sibling experiment and now the parent experiment, so they need to think God is gone so they can feel secure in their free will once more. Truthfully, God never took their free will. He set them up in situations, maybe even gave a bio-chemical nudge of anger (Dean) or attraction (Sam and Eileen) every now and then. But the choices were always theirs. Still, God knows they won’t see it that way. So he sets things up so that they can defeat him.
He lets them win. He wants them to win. They cannot defeat God, after all. It’s not God’s time, and Death is the only one who can claim God in the end, as the two embrace as friends and walk to the next existence. But the Winchesters need this, and so God allows it. A last gift, to the beings who have been such help, hope and inspiration to him.
With an eye for an eventual S16, 15x20 is written to be ‘an ending’ but also one that could easily be reframed as a bad dream.
For example...
Unfortunately, after Jack, suped up on a extra Grace God lent him, restores the Earth and expends all the Grace (”giving up the mantle of God so that their is no God, no plans, only Free Will”), and Dean, Sam and Jack head back to the Bunker to regroup and gather the ingredients to do the spell to rescue Castiel from the Empty, they’re jumped by monsters who are angry with how much God has fucked with them on behalf of the Winchesters. 15x20 is all a djinn dream Dean is trapped in.
16x01 is Dean waking himself up from the djinn dream, Sam and Jack escaping their own monsters, and then the end of 16x01 is Dean saying something about waking Castiel up from his own dreams in the Empty. The rest of S16 sees the boys save Castiel, reunite with Eileen, start a monster-hunting Bobby Singer/Men of Letters-esque organisation, Dean and Castiel getting together and getting married on Valentine’s Day, Jack getting to live a normal life, going to school, making friends, etc.
If their is no S16 ever (which would be criminal), then 15x20 makes no sense, unless it is plainly a recount of an old, hopeless ending written by God. However you spin it, 15x20 is not the way it seems (like owls).
All things being said, God is an antagonist, but he’s not evil. He’s an asshole, sure, but he never once worked against the Winchesters, never bet against them, never tried to erase or end them. He wanted them to win. He wanted to see the fruits of free will be love, second chances, hope, forgiveness, healing, and happiness, not just betrayal, pain, selfishness, jealousy, disappointment, and hopelessness.
Why is the ending he shows Becky ‘hopeless’? Because God is. He has spent his long existence losing his most loved family members. Amara, Lucifer. How can things end well for God, when they can’t even end well for humans? But Sam and Dean defy the script, again and again. They surprise God, defying the statistics, defying the hypotheses, throwing the experiment into disarray. Giving God hope. Sam and Dean were okay. Dean and Jack were okay. If God had a romantic love, he would find hope from Dean and Castiel being okay. But when God wrote the book he showed Becky, he was writing what he thought would happen. In the end, surely, not even Dean can be enough to hold Sam and Cas and Jack together. But in the end, as we see, as God sees, he is proven wrong and he’s happy to be wrong. He’s hopeful. And he can leave Dean, Sam, Castiel and Jack, and all the angels and all the humans, to rule the Earth and the Heavens. He doesn’t need to learn anything more from them, so he heads to the Empty, with Amara, with Lucifer, with Death (Billie or not, Death is there for God in the end), and they can all depart for a better existence of their own.
If you read all of this, thanks! I eagerly anticipate watching the remaining 10 seasons so I can come back and edit the heck outta this, but until then, if y’all have any thoughts, I’d be interested to hear them~
TLDR: God is a morally bankrupt scientist and the Winchesters are his guinea pigs, but he’s not evil and he does love his guinea pigs, even if he could really treat them nicer.
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lovingrosewho · 3 years
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Purgatory
Hello again! Long story short, previously I had watched Supernatural until the very beginning of season 12, because I found out what happened at the end and at that time, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to take it. Now that I’m rewatching the whole series I figured I’d might as well just keep watching what I didn’t anddd it hasn’t been much easier haha, I cried a lot and immediately started writing this, even before reaching the end of S12, so yeah that’s how bad I wanted my heart not to ache as much. Anyways, for those same reasons, I didn’t know about “the Empty” and perhaps a few things don’t make a lot of sense but I tried them to, sooo, hope you enjoy :-) Plus, some usual disclaimers: English is not my first language, any feedback is welcome, etc. <3 Ly all <3 
ONE SHOT
Pairing: Crowley x Reader
Rating: T.- Angst, fluff
Word count: 3.7k+ words (yes, I got a little carried away)
Summary: you somehow get trapped in Purgatory and find Crowley
Warnings: SPOILERS AHEAD, SET AFTER SEASON 12, veeery slight smut, nudity(?), cursing
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You don’t know how you got here. Everything’s dark. Like, pitch dark. The sounds are terrifying; growls and screams all along, sounds of beasts. The smell of blood and death ahead. 
Come on, think. What’s the last thing you remember? You were under a witch spell. Scratching and killing any single thing that got on your way. You had claws. 
You begin to walk, but the creak of the dry leafs beneath you is noisy around here, red eyes surround you and you’re forced to run in the only direction that seems viable. 
Legs trembling, you reach a clear spot between the woods. Where are you? 
���Hello darling” a voice with a british accent behind you startles you. You turn around ready to fight. A man in a ragged suit, covered in dirt and blood raises his hands in surrender “Relax, I’m not here to fight”. 
“Who are you? Where am I?” you demand taking a few steps backwards. He gazes at you curiously.
“You’re... well, we are in Purgatory, love” he reveals and you freeze. 
“No... no that can’t be right” you mumble, more to yourself than to him “Humans don’t go to Purgatory”. 
“That’s exactly what I was wondering. Fancy explaining?” he says in a smug tone. You eye him untrustfully. 
“Who are you?” you ask a second time. He looks impassive.
“Name’s Crowley. Who I am doesn’t matter” he answers cuttingly “What matters is... how and why did you get here? 
You shift uncomfortably, laying your weight first in one foot and then the other. 
“A witch casted a spell on me. I don’t remember much after that... just that I... had claws, and fierce, sharp teeth” you explain careful not to reveal too much information.
“Ah, yes” he nods and chuckles slightly “Nasty spell, that one. Never figured it sent you to Purgatory being a human, though”. 
“Me neither, must be the type of spell” you murmure, when you hear sounds coming from the woods again. Crowley takes your hand.
“Come with me” he says, and with little to no other option, you accept nervously and start walking right behind him. 
You’ve been a hunter your whole life, that is, until you stopped a year ago. You were tired, of the running, of death following you around, of the loneliness. But of course you never knew when, nor how, to fully stop. 
Crowley and you walk in silence, but the foggy ambiance and the sad landscape begin to make you uneasy. 
“How long have you been here?” you ask him, voice almost echoing amongst the trees. A few crows on the distance take flight and their croaks reach your ears, making you shiver. 
“Time doesn’t exist here” he explains after a few seconds “I don’t know how long it’s been”. 
You nod quietly. 
“Why are you helping me?” you sincerely wonder. He stops dry and turns to you.
“Am I?” he asks back, eyes in a little bit of annoyance. You shrug and he sighs, suddenly a dull aura washes over him “I’ll explain when we are somewhere safe. We’re almost there, just, hang on for a little longer, Pet”. 
You accept and start walking again, when you hear a strange hiss. Sideways, you get to see a vampire aiming for your neck. You hit it with a branch near you, but in response it throws you across the woods, hitting your back with a tree. Pain strikes you out, you’re barely able to get up, the adrenaline of hunting coming right back to you, ready to keep fighting, when Crowley beheads it from behind with a machete. 
“My, my. What do we have here?” he says in amusement, eyeing you “I know that look. That pose. You’re a hunter. I knew no common human could take that lightly being killed by a witch and going to Purgatory”. 
Before you can even answer he grabs your arm, prompting you to keep walking.
“Easy there love. If that one found us, that means there’s more to come. We’ll chat when we’re safe” he states and you nod, following him. 
You don’t know how much time passes. It feels like ages walking. Everything starts to look the same. You and Crowley reach a darker area.
“Does this mean it’s sundown?” you ask innocently. Crowley chuckles. 
“No. Nothing like that. There’s no such thing as sundown here. Everything stays the same. There’s no day nor night” he explains “No, this place is just where I come to get some rest when I can. It’s usually lonesome, but I try to keep moving anyways”. 
“It’s weird but...” you begin “I don’t really feel sleepy... I’m tired yeah but-“ 
“We don’t sleep here. We keep moving, fighting, killing. That’s the punishment” he says while climbing up a tree, not bothering to look at you “Come with me”. 
You sigh, and follow him once again. 
When you’re both far up enough, there’s no other option than to lay as close as you can to him, so neither of you fall down. You cuddle up in his chest. He doesn’t say a word as you do so, just slips an arm behind your waist so you don’t lose balance. 
“So” Crowley finally speaks “A hunter”. 
You sigh once again.
“Retired. Sort of” you try to tell and he chuckles. 
“I have it on good source there’s no such thing as a ‘retired’ hunter”. He’s not wrong. 
“Yeah well, that was exactly my problem” you say, closing your eyes for a second, but damn you, you can’t feel sleepy not even trying “Name’s (Y/N), by the way. You never asked”. 
“I figured you wouldn’t tell me if I asked” he guesses and you half smirk “I’m planning on keeping the nicknames either way”. 
You roll your eyes.
“Never told you not to” you tease and now he’s the one to half smirk “Who’s your ‘good source’?” you ask changing the subject.
“The Winchesters. You must have heard of them”. You’re not quite sure but it seems to you there’s a hint of nostalgia in his voice. 
“Doesn’t ring a bell” you confess muttering, the darkness suddenly weighing on you. You cuddle up to him even more. 
“It doesn’t?” he interrogates incredulously “That’s... weird. To say the least”. 
“Very” you agree. You thought you knew every hunter in the country. 
“They’ve stopped one or two little Apocalypses” he tells you. You laugh lowly. 
“I’m guessing you were good friends” you assume, and you don’t know it but Crowley’s heart breaks a little.
“More like archenemies” he reflects after a few moments, but you don’t believe him for a second.
“You’re not serious”.
“Deadly”. 
You stay quiet with this last statement and opt to stay silent in his arms, as the minutes pass. 
“I think I can help you go back” he murmurs. You frown.
“How?” 
“I don’t know much, but the same good source... told me there’s a way out. A portal back, if you will”. 
“That’s just a myth” you say, a sparkle of hope shinning through nonetheless.
“It got them out” he says, referring to his friends. 
You huff and shrug shortly afterwards.
“Well if you’re gonna help me go back” you talk distracted drawing circles in his chest “You can get back too right?” 
“I don’t know if it works for demons”. You gasp, you thought he was just a common... well, human.
“Demons don’t go to Purgatory” you mumble, which makes him exhale absently.
“Apparently I did”. 
His confession puts you in alert, you still don’t understand, but you know now’s not the time to discuss it, now you need to survive, and that’s not going to happen without Crowley. You’re tired, confused, and besides, at this point, being dead, in freaking Purgatory, you couldn’t care less about what he is.
Your body begins to feel drowsy, you haven’t closed your eyes at all and the lack of movement feels paralyzing. 
“Ready to get moving love?” Crowley asks you when he feels you shifting. You nod and disentangle yourself from him, slowly getting down the tree. 
What seems like days, or maybe even weeks, you spend it together. It’s getting tiring. You’ve found better weapons but it feels as if you’re just walking in circles. Maybe you are. You enjoy Crowley’s company, but there had been hunts, or more like survivals, you’ve been about to give up. He has noticed and has saved your ass more times than you could count. 
“I can’t do this anymore” you tell him one day while you’re next to a river, getting freshed up. He sighs. 
“We’re almost there (Y/N). Humans don’t belong here. The portal will spit you out the moment we get to it” he explains carefully.
“And I suppose you want a ticket out” you mock but he looks you in the eye, dead serious. 
“I don’t expect you to take me with you” he admits and takes you by surprise, his expression makes you gulp so you nod silently. He sighs again “I’ve done horrible things, love. Things you can’t even imagine. I’ve killed, I’ve kidnapped, I’ve tortured”. 
“But you’ve changed” you dare say, a slight smile appearing on his lips “I love it when you smile”. 
This time he grins naturally. You’re about to say something else when two asteroids of black mud drop to the dirt right next to you. 
“Bollocks” Crowley mutters “(Y/N) run!” 
You start seeing how the strange goo takes human form, whilst you step backwards to stand behind Crowley. 
“Go for the head” he indicates quickly, before whatever the things that you’re facing come right at you. 
You fight until they are beheaded on the floor. Crowley takes your hand, moving you away from the scene so no more of those find you. 
“What were those?” you say as Crowley pushes you to keep moving, your eyes in shock looking at the scene.
“Leviathan. I’ll explain later, now we’ve gotta run”.
You reach a safe spot in the woods and cover yourself in leafs as camouflage. 
“Crowley” you mutter almost inaudible “What the hell?” 
You are laying next to each other, his body almost melting in yours because of the need of heat and compact. 
He begins sighing, and tells you all about his life. His time as a human, as a demon, the Winchesters, Apocalypse, the angels, leviathans, him as a blood junkie, the need of love, of comfort and feelings.
You listen expectantly, you had never thought you’d see that side of Crowley. 
He finishes the story telling you about Lucifer and the Cage, how his ego, and his need for revenge, wanted to win, to see Lucifer suffer. 
“So... King of Hell huh?” you mock, speaking when he’s done, he just huffs playfully “But neither of those things were all that made you sacrifice yourself, were they?” 
He chuckles and shakes his head lightly. 
“I’d like to think after that the Winchesters finally saw that I was on their side” he admits “There was a time you wouldn’t see me fighting, I would be the one to witness the fights and do nothing... maybe God is punishing me for that”. 
“Maybe...” you say “Damn it. I should’ve quit hunting when I could”. 
Crowley chuckles. 
“Why are you telling me this anyways?” you continue timidly.
“I’m getting you out of here, (Y/N). I figured, we’re just a few more hours until we get to the portal... what is a little more softness from my part?”
“Why?” you still demand “Why would you help me if there isn’t anything in it for you?” 
“Because it’s the right thing to do” he says with a serious face. 
You keep talking for a while. You tell him a bit about your life, hunting, family, friends... and he listens attentive, stroking your hair as the words come out of your mouth. 
Afterwards, you stay silent, leaving the conversation at that. It’s been a few rough days (if you can call that days), and you two have shared more than enough to each other. 
“(Y/N)...” he calls your name quietly “Before we leave, there’s something I need to do”. 
“What is it?” you say lifting yourself up a bit to look him in the eyes. His scruffed beard almost grazing your chin, his eyes looking at your mouth. 
“Care to guess?” he says as he catches your lips in a gasp, you part them and begin exploring his mouth, letting his tongue dive into yours, deepening the kiss.
The heat is consuming the both of you, desperation and need for contact, for love, catches you two off guard, wandering for more. Your hand roams across his chest, grabbing him and closing any single distance existing in between, and then travels to his crotch. His on the other side, moves to your hair and pulls you to him, his other hand tightening on your waist, an eager grasp, but he stops you right there.
“(Y/N)” he says softly “I... we can’t”.
“Why not?” you say confused, still kissing his neck and jaw. 
“We could get killed” he explains holding you gently, making you look at him “We need to keep moving, we’re almost there”. 
“What if I never see you again?” you ask, voice cracking. He gives you a light, sad smile. 
“Hopefully, you won’t” he jokes, embracing you tightly. Sideways, you get a peek of what you think it’s a tear leaving his eye. 
You get up feeling heavy. This place has weighed on you but so has the fact that Crowley seems decided to stay behind, and you’ve come... to love him, actually. 
A few hours walking pass. The forest is in absolute silence, monsters just in the distance.
Suddenly, an electromagnetic force starts calling your senses, you feel drawn to it. 
“We’re almost there” you tell him, knees beginning to feel weak after all the walking, the fighting. You feel like you’ve been swimming non-stop all this time and just now you are about to touch mainland. Crowley smiles and nods, sensing you’re probably right. 
Finally, the portal appears in front of your eyes. Blue, electric lights, the end of the tunnel. 
Crowley stands close behind you, waiting for you to go, suppressing the need to cry and scream and curse at watching you leave. 
Unexpectedly, you turn to him and grab his hand, pulling him with you.
“You’re coming with me” you tell him with one foot on the other side of the almost closed portal.
“Are you out of your bloody mind?!” he yells “You don’t know if it’ll work!”
“I have to try!” you yell back almost in a sob, and with one last pull, Crowley’s inside the portal with you, it closes instantly and spins you around for what seems like eternity. 
You wake up in a field in the middle of nowhere. There’s no road, no signs, no nothing. And Crowley is nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it!” you scream at the sky in tears, realizing the portal must’ve bounced him right back at Purgatory. Or maybe even some place worse. 
“Quite the temper, haven’t we?” a voice coming from behind some bushes startles you. 
It’s him.
You can’t believe it.
It’s really him.
“Crowley!” you say running to him. He picks you up in his arms and hugs you as if he hadn’t seen you in decades. 
“Hello, darling” he greets softly leaving you on the ground, wiping the tears off your cheeks with his thumb. 
“I thought I’d lost you”.
“Well, no. Apparently you’re not so lucky” he mocks and you laugh, smacking him lightly on the chest. 
“So” you start “What now? Can’t you use your demon powers to zap us out of here?” 
He makes a thoughtful face for a second and then shakes his head.
“I think they’re gone” he confesses.
“What do you mean gone? As in gone-gone?” you interrogate in surprise.
“Yes as in gone-gone” he admits rolling his eyes playfully “I don’t understand why I...”
“Maybe you’re getting a second chance” you tell him with a grin, which he returns but it’s not quite sure about “Whatever, we’ll... we’ll figure something out”. 
Now’s the time to keep walking, this time hand in hand, no weapons needed, until you find the main road and manage to sneak into the back of a truck. 
When you get to the civilization, you politely ask some woman on the street if you can use their phone to call some pals. They send you some cash so you can go back home. 
You get to your apartment after what appears to be a lifetime, though your friends tell you it’s just been four months since they last heard from you. 
Both you and Crowley strip out of your dirty, ragged clothes and get into the shower together, washing down the dirt and blood, but it’s more than that, it’s a new start.
You get Crowley a towel to dry himself, which he does with you sitting on his lap, drying yourself as well. 
“What’s next, Kitten?” he asks when he’s finished, wrapping his arms around your waist, seeing as you drop the towel to the floor. 
“Well no more hunting, for starters” you declare and he chuckles “Apart from that, I have no idea”. 
You stop to think for an instant. 
“Does this mean you’re entirely human?” you ask shyly. He looks at you, a mix of fear and hope in his eyes. 
“Shall we find out?” he interrogates and you nod, placing your hand to his chest, relaxing the moment you sense his heartbeat “Go get the holy water, Pet. We should be sure anyways”. 
So you test him with holy water, salt, a demon trap, and even a demon knife you had laying around. He’s human. 
The two of you grin lightly and stay embraced for a while in the couch, taking in the scent of the other, still naked. 
He stays quiet for a bit, but then clears his throat and speaks again.
“Do you mind if I use your phone to call my... Moose and Squirrel?” he asks, tone a bit shy. 
“Be my guest” you say smiling, lifting up from him so he can put an oversized old robe you had on and call his friends. 
You hear some rings through the phone.
“Funny” he says lowly “Says none of this numbers exist”. 
“What?” you say frowning “Try again”. 
He does but the machine keeps telling him the same.
“Well, maybe they ditched their phones?” you presume “They’re hunters, wouldn’t be uncommon”. 
“No, I suppose it wouldn’t” he reflects.
“Have you got an address?” you ask “If the Impala hasn’t been stolen, we could pay them a visit”. 
He nods still a bit confused. 
“The Impala?” he questions carefully. 
“Yeah, my car”.
He goes silent again, but sighs and shrugs shortly afterwards.
“Do you have any clothes that’ll fit me?” he says doubtful.
“Yeah, I must’ve somewhere”.
You look through the drawers and find some men clothes. Must be from a friend, or an ex-boyfriend or something.
“Hopefully this’ll fit” you say handing him over a pair of black jeans, plain black t-shirt and black shoes. He sighs.
“We’re going shopping after this” he declares starting to change, you laugh and roll your eyes. 
When you hit the road, the address he gives you seems oddly familiar, but you decide not to ask questions just yet, and instead wait to see what happens. 
You feel safe with him on the road. His hand on your knee while you drive and his absent stare on the highway. 
You get to the place and... you weren’t wrong, this is your old grandparents house. 
“Crowley...” you begin as he gets out of the car and towards the door “What are we doing here?” 
“We...” he says as he tries to open the door, and can’t but notice this place doesn’t look quite similar to what he remembered, and it hasn’t even been that long. You frown and take out the old keys to open the door. He stares at you in shock. 
“My grandparents used to live here. Men of Letters and all” you chuckle opening the door, Crowley has gone silent. You turn on the bunker’s lights and inhale the book and dust scent. 
“This whole time, it was you” he acknowledges but you don’t understand.
“What do you mean me? What are you talking about?” 
“I think... I think the portal bounced me to another dimension, to your dimension, just like I was telling you” Crowley tells you after putting two and two together.
“Oh” you finally understand “Oh”.
Inevitably, your heart fills with worry. You don’t want him to leave. 
You get back to the car and just sit there, trying to process what just happened. 
“We should go back to you place” he mutters after a while “It’ll be easier to decide what to do”. 
You nod and start the engine on. 
When you’re back at your apartment, everything feels kind of different, there’s a heavy tension coating the room. 
“I’m gonna change into something more comfortable” you state heading for your room. When you’re stripping out of your jeans, Crowley enters your bedroom as you put some pajama shorts on and losing the bra without taking your t-shirt off. When he sees you, he walks slowly over you and with a playful look pulls you to the bed with him. You begin to stroke his hair while he’s laying on your chest.
“Crowley” you mumble, unsure about what you’re about to say “Maybe we can find a way back. To your friends I mean”.
“Who says I wanna go back?” he says frowning “I was tired of having a bunch of demons on my tail the whole bloody time anyways”. 
“But aren’t you going to miss them? Sam and Dean? And Castiel? And your mother?” you say worried, it’s not like you are pushing him to leave, it really isn’t, but you don’t want him to stay if that means he won’t be happy. He already knows that. 
“Mother is dead as far as I know, as for the other three Hardy boys... they’ll do just fine without me” he says a bit nostalgic but giving you a genuine smile “Besides, I have you now, haven’t I?” 
You smile back and nod.
“Then I have everything I could possibly want or need right here” he declares, turning to kiss you
MASTERLIST
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Destiel Trope Collection Day 25: Slow Burn
The difference between living and existing (WIP) | @lucy-is-alive
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 6052 Main Tags/Warnings: John Winchester's A+ parenting, College AU, Sexuality crisis, PTSD, Childhood trauma, Recreational drug use, Angst and hurt/comfort Summary: As soon as he got the chance, Dean left his father behind and went to college. However, he never anticipated that the absence of the person who had disrupted his entire life would make it worse. With the help of his friends, he tries to navigate through the emotional hurricane that comes with complex PTSD.
Celestial | @deservetobesaved
Rating: Mature Word Count: 10585 Main Tags/Warnings: slow burn, mutual pining, fluff, emotional affair, bottom!dean Summary: Dean is in a less than stellar marriage, but he assumes things will work themselves out. At the same time, Mr. Castiel Novak becomes his new co-worker at school and Dean has to rethink everything he thought he had figured out.
Welcome to the Badlands (WIP) | @cr-noble-writes
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 15386 Main Tags/Warnings: graphic violence, dystopian au, fusion, into the badlands au, slow burn Summary: The wars were so long ago, nobody even remembers. Darkness and fear ruled until the time of the Barons, seven men and women who forged order out of the chaos. People flocked to them for protection. That protection became servitude. They banished guns and trained armies of lethal fighters they called Clippers. This world is built on blood. Nobody is innocent here. Welcome to the Badlands.
Profound Kisses | @verobatto-angelxhunter
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 20700 Main Tags/Warnings: Destiel, post 8x07 canon divergent, mutual pining, explicit sexual content, angst with a happy ending, clueless! Castiel, pining!Dean, Top!Dean, Bottom!Cas, slow burn, love confessions, first kiss, french kiss, Sammy knows. Summary: Dean knows he's screwed. He discovers he is in love with Castiel in Purgatory, and now he can't even have the angel in front of him, because he knows it's a one sided love. It’s Valentine's day and Dean tries very hard to hook up as always, but he can't get Cas out of his mind. So he drives back to the motel, drunk, and he finds Castiel trying to help him. Then, when Dean asks Castiel for some experimental kisses and the angel accepts, Dean starts a very dangerous game… finding in Castiel's kisses the most delicious experiences, but also, his own perdition. Will Castiel fall in love with him? Or will he stay emotionless as always?
Hate me, but love me too | @notfunnydean
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 23310 Main Tags/Warnings: Virgin!Dean,f hate spell, hate curse, younger!dean, older!sam, Grace Sharing, First Kiss, First Time, Hate Sex, Dubious Consent, Mildly Dubious Consent, Cas is cursed, (not really MCD but Cas isn't alive in the beginning), Castiel has sex with somebody else in the beginning(and Dean sees it), Heartbreakbut I will fix it! Summary: Dean’s whole life changes when his mother tells him that John isn’t his biological father and he needs to save the world from his sibling Adam, who is the King of Hell. But he can’t do that alone, he needs the best Hunter earth had, Castiel Novak.
Starstruck (WIP) | @peanutbutterjelly-pie
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 40860 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Slow Burn, Actor Dean, Single Parent Castiel, Pining Summary: From the outside Castiel Novak looks like a regular guy: a good job, two teenage kids, a nice house and a crappy car he’s way too attached to. But there’s one thing no one knows about him: that, over twenty years ago, he used to live next to no other than Dean Winchester – back then a brash and loud-mouthed boy and nowadays a huge movie star and Hollywood’s sweetheart. Castiel never bothered to tell anyone about his childhood friend because frankly, who would believe him? Probably even Dean himself already forgot about his former awkward and weird neighbor, so Castiel seriously doesn’t see any point in mentioning the whole thing ever. But then an interview on national TV happens where Dean reveals way more about his past than ever before … and Castiel - as well as the rest of the world - suddenly realizes that he left a much bigger impact on Dean’s life than he originally thought.
Letter to Dean Winchester (WIP) | @castielsangel-blade
Rating: Mature Word Count: 44182 Main Tags/Warnings: Past Lisa/Dean, Past Aaron/Dean, Past Castiel/Dean, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Mentions of Past Cheating, Mentions of Past Toxic Relationship, Gray Romantic Castiel, Asexual Castiel, Epistolary, Bisexual Dean Summary: Castiel writes and sends a letter to Dean Winchester. He wants closure for the toxic relationship they had in high school.
Falling Apart | @cr-noble-writes
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 49204 Main Tags/Warnings: minor character death, sam deceased when fic starts, alcoholism, drug misuse, addiction, rehab au, soulmate au, flashbacks, ptsd Summary: Sword & Cross Resident Rehabilitation is a last-ditch effort for Dean Winchester to move past the drug and drinking problems he developed to bury his guilt over the fire that killed his brother. Not to mention the wild visions and smoky, sentient shadows that have plagued him his entire life. It's supposed to be the best Savannah has to offer, but one look at the crumbling tile floors and dangling crown mouldings, and Dean has his doubts. Enter Castiel Novak. He’s rude, aloof, and a total dick from the moment they lay eyes on each other but Dean can’t help but feel a mysterious connection to the man. Maybe he really has lost his mind. But when Castiel starts making appearances in Dean’s vivid visions of the past, he knows there is more to their link than meets the eye. Even if Cas keeps telling him otherwise. It seems everyone at Sword & Cross knows what’s going on except for Dean. Trying to conquer his mountain of guilt and doubt and figure out the connection he is certain he shares with Castiel is only made harder by the “accidents” that seem to follow him. Not to mention his attraction to Gadreel. Whatever secret Castiel is trying so hard to keep, Dean knows he has to uncover it.
Will you be my ten inch hero? | @notfunnydean
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 57468 Main Tags/Warnings: Bullying, Homophobic Language, Abusive John Winchester, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, giving a baby to adoption (not between Destiel), Rape/Non-con Elements, John kicked Dean out, Virgin!Dean, surprise guest appereance, Minor Crowley (Supernatural)/Bobby Singer, Minor Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle, Minor Rowena MacLeod/Gabriel, two surprise pairings, not Ketch or Mick Davies friendly Summary: When John Winchester kicks Dean out, after he saw him kissing another boy, and Dean sees that Sam has a perfect life at Stanford without him, Dean starts a new life in Santa Cruz. He works at a tiny shop as a cook, has found some friends there, and is overall happy enough. That changes when Castiel comes into his shop and his Co-worker Azara, who has a different man every night, starts flirting with him right in front of Dean. Not that he would be jealous or anything, but there is something about Castiel that makes him weak in the knees. Only that Castiel would never want him back, right?
Roll With It | @saltnhalo
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 72818 Main Tags/Warnings: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Boss/Employee Relationship, Secretary Dean, Alternate Universe - Not Hunters, The Proposal AU, Alternate Universe, Romantic Comedy, Romance, Editor Castiel, Fluff and Angst, Sam Winchester at Stanford, POV Alternating, Geek Dean, Russian Castiel, Sharing a Bed, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Top Castiel, Bottom Dean, Misunderstandings, Tattooed Castiel, Love Confessions, Slow Burn Summary: For two years, Dean’s been slaving away beneath his boss – many label him a secretary, but he fucking hates that and feels like it only applies to someone wearing a pencil skirt, so he insists on his title of Executive Assistant. And for what? In the vain hope that one day he’ll manage to become an editor for Sandover Publishing, and that he’ll see the manuscript that he’s slaved over since college finally realized in print. That’s the dream, anyway. Right now, he’s fucking late. Dean wants to be an editor. Castiel just wants to stay in the country. ‘The Proposal’ – as you’ve never seen it before.
When the Magnolias bloom (WIP) | @flurryflair
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 92951 Main Tags/Warnings: slow burn, angst with a happy ending, mutual pining, human!Castiel, divorce, infidelity, middle aged destiel, explicit sexual content, top Castiel/bottom Dean Winchester, top Dean Winchester/bottom Castiel, POV alternating, unresolved sexual tension, denial of feelings, porn with feelings, anxiety attacks, manipulative relationship, unhealthy coping mechanisms, canon-typical violence, case fic, bisexual!Dean, demisexual!Castiel, semi-canon, minor Castiel/OMC, minor Dean Winchester/Lisa Braeden Summary: It's been ten years since the Apocalypse. Ten years without talking, without knowing one another. Castiel has a company to handle and a wedding to plan, Dean has a broken marriage and a decision to make. They have separate lives, lovers and families of their own, they aren't supposed to meet again, to mess it all up. And yet they do, when they least expect it, and maybe when they most need it. A story about second chances, about hope and resilience, and a love that feels both doomed and inevitable.
Unsung Melody (WIP) | @toomanyships-sendhelp
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 177617 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Character Death, AU Slaves, Slow Burn Summary: Dean runs a busy bar and grill in Lebanon, Kansas. Semi-retired from hunting, he'll still catch a case when one blows his way or the urge to hunt strikes him again. It isnt until a case that opened decades ago claims another victim and Dean has to get back in the game a little more than he expected.
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greenbergsays · 5 years
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Good afternoon, are y’all ready for feelings again? Let’s talk about the break-up scene.
“But, Des,” you say, “you’ve already talked about the break-up scene!”
Yeah, I talked about the actual break-up, let’s talk about THE BEGINNING OF IT.
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This isn’t really what I wanted to talk about, but it’s just another one of those great moments that I love between them.
Crowley, literally two seconds ago, says: “You’re ridiculous, I don’t know why I’m still talking to you,” and walks away.
But as soon as Aziraphale says, “You can’t leave, Crowley!” He turns around and just drops this bomb.
“Enough, I’m leaving.” / “We can go off together!”
Honestly, do the two of you even know how to be properly mad at one another? The answer is no.
But like I said, that wasn’t really what I wanted to talk about. 
What I wanted to talk about is what happens directly after that. I wanna talk about Aziraphale’s reaction.
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The way his expression goes slack, lips parting, it’s surprise, yes, but it’s also more. It’s awe.
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There are no words, none whatsoever, that do justice to Michael Sheen’s voice in this moment. 
“Go off together?” So soft, filled with disbelief and longing, like in those three words, Crowley has given him everything he’s ever wanted, but never even dared to dream about.
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And then there’s this. He takes a little fortifying breath like Crowley’s just knocked the air out of him.
The thing that kills me, though, is that as soon as he realizes that he’s daring to hope, he has to reel himself in again. Because he is Aziraphale and he doesn’t get what he wants.
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A little sigh as he lets that same breath go, his shoulders dropping again.
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First of all, before I go off on a tangent, I wanna talk about Crowley’s body language.
He’s just said, “let’s go off together,” and he’s standing there with arms wide open like he’s offering up his entire self to Aziraphale, and in some ways he is, but it just kILLS me to see, knowing what’s coming next.
Now onto my tangent:
Listen to yourself, Aziraphale says. It’s a silly thought to entertain; a pipe dream.
This is the moment, the very second, that Aziraphale teeters on the knife’s edge of a life-changing decision. 
Taking what he wants means turning his back on Heaven. Being obedient to Heaven means losing Crowley.
For six thousand years, he’s been able to put off this decision, but he’s been aware more and more that it’s coming, that he’ll have to choose some day. Maybe in those first days, it would’ve been easy for him to choose Heaven.
But six thousand years later, it isn’t. Six thousand years later, the idea of choosing Heaven over Crowley makes him feel like he’s unraveling at his very core.
He needs to be talked into it, though, the same way Crowley talks him into everything else. Needling him, coaxing him, spouting absolute logic at him--because logic is the language that Aziraphale speaks most fluently--until Aziraphale can make his decision and feel good about it.
It’s easy to say that Aziraphale is a worrier and you would not be incorrect in saying so. But let’s call a spade a spade: Aziraphale has anxiety. Seemingly very severe anxiety.
The first time we meet him, he says, “Oh, I do hope I didn’t do the wrong thing,” and then he spends the next six episodes worrying about that very thing. 
That is his defining trait. He needs to do the right thing and his entire life is spent wondering if he’s succeeding.
The thing that Crowley does--that no one else will do, keep in mind! and that I think is absolutely, utterly wonderful--is he talks it through with Aziraphale. He doesn’t just say, “Stop being a worrywart,” or “Why are you worried about this?” or “You worry too much.”
No, he acknowledges and accepts Aziraphale’s anxiety as part of who he is and instead of dismissing or ridiculing it, he helps to ease that anxiety with the thing that works best for Aziraphale: logic.
Crowley gamely engages Aziraphale’s worries and lays out careful arguments to show that no, dove, you aren’t doing the wrong thing. This is the thing to do, I promise, and here’s why.
That way when Aziraphale makes his decision, he won’t worry about it afterward.
I mean, think about Aziraphale after he makes the decision to help thwart the apocalypse & raise Warlock with Crowley. Crowley’s the one voicing his worries in the flashes we see, not Aziraphale. Aziraphale’s fears have been squashed by Crowley and now he Knows he’s doing the right thing, no anxiety present.
So the thing is...he needs Crowley to do it again. He’s giving Crowley the opportunity to ease his fears again.
And Crowley tries to because he knows that’s how this song and dance goes:
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He tries.
Aziraphale has spent the past 6,000 years putting boundaries on who and what they are to each other.
Crowley has spent 6,000 years trying to respect those boundaries. He’s ass over teakettle in love with Aziraphale, but he’s spent 6,000 years knowing that he can’t say that because to love one another is to disobey orders.
Something that Crowley is very comfortable with, but which Aziraphale is not.
And, of course, to say that first would be making himself too vulnerable. If he says it first, what if Aziraphale balks? What if it’s not okay to love him?
Of course, this whole conversation between them is a love declaration and Aziraphale does balk. And Crowley, as he walks away with a crumbling heart, is secretly glad that he did not say the words.
So he chooses the word “friend.” His question is calculated, but it’s also a miscalculation.
“How long have we been friends?”
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Because I think that “friends” is a bucket of cold water for Aziraphale.
It’s the very moment when he starts to backtrack. It’s when he starts to pull away from Crowley and everything that's being offered. It’s when he starts building up his walls again.
It’s not that Aziraphale doesn’t value what they have--it’s not that what they have isn’t enough--it’s that he is in love with Crowley and he erroneously assumes that he needs more in order to turn his back on Heaven.
He wants the big sweeping gesture, he wants Crowley to say, “I’ve been in love with you for six thousand years, run away with me before the Apocalypse comes.”
Aziraphale has no doubts at all about how he feels about Crowley, but if he’s going to give up Heaven, he needs to know that Crowley doesn’t have any doubts, either. He needs to know that they’re on the same page, that they always have been.
He thinks he needs more of a commitment than “we’re friends, let’s go off together.” (Probably because among his first editions, he has quite a few trashy romance novels. Don’t base romance on that, Aziraphale, ffs.)
And Crowley? Crowley is looking back at the past six thousand years and assuming that the commitment bit was obvious. 
Aziraphale wants a big gesture because he's looking for Crowley's behavior to change, and to change in a way that indicates his feelings. He can’t turn his back on Heaven for things that are unsaid. 
The problem with that, though, is that Crowley's behavior can't change. It can’t because he's been in love since they met. He's ALWAYS acted in love, he can't just start now because Aziraphale’s ready for it.
Aziraphale wants a big sweeping gesture and Crowley thinks that standing there with his arms wide open, offering to run away together, is the gesture.
These dumbasses are so close to getting what they both want, it’s right at their fingertips. They’re on the same page of the same damn book, it’s just different translations.
Now please look at it again, along with what Aziraphale says next:
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the thing 
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that absolutely kills me
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about this fucking part
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is that Aziraphale can’t even look at Crowley when he says it.
That very last gif, he manages to glance at him for a second before he has to look away again, but other than that, he has to look away when he rejects what Crowley is offering, while he rejects what he so badly wants to accept
The other thing that kills me--actually there are two other things.
One is the look on his face as he says, “We’re an angel and a demon,” as if he’s having to remind himself of this fact.
They aren’t friends. They can’t be friends. They can’t be more. They are an angel and a demon. There’s no future for them; there can’t be, because this is what they are.
The other thing that kills me is that that line--”We are an angel and a demon.”--is such a meaningless party line and they both know it.
They’re so far past what they are that the fact that Aziraphale has to remind himself of it is telling in and of itself. 
It’s such an arbitrary thing to them at this point that Crowley doesn’t even bother arguing with it. 
The idea that that’s a reason to do or not do anything is just silly, honestly.
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Body Stealing Black-Eyed Bitch (2) // Jack Kline/Belphegor X Reader
A/N: This is part two so make sure you go read the first one in order for this one to make much more sense lol. This one is actually a lot longer than the first one because me being stupid didn’t equal it out.
TAKES PLACE DURING 15x01 (SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT YET)
REQUESTS ARE OPEN BTW
Requested: Kinda...people wanted this second part but I was gonna make it anyway
Warnings: Blood, some forms of gore, some angst, and some heavy makeout session
PART 1
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-
The guys ran to the doors to check the outside while you stayed back and stared down the demon. He noticed you looking at him and smiled.
“What? No thank you?”
You scoffed. “As if I’ll ever thank you.”
You and Belphegor followed the older men to the outside. You exited the tomb and saw that the sky was still an eerie dark black, but the several dead walking bodies had collapsed on the ground, lifeless once more.
“Hey, it worked! High five!” Belphegor cheered, lifting his hand for high five that one paid any attention to.
“The spirits have been destroyed.” Castiel said, looking around the graveyard.
“No, I actually just blasted them out of those bodies.” Belphegor walked past the four of you.
“So where are the ghosts, then?” Dean asked.
Belphegor didn’t really give a proper answer and you all just sighed then headed toward the chevy impala. As always, Dean was driving and Sam was in shotgun. You, Castiel and Belphegor sat in the back, much to yours and Cas’ distaste. It was a bit worse for you since you were trapped in the middle of the two, meaning you were closer to the demon.
The five of you drove down the dark road as Sam checked online if there was anything on the news. Belphegor was checking out his vessel in the car’s mirrors.
“I mean, come on. I look good.” He said while fumbling with his glasses.
“Don’t get used to it.” You barked, your arms crossed and face blank.
“I’m gonna have to, sweetheart.”
“Anything?” Dean asked his brother, changing the subject.
Sam glanced at Dean with a strange look. “No, not yet. I mean, the news, they didn't...it just... I'm not seeing anything about a worldwide zombie apocalypse.”
“So... Ghostpocalypse. Maybe it's just happening here.” Dean suggested.
But Belphegor shrugged from the backseat next to you.
“Eh, for now. I mean the souls gotta go somewhere, right?”
“Yeah, how many are we talking about, by the way? Souls?” Sam asked, turning his body to face Belphegor.
“In hell?”
“Yes.”
“Two...three billion.” The demon shrugged nonchalantly.
Your eyes widened while Sam and Dean shared a dour face. They knew lots of souls escaped from Hell but not that many.
“Alright. Let's just stick to the plan, alright? We head back to the bunker, figure out how to close the rift.” Dean said.
Belphegor sucked in a breath. “If you can.”
You glared your eyes to him.
“Yeah well, you got a better idea?” You snapped.
“I do not. But if you wanted to buy some time, you could always contain the ghosts.” He told you.
“Contain them how?” Asked Sam.
“Magic.” He answered, as if it was obvious.
“And you just happen to know the right spell?” Cas pointed out.
“Lucky you.” Belphegor said, smirking at you.
You just rolled your eyes and sank back into your seat.
“What do you mean by "contain"?”
“Imagine a salt circle a mile wide. No ghosts get in, no ghosts get out.”
“No,” Castiel interjected. “That town, Harlan, Kansas is less than a mile from the cemetery.”
“Then we get everyone out.” Dean deadpanned.
“How?”
“We lie.”
-
It was already light once you guys arrived back in the town. Sam left the car to speak to the sheriff about the town’s evacuation, you, Dean, Cas and Belphegor were left in the car.
“We can handle the evac, so why don't you grab Crowley Jr. here whatever he needs for his spell?” Dean told you and Cas.
“No.”
“I’m not doing that.” You both protested at the same time.
“What?” Dean confusingly asked.
Castiel looked anywhere but Belphegor. “Dean, I can't. I-I...I can't even look at him.”
A terrible silence went through the car before Cas finally just sighed and left the car. Dean just turned back into his seat and pulled out his extra pistol, opening the glove compartment and shoving it in there out of plain sight. Belphegor took notice and looked over the seat to see what he hid.
“Uh, what’s that?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, cool.”
Dean looked at you in his rearview mirror and sighed.
“(Y/n), I’m gonna need you to help...Belphegor find his supplies and seal up the town. Once you finish the spell, come find us, okay?”
“I am not dealing with him...I can’t. This demon is inhabiting Jack’s-” You stopped. “He’s using his body, Dean.” You confessed to the eldest Winchester brother.
“Sorry, but I’m not asking, Singer.” Dean scolded you, using your last name.
Whenever he used it, you knew he meant business. No one ever called you by your adoptive father’s last name but the Winchesters and that only happened in times where you really pissed them off. You just scoffed and scooted farther away from the demon next to you.
Being near Belphegor kept reminding you that the love of your life was gone forever. Every memory, good and bad, about Jack replayed in your mind. From when you first found him, to teaching him to control his powers or even when he ran away. Your heart and mind ached, ached for your love back.
You noticed that Dean and Belphegor stepped out of the car so you followed on your side. Dean gave you strict instructions about the demon (mainly on making sure he didn’t go rogue and kill you) and then left you alone with him.
As you walked down the street, Belphegor walked next to you and watched several people who walked past you two. He eyed their appearances then whispered to you.
“So, people are, like, crazy good-looking now, eh?”
You furrowed your eyebrows in a mix of irration and confusion. “What?”
“I mean, the last time I was on Earth, when I was human. Ah, it was a while ago. I mean, but, you know, we were all worshipping this giant rock that looked like a huge penis, and...”
“Ew, dude, TMI.” You grimaced. 
“It’s true! Anyway, folks back then, they were, uh, ugly. You know? Had a lot of humps. I mean, a lot. Look at 'em now,” Belphegor stared at your body and smiled. “I mean, look at you. I mean, you're, uh, you know, beautiful.”
You halted in your tracks and a memory popped into your mind.
“You’re very pretty, (Y/n).” Jack told you.
You looked up at him in surprise. The two of you were just in the middle of searching for a case in the bunker’s library when he broke the silence with his words. Jack was just staring at you with a lovestruck gaze and you blushed heavily.
“Thank you, Jack. I think you’re very pretty, too.” You replied, trying to focus on your computer.
“No, no, I mean it.” You looked back up at him, staring into his piercing eyes. “You’re beautiful.”
A tear escaped your eye before you had a chance to wipe it away. Belphegor saw you had stopped walking so he looked to you and saw your bleak expression.
“Um... you good?” He asked, going to shake your shoulder but was stopped by you grabbing his wrist.
“Never touch me. Never call me beautiful. And don’t you ever ask me if I’m good,” You furiously wiped at the tears in your eyes. “Because I am never good.”
You could see out of the corner of your eyes that some people were starting to stare at you two. Although you were still angry, you let go of his wrist.
“Let’s just get your shit and get out of here. Wh-When are you gonna get out of that body, anyway?” You asked.
“Eh, when I find another one. I mean, I would've jumped at the cemetery, but all those meat suits were a little too, uh, you know, wormy. Difficult to blend, if you will.” Belphegor droned on.
“Yeah...sure.”
“So, uh...who was...he, anyway?”
You turned to him but continued walking. “What?”
“Well, I know he was your boyfriend and all but uh...who was this kid?” He curiously asked.
You hesitated before answering.
“His name was Jack. He was a lot of things. To the boys he was their kid. Kinda. But to me,” You swallowed. “He was important. My love, my light, my everything. And now he’s gone, with you inside his corpse.”
The demon could see the emotion in your eyes, even if you did try to keep a straight face, Belphegor could see what you were truly feelings.
“Oh. Uh...sorry.”
You shook your head and carried on.
“So, what do you need for this spell?
“You know, nothing much. Big bag of salt.”
“Easy.”
“And a...and a human heart.”
You physically groaned. You really need a break from death.
-
You exited the convenience store with a huge bag of rock salt. Turning to your left, you entered an alleyway where Belphegor was leaning against a brick wall. He noticed you coming toward him and brushed off his vessel’s clothing.
“Here’s your salt.” You said, handing him the bag.
“I’m going to call Dean about the heart. Maybe he knows a way to get one.”
You grabbed your phone from your pocket and began to search for Dean’s number in your contacts until you saw Belphegor staring at you. For a moment, he reminded you of Jack and his innocent gazes.
“Is there a problem?” You asked. He shook his head.
“No, no, it’s just...you’re very popular in hell.”
“I am?” You asked, pretty curious.
“Yeah. I mean, you may not be Winchester famous but still really well known.” The demon affirmed.
“And how exactly am I “well known” among Hell? I’ve been with the boys for almost eight years now and no demon has ever told me that I’m popular.”
“Kevin Tran, duh. He always talks about you, talks about how you were his best friend and how much he missed you- god he was so whinny.”
You stared at the demon with a blinking look, not sure if you had hear him correctly.
“K-Kevin? Kevin Tran?” You wanted him to confirm. He nodded.
“But God said- Chuck said he was going to Heaven. Kevin is supposed to be in Heaven!” You fumed, getting angrier by the second.
First that son of a bitch messed up your lives for his own entertainment, then he kills Jack, and now apparently he didn’t even send your old best friend to Heaven like he said he would! That lying bastard.
“I’m going to fucking kill that bastard of a writer.”
“Woah, woah, chill. Calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to be calm! My best friend is in Hell!”
Your breathing started to pick up, your mind clouded by anger and you paced back and forth in the ally way. You didn’t even notice Belphegor come up to you and grab you by the shoulders.
Not really knowing anything else to do, Belphegor lifted your chin and smashed his lips onto yours. Your eyes widened in surprise and didn’t even have a chance to respond to the kiss. Because he was using Jack’s body, he tasted like him, felt like him and even the way he held you felt like Jack. For a moment, you forgot that it wasn’t Jack in his body, it was a demon.
After feeling you not freaking out anymore, Belphegor let you go and stared you in the eyes, you staring at your shocked reflection in his sunglasses.
“You calm now?”
You weren’t even thinking anymore. It had felt like forever since you kissed Jack, and even though your mind knew it wasn’t him, your body still craved for his touch again. Without even thinking, you forced your lips back onto his.
Belphegor responded almost immediately, kissing you with just as much passion as you did. His kisses were different, not the soft and sweet kind that your Jack and you always shared. No, this was different, what you felt was true lust and roughness.
You felt him push you up against the brick wall he was leaning against and you could feel his hips grind into yours. You moaned into the kiss, feeling Belphegor’s smirk against your lips. One of his hands found their way from your hips and almost up your shirt.
The hot and heavy kiss had only lasted for a while until Belphegor let your lips go. His stupid and cooky smirk was plastered on his face.
“Come on, we got a bunch of souls and ghosts to seal into this town, right?”
The demon walked past you and out of the alleyway, standing at the end and waiting for you. After everything that’s happened to you in the past couple of days, you managed to make a tiny smile at him.
-
Later, after calling Dean, you told him about the heart you needed for the spell and he suggested you going to morgue. You and Belphegor walked down the empty street, heading to your destination.
“So...about that heart.” He brought up the subject again.
“On it. Dean said that we could probably just head down to the morgue.”
You saw the demon shrug and scrunch up his face.
“Hmm. Fresh, it'd be... it would be better.”
You were about to answer when a man screaming in the distance caught your attention. Immediately, you ran towards the sound with Belphegor following behind you. You went down the street and around the corner to see the town’s sheriff laying on the ground, dead.
You kneeled down to the body and saw a closer look to his neck. There were deep scratches that cut deep and blood drained from his body onto the pavement.
You internally gagged, but managed to keep it down and covered your mouth with your hand. Belphegor wasn’t very affected from the dead man on the ground.
“Hmm, cool.”
You looked up to him with a weirded out face, he just shrugged as if it was nothing. Then again, he was a torturer in Hell for thousands of years.
“Fuck...”
“Yeah. Yeah, poor guy.” Belphegor said with no sympathy at all.
He leaned down toward the body and pushed his hand into the man’s chest, you backing away in disgust and shock. Belphegor pulled out a fresh, bloody heart and showed it to you.
“Well, I got a heart,” Bel smirked and held the organ out to you. “I would give it to you but-”
“I don’t care.” You deadpanned.
He raised his hands up in defense.
Suddenly, the air around you turned cold and when you exhaled, your breath turned white. You knew what this was, a ghost was near.
“We need to move. Now.” You commanded the demon until you heard a voice from behind you.
“Can you take me home?”
You turned around to see the woman in white that Sam and Dean had told you about, the first hunt they went on that started them on this journey together. She whipped her hand out and you went flying towards a nearby dumpster and some boxes.
You took a moment to breath and saw the woman walking towards Belphegor, ready to attack him. The demon backed away, still carrying the heart.
“O-Oh, hey. Look, okay?” He stammered, putting his hand out in front of him.
“Bad ghost! Bad!”
She once again swiped her hand at his lifted hand and created deep scratches into his palm. He winced at the pain and held his hurt hand close to his chest.
Just as the woman was about to pounce on him, you quickly grabbed an iron pole from the boxes and swung at the ghost with all your might. She disappeared right away but you knew she would be back.
“Bel, spell, now. Let's get the salt.”
After running back to grab the salt you had left in the alleyway, you grabbed it and poured it all into a large pile in the middle of the now deserted street. Belphegor then set the dead man’s heart in the center of the salt.
“We good?” You asked.
“We’re good.”
He stood firmly and began to chant the spell. 
“Animi...infernorum...spiritus abyssi surrecti...defigo...vos intra confinia. Vinciamni!”
As the salt and heart began to glow red, Belphegor set his hand firmly into the street in front of the ingredients. A powerful wave washed over the whole town then everything went back to being quiet once more.
-
After meeting up with the boys, along with a mom and her young daughter, you all rode back into the high school to drop off the little family. There wasn’t enough space in the backseat of the impala so you kind of just ended up sitting on top of Belphegor’s lap.
Dean stopped the car in a parking spot and him, along with his brother, turned to face the five of you in the back.
“So, what now?” The mother asked.
“Okay. You two go inside. We'll take care of the town.” Sam told them.
“And maybe don't tell anybody about the whole ghost thing.” Dean added.
“Or the angel thing.” Cas said, looking towards the girl and her mom.
“Yeah, that... that might freak them out.”
Belphegor scoffed from beneath you. “Uh, might?”
You elbowed the demon in the stomach, causing him to groan in pain. You then smiled softly towards the two.
“You’ll be okay, stay safe, alright?”
The mother and daughter left the car and you finally were able to get off of Bel’s lap. It was pretty uncomfortable for you but obviously, Belphegor had enjoyed every bit of it.
Dean drove off to the middle of the parking lot and stepped out of the car, everyone already had gotten off as well. He walked up to you standing next to Belphegor.
“Good to know that the spell worked. He cause any trouble?” Dean questioned, nodding towards the demon who just waved at him.
You looked at Bel then back to the tall man and shook your head.
“No. No, not really. Surprisingly, Bel is pretty okay for a demon. He can’t replace...”You stopped for a moment. Then you remembered the kiss in the alleyway, feeling guilty. “He didn’t cause any trouble. We’re fine.”
Dean looked suspiously between you and Belphegor but nodded and walked over to Cas. You turned over to the demon who was leaning against Baby.
“Bel, what happened in the alleyway...that can’t happen again. I-I mean, I just lost Jack and I can’t-”
Belphegor interrupted you before you could continue.
“Calm yourself, sweetheart. What happened in the alleyway can be our little secret, all right?” He raised his eyebrow in a sly manner, making you slightly giggle, something you haven’t done in a while.
“Our secret.”
You saw his left hand and remembered how the woman in white did some damage to it. You held your hand out so you could take a closer look at it.
“Let me look at your wound.”
He shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ve been through worse.”
“Don’t care. Give me your hand.” You persisted.
Belphegor sighed and lifted his hand to allow you to grab it. You looked over the three deep scratches in his palm and bit your lip in slight disgust. You dropped his hand.
“Let’s clean that up.”
You grabbed some supplies from the Winchester brothers since they were fixing up Sam’s almost infected bullet wound. Taking a piece of bandage, you cleaned up Bel’s scars then wrapped his hand.
“You really care about me, don’t you?” He teased, cockily.
You scoffed.
“You’re in Jack’s body, I don’t anything happening to yo- it. You’re still a body stealing black-eyed bitch, Bel.”
-
A/N: Oh my god, it’s like 7am and I have been up working on this since 1am. I really need food and sleep. Stay safe, loves!
Lemme know if you wanna be tagged in my Supernatural stories!
Someone messaged me and asked me if I could tag them but I completely forgot who so whoever messaged me, please do it again so I can add you!
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the-trashy-phoenix · 3 years
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Supernatural season 6 review (part 2)
Link to part 1:
Irene and I have already finished watching season 6 and I have mixed feelings on it. I immediately noticed the difference between this season and the previous ones, and I think it's not necessarily a bad thing, although probably the whole season can't compete with the previous two. All in all I didn't mind it at all, despite it definitely not being my favorite season, because it contains some new elements that add depth to the characters.
It starts with Dean trying to live a normal life with Lisa and Ben, after he promised it to Sam, but we can immediately see that, despite being a good life and him being fine with them, he feels that he's missing something, and that something, more than it being a life as a hunter (because Dean already said before he would have liked to retire), I think is his brother's presence. Dean's attempt to live with a family is destroyed by the moment Sam miraculously reappears in his life, along with a number of new family members, the Campbells (including their mother's father Samuel, killed years earlier by the yellow-eyed demon), who doesn't seem to particularly like Dean (and the feeling is mutual) and who keeps the purpose of their monsters (and the alphas of each species) hunts a secret from the brothers.
The first and I think most important mystery of the season comes when Sam admits he doesn't know how he got out of the cage and especially when Dean realizes that his brother has changed drastically. I feel like this season, much more than the others, is shown particularly from Dean's point of view from the very beginning (as we see what his life is like without Sam) and so we find out with him as the season goes on what is the next situation he (with his brother) will have to deal with, since it's not clear as it usually is, indeed one of the things that makes this season particularly different from the others is that we don't immediately know who's the villain to defeat. The first problem is finding out who brought Sam and Samuel back, although it seems to worry Dean mostly than anyone else.
Another problem is added when, on episode 06x03, Castiel (called by Dean after many attempts from Sam, who soon finds out Dean's try actually works because of his brother and the angel's "profound bond") informs the brothers that there is a civil war in heaven and that he is fighting Raphael, who wants to take control of the angels and restart the Apocalypse, considering that the plans did not go as the angels would have liked. Castiel is rather mysterious and secretive about the war and the brothers don't know much more about it, considering they focus more on their individual cases and Sam's situation.
I have noticed that the brothers often tend to focus on their problems rather than giving importance to the others' as well. They don't seem too willing to help Castiel (though he doesn't seem willing to be helped) and even when they know Bobby made a deal with Crowley they don't try to fix it. Their attitude emerges especially in episode 06x04, in which we see everything from Bobby's point of view and discover many sides of him that until now we did not know. The episode shows how Bobby behaves during his typical days and we can immediately notice how many things the man does both for himself (in case of finding a way to untie the deal with Crowley), but also for other people (like Rufus, his friend who's also a hunter we've seen already multiple times before and whom I'm pretty fond of), and especially for the Winchesters, who call him for whatever problem they have during a case and for which he wastes hours of his day. They don't pay him back with much and Bobby finally makes them realize how selfish and self-centered they are. The two then help Bobby and the man manages to recover his soul. In addition to his altruism, I also appreciate Bobby's efficiency: he manages to get his soul back in an episode, while the Winchesters can't do it even with a season available.
Going back to episode 06x03 we meet Balthazar, an angel who initially seems to be against Castiel and the Winchesters, but who we discover, as the episodes continue, that he is on the side of "team free will", as he helps them multiple times. I hated when Castiel killed him, since he is one of my favorite angels, both because of his personality and because, despite appearing to be the usual indifferent angel, he actually cares about the cause of the protagonists (and thanks to him we have one of the funniest episodes of Supernatural, 06x15, in which Sam and Dean are catapulted into "our reality" and take the place of the actors who play them, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, continuing that strand of metanarrative and bringing it to the next level of fun, since at this point this episode isn't just making fun of the Supernatural storyline, but also of the show and the actors themselves).
Dean, from episode 06x03 and as others go by, realizes that there's something wrong with Sam, since he seems more cold and heartless than ever, the feeling is fortified when he thinks Sam purposely let a vampire bite him so that he could find out who the vampire's alpha was and where he was (in order to bring him to Samuel). The transformation (that Dean thinks is definitive) leads him to want to say goodbye one last time to Ben and Lisa (with whom he had previously made a deal that allowed him to continue hunting with his brother, who needed him, and return to the two as soon as he could). Being a vampire, he tries to stay as far away from the two as possible, but loses control and throws Ben to the wall, running away soon after. Because of this episode Lisa breaks up with him and Dean, as much as he's hurt, realizes that it is better to get away from his family, to prevent them from being in danger. As much as I love Dean with Castiel, I like Dean with Lisa a lot too. It is probably due to the fact that he has a normal life with her (and I love seeing a domestic Dean), that I like Lisa's personality and that he manages to be a good father figure to Ben (we can see he's quite good with kids even in episode 06x02, when Sam and Dean have to deal with a baby shape-shifter). I hated seeing in episode 06x21, after Crowley captured Lisa and Ben, Dean deciding to erase their memories and going away from them permanently. I felt like the whole situation needed more closure. Back to episode 06x05, he manages to return human at the end of the same episode, but the feeling that Sam has a problem only intensifies when he realizes his brother was smiling as the vampire bit him.
One of the things I've enjoyed the most this season is definitely Sam's status and Dean's emotions about it. He finds himself in a position where he doesn't know how to trust his brother (and in the meantime he also has to endure the breakup with Lisa, which Sam seems to just pretend to care about). He's sure Sam has a problem in episode 06x06, where Sam in front of the goddess of truth manages to keep lying, so she yells at him that he's not human, shocking Dean. After defeating the goddess, Sam confesses everything: he has let him be vampirized and he knows there's something wrong with him, although he doesn't know what it is. Thanks to Castiel in episode 06x07 they discover Sam was brought back without his soul, which is still in the cage with Lucifer.
I love soulless Sam, especially for the new dynamics between the brothers, among whom Dean is now the one most responsible and empathetic, and for Sam's indifference to any human emotion (for example in the episode, in which Dean is kidnapped by "aliens" and Sam seems to be totally serene about it). Of course Dean wants to recover Sam's soul, while Sam does not seem particularly concerned about his lack and, on the contrary, believes that soulless he is a better hunter (and, since Castiel points out that all that time in the cage with Lucifer has most likely damaged Sam's soul irreparably, he's not even convinced it's good to have it back). As true as this may be, soulless Sam seems to become more and more dangerous and Dean finds himself looking for an extreme solution: thanks to Death he manages to recover Sam's soul and separate his memories in hell from the rest of his soul with a wall.
Sam returns with his soul, but without the memories of the last year, so he gradually discovers all the horrible things he has committed without a soul: he is shocked and feels very guilty, even if his brother tries to convince him that that was not really him and that therefore he should not feel responsible. I don't know why but I particularly love the relationship between the two brothers after Sam recovers his soul: first of all you can see the huge difference between soulless Sam and the Sam that we all know and love (I think his emotions and sensations emerge exponentially now, and as much as I liked him without his soul, this shift made me love the "normal" Sam even more), second of all there's a feeling of protection and understanding from Dean and Sam respectively, which leads me to think that they matured even more after the end of season five (in fact I was particularly surprised to see that Sam didn't seem upset by the fact that Dean didn't immediately tell him what had happened to him). Although this situation seems momentarily overcome (even if Dean is afraid that the wall will sooner or later break) the Winchesters have to face two other unsolved problems.
The first one is Crowley, who, once he becomes king of hell, we discover wanting to find Purgatory (to expand his kingdom). We also find out Samuel is working for him by capturing monsters that would eventually tell him how to reach the place (and he's doing it because Crowley promised he would bring Mary back as a reward). If Dean's esteem for his grandfather was already low, this new information gives him the opportunity to completely separate from him and the new relatives, realizing that he doesn't always need to have a family connection if there's one of blood. His grandfather's last misstep comes when, while Sam and Dean, with the help of Castiel and Meg (who wants Crowley dead as much as they do), he misleads them and imprisons them at Crowley's behest. The team manages to break free and Castiel appears to be able to kill Crowley once and for all. The Winchesters meet their grandfather during a hunt in which he dies, as does Rufus. The difference between the reactions to Samuel and Rufus' death is obvious, underlining the further difference between a family formed by blood bonding and a family born by love. I think the introduction of the new relatives, apart from to deepen the concept of family, was rather useless, created more to add mystery to the whole Sam affair than anything else.
The second problem concerns the Mother-of-all-things, Eve, who managed to get out of Purgatory and bring with her a series of monsters, intending to take revenge on Crowley for trying to appropriate Purgatory and the soul of its monsters (of which Eve is the mother). I didn't love this villain that much, it seemed to me introduced rather hastily and without any anticipation, moreover, in comparison to everything that was there before her, Eve seems rather weak, in fact Dean manages to kill her all in all pretty quickly.
On the other hand, I'm glad she was a passing villain and she died already in the episode 06x19 because that gave the brothers and Bobby the opportunity to find out that what Crowley really wants is souls, that he will get them by opening Purgatory and that he's actually still alive. We soon find out that all the unresolved things (like what concerns Crowley, the war in heaven and Sam's soul) leads to one character only: Castiel. I think this revelation is the best (and saddest) part of season six of Supernatural. At the end of episode 06x19 we already see Bobby and Sam suspecting that Castiel is hiding something from them, as it seems impossible that he failed to kill Crowley. The only one who can't even think Castiel would do such a thing is Dean (too blind because of his love for him).
In the next episode, 06x20, which has to be one of my favourite Supernatural episodes ever, everything starts to make sense, since it's all narrated by Castiel. After defeating Lucifer, he retrieved Sam from the cage with enormous difficulty (unintentionally leaving his soul there) and returned to heaven, discovering that Raphael would start a new Apocalypse. He decided to oppose him, although he did not know how to do it, so he initially thought to ask Dean for help, even if he wanted to leave him alone. Indeed, when Crowley proposed to him a deal to access purgatory and share the souls with which they would both strengthen (and Castiel would do it so much he could defeat Raphael), the angel accepted, and since he knows the boys will not like knowing he's made a deal with the king of hell, he doesn't tell them, carrying out the plan with Crowley on his own. As much as I understand Castiel's reasons for working with Crowley, I think he handled the whole situation in the worst possible way and it now seems like a hallmark of the Winchester family choosing to hide their secrets rather than get help from others. Throughout the episode all the tracks seem to trace back to the idea that Castiel is collaborating with Crowley, but Dean continues to trust the angel, trying to defend him in every way.
I think from this episode we can see a further change in the relationship between Dean and Cas: betraying the Winchesters is the last thing the angel would like to do and Dean would rather not see all the evidence that leads to Castiel's betrayal than to admit his best friend has plotted behind his back, because that would be the thing that would hurt him the most. When the Winchesters and Bobby find out by Castiel's mistake that he's been spying on them, Dean realizes he should deal with the fact that his best friend has betrayed him and so he calls him to confront him.
This is probably the saddest scene in this episode: when the Winchesters and Bobby trap him, he continues to look for excuses, until Dean asks him to look him in the eyes and tell him he's not cooperating with Crowley. At that point Castiel can no longer lie, but tries to show the others his point of view, which the three of them do not share and condemn heavily enough. I understand that in this case they have the right to feel betrayed by Castiel, but this is not the first time someone has kept something hidden from the others (it happens literally all the times) and that someone has worked with Crowley (they did it just on the previous season), so it seems to me a bit of a hypocritical attitude to be so upset with Castiel, since the angel has done nothing but help them from the moment he sided with them, while they haven't even tried to help him with the angels' war. Indeed I think they should have found a sort of compromise to resolve the situation in the best of the ways, instead of hindering each other. But I think Dean is mostly hurt by all of Castiel's lies and the fact that he totally fell for it rather than the betrayal itself, so, knowing him, that would have been the hardest thing to do. In my opinion the whole episode focuses on Dean and Castiel's feelings the most, to a point which it almost touches a romantic level, and that scene is the icing on the cake (is it because of the scene, and the script, itself or of Dean and Castiel's intense, longing and hurtful stares? We'll probably never find out, but I love to suffer with them).
In the last two episodes we can see the consequences of the previous episode: after trying to convince Castiel that opening the doors of purgatory was a bad idea and failing miserably, Dean understands that all he can do is hinder him. We can also see the difference between the two brothers, as Sam is more willing to interact with Cas, meanwhile Dean doesn't seem to want to deal with him anymore (even when he should ask him for help to find Lisa and Ben, although in episode 06x21 Dean asks Castiel one last favour, which is to erase Lisa and Ben's memories).
Castiel, on the other hand, tries multiple times to convince Dean (and the others) to trust him with his plan. They can't, so when they try to stop him the angel has to intervene. While I could justify Castiel actions until 06x20, I couldn't after that: after returning from the death and assuming it was God who brought him back, he started to believe what he was doing, making his own choices, was right. So far I couldn't agree more with him, but this security has turned into arrogance and Castiel seems to realize this, as episode 06x20 ends with a desperate demand for an answer from God, since he doesn't know if he's on the right path anymore. Despite these insecurities in the last episode, 06x22, he completes the plan, depriving Crowley of his half of the souls and blocking the Winchesters by breaking the wall in Sam's mind. I understand he didn't know how else to stop them, but until the previous episode he wouldn't want anyone to lay a finger on the Winchesters, so that seems kinda hypocrite. Despite that, Dean and Bobby tries to find Castiel and Crowley before it's too late, but when they find the demon, on Raphael's side, once he found out that Castiel would not comply with the plan, the angel comes back already full of souls and power, after tricking Crowley and completing the plan on his own, and finally kills Raphael. Season six ends with Sam that somehow has reached them, despite being fresh of memories of the time he spent with Lucifer in the cage, with Castiel believing he's the new God (and having all the powers to do so) and with Bobby and Dean knowing the next problem will be how to stop Castiel before he causes another disaster.
I think this season has a lot of great elements, like soulless Sam and the plot twist around Castiel, but also many weaknesses, like the Campbells and the enemies like Eve and Raphael, who in my opinion didn't make such an impact, making Castiel certainly the most interesting villain.
I already know what will happen to Castiel and the boys, but watching them like that always breaks my heart.
- Carly 💚
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aziraphales-library · 3 years
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Hello! Could you recommend me any fics in which Crowley can’t believe that Zira is still alive after the Armageddon’t? Thank you! ❤️
Hi! Here are a mixture of fics in which Crowley can’t believe Aziraphale is alive or is dealing with the trauma of thinking Aziraphale had died. I hope they’re what you were after!...
You’re a dream, darling by Somedrunkpirate (T)
There are two very important facts:
1) Aziraphale is dead.
2) None of this is real.
-----
Crowley’s throat tightens. “My angel,” he says. “My best friend. He’s dead, you know.”
Aziraphale blinks and then blood drains from his face. “No, no. Crowley. No. I’m here. I’m right in front of you.”
“I know,” Crowley says. “Isn’t it amazing, what a dream can do?”
November Rain by FeatherBlack (T)
After Armageddon, Crowley has a few more scars than he accounted for and no temptations to keep him distracted from the pain of losing Aziraphale to the fire—even if his friend wasn't really gone.
Aziraphale, for what it's worth, thought Crowley might need some time alone to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of their eternity on Earth.
As per usual, he was wrong. Hopefully he can make it up to Crowley before it's too late.
In The Moment by Kat_Rowe (T)
The problem with severe trauma is that you tend to think you're just fine. Until the second you're not. Sometimes all it takes is one bad day, when everything gets away from you and your ability to cope decides to go AWOL.
When Crowley has one of those days, his first since the day the world didn't end, he goes to Aziraphale for comfort. Things get worse before they get better, then they get worse again.
Aziraphale thought Crowley was happy, and starting to heal. When he wakes up to the sound of screaming, he starts to understand that neither of them are quite all right. Healing takes more than emotional support, even if it helps. But having someone to love and accept you helps so very much, and makes the future, and the present, worth fighting for.
a wounded work of art by song_of_fate (T)
Crowley never recovered from the trauma of losing Aziraphale to the fire. Even if it didn't happen that way, even if Adam set the Bookshop right again...a part of him was shattered that day.
Now to make sure that Aziraphale never, ever realizes just how badly it broke him.
Still Waking Up by sleepymccoy (T)
Aziraphale has noticed Crowley's odd behavior. Since the Apocalypse he has spotted Crowley outside the shop, just watching, like a watchdog that watches and doesn't come in and explain himself.
This fic follows a roughly two year period after the apocalypse in which Crowley admits to nightmares about the bookshop and Aziraphale burning and struggles to come terms with it and ask for help. Aziraphale grows increasingly lonely and purposeless and some of his damage from Heaven rears up. They slowly navigate supporting each other as best they can. Main points of interest are probs bed sharing, much mutual pining, kissing, and softly handled trauma recovery.
Pieces of You by syrupfactory (M)
Twenty years post-canon, Crowley and Aziraphale's happily-ever-after is uprooted when Aziraphale suddenly vanishes and an encounter with demons leaves Crowley mortal and powerless. After passing months in solitude, Crowley ventures back into London, only to find his husband living a human life as "Ezra" and mourning a fictional human husband called "Jay." Determined to get Aziraphale back, Crowley resolves to do whatever it takes to befriend him all over again, as ordinary people this time, until his angel remembers him.
- Mod D
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kedreeva · 5 years
Text
If We've Got Nothing (We've Got Us)
He finds the first on a Tuesday, well over two months since he had stood his ground before the head officers of both Heaven and Hell and refused to allow them to instigate the apocalypse. Over two months since Adam had gone back to his family and Aziraphale had gone back to his bookshop. Over a month since he had stepped into a bath full of holy water and sent the legions of Hell running with tails tucked over his simple request for a rubber duck.
Over a month since Crowley had walked into hellfire in his stead, and come back to him unscathed and ready to take on whatever came next.
Whatever Aziraphale had expected to come next, it was not… this.
A single, dark covert feather, nestled in the crook of his wing.
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It is out of place among all of his pristine, white feathers, a dark mark on an otherwise pure canvas. He thinks perhaps it is a trick of the light, and finds himself stretching his wing open under the sunlight, where the feather looks no different, except perhaps it shines a little brighter.
He swallows down the apprehension clawing its way up from his belly, and plucks it out.
This won’t, he knows, solve the problem, but for now, it will have to do. He’s got a shop full of books downstairs to tend to, a lunch date with Crowley in a few hours, and a meeting to make with a scholar from halfway across the country, to determine if the parchment fragment the man had discovered was genuine.
He does not have time to worry about whether or not he is Falling, or to wonder what that will mean for his future.
Which does not stop him from doing so, even a little.
——-
Aziraphale cleans the second sheath from a dark pinfeather three days later. It is another covert, this one on his left wing instead. He leaves it there for an entire hour before pulling it, as well. On some level he is aware that plucking them will not stop him from Falling; it won’t even delay the inevitable. What it will do, is prevent him having to stare at the evidence all day, and perhaps more importantly, it will prevent Crowley from worrying.
One might argue the latter is also the lesser of the two reasons, but in Aziraphale’s experience, when Crowley begins to worry, he begins to panic, and when he panics, he begins to just do things, like a dog that knows it is supposed to follow a command it does not understand. He misplaces the antichrist and makes plans to run away to other star systems and drives through hellfire in an antique car with only sheer will to keep death at bay. As they had just managed to save the world, Aziraphale certainly is not about to endanger it again by becoming the cause of Crowley’s next bout of anxiety.
He places the second feather with the first, and tries not to think too much about it.
——-
After the second, the feathers just keep coming.
There are three more, and then seven, and then ten, within a week. One pristine, shimmering white secondary drops out, to be replaced by a blood feather that doesn’t lighten as it grows to a pinfeather. He manages to avoid Crowley for two entire days, until it will no longer bleed when he plucks it. The missing space is obvious, and he finds himself hiding his wings as best as he can when they next see one another for breakfast.
It doesn’t really help. Crowley is nothing if not observant, and more than a little justifiably paranoid, given their circumstances. “What’s going on there?” he asks, as soon as Aziraphale takes a seat at the table.
“Where?” Aziraphale asks innocently, looking around.
“Right there,” Crowley says, pointing elaborately at the wings Aziraphale is trying to keep tucked tightly to his body. “To your wing, right there. You’re missing feathers. Get into a scuffle, have you?”
“Nothing like that,” Aziraphale assures him, and it is even a little true. It is nothing at all like having gotten into a battle. It’s much more like finding out he chose the wrong side of the battle, even though he had believed it was the right thing to do. Even though he still believes he had done the right thing. Even though he had known that this might be the consequence. “Just a bit of a moult, I expect.”
            he doesn’t challenge the excuse. He turns back to his drink, and Aziraphale can hardly stand the silence. He wants so badly to ask for Crowley’s attention, all the while knowing that it is a blessing he does not currently have it.
Or perhaps, he thinks glumly, it is a curse. Hard to tell these days.
——-
After another week, Aziraphale fears he cannot keep hiding. There is only so long Crowley will let him not answer his phone, and he knows he’s reached the limit when the locked door of his shop jingles cheerfully and swings wide for the only other person that has no need of a key. For a brief moment Aziraphale considers hiding, but there are only so many places he could possibly go, and none of them would leave him any sort of dignity.
“Angel…?” comes Crowley’s soft call, as though he were in a library instead of a bookstore. “You in here?”
“Back here,” Aziraphale answers, without leaving the aisle he’s in. If he doesn’t leave it, he may be able to prevent Crowley from his usual orbit, and possibly even hide his wings well enough Crowley won’t notice.
Of course, his plan fails to take into account the fact that the act of hiding his wings from Crowley would be unusual enough to notice. On any normal day this inattention to detail might have mattered a great deal, but today, Crowley rounds the corner in an unusually dramatic manner and says: “Where’ve you been? I’ve been calling all day.”
Aziraphale blinks. He has not heard the phone. “No service,” he says, brow furrowing. “Your doing again?”
Crowley gives him a dry look. “Wouldn’t be very smart of me, to ruin it if I needed to use it, now would it?”
“What do you want, Crowley?” Aziraphale says, hoping that the answer is something, because nothing has a lot more implications he doesn’t have the ability to handle right now.
“Nothing,” Crowley tells him, and a muscle in Aziraphale’s jaw jumps as he clenches it. “I just- well, you’re okay, aren’t you? We’ve got to stick together now.”
“I’m fine,” Aziraphale assures him. “Did you need something else?”
Hurt flickers over Crowley’s features, almost too quickly for Aziraphale to clock, and he might not have noticed it at all, had he not been searching for any sign that Crowley suspects he is up to something. “No,” he says, retreating a step. Aziraphale sways forward, but keeps himself from following. “I guess not.”
“Ah, Crowley?” Aziraphale says, before Crowley can escape entirely. Crowley pauses, and Aziraphale sorts through all of the millions of things he wants to say to him, before finally settling upon: “As long as you’re here, may I ask you something you won’t like very much?”
Crowley’s brows rise, clearly not having expected such a question, and Aziraphale can’t blame him, because he never expected him to say that, either. However, Crowley makes a little motion with one hand to invite him to proceed, and Aziraphale somehow keeps from wringing his hands.
“It’s, erm, it’s about… well, I’d like to know what happened when you Fell?” Aziraphale’s heart climbs up his throat when Crowley bristles, and he rushes to continue. “N-Not about- well, you see, I- I was wondering about what happened to your…” He trails off, because if he says what he hadn’t meant to be saying in the first place but definitely has to say now to prevent there being hurt feelings, Crowley will almost certainly guess his predicament. “To your wings…”
Even through the dark glasses, Aziraphale sees Crowley’s eyes shift to catch a glimpse of the wings Aziraphale is trying hard to keep hidden. Crowley’s are tucked neatly behind him, pitch-dark and almost inconspicuous, despite their size. He does not answer quickly. In fact, he does not answer at all.
“I’m sorry,” Aziraphale finally says, surrendering. He doesn’t want a fight. Not now.
“Nothing happened to them,” Crowley says, like it has been torn from him without permission. The soft sound of his feathers brushing against one another fills the room as he opens his sleek, black wings a little, just enough to emphasize his meaning. They look rougher than usual, with missing feathers in a few places and a vague sort of mottling along the lead edge that might only be a trick of the light. “Feathers all came in black, next moult after the Fall.”
“Black?” Aziraphale says, suddenly much more confused. He, obviously, had not associated with any demons immediately following the Fall. No one had. After all of the rebellious angels had been cast out of Heaven, no one had seen or heard from them for a very long time, and the next time they had, they looked… different. Worse for wear, certainly, but in the same basic form as they take today, black wings and all.
Crowley nods. “Been that way ever since.”
Aziraphale’s mind races. Black feathers. The ones he’d been plucking were darker than his own, but not black. He had assumed there was an interim stage, moulting darker with time or with deeds. “Not grey, then?”
Slowly, Crowley’s wings close and he stares at Aziraphale as though he’s just been socked in the gut, and he does his best to hide his wings now. Aziraphale really has overstepped, he thinks.
“I’m sorry,” he says again, only this time he manages to actually sound like he means it. “I didn’t mean-”
“Do you think it’s possible to Fall upwards?” The question is so out-of-the-blue that it startles Aziraphale, who can do nothing more than stare at Crowley as soon as he’s asked it. Crowley, for his part, does a very good job avoiding eye contact.
“Well, I- I think that’s just called flying,” Aziraphale says, unable to think of anything intelligible to give him as an answer. It’s not a very fair question. Being cast out from Heaven is an extremely one-way ticket on a train Aziraphale has accepted he is riding. But, he realizes with a second start, Crowley isn’t asking for Aziraphale’s sake. Both of Crowley’s wings have pink skin around the alulae, too. “Why do you ask?”
“Curiosity,” Crowley says, looking distinctly uncomfortable, which is an obvious lie, or at least mostly a lie. “I just thought, you know, that if angels can Fall, shouldn’t demons be able to un-Fall?”
Aziraphale tries to follow his meaning. “You mean, become angels again?” He finds that as soon as the words are out of his mouth, they bring with them something he is certain he does not deserve: hope.
“And why not?” Crowley asks defensively, even though there is nothing to fight against. He looks very much as though he would like to slither out of his skin to escape the conversation he’s started, but he forges ahead anyway. “What’s the point, what’s the point of all of it, if you can’t ever get better? Where’s the reason to do good, if Hell’s just going to punish you for it, and Heaven won’t let you back no matter what? Doesn’t make any sense.”
“Crowley,” Aziraphale asks, and he knows it sounds like an argument brewing, so he continues through the beginning of Crowley’s half-formed rebuttal. “I hope you’re right.”
“-and… er… you what?” Crowley stops to take a breath he doesn’t need, and just stares at Aziraphale.
Aziraphale hesitates, holding onto the last vestiges of his former hope, the one where he did not want to worry Crowley. However, if he’s guessed right, something is going on and they’re both going to have to deal with it eventually. So, he loosens his wings, letting them sag open enough that his bare alulae and plucked secondaries are clearly visible, and Crowley’s eyes can’t seem to look anywhere else.
“Your wings…” Crowley breathes out, sounding every bit as damaged as Aziraphale had felt when Crowley had told him the bookstore burned down.
“I think I’m… I think I’m Falling ,” he says, the words so fragile he is afraid they might break as he says them. “I think I have been, for a while now.”
Crowley is still staring, and although Aziraphale has known Crowley for over six thousand years, he does not recognize the look in Crowley’s slitted eyes. Aziraphale has seen pain and anger and upset and worry. He had seen, or thought he had seen the full range of human emotions cross Crowley’s features at one point or another, but Crowley is not a human and Aziraphale comes up short.
“Why didn’t you say something?” Crowley manages, eyes finally ticking up to meet Aziraphale’s. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You’ve done enough worrying for the both of us for months,” Aziraphale says. “And what could you have done about it, even if I had?”
“I could have made sure you weren’t alone, for one,” Crowley says, his wings drooping a little before they spread out halfway, and then flare into full view. Aziraphale can see missing feathers all over the insides of them, and two primaries gone from damaged skin. He’d plucked them, or cut them out, or clawed them out, by the looks of it, and Aziraphale couldn’t understand why .
“Why wouldn’t you want to- to un-Fall?” he said, not sure what they should be calling it.
There’s an expression he recognizes; offense. “Well I didn’t exactly mean to, now did I?” Crowley asks. “It was all that saving the world business that did it, I expect. Very un-demon-like of me.” His face falls back into something unrecognizable, but Crowley’s next words bring with them sharp relief and understanding. “And apparently very un-angel-like of you.”
Regret, Aziraphale thinks with a twinge behind his ribs. It doesn’t suit Crowley at all, and only serves to make Aziraphale wish to smite whatever had caused it, which is terribly inconvenient, as he suspects that is himself.
“What do we do now?” he asks instead, small and more than a little frightened of the answer.
Crowley’s wings fold, but not tightly. He has no reason to hide them anymore. “We keep going,” he says after a moment of thought and a shrug. “Nothing else we can do, really.”
———
They do not, exactly, Rise or Fall.
Aziraphale has never appreciated the experience of a moult. The outcome, a brand new set of undamaged, clean feathers, cannot be argued with, but the process is always messy and itchy and exhausting. As soon as he stops plucking, it seems that he drops feathers even faster, and their return in the form of soft, grey feathers leaves him utterly drained.
Normally, angels have no reason to sleep; it’s a vaguely horrifying idea, just going unconscious like that and not knowing if you’ll come back or not. Aziraphale tried it once, four centuries ago during his last moult, and had regretted it as soon as he’d woken. Four days had gone by, just like that. He could have gotten any number of things done. He could have read a book. Ghastly business, sleeping.
Still, he finds himself nodding off at his desk, and winds up at Crowley’s flat a few minutes later, with no idea what he plans to do next.
“I don’t want to sleep alone,” he says, and only realizes how that sounds after he’s said it.
Crowley seems to understand anyway, and lets him in and shows him to a bedroom that looks as though it’s never been used. “Do you want me to wake you?” is all he says.
He hesitates, and then nods. “Please.”
When he wakes, Crowley is perched on the end of the bed, not paying him any attention but not leaving him alone, either, exactly as he had requested. Crowley’s wings are more grey than black now, paler than Aziraphale’s own but nowhere near white. He’s got them open, limp to either side of him a little like a bird, sunbathing in a particularly delightful sunbeam, except there is no sun, and Crowley is hardly a bird.
Perhaps most surprising of all, is that there is a book in Crowley’s lap. Aziraphale has heard of dreams feeling real and, despite the fact that he knows angels and demons do not have dreams, he worries for a moment that he’s in one.
“Pigeons,” Crowley says, only looking up when Aziraphale fails to answer because he has nothing at all to say. Crowley tips the book up so Aziraphale can see the covers, and it appears to be a bird identification book. Crowley lifts one wing and twists and turns it to its limits, just so he can look at it, and then splays it across Aziraphale so he can look, too. “They’re pigeon grey.”
Aziraphale’s heart goes soft and warm and he cannot help his smile. “Pigeon grey,” he repeats, so fondly. He loves pigeons. “They’re very human birds,” he tells Crowley as he struggles into a sitting position as well, facing Crowley at the end of the bed. Crowley’s wing lifts only enough to allow him to move, before settling back on his lap as though on display. “Humans called them rock doves and domesticated them ages and ages ago, because they loved them so. They believed that they were kind and beautiful and peaceful creatures. That they were perfect to live alongside.”
Crowley smiles, the sort of smile Aziraphale would not mind getting lost in for a few days. “Do you really think we’re anything like that?” he asks. “We’re a bit too rough around the edges, I think.”
“Even feral pigeons are well-loved by humans,” Aziraphale says. He manages to stop looking at one part of Crowley in order to look at another, his fingers tracing down the line of a single, sleek primary toward the tip of Crowley’s wing. “There’s always someone feeding flocks of them in parks and cities.”
“There’s only two of us,” Crowley says, eyes ticking to Aziraphale’s silvery wings for only a moment. “Hardly a flock.”
Aziraphale chuckles and looks up so that he can watch Crowley’s face when he says: “They bond in pairs for life, you know. Pigeons, I mean.”
Crowley holds very, very still, without breaking eye contact. “Do they really?” He obviously has not missed Aziraphale’s meaning.
Aziraphale nods, just barely a motion at all, and smiles uncertainly. “I don’t think we need a whole flock,” he ventures tentatively. “Do you?”
Slowly, Crowley closes the book and sets it aside, his wing dragging over the covers between them to fold out of the way. He shakes his head and a small smile alights on his features like a wary bird. “No, dove. I don’t.”
———-
Their new, Earthly wings grow in, one feather at a time, until they wear matching soft greys, dark and light and patterned in ways no angel’s or demon’s have ever been. They spend their days among the humans, where Aziraphale continues to not sell anyone any books, and Crowley continues to cause mischief he no longer needs to take any credit for with anyone and they are, if not happy, at least content.
And at night, when the humans around their home are asleep and the world rests upon her laurels awaiting the break of day, Aziraphale can be found, more often than not, at Crowley’s flat. Or at least, what used to be Crowley’s flat, but through virtue of occupation now belongs to them both. This arrangement is new and unusual and tentative, and unequivocally what both of them want, which is why it works so much better than their last arrangement, which hadn’t gone that badly at all, in the end.
They do not hear from either of their previous sides for a very long while, and not in the way they are accustomed. The first to arrive is an angel, who folds his wings to his body so tightly they look like a backpack, and he ducks his head and tells them almost without a sound that he thinks they did right, to stop the apocalypse. He asks to join them, and Aziraphale looks at Crowley until Crowley concedes that no, they cannot turn him away. There’s another war coming, and they may as well collect as many as they can before then. The angel, Hadriel, gets his first silver feather less than a month later, only days before the first demon arrives to join them, too.
“Perhaps,” Crowley tells Aziraphale that evening, after they have settled on the couch together, “we will have a flock after all.”
Aziraphale spreads one wing over Crowley’s lap like a blanket, every atom of his being relaxing into the gentle feel of Crowley’s fingers as he begins to preen Aziraphale’s sleek, silvery feathers. “Wouldn’t that be something,” he says, and he closes his eyes, and he smiles.
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Ineffable husbands not fully understanding the parental impact they have on Warlock. Maybe it’s not till after the apocalypse that they check in with him, maybe at school, and all the adults are just - “Omg you must be Warlock’s parents!!!! We’ve heard so much about you!” And it keeps happening everywhere they go (much to their absolute joy). Just lots of hugs for poor warlock
I need very little encouragement to write about Warlock’s shenanigans. Thank you for enabling me, anon, because this was a delight to write. I tried to have some fun with narration in this one.
***
The Dowling family was, by most measures, rich. Any family in possession of such a garden which sprawled out for many paces across their estate is rich by at least some measures. As any self-respecting rich family they’ve had a whole platoon of workers, including (but not limited to) maids, cooks, bodyguards and drivers. Most of these are irrelevant to us, just as they were irrelevant to the Dowling family, nothing beyond things of convenience. However, as the reader would, no doubt, be aware, there was a pair of beings on Dowling’s payroll who deserve most careful attention. One was the estate’s gardener, and the other was a nanny.
Despite deserving the attention, they often found themselves lacking it. The other servants endowed them with nothing beyond friendly greetings and gossip-filled smalltalk, as they would endow all others who found themselves in the position of employment by the household. The two masters of the house, the American ambassador and his wife, couldn’t care less about what their employees did as long as they did their jobs, and their jobs, in the couple’s eyes, were to take care of the garden and take care of their child respectively. The garden blossomed, and the young boy grew, so the gardener and the nanny have found themselves, on most occasions, remarkably unsupervised by the human eye.
But of course every rule has an exception, even if it is, at first, not perceived to be such.
That is to say, when the nanny and the gardener remarked to each other that they were often unsupervised by the human eye, they left out one member of the household who was, as far as they were aware, decisively not human. Little Warlock Dowling, the supposed Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness, has never once let them out of his sight for long.
The gardener and the nanny have agreed that such undivided attention from him must have been due to the fact that he sensed, deep inside, their ethereal or occult energies. What they have failed to recognise was the fact that a young child, by and large neglected his whole life by his parents, who preferred to have him in front of a TV screen and not in front of them, had simply latched onto the first pair of adults who seemed to not protest his company. And if said adults were slightly more... peculiar than others – well, young Warlock maintained, all the better.
There were many things he has noticed about Brother Francis and Nanny Ashtoreth. Some of the things he has noticed would amuse them were he ever to voice them out loud. Some would puzzle them. Some would – perhaps – fluster them, if delivered at the right time in the right tone of voice. But Warlock was blissfully unaware of what the right time or the right tone of voice might be, so he kept his thoughts to himself, and instead asked Nanny to tell him another story.
(Nanny told delightful stories. Still, it was, perhaps, for the better that his parents never payed Warlock enough attention to listen to him retelling one of them, because then the circle of staff associated with the Dowling household might have expanded to include a therapist).
In any case, the boy grew under watchful and not entirely human eyes, and if demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale had their secret meetings outside of the estate grounds, to compare notes and exchange smiles, Warlock was none the wiser. He learned to read, and to write, and to solve problems. His father signed him up for an elite school, and a driver was assigned to take him there in the mornings and bring him back again in the afternoons. The Arrangement (of which he knew nothing) worked just as expected – the heavenly influences balanced out the hellish ones, and on the whole, apart from a taste for violence in fiction and an altruistic streak outside of it, what the boy grew to be was remarkably normal.
(Too bloody normal, Crowley insisted, in the same tone of voice in which he would insist later that Aziraphale really should have listened to him back then).
It was midway through December, as dull as winters often are (the only part of Britain which got nearly enough snow that year, or any year, was Tadfield), when Mrs. Harriet Dowling approached Nanny Ashtoreth, after the driver has carefully off-loaded her shopping bags in the corridor to be picked up by the maid.
“Hello, dear,” Harriet nodded distractedly. Nanny Ashtoreth made the kind of face she always made when anyone but the only being allowed to do so called her “dear”. “I’m going to need you to go to Warlock’s parent meeting tomorrow, and then you’re free to go for Christmas. We will call you when we’ll need you back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nanny Ashtoreth said primly (and if she had no intention to leave the estate when the Dowlings were on their holiday in Egypt, or Hawaii, or whatever other place they have chosen that year, her employer had no business knowing it). “Have a terrific holiday.”
(One must note, unlike Mrs. Dowling who was too preoccupied by directing the maids to note anything, that much like “nice”, the word “terrific” used to have an entirely different meaning, and Nanny Ashtoreth has lived through enough years to know it. On a completely unrelated note, the only person to enjoy the upcoming trip will have been little Warlock, but that is a story for another time).
The next day, at one in the afternoon precisely, a big black car pulled up to the gates of Warlock’s school. Nanny Ashtoreth stepped out of it and followed the displayed signs towards Warlock’s classroom, while simultaneously waving her hand at said signs to make them point in all manners of different directions (for she had to stay on-brand). There were stairs, and glass walls, and motivational posters (which she considered changing a tad, but ultimately decided that it would be a bit on-the-nose). The school was exactly what one would expect from the kind of overpriced education facility demon Crowley has once earned a commendation for. It was probably for the better (worse, technically, which in Hell’s books was, of course, better) if the Antichrist were to grow up surrounded by spoiled brats. He needed a reason to hate humanity, after all.
Nanny Ashtoreth made her way to the classroom and greeted the man at the door with a polite but tight-lipped smile. He glanced down at the paper in his hands, scanning across the surnames.
“Afternoon, ma’am. You’re here for..?”
“Warlock,” she said. “Warlock Dowling.”
The man did a double take, looking back up at her from where his pencil skimmed down the list. Nanny Ashtoreth, perhaps because she had been simply observant, or perhaps because picking up on negative emotions was practically in her job description (no, the other one), could almost feel the disapproval suddenly radiating off him. She quirked one eyebrow up and held his gaze from behind the darkened sunglasses.
“You’re his mother, then?” the man asked, feigning a smile in that impeccable way only teachers can. “Adrien Franks. My pleasure.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Franks,” nanny nodded, offering her hand when he didn’t. “However, Mrs. Dowling is unfortunately busy today. Antonia Ashtoreth to your service.”
The man’s demeanour changed within seconds. Nanny Ashtoreth was left to watch in almost bewildered fascination how his polite smile morphed into a friendly grin as he grasped her hand in his.
“Oh, do excuse me!” he exclaimed. “I just thought – I probably shouldn’t have. My mistake. Are you his nanny, then?”
“That’s me,” she nodded, squinting at him. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d know of me.”
“Oh, we do,” the teacher shrugged, stepping aside to let her inside the classroom, a surprisingly quiet place without the children. There were parents (or substitutes) already inside, but they elected to eye one another suspiciously instead of socialising, as any self-respecting rich people do when surrounded by other rich people. “We get the kids to talk about their home life, to get to know them, you understand, and Warlock barely mentions his parents.”
“I wonder why,” Nanny Ashtoreth muttered. Somewhere far away Harriet Dowling dropped a wooden clothes hanger on her foot and swore.
“Yes, well, it happens. Unfortunately,” Mr. Franks sighed. “Fortunately, however, for Warlock at least, he has you.”
“Me?”
“Well, you, and the gardener – Brother Francis, was it? Warlock never stops going on about you.” Mr. Franks put the list of surnames on one of the desks, then walked back to her, clearly happy to get to break the silence. “I’m glad he has people like you in his life. He seems to look up to both of you greatly.”
“Is that so?” the nanny hummed, noncommittally. She wasn’t sure whether that was something a young Antichrist should be doing – looking up to an angel, Satan forbid! – but she was going to keep her comments to herself until she could discuss it with the said angel in the privacy of the gardener’s cottage. (Aziraphale, of course, would find it rather distasteful that the boy would even think of looking up to a demon).
“Oh, absolutely,” the teacher nodded with enthusiasm. “Of course, he has a bit of an imagination on him, Warlock, so some things he says are... a bit funny, at times, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that there are people in his life taking such good care of him. You’d be surprised how often his classmates feel ignored at home.”
“No, I don’t think I would,” Nanny Ashtoreth muttered, throwing a glance around the room. The teacher gave her an awkward smile.
“Or perhaps you wouldn’t,” he conceded. “In any case, Warlock is a good kid, Ms. Ashtoreth. Thanks for looking after him. You and Brother Francis both.”
He sounded sincere. It was, in nanny’s experience, hard to find humans who would be so sincere, especially amongst the teachers. She would never admit it, but there was something about people who cared so much for children who weren’t their own which made her if not soft, then at least somewhat hopeful about the human race (and wasn’t it ironic that they were talking about its untimely demise?).
“I will pass your thanks onto him,” she said, seriously. And then: “I think the children are back from lunch. Shouldn’t we start?”
Adrien Franks looked at the clock, then at the door. He knitted his eyebrows together when he saw the kids flooding in through the doorway, their voices filling the room in a way that would have been impossible to miss (and yet). He shrugged to himself, decided that he must have been terribly engrossed in the conversation, and took his place at the teacher’s desk.
He watched, almost unintentionally, how little Warlock’s eyes lit up at the sight of his nanny, and how he barged into her, wrapping his thin arms around her waist. She gave him an almost-smile and petted his tousled hair as he babbled about something Adrien could not hear over the general commotion of the room. He looked over the surnames list (which was now inexplicably on his own desk), decided that enough adults were present (some could stand to learn that not everyone in the world will wait for them), and cleared his throat to announce the beginning of the parents meeting.
Yes, he decided. Warlock Dowling was in good hands.
(It was probably for the best that he didn’t say it out loud, though).
***
I’ve had a whole another scene planned out, with Aziraphale this time, but the fic was getting a little long (and the scene wouldn’t quite fit, frankly). If someone wants to see it though, please notify me, for I would love to write it!
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castiel-kline · 3 years
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KitKat’s Random Rewatch (part 2)
The Man Who Would Be King (6x20)
For, um. Obvious reasons.
Ahhhhh this monologue is so fucking good
“But come on, dried dung can only be stacked so high.” Cas should do a stand up routine ngl. This line is some kind of comedic genius
He looked RIGHT at the camera. I remember the first time I saw that I was like hello, this ep is going to destroy me. Spoiler alert: it did. And does.
Cas called Sam being in the cage “a great cost” and immediately went to get him. 🥺 And did he seriously imply his overconfidence gave him the strength to fight his way into the cage? Damn. Confusing, but go off I guess
“Sometimes we’re lucky enough to be given a warning. This should have been mine.” AHHHHH
Cas, come on. You’re smart enough to pick up on when Dean’s being sketchy
Dean said Satan Jr and I forgot this was season 6 for a sec and was about to get mad because that’s not a nice thing to call Jack, Dean. Um, yeah. Turns out they’re talking about Crowley lmao
I have MISSED Crowley’s shouting. He’s so dramatic.
Cas is so done with Crowley’s shit ahaha
The colors of his preferred Heaven are so beautiful
Cas being happy to see other angels will never not make me sad. He’s literally smiling so big considering it’s his s6 self ahhhh. AND THEY’RE HAPPY TO SEE HIM AND HAPPY HE’S ALIVE MY EMOTIONS HURT AHHH
“Freedom is a length of rope, and God wants you to hang yourself with it.” One of my favorite Cas quotes right there
“You never look like you’re joking.” I love Cas’s sense of humor so much. Also, Raphael, kindly stop being an asshole. We do not need to restart the Apocalypse, thanks.
When did Cas stop doing the invisibility thing? Bc that could have come in handy later. Can Jack do that?
Bobby said he doesn’t want to be right about Cas being sketchy. Aww. I wonder if Bobby would have considered Cas one of his boys like Mary did if Bobby had... you know. Lived to see Cas soften out a little bit.
‘I’d die for him, I would.” Aww, Sam.
“That makes you Lois Lane.” Did... did Dean just say Sastiel rights?
I’d be more touched about Dean defending Cas but like... after this he doesn’t ever really give him the benefit of the doubt again, so. I’m a little upsetti spaghetti.
What was up with this demon Bobby guy. He’s funny but like. This is the only time we ever saw him lol
Cassss smite them demons bby. Get em.
All of their smiles at him are so cute. And Cas is just standing there like oop
“I’m still just Castiel.” YES YOU ARE HONEY. AND WE LOVE IT.
Cas is such a bad liar but like he’s also so good at it. Buddy, you’re so complicated. Wouldn’t have it any other way <3
Protective Cas! We love to see it.
OH SHIT he slammed Crowley into the wall so hard it broke the tile. King shit, Cas.
“I’m an angel, you ass.” Another iconic line. This ep has so many.
So it IS official canon that angels don’t have souls. Well, that sure sheds a lot of painful new light on the soulless Jack situation later.
I know Dean says later that Cas could have asked him for help while he was with Lisa, but tbh I’m pretty sure if Cas had actually asked Dean would have said no. I’m in a psychology course right now, and that makes me marginally qualified to say that Dean was definitely experiencing some major hindsight bias.
What happened to Hell being an endless line? When did you stop that, Crowley? Because that would have saved Bobby and Kevin and Eileen so much unnecessary pain.
“Big bald patriarch” is now the only acceptable way to describe Samuel Campbell. That was hilarious. Thanks, Crowley.
I should also mention it’s weird to see Crowley without the beard. Does anyone else get that upon rewatch?
Did Cas actually take 50000 souls from Crowley just to throw Raphael out of his chair and make a statement? Honey, no. But also, king <3
The trap they set for him... Sam looks so sad about it. Ahh.
Okay but one of Bobby’s reasons not to trust Cas being that Bobby didn’t buy that Cas could be effectively tricked by Crowley is pretty cool. At least someone appreciates how smart Cas really is.
The Sam and Cas angst in this scene is immaculate. When Sam asks, “did you bring me back soulless on purpose?” Cas looks HORRIFIED. I don’t think we see him look that level of horrified again until... the end of 15x15 maybe? With that whole whammy Jack unloaded. Which is... wow. Much to unpack.
“I was there. Where were you?” I think we all know Dean is a little bit of a hypocrite. Because this entire season he most definitely didn’t care about Cas’s problems, and I’m pretty sure he did ask for help one time and they said no. So, you were there, but you weren’t a helping hand. You gotta practice what you preach, Dean-o
I know it was a complicated situation but leaving him in the holy fire is still pretty shitty. Come on, guys
“Get out of my sight.” I’m grinning during an intense scene because GO OFF CAS YOU TELL HIM
“The difference between you and me is I know what I am.” Crowley, kindly stop exacerbating Castiel’s self worth crisis. Please and thanks.
Does Bobby have a guest room? Where’s Sam? Why is Dean sleeping on the couch? Did he just want to? I’m sure Bobby has more comfortable places to sleep. Or maybe Bobby’s couch is just really comfy, idk
God, Dean, don’t be so rude. Don’t call Cas a child. I do not approve of this interaction.
Again, Dean. Practice what you preach.
“You’re like a brother to me.” In light of, uh, recent events, I’ll just leave this here.
Also in light of recent events, this is the second time in this episode Cas said the boys taught him free will. They taught him choice, not feelings. And it was CAS who chose to feel.
“I’m an angel. You’re just a man.” You tell him, Cas
Lmao Cas dipped out before the convo was over. Iconic.
The ending on the bench.... Cas. Sweetie. HE SAID FATHER AHHH. And he looks so SAD. Also, the way it was shot was really cool. I can’t believe I didn’t notice that before.
The way it ended with him just hanging his head. Oh, my heart.
Anyway, this episode is a 10/10 for Cas, obviously, but we’re bumping it down to 8/10 because there was such an imbalance in Dean and Cas vs. Sam and Cas interactions. Didn’t remember the show was doing that crap this early. Also, the plot of season 6 low key still doesn’t make sense to me. Oops 🤷‍♀️
HOWEVER, it did me feel slightly better during my current crisis because Cas slays in this one. So, we’re gonna count it as a win.
If you read this thing all this way through, thanks for being here lol. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. :)
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