#(he's lying Jamie is very pretty//OOC)

[thesiblingsoftheblackandwhite]

If it was anyone other than a God I'd assume you were almost jealous of all the humans Ted keeps getting with before he breaks the relationship. Charlotte and him got really close for a while. I'd argue that's the best relationship he's had and it only ended because of Pokotho's involvement with Sam.

T'noy Karaxis cackles at that.

Hah! Close! You're funny. No, no. Only I know how many timelines they tried, and how many crashed and burned! Even without the apotheosis, Sweetly and Teddy never got past touching each other and moaning like sick animals! She wasn't even a catch, but I didn't expect much from him, anyway.

[narastories]

So, I kind of finished my random Hellraiser movie-watching madness, and here is my personal list of ordering the Hellraiser films from best to worst:

1. Hellraiser (1987)

2. Hellbound: Hellraiser ||

3. Hellraiser (2022)

4. Hellraiser: Hellseeker (VI)

5. Hellraiser |||: Hell on Earth

6. Hellraiser: Bloodline (IV)

7. Hellraiser: Deader (VII)

8. Hellraiser: Judgement (X)

9. Hellraiser: Hellworld (VIII)

10. Hellraiser: Inferno (V)

11. Hellraiser: Revelations (IX)

I know everyone has REALLY different opinions on these lol This is just mine. Ramblings below.

1. Hellraiser (1987)

If you're not rating this at the top, what even are you doing? OG. Classic. Great. Yes, they have visibly worked with different tech regarding the make-up, fake blood, etc. It just adds to the charm. Also: Kirsty <3

2. Hellbound: Hellraiser ||

This goes hand-in-hand with the first one. It also has that part with Kirsty getting the Cenobites to protect them, which is great. 10/10 no notes.

3. Hellraiser (2022)

Sorry, not sorry for putting it this high. It's just so pretty. And the cast is great. Overall eye-candy. I mean, I have a soft spot for Goran Višnjić in this (liar) in general. And Jamie Clayton just really made the role of the Priestess her own. I think with some of the Pinhead re-casts the issue was that they just put another guy in there, but with her, she really owned the role. The references back to the OG are subtle, and overall I think it did the original film justice.

4. Hellraiser: Hellseeker (VI)

I would be lying if I said the Pinhead & Kirsty scene didn't influence me to rate it this high. But also, I feel like this is the film that Inferno was trying (and failing) to be. You have the plotline with the police, and the cheating husband, but you actually care about what happens to the characters because it's Kirsty and his husband not just random people with no backstory. I'm going to say it again: I personally enjoyed Trevor's suffering and Kirsty getting blood on her hands. There is also something to be said about the early-2000's anxiety about surveillance.

5. Hellraiser |||: Hell on Earth

This still has a very similar vibe to I & II, which is a plus. I get that people think Pinhead is OOC here. Personally, I think his behavior could be explained by what happened to him. To me, it was hilarious that he basically let the human part of him die to save someone else, got stuck in a statue and his brain-to-mouth filter just disappeared. And then the human part kept haunting people. You also have Terri and Joey whom I love dearly.

6. Hellraiser: Bloodline (IV)

I appreciated the backstory, and I appreciated Angelique. Also, as I've said before the space-station setting didn't feel overly gratuitous. Imo it served a purpose and added to the narrative saying "we are so far in the future and these angels/demons are still here". At this point in the movies, it felt really good to get a little history lesson too about where the box was coming from.

7. Hellraiser: Deader (VII)

I would not call this (or the rest on this list for that matter) a good film. There was something personally relatable and therefore terrifying to me about this movie. It leans strongly on the idea that the ones you should be afraid of the most are human and I like that. The subway car scenes are also fun, but I'm taking minus points for the Hungarian name in the address that the guy pronounced like it was an Italian city. Oh yeah, and if you are claustrophobic... good luck?

8. Hellraiser: Judgement (X)

Very bizarre, but not half that bad? The scenes followed a plot that made sense and were enjoyably done. Pinhead wasn't OOC despite it not being Doug Bradley, of course. The guy with the glasses was also fun. Bonus points, because Kirsty can make deals, but Carter can't :P At the same time, this film is nowhere near as good as some of the older ones.

9. Hellraiser: Hellworld (VIII)

Just. No? I mean, part of me appreciates the geeky "fandom" setting and the 2005 technology. But. No. It's like Teen Wolf meets Hellraiser, and that is not a compliment (although I like both but... no) I just have an incoherent "this tasted bad" feeling about this movie lol If I had to articulate it, I would say that the plot felt very unfinished.

10. Hellraiser: Inferno (V)

So boring. I wasn't opposed to the concept because I think the question: "What does the police have to say about all of this?" is a good and valid one. But man, the execution sucked. I had zero sympathy for the main guy, but I also didn't feel gleefully malicious as I did with Trevor. Yeah, I can't recommend this one.

11. Hellraiser: Revelations (IX)

Ugh. First of all, the protagonists are two spoiled brats, whose troubles offer nothing interesting. Like, okay, you had a temper-tantrum and opened the box, congratulations I guess? Kirsty was more mature than this in the first movie. Second, and I'm sorry to say but this is the worst Pinhead recast out of them. He looked like a boy in his father's shoes. Tbh the cenobites all look worse. The plot also moves too fast and the references back to the old stuff are really clumsy. I'm sorry but I hated it.

[my-amygdala-is-synthetic]

okay I'm spewing my thoughts into a text post (there sure are a lot of them)

like I said I had seen almost ZERO spoilers for this movie, somehow, I was going in blind and that made it SUCH a treat. the only spoilers I knew were that Ned Does Magic and the other spidermen + Otto were there. I didn't even know about the villains, I figured Norman shows up but I deadass thought it would be like, a cameo

anyways lets start out with why it sucked

No Way Home is... not a good movie. it is objectively a pretty bad movie, in fact. there is zero substance beyond pandering fanservice.

and even then. the fanservice is kind of bad! everyone is painfully out of character! it is so obvious that they all just showed up for a disney paycheck. it hurts my heart to hear Alfred Molina doing mcu quips. the "throwback lines" were stupid asf I groaned out loud every time except when Tobey said mY bAcK but sorry im a simp

I think Flint Marco was the most in character but even then he had some questionable writing. yassified Electro was so fucking funny, I can't even complain about his glowup, Jamie Foxx rly said yeah I'll be in the movie but you gotta right some wrongs. I respect that

I have never like Doctor Strange, Benderbump Cumdumpass has SUCH A HORRIBLE american accent it pisses me off so badly. and why was he so smooth in this? he looked like he was from a video game? it was very odd. thankfully he wasn't in it as much as I feared, and he had like two lines that made me giggle so I'll accept it

Marvel movies have set feminism back by 30 years on god. there's no reason for there to be only three women in a cast this size. Zendaya at least had better characterization in this than in HC/FFH. but mcu Aunt May is done so dirty. it is legitimately offensive how she's made into a one-note AUNT MAY IS HOT NOW joke. the purpose of her character is supposed to be Peter's rock to rely on. they did not lean to that dynamic enough and it made her death so much less impactful, I kinda dgaf about it honestly! I thought Gwen's death was more emotional and I despised TASM2!

the action was not good, poorly choreographed, very boring, CGI :/

ALL THAT ASIDE, THE SHIT I LIKED!!!

because YES, it is a bad movie, BUT FUCK THAT WAS SUCH A FUN THEATER EXPERIENCE, not QUITE as much fun as I had in the theater with Spiderman 3, but such a cool vibe that I haven't felt since Endgame (sorry to be marvel's little bitch but yeah seeing that movie opening night was one of the coolest things ever)

Peter/Ned/MJ are such a cute polycule, sure it's no raimiverse throuple but who could ever live up to that.

when Connors was like "THAT'S his gf???" I laughed so hard cus I am also constantly wondering how Tom pulled her

I would also jump off the statue of liberty to save Zendaya, I really liked that Garf got to catch her I may have cheered

the old man yaoi with Otto and Norman was fun, I get why everyone ships them now, not quite my bag but I do see the appeal.

getting any reference at all to Harry was such a treat. I really thought they were just gonna pretend he didn't exist lol. fuck janco I hope he rots but it's for the best... mcu would have massacred his character. that being said "I had a best friend once, he died in my arms after he tried to kill me" I was simultaneously bursting into tears and laughing my ass off

WHERE THE FUCK WAS DANE DEHAAN THO... HELLO. I actually liked his version of Harry sorry!!

so at first I thought that the other Peters were also kind of ooc, Garf and Tobey should NOT be speaking in complete sentences!! but I thought about it and I think that actually they do feel like more matured versions of their characters.

the Mary Jane reference was nice but wow you really couldn't have Kirsten Dunst show up for just a second :( pay her some RESPECT as the first mistreated marvel girlie...

and the spideycest... WELL... I'm not going to draw yaoi of the three peters, I'm not, I'M NOT, but, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted. lol. I gave this movie 3 stars on letterboxd and it would have been FUCKING TWO if it was not for the webshooter discussion. that was insane. that was out of pocket. that was beautiful and brave and they did that for the freaks like me out there.

anyways that was so much fun, I got so tipsed off canned cocktails and I did cry ONE tear at the end and I am extra sad that it's all over, I wish I could go see all the Spidermans in theaters again, this has made my fucking year and I'm so glad I did this!

^Ten times I saw the Bad Boys Ride Or Die trailer. I can recite that mf from memory now.

Now it is time to draw weird things yay bye. sorry if you read all this lol.

GUYS IM IN THE THEATER RIGHT NOW TO SEE NO WAY HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME

I have a feeling I won't like it I'm gonna be booing Doctor Strange and I'm only here for Tobey

[tinkdw]

i just re watched beyond the mat and i think its very sweet that dean had just lost cas in the previous episode, and gets nervously flirty(?) around lawless - and then a season on got awkward and flirty around a waitress. just wanted to appreciate deans bi vibes with this ask but now im wondering if the writers are being constant w dean using coping mechanisms to avoid his worry about cas! :0

Hi!

Ahh, Beyond the mat, another fantastic Dabb episode :)

I mean, Dean’s coping mechanisms have been the same pretty much for the whole series which I really enjoy, it means it’s easier to pick up on the subtle evolution over time…

For me there are three main coping mechanisms for Dean: hunting, sex and food. 

In season 3 when he knows he is dying he goes straight to find the bendiest one night stand of his life, he eats cheeseburgers like there’s no tomorrow (because there isn’t) for example and hunts, hunts, hunts. These continue throughout the seasons but there is a steady, interesting change over time.

During the pestilence episode it’s hammered home to us what his coping mechanisms are in the fact that he doesn’t succumb because he is a whole heap of ‘nothing’ inside and suicidal… the metaphor is showing us that actually what he is desperate for is not to have these coping mechanisms.

We also know that Dean is a bit of a neat freak in his own space from s8 and glimpses into how he folds his clothes in the back of Baby in 12x04 etc. We also know that he is in fact an excellent cook, enjoys ‘nesting’ in the bunker, thinks Jeoffrey is a dick…

These are fantastic metaphors, even more so now in ‘season fanfic 12′, thanks to Dabb encouraging the use of past subtext on to another level, Chuck bless him. He’s used food, sex, hunting, cleanliness and so much more to show the nuances in Dean this season *whispers I love you Dabb*!

I’ll go into the sex part now as that’s what you prompted me about :)

It’s really interesting to see how he interacts with his one night stands throughout the seasons and I think there is a really clear reading that is become more and more obvious, culminating with 12x18 with what it is showing the audience about Dean and his emotional side.

Now I’m going to delve into these one night stands a little deeper and it shows a clear arc for Dean…

Throughout the seasons we have had off the top of my head:

Cassie, Carmen (djinn dream), Anna, the waitress in Monster Movie, Lisa, the Amazon, Suzy, Anne-Marie (Demon!Dean so only kinda counts), Carmen the waitress.

So quickly, the 2 who mean more:

Cassie:

Cassie is extremely important. She sets the scene for us that Dean is not all performing!Dean, that he is actually a romantic, he has abandonment issues in love, he wants to be honest in love, he was in love with Cassie although they weren’t quite the right fit in the end and they parted ways. Also, it’s extremely interesting to see just how, when rewatching this episode in season 12, Cassie is so similar to her namesake in how they interact. 

Literally at this point you could take the argument leading to the sex scene in Route 666 and insert Cas instead of Cassie and you wouldn’t even notice anything OOC or off script in the words they say and the way they act. 

Cassie calls Dean out on his emotional repression. Dean calls Cassie out on leaving him. Cassie said she left Dean because she thought it was in Dean’s best interest and what he wanted because she though he wasn’t being honest. Dean doesn’t pursue her because he thinks she abandoned him… They didn’t mean to hurt each other but they did…It’s like they made Cassie as a character who was nearly right but not quite, an overture to who Dean would end up with and just… rolled with it. 

Just watch it again now after 12x12.

It’s insane, do it.

Anyway…. moving on.

Lisa: 

Lisa’s been meta-d about loads. I’m just gonna say she was a plot device, could have been a cool character but that wasn’t her purpose in the end, she and Ben were just there to show how Dean kind of wanted the ‘apple pie life’ but in the end it wasn’t actually what he wanted and it wasn’t possible.

Ok, the one night stands:

While we know that Dean uses sex as a distraction and a coping mechanism, let’s take away the relationships and focus on these one night stands.

1. In Monster Movie we know that Dean is terrified of what the hell is happening with the Biblical arc, that he is still suffering immensely from his time in Hell and needs release and to feel ‘human’ again. He interacts a lot with this waitress Jamie, they have a real connection, if not deep, at least they do talk and care about each other for their brief time together.

2. In s7 after he loses Cas (and has other issues going on too of course) he has the one night stand with the Amazon as a distraction, just a few episodes after in his drugged up haze revealing that his biggest issue right now is “Cas and black goo”. This time he does speak to her and chats her up, but it is all a little…. flat. But hey, she is amenable and they go off together. However, I always come back to this being his face after they finish… he just doesn’t look….satisfied or happy. Just empty.

3. Then we have during a ‘lost Cas’ period while he is human and separated from the boys the ‘sex is great but I hate saying goodbye’ speech and Suzy in season 9 originally due to air right after the episode where he has the awkward emotional encounter with Cas and the ‘fanfic gap’. Whether it’s sexual or not, the whole episode is emotional with Human!Cas (if you watch them in the right order) and the adios is so painful. With Suzy he does talk, they do ‘connect’ but not really, Dean is lying about who he is not only his name but also his character, then he specifically acts a role and ensures Suzy plays a role too, this is all ‘fake’.

4. Then we have beyond the mat in season 11, as you say, right after he loses Cas again and Lucifer is out of the cage. And damn if Sam/Rio isn’t a direct comparison for Dean/Gunner in this episode. 

5. The waitress in 12x11. Now this one is interesting because her story is very wishy-washy and for Dean “its almost like it never happened”… read into that what you will. He does talk to her clearly, enough to make her think they had a bit of a connection anyway and something might happen after her shift, however, he ups and leaves her and then can’t remember her at all… (the important thing is how this is written as such, not the fact that it is such for the character, bear with me, this is about how he is portrayed not what it would mean in real life, because this is a chosen character scenario, it means something).

6. And now the waitress in 12x18, also during a ‘lost Cas’ period and time of strife. I’m sorry but the fact that she is called Carmen is fantastic from the aspect that she is paralleled with the Djinn Dream, but really the interesting thing for me is just how nameless, characterless, speechless and relatively faceless she is (we see so little of her, after the event she is blurred out, her name is said so quietly we can barely hear it and most only know as it was in the credits/imdb). Because this is what is important TO DEAN. She is not important, he really is just using her as a coping mechanism, and in no way do I mean this negatively, like he is forcing her, that is part of what I LOVE about Dean, that he is so caring of people and always caring of the women he beds, but the way she is framed narratively and cinematographically is specifically to make this clear to us that SHE IS NOT IMPORTANT BUT THE FACT THAT HE IS SLEEPING WITH HER IS. Again, framed with the food as well (the omelette that isn’t quite the pancakes that he wanted but will do as a substitute, pfff). 

Also, if you take these one night stands and Jensen’s micro expressions into account you can clearly see how he goes from dazzling smile to solid, kind smile but fake identity/role playing to now just kind of awkward flirting in 12x18 and, well, this split second dropping of the facade, the dead eyes, between speaking to Sam and going to speak to her, which to me is a real insight into the fact that he is not excited about the prospect, but is doing it out of necessity, to feel better, it is the face of resignation, not excitement, before he plasters on a (imo fake) smile to go over and talk to her.

credit: @lost-shoe thank you :)

Which leads me to think…

Over time we can see how these casual encounters become less and less ‘real’, the women become less and less ‘real characters’ and it is more about framing the fact that Dean is coping badly with something (and yes, it seems a recurring theme now that this is the loss of Cas). These women are meaning less and less to Dean and to us as the audience seeing it through his POV, he is the protagonist, and because of this the struggle within himself is become clearer.

It really is season fanfic 12 and I love it :)

Moving forwards

If we are going to have another separation between Dean and Cas, which I believe we might, I can totally see the next step being:

Dean will lose his appetite or just right off order ‘whatever Sam’s having’ and not even try to have sex with a waitress. Ideally, a waitress would hit on him and he would actively say no. 

This is where this narrative is taking us before we will get to canon Destiel. If this happens I will know they are using this metaphor as I am reading it, and tbh I don’t really see how it isn’t at this point, it has been so consistent over years!

So, I feel like they are using his coping mechanisms very consistently and clearly, which is great, I hope the general public do pick up on at least some of it! 

For me this season is a lot more about Destiel than it is about bi!Dean, but I really wouldn’t be opposed to both, of course! It’ll be interesting to see over time which becomes the first to be textualised, but at this point in time I would say Destiel due to the narrative being so strong for this this season, more than bi!Dean, in my opinion.