You Want To Know What Got Me Started On This Midam Train? Way Back In The Day, Before Jake Abel Came

You want to know what got me started on this midam train? Way back in the day, before Jake Abel came along and legitimized us all with the strength of his romantic chemistry with himself?

It was such a small detail, but to present it right, I need to set a little foundation. I need to talk about angel fashion.

That’s right! I’m fascinated by the clothing choices of the angels we see throughout the series, and I could get into it for hours, but I won’t. For the sake of brevity, I’m just going to sketch out my obsession briefly: every regime change in Heaven has its own dress code. Even in the in the later seasons, when it looks like they’re all just wearing bland basics, subtle changes still crop up as the leadership changes hands. How official this is in Heaven is uncertain. It could be playing off Lucifer’s assertion that, “Angels were made to follow,” like it’s something in their hardwiring that makes them want to emulate whoever’s in charge, but we don’t know.

Michael’s regime was suits. Dark suits in particular—in contrast to Lucifer’s white victory suit we see in season 5’s false apocalyptic future–with neck ties that frequently, though not always, feature a pattern reminiscent of multiple staring eyes. And we can tell where certain angels are in terms of Heavenly morale by how closely they follow the dress code. Joshua, heaven’s gardener, sees himself as too insignificant in the plans of upper management, and doesn’t bother to wear the uniform at all. Uriel is losing faith, and he appears without the tie and with his shirt unbuttoned. Zachariah loosens his tie when he thinks that Michael’s about to destroy him for his failure with the Winchesters, but straightens it when Michael gives him a second chance with Adam.

Raphael, in one of the most tragic examples, gives no fucks about clothes when they don their vessel and talk about the death of God and allude to their own severe depression in season 5, but they wear Michael’s uniform to the letter in season 6. Because in season 6, Raphael’s feelings are being pushed aside, because Michael is in trouble, and Raphael has a mission: rescue him. And as Raphael squares off against Castiel, they’re announcing their loyalty to Michael through this manner of dress, Michael’s #2 to the end.

And in a truly curious move, Castiel continues to wear Michael’s uniform under his trench coat throughout the series. I have theories on that. For another day.

But what’s even more curious is that Michael never once wears the uniform himself. He could have. He had time to change between Adam’s yes and Sam’s. The closest we ever see on screen is with AU Michael, and it’s not perfect. The colors are off. Browns and reds rather than OG Michael’s black accentuated with cool blues, greys, and whites.

And one thing that you could infer from this, is that I’m crazy. The angels just rock whatever clothing their vessels happen to be wearing at the time of their “yes.” That’s certainly what I think was the case with Castiel’s trench coat, before Cas began to associate it with his identity outside of Heaven. But then…

Not only does Michael not show up in his uniform. He shows up wearing Adam’s jacket.

Adam hadn’t been wearing that jacket when Michael possessed him. He took it off! We don’t even see it draped over Adam’s chair, we don’t see it in his hands when he’s pounding on the door calling for Dean’s help. Wherever that jacket is, it’s nowhere in immediate sight!

And mind you, angels don’t get affected by hot or cold—that’s why Cas never feels the need to take the trench coat off. Nor would this plain cotton jacket provide Michael with any significant protection in a cosmic fight against the devil. There was no immediate need for Michael to bother with it.

Michael was trying to do something nice for his vessel. Adam was bloodied and scared, and regretting what he agreed to, but Michael couldn’t let him go. So he cleaned Adam’s shirt, and he fished out the dumb jacket and put it on even though it wasn’t his style, so Adam would at least have all of his things together when they were done. He went out of his way, because, even though his hands were tied, he wanted to be kind.

And after years of germination, that thought turned me into a devoted shipper.

Thank you for reading this unnecessary rant. Tune in next week, when I’ll be discussing how Adam’s favorite food used to be meatloaf, but now it’s burgers.