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tin-wufborf · 1 year ago

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It's my birthday today, so I want to share a happy Derek Hale headcanon! This post is gonna be super long (like, you need to set aside time to read it because I have too many feelings about Derek Hale), so I'm putting most of it under a cut to keep your dash cute. But after I tell you the short version of the headcanon so you can decide if you want to proceed:

I think the proudest moment of Derek's life is when he became a big brother to Cora, and that he would have excelled at being one for all of the girls in the pack if he'd been given a chance to do so.

I imagine that Derek had always idolized and adored Laura as his big sister, even when she was being a superior little shit to him because she was older than him, or forcing him to play dress-up with her (even if he secretly liked it a little bit because it was nice to be pretty sometimes). So when Talia announced that she was pregnant with Cora, little Derek took the idea of becoming an older sibling Very Fucking Seriously. I'm talking interviews with his mom and Laura for tips and insider information about being an older sibling, and following his mom and dad around to make sure they were getting everything Cora might need. He's only maybe 3-5 years older than her, so I imagine that he forced Peter to teach him how to read early so he could read all the parenting books he could get his hands on. For the books that were just too advanced, he would make Peter or his parents read them to him so he could absorb the information still and leave no stone unturned. I'll bet he questioned everything, asked a million why's just the whole way through. He probably knew more about babies than any of the adults in the pack, and he probably appointed himself the inspector for anything that was purchased for use for/by Cora leading up to her birth. Only the best for his baby sister, he'd make sure of it.

And when Cora was finally born, he was immediately fucking obsessed with her. It didn't matter what kind of mood she was in or what she was doing, whether she was fussy or wailing or happy or doing nothing at all, Derek was right there and ready. If there was something he could do to help her, he wouldn't hesitate to do it, but if it was something he was still too little to handle alone, he would immediately take off to run and get an adult. And he'd supervise that adult the whole time, just to make sure they didn't mess anything up.

He was probably inconsolable when he finally had to start going to school. Just so upset at the idea that he couldn't stay with Cora all day.

As they grew older together, he helped her with everything he physically and emotionally could help with. He was always very aware of his age/size limitations, so he learned very early how to use the adults around him like tools to assist in helping his little sister out. He probably helped potty train her, helped her learn how to walk and talk, was a champion at preventing her from falling or smashing her fingers in things, taught her how to tie her shoes, helped her figure out how to hold a spoon with or without claws, and he probably even taught her how to howl properly just in case she ever needed to contact them (him) in an emergency and he wasn't there for some reason (I imagine he does this while glaring at his mother because it's her fault that he has to go to stupid school instead of staying home where he can keep Cora safe at all times). Because of her constant exposure to him, Cora probably came to idolize Derek in much the same way that he idolized Laura, and there was nothing in the world he wouldn't say or do for the well-being of his baby sister. He was about that big brother life like you would not believe. Derek loved being a big brother, and as much as the loss of his entire family devastated him, it was the idea that he'd lost Cora that broke him the most.

So, I imagine that getting her back in 3A was the greatest gift that he'd ever received, even better than Cora's birth in some ways because he'd missed her so very much and missed so much of her life in the 6 years they were separated. Still, after almost a decade of pain for him, I like to imagine that after her almost being killed by the Darach, he finally decided to take this second chance for what it was. He was going to take the opportunity to reconnect with her with both hands and never let go. This is why I hate so much that they just disappeared Cora entirely after the season finished because Derek had just gotten his little sister back and they didn't even have the decency to make that matter for Derek.

So, in a post-season 1-4 utopia where everyone lived and no one died (I'll never forgive them for what they did to Erica and Boyd either), we've got Derek now in a pack with Allison, Lydia, Erica, Cora, Kira, and Malia, all at the same time. And he. is. reveling in it. The fact that he has Cora back alone gives him the push he needs to get his life back in order, but he's also got a pack again that he cares about, and he's got even more little sisters to love and protect as far as he's concerned. Not that he would ever say it in so many words (or at all), but the girls totally know it anyway and also secretly love it. But yeah, he has to get his shit in order for them so they can know that he's someone they can lean on and rely on in times of need, And he fucking dotes on these girls like it's his job and fucking preens whenever his efforts are positively received. Everyone knows that the girls are his soft spots, even the most oblivious of the boys (Scott), though no one ever mentions it in a negative or demeaning way after that one time Jackson made fun of Derek for buying an array of pads and tampons once, just to have on hand in case the girls ever needed them, and Stiles lit his ass up so swiftly and brutally that he refused to come go back to the loft for a week (it takes a lot to cow Jackson into submission, and so far, only Lydia and Stiles have managed it).

I imagine that he keeps little things on hand for each of the girls, just to make them feel comfortable at the loft. He keeps bulk bags of the seasonal shapes Reese's on hand for Erica all year long because she's obsessed with them and will only share them with Stiles, not even Boyd (but only 1 out of a 65-piece bag, which Stiles respects). He buys Dasani water bottles in bulk to keep on hand for Allison because she prefers it over other brands but doesn't really like juice or soda. There's an abundance of throw blankets and pillows in the loft because Kira gets cold easily and likes to burrito up on the couch when she's there. He keeps advanced mathematics puzzle books and books full of increasingly difficult math equations and formulas all over the loft for Lydia to pick up and try out when she needs to relax and let her brain frolic for a little while (and he keeps each books she completes because he's just so proud/in awe of her amazing brain and what she can do with it). He makes sure to have plenty of comfy seats/squishy cushions available near the windows for Cora to lounge in and stocks the bookcases with new titles every two weeks because she is and always has been a voracious reader of any and all genres in her spare time (just like him). And for Malia, he keeps a lot of high protein-rich and texture-varied snacks around because her metabolism is still out of whack from being a coyote for so long, and she likes to crunch/chew on things when she's hungry, bored, or stressed.

He also makes sure to spend time with each of them individually, doing things that they specifically like not only to help foster their interests and just fucking bond, man (he does the same for the boys, but he most looks forward to his time with the girls and feels most rewarded by their outings) but also to assure them that they matter as individual people and not just as members of the pack.

He and Malia go for full-shift runs through the preserve as often as she needs, and honestly just spend a lot of time in their wolf/coyote forms because it helps Malia feel more settled in herself. He also spends a lot of time tutoring her and helping her get back up to speed academically, but they also have a ton of conversations with about being human and how difficult that shit is sometimes for people like the. He helps her figure out how to reconcile being of two worlds as they are, and how not to sacrifice one half of herself in favor of the other. Cora helps with this too, but I've always felt like Derek was far more comfortable as a were-creature than most, so Malia values his insight a lot more than anyone else's and looks up to him for managing to navigate the world pretty well, all things considered. He makes sure she knows that it's actually okay if she feels more like a coyote than a girl most of the time and helps her find coping mechanisms for those times that she feels out of control and can't get to somewhere that's safe for her to shift (she spends a lot of time in her beta and full shifts at the loft because Derek has designated it as a shifter safe-space). Through these conversations, they almost inadvertently manage to help each other with their trauma about the loss of their loved ones in relation to what they are (because Derek sometimes falls into the idea that his family would still be alive if they weren't werewolves because Kate never would have singled him out if he weren't), and they become two of the best fucking full shift were-people on the West Coast because of it.

With Cora, the two of them just go on a lot of night drives through town and sometimes to the surrounding cities (I imagine Beacon Hills to be somewhere near Placerville, CA, so it wouldn't take all that long to go in either direction down 50 and get to a bigger city). This is actually why Derek gets rid of the Camaro in favor of the FJ Cruiser, even if it is ugly, so he can handle the hills a little better. I think their family used to go on road trips a lot like mine did instead of flying anywhere, so they're both more comfortable bonding in a car than anywhere else, so I always imagined that that's what they did at the end of 3A, just took a road trip to nowhere all so they could relearn each other as family instead of as reluctant allies. And they stop in the oldest bookstore they can find in each place they stop so they can both get a new book from each place and rebuild the library of books they used to share. So, whenever either of them gets too much in their own head or has nightmares, or even just can't fucking sleep, they'll hop in the car and go for a drive for a while to clear their heads. They pop on Derek's old iPod (he had it on his person when the fire happened, so it survived) and just jam out and chill together. I think this is the time they take to reminisce over their family because it's just the two of them. There's no one there to make it awkward if they tear up or get angry because they understand each other perfectly.

For Allison, I think that their activities are sparring and, oddly enough, baking. Allison is still atoning for her season 2 actions, and for her family's fucked up history as a whole, so I can't imagine that most of the betas are all that willing to spar with her. Boyd, Isaac, and Erica are still a little afraid of her, Lydia doesn't really like to fight (at first, but I'll get into that later), Scott can't bring himself to potentially hurt her still even though she's with Isaac and they're no longer dating, Stiles is more likely to hurt himself than her, Kira will spar but isn't advanced enough yet to be able to keep up, and Malia doesn't know how to hold back enough for it to be training (Jackson refuses to spar with anyone but Peter and Derek for fear of ever hurting his friends again, and they all accept and support his choice). Derek, though, understands what it means to be used the way she was and to bear the weight of a regret and remorse that shouldn't belong to you alone, so he spars with her and runs her through tracking drills in the preserve because he's not afraid of her and wants to give her the best tools possible in order for her to be able to keep to her family's new code as best she can. He understands the weight of a legacy like that, so instead of simply being allies, they become friends and pack, and they keep each other in check simply by ensuring that they will always consider each other when confronted with other were-creatures or hunters that don't have their best interests at heart.

And with the baking, well. This one is simple. Derek's father loved to bake, and so did Allison's mother, and while their losses come from different places, they can both understand what it means to love someone and lose them in a tragic way. And they can forgive each other for the parts they played in those deaths, no matter how direct or indirect, for Kate's part in his father's murder and for Derek's part in her mother's suicide. They squash the Argent/Hale feud over cookies, cakes, and pies, and the entire pack is better for it, for their two best fighters coming together and finding common ground over macaroons (and these two can bake their asses off, guys, the shit they bake is so good that there's actually talks of them going to confectionary school once Allison graduates so they can open up a bakery together afterwards).

With Lydia, a lot of people would think that they go on shopping sprees and for mani/pedis, and they do, but that's not those aren't their favorite things to do together. Their absolute favorite Lydia&Derek activity is to stay in, dress down in jammies or sweats (no makeup to be found), and watch movies and eat like shit all day. Derek has never once told Lydia that she can't watch The Notebook for the thousandth time because she's never told him that he can't watch Love Actually for the thousandth time, but they mostly love to unabashedly watch shitty action and horror flicks while pointing out all of the inaccuracies/impossibilities that occur in them. They both unabashedly love Queen of the Damned and love to hate Blade: Trinity and they have a novel's worth of theories about how they'd handle a classic horror or slasher situation (mostly because they know exactly how they'd react in a situation like that, given their lives). Lydia also has a fascination with martial arts films, about the artistry in Wushu specifically, and for one of her birthdays, Derek signs her up for and pays for her to attend lessons at a dojo he found in Sacramento, and he even enrolls himself alongside her so she doesn't have to do it alone. He drives them to and from each lesson and gets them dinner afterward so they can discuss the techniques they learned, and they regularly practice on their own to the point where they quickly climb up the belt ranks. Derek and Lydia often present their belts to each other (instead, like, a parent or sibling or whatever) because they both know how hard the other has worked to get there. And Derek makes sure Lydia always knows just how proud he is of her for her strength and tenacity to learn something like this despite no one ever thinking she could or would, to make herself into a weapon no one would ever suspect while still remaining her flawlessly beautiful and wickedly brilliant self all at the same time. Also, I kind of imagine that Lydia ends up progressing into other forms of martial arts from this, and Derek goes right along with her because he's her absolute biggest supporter.

For Kira, their activities are also two-fold. These two are nerd out over lore together and play video games. We know that Derek is actually very smart, and his mind is a steel trap of lore and supernatural history that just delights Stiles sometimes. If you recall, he knew exactly what Kira was when he saw her, and I imagine that he actually knows quite a lot about kitsunes and their history. He probably has access to all sorts of resources that Kira needs, and because her mom oftentimes seems very withholding about sharing Kira's heritage with her, I feel like Derek gets her every book, tome, and scroll he can find on the subject and puts her into contact with other kitsunes he knows of just so she can be properly armed with the information she wants/needs about herself and seek further training. If there's a question he can answer, he does so willingly and without hesitation, and he's probably the one who helps her figure out how to mask her aura so she can be safe, not so she can become ashamed of herself or what she is. After that, these two just end up nerding out over various bits and pieces of lore they come across, and they eventually end up working together (along with Stiles and Lydia) to compile a pack bestiary, that way they can all access and reference the information in a concise and clear fashion.

I feel like their love of lore leads to them finding out that they're both huge fans of the Witcher series, though Derek has yet to play the games and is initially only a fan of the books. When Kira figures this out, she immediately invites him to play the games because she owns them all. Derek's no stranger to games--he actually quite enjoys the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series and played a lot of StarCraft back when he had time--so it doesn't actually take a lot of convincing on her part to get him to sit down with her and try it out (yes, Stiles is super fucking salty about this but is often allowed to join them in their gameplay sessions). This man becomes immediately fucking obsessed and falls in love with the attention to detail and lore presented in the series, and he plays each one multiple times before letting Kira coax him into Dark Souls (and the two of them attend many a midnight release for those released later in the series, and for Bloodbourne and Elden Ring too), which eventually leads to Kira explaining Mortal Kombat's lore and getting him to play, and then they backtrack to start the Final Fantasy series, and this continues on and on until these two are eventually going to gaming conventions and eSports events together. They do joint costumes for any and all conventions they attend (they go as Geralt and Ciri for their first one) and they win several costume contests because of how well-done and accurate their costumes tend to be. These two become a nightmare of a dream team when it comes to playing against them during pack nights. Like...no one has ever beaten them at a video game, not individually and certainly not when they're on the same team, and everyone wants them on their team when it comes to group games because they're both that damn good. It frustrates the shit out of the rest of the pack, but they often use it to their advantage by signing the two up for gaming competitions where they are both inevitably underestimated and end up shit-stomping their competition so severely that they're often accused of cheating. But they aren't. They're just that damn good.

Actually, I feel like this also leads into Derek sharing his love of tabletop games with Kira, which eventually leads to them trying out tabletop roleplaying games (which Kira puppy-dog eyes the rest of the pack into trying) until, eventually, Derek and Kira are co-DMing a years-long D&D campaign for the pack that they keep even when everyone goes off to college and into adulthood when they return and start working their grown up jobs. Kira and Derek are bonded in nerdom forever, and they couldn't ask for anyone better to share that sort of joy with.

And as for Erica, well. He loves all of the girls, loves the whole pack, but Erica will always, always, always hold a special place in Derek's heart. There is nothing Erica could ask him to do that he would say no to. Part of that stems from her being his second beta and the only girl of their original little pack, but it mostly comes from all of what Erica was never able to experience before the bite. Think about it. Depending on when Erica's epilepsy developed or started becoming an issue for her, she's probably missed out on so many "normal" things like parties and movies and even fucking carnivals and amusement parks, guys. So, I think that Derek is her co-pilot in life while she experiences all of these things, just to make sure she remains safe while doing it but also so she can feel safe and live.

The whole pack has season passes to Six Flags in Vallejo so Erica can get her fill of all of the rides and games she never got to experience as a kid. They go to every pop-up carnival that comes even remotely close to Beacon Hills, and they go at night so Erica can look up at all the blinking lights and have the colors all stand out in contrast to the darkness, and she loves it. She makes Derek win her prizes at the rigged games, and she wins him prizes at strength and agility games because she likes to show off. Derek even gets her a fake ID so they can sneak into dance clubs and raves, and he endures all of the noise and lights just for her because she deserves this freedom and has lived long enough without it.

Unlike Lydia, Derek actually does accompany Erica on shopping trips, but that's because he's actually got impeccable taste and will be honest with her about whether something looks good or not. I've always suspected that Derek is the one who paid for her wardrobe after she got the bite, and that he's the one who walked her through how to do her hair and makeup too. He learned a lot from Laura and was often tasked with helping her when she couldn't get a braid quite right or couldn't reach the back of her head, so teaching Erica how to do those things was a way for him to help his beta and keep his big sister's memory alive at the same time. I imagine that he tells her all sorts of stories about Laura while he's deep conditioning her hair or touching up her roots for her, and Erica covets and hordes every single one of them because she knows what a precious gift they are to her.

So, yeah. Thanks for reading my dissertation of Derek Hale's gooey feelings about the girls in his life. I would apologize for how long it is, but I'm not sorry and think that more of us should share this sort of stuff with each other, even if we're not writing fan fiction or sharing the fics we are writing.

Maybe I'll do a companion post about Derek and the boys of the pack...who knows?

#thoughts #my thoughts #teen wolf #derek hale #derek hale headcanons #headcanons #holy fuck this is so long #but you should read it anyways #or don't #that's up to you

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