#+ the dog theming mixes with her loss of autonomy

[stellaronhuntercherie]

Um. Prey animal having predator theming. In case anyone cares

Okayss. I guess I'll elaborate. Cherie holds a lot of guilt for the person she is + being in the Stellaron Hunters on account of growing up religious, being a follower of Yaoshi, and generally being a good person at her core. She was raised to be a "good dog," to follow orders when they're given and to not cause problems, in the start of her life it was to provide a good example for the children where she lived, then it was to be a good test subject, now it's to be a good hound for Elio. When he tells her to kill, she will kill, when he gives her a script, she follows. Cherie has always been a good dog. But, how good can she be when there's so, so much blood on her hands? She bites and attacks on order, but even then, blood is blood.

And also, I just really like predator theming on prey animals, especially considering Cherie is a "good person in the worst situation" kind of character; a deer having wolf/dog theming really lays that on thick, something soft and docile having to maim and kill at the orders of others, the least solace she can give herself is that Elio considers her a good dog.

[princeescaluswords]

Murder Can Hurt You

One of the accusations in fandom that gives me the most confusing moments is the accusation that Scott is somehow responsible for the deaths caused by villains that he doesn’t execute when he defeats them.  

Here’s a quote from a reply to one of my posts.

You sort of bend this into a semantics argument of “second” vs “third” chances, when really another chance suffices. And they get the idea from canon where it happened.

Keeping Gerard alive resulted in the deaths of others, The same is true of Monroe. He also showed mercy to the Darach, it was Peter who finished her. You also forgot the twins which were met with mixed feelings. Many didn’t like their inclusion because they killed Boyd, the other bipoc character in case you’d forgotten. I would also say it’s arguable that Deucalion turned his life around when really his actions still led to deaths. He was already at odds with himself and we never see him completely rehabilitated.

I think the author and writing is insincere, but I’ll take it at face value for purposes of this discussion.

My first problem is the implication that somehow Scott’s reluctance to deal out death in judgement is not only immoral but also weird.  I don’t know what culture they thought Scott grew up in, but murder is considered a pretty heinous act with serious repercussions in the United States culture in which Teen Wolf is set.    Premeditated murder is not seen as justified, even revenge murder, in our modern times.  

Scott had even more reason to resist the use of killing as a tool than most others.  The entire first season he was scared, warned by Stiles and Derek that he now had a blood lust on which he must be constantly on guard against.  The alpha attempted -- through mind control and extortion -- to turn Scott into a lethal weapon against the alpha’s enemies.  To make him a killer.

And then, when seeking a way out of this nightmare -- and it was a nightmare even after an asthma cure and making first line, as if that somehow makes up for being hunted, tortured, and violated -- he was told that the only way for him to reclaim his life was to kill the one who bit him.  (It was a lie, but you can’t expect a 16-year-old who didn’t even think that werewolves were real a month before to know that.)  So, Scott was forced into a position where he thought that the only way for him to be free of blood lust, of mind control, of being hunted, of the loss of autonomy, of horror was to kill the person responsible for his condition.   

To me, the foundation of Scott’s heroism is that he decided, with every reason to pursue violence, to reject “murder is the only answer” solutions.  In fact, Scott’s growth in rejecting murder as a solution became a controlling theme of Season 2 and Season 3 -- “I’m not like you,” Scott says to Deucalion, “I don’t have to kill people.”

It seems that the present contention is this -- did Scott have a responsibility to execute others for their past crimes?  Did Scott have a responsibility to preemptively murder people to protect others?   

The production’s answer is, I believe, obvious to the casual observer.  Revenge solves nothing.  Peter and Deucalion and Gerard were locked in a spiral of violence which begot more violence -- all their revenge killings led to was more danger and death.  Peter, Jennifer, Monroe, and Meredith didn’t protect anyone with their purges and sacrifices -- all their preemptive killing led to was more danger and death.  The psychic costs of murder -- for Jackson, for Stiles, for Malia, for Scott, for Liam -- were portrayed as simply too high a price to pay for an emotional catharsis and an illusion of justice and safety.   

Let’s take Gerard Argent.  Scott was willing to resort to potentially lethal means to stop Gerard from killing Derek, his mother, his friends, and Scott’s own self.  That was Scott’s motivation in Season 2.  He wasn’t seeking revenge for others, and he wasn’t in a position to demand justice.   When it was over, an enfeebled Gerard needed a wheelchair to get around and was virtually imprisoned in a rest home.  Scott’s goals had been fulfilled; the people he wanted to protect were protected.  There was no need for execution or preemptive killing.  

How could he possibly be responsible for Gerard’s future crimes?  How could he imagine that a crippled Gerard would somehow be miraculously healed and then become a threat once more.  If someone is sent to jail, serves his sentence, and then breaks free and kills again, is the legal system responsible for his new crimes?   Yet people seem to be arguing that Omega Scott needed to kill a human being in Master Plan for the good of -- we’re not entirely sure.  (I do notice, however, that Derek and Peter are absolved from this crime completely -- even though Peter was doing absolutely nothing while Gerard crawled away from the warehouse and Derek was the alpha.)   Why was it specifically Scott’s responsibility to execute Gerard?  In Apotheosis, Chris literally told Scott that he would take care of his father. 

When it comes to Monroe, I think the author means that Scott gave Monroe a chance when he tried to talk to her in the tunnels.  Scott was seeking a non-violent solution, true, because he didn’t want anyone else to die.  That’s a bad thing?   By this point, he knew that Monroe was Gerard’s protege and that she was very well armed.  Did the fandom want Scott to lead his six-person pack against her and her hunter army like the Charge of the Light Brigade?   What’s telling (and hilarious) is that Scott attempted just that in Pressure Test (6x14). Scott was willing to lead a charge of his own pack against Monroe and her men, but they were stopped by the sheriff.

What his other choice?   Tear her apart in her office during a school day?   If that’s true leadership, why don’t they complain about the Sheriff not gunning her down in his office when she challenged him?

Let’s talk about the twins.  Fandom obviously had a problem with Scott not putting them down like rabid dogs, but the whole point was that such an act wouldn’t bring Boyd back.  (And they don’t complain about Derek not hunting them down, either).  On the other hand, Scott didn’t let Aiden and Ethan into his pack.  He did employ them when they could useful, but in the end they remained omegas.  Remember, Derek said in The Divine Move  “ You've been trying to find a way into his pack. Trying to earn his trust, trying to fight for him.”  They were never actually pack.

Did fandom really want Scott to walk up to Ethan and straight-up execute him after Ethan had helped saved Derek from Kali?  Did they want Scott to drive them away immediately so they couldn’t help save Stiles?   Yes, they helped kill Boyd, and they were rewarded with distrust and for Aiden, death.  But not at Scott’s hand.

As for Deucalion, the production literally had him actively trying to make up for his actions, first by sending Braeden to rescue Derek from the Calaveras.  Then they had Deucalion work with Scott to deceive Theo.   Josh and Tracy didn’t die because Scott and Derek didn’t execute Deucalion in Lunar Ellipse.  That was Theo’s doing -- and only Theo’s doing.  Deucalion did not take extra steps to protect Josh and Tracy, his kidnappers, but neither did he encourage Theo’s murder of them.  Eventually, Deucalion refused to participate in a fight against Monroe, who would be coming for him, more worried about his soul than his life.  Then again, he did train Scott to fight the Anuk-Ite.  In what way was he not rehabilitated?  

Teen Wolf was consistent in showing the costs of vengeance and murder as a tool in securing safety and stating, clearly, that this cost was too high. As they should have.   And the embodiment of that principle is Scott McCall.