now, Sam tells Dean something's gotta give in their relationship, and Dean is actually listening and actively trying to do so! Or something more coherent like that. My brain is tired at the moment. :P

That was perfectly coherent and I agree completely. I mean, this ACTUALLY shows logical character growth, which is just awesome.

I was mainly just thinking out loud, and as I was typing that comment last night, it just occured to me, so I also put it down.

Fair enough! It's easier to think about things once you see them written down. :)

Plus...the fact that the only other vessel we've seen Michael take is Adam's DAD, so....that doesn't help with the mental images AT ALL. :/

Ugh, so true. I mean, not to judge people who LIKE that ship of stuff, of course, I just don't. :P