#Claudia haunting the narrative (stiles)

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Don’t think about the fact that’s it’s implied stiles has his mother’s eyes. That every time he looks himself in the mirror he sees her eyes looking back at him. That when he looks at himself with deep hatred he sees his mother calling him a monster. He sees her eyes as she tries to kill him. Somedays that’s all he can see. So he avoids looking at himself in the mirror.

Don’t think about seeing void with his mother eyes, eyes that once again hold violence.

Don’t think about stiles holding head in hands. Thinking that the only thing his body has left of his mother is his eyes. That maybe if he gets rid of them, then his father would be able to look at him again.

Slowly digging his nails through the skin above his eyes. Thinking about gouging his eyes out and giving them to his dad. But not being able to do it but using the action to ground himself. Repeating it again and again and again over the years. Leaving scars just above his eyes to give him something else to look at. Something else to see that isn’t his mother’s hatred looking back at him.

Don’t think about his father falling into alcoholism. Tiny 8 year old stiles thinking that his father is grieving, and so he drinks that night. And the night after that and the next. And the drinking isn’t stopping but instead becoming more frequent. Don’t think about stiles holding onto hope that his father might tuck him into bed instead of reaching for the bottle. Stiles picking up whiskeys from the floor with the same colour of his eyes. Don’t think about the moment stiles realizes that his father is trying to drown himself in hopes of reaching Claudia at the bottom. The moment when he has to come to terms with the fact that he might lose both of his parents.

[patolemus]

Could I get 🐺, please?? I'm always curious about For Want Of A Nail fics!!!

Hiiiii omg it’s been literally forever I’m so sorry! Of course, here’s some thoughts on my and god will cry out au, otherwise known as the Scott dies in the first twenty minutes of the first episode au.

I’ve been thinking a lot of this au lately so I’m happy so many of you seem to like it as well!! The idea is to explore what would happen to Stiles if Scott, instead of a friend and “leader”, was just another ghost that haunts Stiles’ narrative like a second Claudia (and yes, there are parallels between the two of them and how Stiles feels responsible for their deaths in one way or another). How does he fare without Scott holding him back? What does he do when he’s no longer a relatively passive companion but an active participant looking for revenge? How does he connect to the rest of the cast without Scott and Allison’s love story, how does his relationship with Derek work when he doesn’t have Scott’s antagonism holding him back but harbors a deep hatred for the creature that killed him, another werewolf? It’s all very interesting to me hehe.

And here’s a snippet! There’s not a lot of action, sorry about that! Right now this au is mostly disconnected scenes that’ll somehow tie together.

Stiles takes another look at Derek. A couple of hours ago he was on the verge of dying, writhing on the floor from the excruciating pain, but if Stiles hadn’t seen it himself he wouldn’t believe it. The color has returned to his skin—and Jesus, Derek had looked like he was already dead—he’s no longer sweating and his breathing has evened out from the stuttering, wet wheezing it was. For all intents and purposes, he looks in perfect condition and yet Stiles was seconds from having to bury another body today.

This is what Scott could have been. Strong. Healthy. It’d be a sobering thought, but it’s not like anything was funny before.

“So,” he starts, making sure to keep his tone light. “Do people make a habit of trying to kill you or is this just a very bad week for you?”

Derek gives him a scowl for his troubles, which is about what Stiles expected. Then he looks away, as if he’s suddenly interested in Stiles' carpet.

“It’s been. A week,” and suddenly the fight leaves him and Derek just looks so, so very tired. There’s a kind of defeated air to him, like he’s already given up. Throat suddenly feeling very tight, Stiles remembers the unmarked grave housing the only half of Laura Hale Derek got to keep, he remembers Peter Hale’s comatose body on that wheelchair. He remembers the reports he read on the Hale House fire, how it never quite made sense to him.

Eleven people. Stiles only has had to bury two, and it’s unbearable.

[buckybarnesss]

Do you get as annoyed as I do about how late in the series we're told Stiles's childhood nickname was Mischief? It would've been great information to have when Stiles is talking up his love of Mischief Night, for one. But also it's a very funny concept that a little kid inadvertently gave himself an apt warning label as a nickname.

actually, it doesn't. one of the better storylines in teen wolf is the stilinski family.

teen wolf's narrative is haunted by three woman. laura hale, allison argent and claudia stilinski.

it's pretty clear in the first season that despite eight years passing since claudia had died it was something that the sheriff and stiles had not dealt with it in a healthy manner. it was something they didn't talk about. the sheriff had to be drunk to be emotionally vulnerable enough say that he missed her and the he missed talking to stiles.

each season unravels that a little more as slowly the emotional rift between stiles and the sheriff that was there even before the supernatural entered their lives heals and they deal with the absence of claudia.

the climax of this is of course season 6a where the sheriff has to truly grieve his wife and let her go to be able to bring stiles back. if the sheriff had not been able to do this stiles would've remained lost as scott, lydia and malia alone could not bring stiles back.

it makes sense to me that something like stiles's childhood nickname his mother used for him would be something locked away until they were able to confront the memory of claudia.

[sterek-ao3feed]

Mutual Benefit

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/62246185

by Takara_Phoenix

Summer is over and it's time to leave the comfort of the Hale House and return to the real world. School is about to start and it's time Stiles and Scott talk.

Stiles also still needs to figure out what his Spark means and he hopes that Peter, who is finally back in town, will be able to teach him how to use his magic.

Words: 21689, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Sterek: Mutual-verse

Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Peter Hale, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Isaac Lahey, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Scott McCall, Allison Argent, Danny Māhealani, Sheriff Stilinski (Teen Wolf)

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale & Peter Hale, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Allison Argent/Scott McCall

Additional Tags: Slash, Post-Season/Series 02, Canon Divergence, No Alpha Pack, Vernon Boyd Lives, Erica Reyes Lives, Vernon Boyd and Erica Reyes Live, Jackson Whittemore Doesn't Leave, Pack Alpha Derek Hale, Pack Alpha Mate Stiles Stilinski, True Mates, Established Relationship, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Pack Mom Stiles Stilinski, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale is Stiles Stilinski's Magic Mentor, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Stilinski Family Feels (Teen Wolf), Claudia Stilinski Haunts the Narrative, Derek Hale Needs a Hug, and he gets one, Peter Hale Feels, Derek Hale Feels, Good Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62246185

[princeescaluswords]

When people go "Stiles never trusted Theo" I'm like "He *did* trust him to keep his secret, he certainly trusted him more than his own supposed best friend whom he thought so little of that he assumed immediately he'd look down on him"

You and I have often joked about "people should have been bullied by their English teachers more" but it's not just a joke, is it? The reduction of media consumption to a narrow set of shared tropes has rendered almost any sort of nuanced experience impossible. The fandom sees any and every type of story almost exclusively in terms of whom can be shipped with whom. It leads to partisanship instead of comprehension and frustration with parts of the narrative that have nothing to do with romance and/or sex.

For example, that's the reason why I've been seeing outrage in the fandom for the new Interview with the Vampire over the way Lestat has been portrayed in the most recent episode. Fandom was so excited by the chance for their "toxic but loving mlm relationship" addiction to get its fix that they ignored the clear signs that Lestat's possessive love, shallow self-absorption, and culturally inculcated disdain for those he saw as lesser than himself would ultimately create unbearable horror for Louis and Claudia.

Instead of experiencing the story and what it's actually trying to say, they immediately rebel because they've been allowed to believe that consuming media means imposing their favorite tropes and fetishes on it. Due to this entitlement, "Enemies to lovers, slow burn, 300k" has become the enemy of actually being a receptive audience.

Nothing, nothing, embodies this more than fandom's reaction to Season 5 of Teen Wolf. Their interpretation of its plot is ridiculously shallow simply because that ridiculously shallow interpretation suits their needs, which was to make Stiles the victim of Scott's role as lead protagonist, rather than Stiles being the victim of Theo and the Doctors and their need to make Scott not a victim at all.

If a viewer would take off the stan-goggles for a moment, Theo and the Dread Doctors targeted each of the pack's weaknesses, of course, but not just any of their weaknesses. They targeted weaknesses that arose out of the pack's strengths as well. I could go into each of them, and I will upon request, but the pack's trust in each other can be underlined by the scene in Parasomnia (5x02):

Scott: Why can't you trust anyone?

Stiles: Because you trust everyone!

The key that the fandom misses in their need to impose their own desired outcome on the story is that both of these lines are intentionally wrong. Scott does not trust everyone. He didn't trust Derek, or Peter, or Gerard, or Deucalion, among others. But most importantly, he doesn't actually trust himself. He doesn't trust his own emotions, his own intelligence, or his own nature. It's why he can't bring himself to tell Kira about her fox spirit, because he would have to say he's afraid. It's why he doesn't tell Liam about the plan, because he's "not sure if it's going to work." It's why he tells his mother that things have changed "because of me."

Stiles on the other hand, trusts a lot of people. He trusts his own instincts and usefulness, which is why he's still haunted by the time they were taken from him. He trusts Scott's virtue, which is why he assumes that Scott would choose being morally right over him. He trusts Theo but only after Theo confirms Stiles's own initial judgement. And yes, he does trust Theo, because he works with him, he assumes Theo will keep their secrets, which is why Stiles was surprised by the wrench "where did you get that?", and, most importantly, he trusts Theo will keep his word when he offers "I'll tell you where your father is but only if you promise not to help Scott."

Now, of course, the stans will come back with that scene in Memory Found (6x09) where Theo tells Noah "He was smart enough not to trust me" and completely miss the context of that scene. Theo is locked in a jail cell in a city being attacked by the Wild Hunt, and he wants out and the only person with the key card demands to be told something about the son he's forgotten. Of course, Theo is going to say something that plays to the sheriff's biases in order to get what he wants. That is Theo's thing; that's his modus operandi. But fandom as usual decides that they need to take Theo's words at face value, as if they don't supposedly hate Scott for doing the exact same thing.

What's sad is they miss some of Teen Wolf's best writing when they shuck context in order to make the story serve their agenda. How many times have you read the fact that Derek or Peter or Theo has saved people's lives, so that means others should trust them, only to forget that this was exactly how Theo got people to trust him in Season 5A. As well as how Peter got people to trust him in Smoke & Mirrors (4x12) and how Derek got Scott to trust him in Lunatic (1x09). (Yet, strangely, Scott saving lives means nothing to them.)

Trust isn't a simple thing, not for Scott or Stiles or anyone. It's difficult yet worth pursuing, and Teen Wolf's writing doesn't shy away from exploring it. That complexity is completely eliminated in fandom's urge to promote certain ships and certain characters. They need to take English again.

[casually-eat-my-soul]

wait I was having more thoughts because Stiles feeling isolated in his heritage and thinking of himself as an outsider desperately wanting to belong is such a concept (you’re brain omg)

like he’ll try but it never feels genuine, it has an artificial air surrounding it if that makes sense and the guilt he’d feel about that, like heres something his mother left for him something so connected to her but it only ever feels fake coming from him

the distress and tragedy to it, you have this thing right in front of you that marks your connection and link for life but you’re unable to fully make it yours to fully embrace it without that pain of grief and without that disconnect of otherness

You get it!!! You get it!!

Like the only connection to the culture was his mother. By the time she dies he still felt like he didn’t know enough. Anytime he sees his mother parents his accent feel to fake, like it just falls short of sounding like he really belongs.

He can never fully embrace it because of how much it hinged on his mother. It was something shared so it wasn’t fully his. He tries to relearn polish and study the traditions but it feels so different than learning from his mother. There is a disconnect now, it’s not the same as when he was a child and it will never be. He will never have the connection again, it can’t ever be the same.

When he has kids he tries to pass it down but it’s always tinged by grief. And he realizes this and just panics because his kids might never be as connected; He is forgetting what it was like. He just knows that he’ll never be as good as his kids grandmother would have been.

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Cop dad, criminal son, Stilinski coded. Like I love stiles but that man is not being a cop. He’s far too obsessed and cares to little about the law.

And to everyone thinking that sheriff Stilinski would be disappointed?? NOO, y’all have it sooo wrong.

That man loves his criminal son. THATS his wife’s son. Do you understand, that’s all Claudia. And yes I understand that the sheriff would also commit unspeakable crimes to protect his son, that criminality comes from Claudia. Stilinski’s protect their own. He doesn’t love stiles in spite of his behaviours but because of them.

Some random person: Stiles broke into the station again

Sheriff, Literally bursting with pride: I know, he’s just so smart, he was probably just bored and wanted something to do

Like everyone is side eyeing them because stiles commits crimes for enrichment and the sheriff is just like “tell me everything about how you got away with it”

I could go on about how Claudia haunts the narrative after years of being dead and everything but that’s for another post

[buckybarnesss]

How do you think Lydia perceives the whole Sterek relationship? I just know that it was the huge elephant in the closet during her and Stiles's relationship.

this particular question is something @dear-massacre and i have discussed before and i've given it some thought.

admittedly it's actually a lot of thought. in my opinion the answer to this is more complicated than you would think.

i have a lot of thoughts on the subject.

lydia martin and the memoir entitled me, my boyfriend, his unresolved feelings for derek hale and my repressed feelings for my dead best friend.

i don't think lydia quite knew what she was getting into with stiles initially. she doesn't know there's something to perceive.

on the whole i think the romantic relationship lydia and stiles have is one based on a shaky foundation of idolization, trauma, obligation and confused feelings.

i do not consider it healthy for either of them. especially at the time they enter into it. there's no time or space for them to process their emotions or feelings about what has happened to them let alone their actual feelings for each other.

lydia also didn't really interact with derek very much. in season 1 lydia is on the outside of the main plot and in season 2 she's in the main plot but she doesn't know it because she's purposefully isolated.

so her and derek's interactions are incredibly limited. does she even know derek hale exists lol?

their first barely there interactions are when he's trying to kill her when he thinks she's the kanima and than when she wolfsbane roofies him to resurrect peter?

when derek brings this up in chaos rising during one of his rare interactions with allison and lydia her reaction is so funny to me though. the judgement.

she also isn't there for much of the development between stiles and derek. she doesn't know the derek-n-stiles part of derek and stiles.

she knows stiles likes derek and is friends with him i don't think she necessarily understands that stiles has feelings there let alone about possible reciprocation.

even when she sees them in the finale she's amused by their banter. or that could be holland delighted to see her ship interacting.

the narrative often puts derek, stiles and lydia into this sort of odd love triangle. except it's not a love triangle in the traditional sense. it's almost like they're put up parallel to each other and stiles is forced to chose one path or the other.

lydia and derek are very similar. they both even have defrosting the ice queen arcs becoming two of the most compassionate and selfless people on the show.

in code breaker he's kidnapped by peter to locate derek and forced to leave lydia on the lacrosse field. in abomination stiles leaves lydia crying in her car and cannot return because he gets trapped in the pool by the kanima with derek.

derek even uses stiles's words about lydia being cold-blooded as justification for him attempting to kill her thinking she's the kanima.

there's the scene that plays over peter's love monolog in battlefield that's focused on derek, stiles and lydia despite peter talking about jackson.

lydia is the one who goes with stiles to try and pay for derek's release in mexico in the dark moon.

it's an interesting repeated thing all the way up until derek leaves.

however i don't believe this was the only issue as stiles's unresolved feelings for derek isn't the only elephant in the room. there are actually two elephants in the room. the other elephant is named allison and before you ask yes i'm saying exactly what you think i'm saying.

i've said it before and i'll say it again. there are three woman who haunt the narrative of teen wolf. laura hale, allison argent and claudia stilinski.

laura hale's murder was the inciting incident that started the events of the show, allison's death in the middle of the narrative is transformative to the story and claudia's ghost being exercised is the close.

the more i watch the show for my deep dives the more i notice just how profoundly changed lydia was by her friendship with and her love for allison.

allison was the great love of lydia's life and she is never able to fully move on. it's a wound that won't heal.

like, i'm not gonna get into a treatise about it but the subtext in season 4 about lorriane martin and the loss of her wife maddie compared to lydia and her loss of allison. 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

allison died to save lydia and lydia has never, ever forgiven herself for it.

the death wail that lydia let out for allison was so powerful, so full of pain and terrible that it spurred meredith's benefactor plan. meredith obviously isn't completely mentally sound but hearing that come lydia made her think they were better off dead than experience that.

lydia learning to use her powers to save malia is like watching a mother lift her car off her child. lydia cannot lose another person she cares about. this also fuels her desperation to bring stiles back.

lydia tells lenore in ghosted when they're in cannan that she doesn't have a caleb except yes she does. it's allison. not to mention the symbolism in lenore's name. the lost lenore is a trope is a reference to poe's poem and usually is about the main character's deceased love interest.

as for stiles. well. there's been a lot of words written about him and derek. i don't know how many people have watched how i met your mother but in the words of robin sherbatsky "if you have chemistry you're only missing one other thing -- timing. but timing is a bitch."

that's stiles and derek. derek is the great what if for stiles.

it's not that lydia and stiles didn't love each other. of course they did. that isn't in question. it's just that love isn't always enough. ultimately they were both carrying love around for other people that they couldn't let go of.

lydia let go of stiles because she recognized how unfair it was for the two of them.

[buckybarnesss]

the amount of woman that haunt the teen wolf narrative is just.....yeah

laura hale's death is the inciting incident and her ghost lingers even when the writing tries to move on. claudia stilinski's ghost looms over the sheriff and stiles the entire series.

as the story progresses victoria and kate argent both haunt allison and than when allison herself dies she is the ghost in the narrative.

julia bacarri haunts herself and becomes a vengeful spirit set to destroy the alpha pack.

derek hale is a man haunted by kate even when she's alive. the ghosts of his mother and sister are always never far away. paige is there in the color of his eyes. derek sort of haunts himself too. but that isn't the point of this post.