#also i find it funny that (in my canon) lydia is very short

[myst1xx]

ultimate autism crossover moment

they infodump about books to each other

[daughterofluthien]

“decisions were respected” Sorry but didn’t Scott violently throw Isaac against a wall more than once just because Isaac liked his ex girlfriend in canon? That’s the literal opposite of healthy...

Hey, anon!

This is in reference to this post about Scallison for the shipping meme, where I said that one of my favorite things about Scallison is that the show lets them have a healthy breakup, and even date other people while still remaining friends. The scenes you are referring to are a pair of scenes in 3x13 Anchors.

So lets’s take a look.

(under a cut bc it turns out that when you try to be comprehensive, things get v long v quickly 😅)

The Scenes

I’m actually gonna copy/paste the dialogue of both scenes (along with minimal action/inflection notation for context) so that we can really make sure we know what we’re talking about here, so bear with me:

The first of these scenes occurs as Scott and Isaac are getting ready to head to school in the morning. After some initial ‘hey, what’re you doing, are you heading to school’ dialogue—during which both boys seem a bit awkward—we get the following:

ISAAC: [anxiously] Can I ask you a question? SCOTT: Okay... ISAAC: Are you angry with me? SCOTT: No! ISAAC: Are you sure? SCOTT: ...No. ISAAC: [awkwardly] What's that mean? SCOTT: I guess I'm not really sure how I'm feeling... ISAAC: [nodding] Okay. ...Do you hate me? SCOTT: [sighing] No, of course not. ISAAC: Do you want to hit me? SCOTT: [taken aback] No. ISAAC: I think you should hit me. SCOTT: I don't want to hit you. ISAAC: Are you sure? SCOTT: Why would I want to hit you? You didn't do anything, did you? ISAAC: [stammering] No. I mean, um... What do you mean? SCOTT: I mean, like, you didn't kiss her or anything, right? ISAAC: No! Absolutely not. No. SCOTT: ...Did you want to? ISAAC: Oh, yeah. Totally. [scene cuts to hallway outside the room. Isaac flies through the doorway and hits the wall] MELISSA: Hey! You two teenage boys? Don't test my entirely un-supernatural level of patience! ISAAC: ...Feel better?

The scene then ends, and we cut to subsequent scenes of Stiles and then Allison also getting ready for school.

The second scene is much shorter and happens later in the episode, after Isaac saves Lydia from an arrow that Allison fired while hallucinating. He and Scott are in Scott’s room again, and he’s telling him about the incident:

SCOTT: Right at her head? ISAAC: Almost right through it. And she keeps saying the same thing-- that she keeps seeing her aunt. Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse. If I hadn't been there, then Lydia would be dead. SCOTT: ...What were you doing there? ISAAC: Uh... [scene cuts to hallway outside the room. Isaac flies through the doorway and hits the wall] MELISSA: [groaning] Oh, you guys, come on! This house does not have a supernatural ability to heal! So, stop it!

But of course just the text of the scene isn’t enough to accurately convey everything in even a tiny portion of a larger narrative, because nothing happens in a vacuum. With that in mind, let’s look at...

The Context 

The first of these scenes occurs immediately after the opening credits, and is the first time we see either Scott or Isaac this season. (Assuming you consider 3B a separate season, of course, which is a whole ‘nother can of worms. This tv show we all choose to enjoy sure is Something.)

Often, the opening of a season is used to reintroduce the audience to the main characters—letting us know where their characters arcs are starting, and what they’ll be struggling with this season. Teen Wolf did this previously (and did it well, imo) in 3x01 Tattoo. Act 2 of that episode begins with a series of four scenes showing our main characters getting ready for school in the morning, highlighting where everyone currently is, and setting up where their arcs are going to go.

Scene order taken by itself would seem to indicate that they were trying to do something similar in this episode. It starts off with the hook of Stiles’ extended nightmare sequence. He can’t tell dreams apart from reality anymore, and wakes up screaming. Cut to black, cue opening credit sequence.

Immediately after the first ad break, we get a sequence of three scenes. The first is the longer of the two Scott and Isaac scenes (which, as previously mentioned, occurs as they’re getting ready to head out to school). The second is of Stiles. He’s packing for school, and the audience learns that he’s been struggling to read when he’s awake as well. Finally, we see Allison leaving her and her dad’s apartment. She seems like she’s doing fine, if a little over-focused. But then she gets into the elevator, and has an extended hallucination/flashback of Kate.

We learn soon after this that all three of them (Scott, Stiles, and Allison) are suffering from the aftereffects of their sacrifice in the previous season. According to the explanations we get both from Kira and, later, from Deaton, they’re slipping into bardo, or the space between life and death, and there’s a door open in their minds. 

Okay, problem established.

It stands to reason, then, that all three of those opening scenes are supposed to serve to set up this problem. We’re shown, in three successive scenes, that all three of our sacrificees are, as the kids say, Not Doing So Hot.

(yes I know the kids don’t say that, let me be an increasingly out-of-touch millennial in peace)

This is all well and good, and honestly makes sense! Under this paradigm, the Scott and Isaac scene should be highlighting that Scott is Losing Control. Bardo is affecting him, and it’s causing him to be more aggressive. Giving in to violence in a way that he generally holds himself back from. Heck, the scene even starts with Scott flexing his fingers, and we (and Scott) see the shadow of a clawed hand against the door.

In the context of the narrative, it makes sense.

Except.

eXCEPT—

The Framing

The thing about the medium of television is that, when we’re talking about a scene, we can’t just look at the narrative structure. We also have to look at the scene itself: how it’s shot and directed, how it’s edited, even what music is paired with the scenes.

In the Stiles and Allison sequences, the scenes are very clearly shot for tension and horror. Long lingering shots on the things that Just Aren’t Right. Music that heightens the tension. Stiles gets some nice lil scare chords over the shot of the book that he can’t read, and there’s a very quiet droning in the background of the Allison nightmare sequence that slowly grows into some classic horror soundtrack music.

Okay. So far that tracks with the narrative thesis.

Now let’s take look at the Scott and Isaac scene.

We start out with some of those lingering shots I was talking about, as Scott is halted in his tracks when he notices the shadow of the clawed hand. We see his own hand is human and unshifted. There’s quiet, percussion heavy music over this portion of the scene that increases in tension at this point. Shaken, Scott closes his hand into a fist, and when he opens it, both the shadow and his own hand are smooth and human. The tense music fades out to silence, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

Scott opens the door to reveal Isaac, which startles him. There’s a short musical sting to underline this moment, and then the background music cuts out completely, leaving us (and them) in the awkwardness of this moment. 

And OH BOY. IS IT AWKWARD. 😬

You can kinda see the Awkwardness Inherent in the System in the dialogue that I pasted up at the top—it’s a lot of back-and-forth, short statements, trailing off... And both Posey and Sharman are playing up the awkwardness as well. Neither boy looks like they really want to be there, and that includes Isaac, who initiated this entire conversation.

But here’s the thing.

The thing that really frustrates me about this scene.

It’s not the sort of awkwardness that exists to increase the tension. The sort that builds and builds until it reaches a fever pitch and you know something just has to give. You know, the sort of tension that you would want to build if you were showing how the protagonist of your show is no longer fully in control, and is on a knife’s edge of lashing out at his friend and beta.

Instead, it’s played for comedy.

And once again, a lot of this is down to the music.

Before the dialogue that I quoted at the top even begins, the music starts back up, and this time the tense percussion has been replaced by light, pizzicato strings. (That may not be the exact right term, fyi, I only really know enough about music theory to be dangerous.) But you know, the playful, plucked strings that often accompanies comedic or otherwise not-serious scenes.

Background music tells the viewer how they’re supposed to feel about the events in a particular scene, and the music here is saying that we’re not supposed to find this whole confrontation that dramatic. In fact, we’re supposed to find it funny.

But it’s not just the music that that frames this scene as comedic. It’s also the fact that we don’t actually see Scott shoving Isaac. Instead, the scene cuts to the hallway, and all we see is Isaac flying through the doorway.

Now, obviously I don’t have a direct line to the director and editors’ minds here. But I would bet money that those particular shots were chosen 1). because it’s so much easier to do a wire pull stunt when you don’t have to show what it’s in reaction to, and 2). because it’s kinda difficult to show your main character directly doing a violence and make it funny.

But show someone yeeted into frame, and that’s funny. Right?

(Spoiler alert: not in this context, it isn’t)

Now, I know I’ve been focusing on the first scene a lot—partially because it’s longer and partially because it’s really the only reason that the second scene exists—but I do want to take a look at the second scene really quickly as well. It’s much shorter and generally adopts a more serious tone than the first one, mostly due to fact that we’re smack dab in the middle of the action at this point. The weird visions that the sacrificees have been having all episode have started endangering lives, and they can’t just wait for it to resolve on its own.

But then the focused, intent exposition is broken by Scott’s question of “why were you there.” Then smash cut to a near identical shot of the hallway,and Isaac yeeting into frame.

The thing is, this scene is entirely dependent on the previous one. It only “works”—and I use this term loosely—as a call back to the scene at the beginning of the ep. Heck, both even have the stinger of a frustrated Melissa at the end of both scenes, frustrated at all the boys-will-be-boys roughhousing going on in her house.

Much like the first scene, this one is also set up and framed for Comedy.

Which is um. A Choice. 

But What Does It All Mean

What frustrates me about these scenes, at the end of the day, is that the narrative intention and the directing/editing seem to be fundamentally at odds.

On the one hand, it makes narrative sense to say that the purpose of the scenes is to show that Scott is losing control. That he’s being affected by bardo and the open door in his mind, and it’s putting the people close to him in danger. But then on the other, the way the scenes are actually used are as comic relief. As a way to release tension between very tense, dramatic scenes. 

I don’t think it works, as I don’t personally find it funny at all. But that really does seem to be the intention.

Once again, absolutely wILD choices were made on the part of tptb, and I really wish anyone had thought for two seconds about the implications of all of this, but nO

Ahem.

So now (literally 2K words later I’m so sorry 😅) what does this tell us about the characters? Certainly no one here is arguing that shoving someone is a good or defensible choice, whether it’s due to forces outside the character’s control or not. But even taking the influence of bardo in mind, is it even in character for Scott in the first place?

Because canon can also be written inconsistently/out of character, especially when we’re talking about a long-running show like tw.

One’s an Incident, Two is Coincidence...

Well, we all know the end of that saying.

So let’s end by looking at a few patterns.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this, once again, eXCEEDINGLY long post, this is reference to a post I made about scallison. I said the following in that post:

And I also really like that they [Scott and Allison] didn’t get back together. That they were allowed to be friends. That even though sometimes it hurt to watch someone you love loved love become romantically close to another person, decisions were respected, and no friendships were broken over it.

The first pattern we need to look at, then, is this:

What’s Scott’s pattern of behavior toward Allison and Isaac’s relationship?

And does Scott’s behavior toward Isaac in these two scenes match the pattern, or is it an outlier?

3x11 Alpha Pact: Sacrifice Prep The revelation that Allison and Isaac have grown close enough for him to act as emotional tether for her is very visibly a blow to Scott. He looks like the rug has been pulled out from under him, but he doesn’t look angry or upset, just.... sad. In fact, it looks like he’s swallowing back tears. But he nods towards the two of them and just says, “It’s okay.”

3x12 Lunar Ellipse: “I look for my friends” This is the epilogue of the season. Scott walks into the hallway at all of his friends in turn. Satisfied. Happy. First at Lydia and Aiden, then at Danny and Ethan. Then he turns and watches as Isaac and Allison walk down the stairs, and they’re laughing, and so obviously happy, and Scott’s small smile grows. He isn’t jealous here—he’s happy for them. 

3x14 Illuminated: Mutual Recognition Scott and Allison are both at Danny’s halloween party, but they’re not here together. He sees her from across a crowded room, just like he did at the winter formal, so many months ago. But so much has happened, and they’re different people now. Allison’s with Isaac, and he’s starting to having feelings for Kira, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, and that he doesn’t miss the relationship he and Allison had. For a moment, his fingers slip away from Kira’s, and he and Allison share a sad smile. 

Believe it or not, these are actually the only other examples I could find of Scott reacting to Isaac and Allison’s relationship. And uniformly across them, he’s sad, yes—after all, he loved her, and that relationship is very definitively over now. But he never seems jealous, and he isn’t angry.

So, if the Scott and Isaac scenes in Anchors don’t fit the pattern of Scott’s behavior towards the new couple, what pattern do they fit?

“Hit me.”

The teen wolf writers have a... really upsetting habit, honestly, of “resolving” interpersonal conflict between two characters by having the “wronged” party hit the other. Afterwards, the tension is almost completely broken between them, as if letting the person act aggressively in a way consensual to both parties has somehow solved the problem.

2x11 Battlefield: Derek and Peter After Peter comes back from the dead, he confronts the now pack-less Derek and offers to help him. Derek, likely remembering that Peter killed Laura and was responsible for most of the events of S1, attacks him instead. After taking a beating, Peter says the following:

PETER: Okay, go ahead! Come on, do it! Hit me. Hit me. I can see that it's cathartic for you! You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. So, go ahead. Hit me if that will make you feel better. After all, I did say that I wanted to help.

3x13 Anchors: Scott and Isaac We’ve already discussed this scene in uh. Detail. So I don’t think we need to go into the specifics again. But just a reminder that this dialogue exists:

ISAAC: Do you want to hit me? SCOTT: No. ISAAC: I think you should hit me.

5x15 Amplification: Scott and Liam During the previous supermoon, Liam—swayed by grief, the full moon, and Theo’s manipulations—tried to kill Scott and take his power. They’ve since rediscovered an equilibrium in their relationship, and Liam’s back in Scott’s pack, but they’re both still dealing with the implications of that event. In this episode, they’re attempting to break Lydia out of Eichen, but they’re not as strong as they should be, due to the mountain ash laced through the building, and are having difficulty breaking down a door. Then, the following exchange occurs:

LIAM: Hit me. SCOTT: What? LIAM: Hit me! I'll get angry, then I'll get stronger. STILES: Hit him. Hit him! LIAM: I tried to take your powers. I tried to kill you. Hit me! STILES: He also left you for dead. LIAM: I wanted you dead!

6x16 Triggers: Liam and Theo No one actually directly says “hit me” in  this one, due to the circumstances, but the sentiment’s there. In this sequence, Liam and Theo are trying to convince Gerard and the hunters that the whole pack is hiding out in the zoo, so Theo goads Liam into hitting him, in order to stage a very audible fight.

THEO: Okay... Then they have to believe us.[shouts] Isn't that right? LIAM: [whispers] Why are you yelling? THEO: [shouts] You got a problem? Oh, that's right, you always have a problem! LIAM: [whispers] What the hell are you doing? THEO: [shouts] Shut up! [punches Liam] Yeah, you see that, Scott? Your little Beta can't even take a punch. And what do you think, Malia?

While there’s a variety of primary textual reasons here, all of them deal with personal issues between the pair, and all of them involve some level of catharsis for the person doing the punching. Taken all together, it’s honestly a pretty troubling pattern, especially given the inclusion of an actual canonical abuse victim initiating and receiving the violence.

TL;DR

This is a writer issue, not a character issue. The serious narrative context conflicts with the comedic framing in a way that is honestly baffling to me, and it doesn’t fit the established pattern of Scott’s character and actions. Moreover, it’s an example of the writers’ apparent belief that interpersonal conflict can and should be solved through consensual violence.

The pattern we do see, is that the Scott is saddened by the knowledge that Allison has moved on, but he’s glad that she and Isaac are happy. Similarly, Allison is saddened that Scott is moving on as well, because she does still care for him deeply. Despite their conflicted feelings, neither tries to disrupt the other’s new relationship.

On other shows, that would be a season-long, drama-filled plotline. Here, nothing.

And I legitimately love that so much.

[visander]

Shadowhunter’s Rec List: The Best of 2017.

I’ve been slowly collecting fan fictions in my bookmarks for a while long now, wanting to make a rec list and I can’t think of a better time to do so than now. These are the best Shadowhunters (mostly Malec) fan fictions that I read in 2017 (Note, a couple weren’t actually written this year but I read them this year, so here they are). 

Every single fan fiction on this list made me pause at the end of it and marvel at how well written it was or how astounding the plot/concept was, most of them both. 

Fall Without Wings @notcrypticbutcoy

In which the Nephilim have wings, are taught to loathe Downworlders, and Alec is presented with a conundrum when Magnus Bane saves his life.

This is probably the most popular fic that is going to be on this list but it’s so amazingly good that I don’t even care. It’s a long WIP which the Clave has a no tolerance policy regarding downworlders and Magnus Bane is a wanted criminal. This fan fiction is written so amazingly well in every single category that makes you want to keep reading a fan fiction. The author’s writing style is beautiful. They seamlessly jump between characters and situations, in a way that makes the entirety of the plot seem so perfectly planned down to the characters dialogue. Ragnor is somehow a character despite being dead. Simon, Raphael, Lydia and Izzy each have their own smaller plot lines regarding their relationships. The whole fan fiction is written in a way that explores other characters and brings in major problems while also being a malec fan fiction, if that makes sense. This is hands down the best fan fiction that I read in 2017. 

All the things I'd say but couldn't @thenorthface.

“Last time we called the memory demon--” Alec starts.

Magnus theatrically rolls his eyes. “When we called Valak you were a miserable teenager, in love with your brother. You had something to hide. It isn’t going to be like that this time.”

This is a fan fiction in which Alec called off his engagement to Lydia but still never let himself have Magnus. Years later, they need to call a memory demon again and Magnus finds out how Alec has felt about him all of these years. Honestly, the concept of this fic calls to me so much. The thought of Alec watching Magnus all of those years and listening to Magnus flirt with him and somehow, restraining himself not to crack and even managing to convince Magnus that he didn’t feel the same way. The whole concept is perfect in the most bittersweet way. 

I always knew I couldn't have what I wanted. Until I met you. @reallysporadicsterekart

Side-glancing at the subject of Alec and sexual experience pre Magnus, aka masturbation.

This isn’t quite a malec fan fiction because it takes place before Alec meets Magnus but I fell in love with it so much that it’s on this list anyway. Every single encounter I’ve seen with Alec and masturbation before Magnus has been him being scared and guilty to indulge himself in those feelings. This fan fiction is completely on the opposite side of that spectrum. I think that this quote really sums up the bittersweet feel of this fic, ‘Because if he never is to have this kind of intimacy with someone else, not like he deeply wants to, then doesn’t he owe it to himself to give himself the next best thing? The illusion and the fantasy of it?’ 

Of Laughter and Lima Beans @maleccrazedauthor

The sudden leap shows. The energy in these kisses is all wrong. Thoroughly pleasant and full of potential, yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt. But still wrong. Not since he charged the wrong way down the aisle at his own wedding has Alec kissed Magnus like this, as though afraid that if he doesn’t keep plunging ahead, he’ll falter and turn back.

Maybe that was necessary at the wedding. For Alec to stop his life mid-course and veer off in an entirely new direction took tremendous courage and one hell of a leap of faith. Magnus knows that. He’ll be eternally grateful that the leap carried Alexander in his direction.

But sex between them shouldn’t be something Alec needs to psyche himself up for.

This fan fiction is the most in character and the most realistic ‘what happened after’ continuation of the Malec ‘sex’ scene. I honestly don’t know how to explain how realistic and how well written it is. Alec throws himself into sex and Magnus has to slow them down and talk to him about it before they continue. It’s funny and it’s so well written and so ridiculously in character. 

Magnus Bane's School for Young Warlocks @insomiak

Alec had never dreamt he'd be a father by the age of 25, let alone the father of a Warlock. He's sure he can handle it alone, though. He doesn't need anyone and neither do his kids.

(Or: Alec takes Max to Warlock School and finds himself falling fast for his teacher).

I lied before, this fic might be just as popular as Fall Without Wings. I doubt that there’s a single person in this fandom that hasn’t at least heard of this fic but there’s a reason for that! It hasn’t been updated in a while but apparently, It’s not abandoned. Even if it is though, what’s written is written so well that it’s worth reading even if it doesn’t get finished. It’s adorable. If somehow you haven’t read this fan fiction yet, please read it!

Creating Sparks @softmagnusbane

To say he has a steel tight control on his magic at this point would be an understatement. Which is why it catches him so off guard when there are suddenly literal sparks around the room for seemingly no reason.

There’s not much to say about this one. It sounds exactly like what it is. It’s a short, soft, fluffy fic in which Alec and Magnus are kissing and Magnus loses control of his magic.

Accidentally in Love @takaraphoenix

Prior to the show's canon, Isabelle and Jace go to Pandemonium to have a good time. Jace is determined to hook up with someone pretty. Only that the pretty warlock he picks is so not impressed with the blonde and shoots him down hard.

Jace is nothing if not stubborn, so he returns and tries again. Until, between the banter and conversation, the flirting becomes more like evening entertainment to Magnus, because the blonde Shadowhunter actually manages to worm his way into Magnus' heart.

I know that the relationship tag on this fan fiction is going to make a lot of people stray from it, it almost made me not read it but if you give it a chance, I promise you will not be disappointed. Yes, this is a fan fiction in which Jace and Magnus form a relationship before the events of the show and Alec isn’t involved at all. It’s weird, strange and I really thought that I wasn’t going to like it or that it was going to be insanely out of character. I was wrong on both accounts. This is such an odd, unique concept but I can’t explain how accurate and in character it is. If Jace and Magnus met before the show and if they started hooking up and formed a relationship, this is exactly how that would have happened. There’s literally no other scenario in which I can imagine this happening. It’s very well written and it’s so interesting..

I really wanted this to be longer but honestly, these are the seven fan fictions that really stand so high above anything else I read this year. I also wanted to add some less popular fan fictions but I haven’t exactly been reading recently and there’s a reason that a lot of the works on this list are popular. 

If you got to the end of this list and still want more to read, you could check out my fics (Though, nothing I’ve written I would quite hold to the scale of anything on this list). 

Thank you so much to all of the authors on this list for creating such wonderful content. I can’t wait to see what my ‘best of list’ is for next year. 

[eternalstereksecretsanta]

Seeing Blind

@anchorsandadderall | AO3 | I hope this is the canon-compliant tale you wanted this holiday season!

The thing was, Stiles hadn't been lying when he said going blind was his greatest fear; he just hadn't bothered to admit some things might be worth it.

The thing is, he wasn’t lying.

Going blind really had been his biggest fear, the thing that haunted his nightmares long before the nogitsune transformed his dreams and days into a waking horror. Before the Wild Hunt erased him from reality, rendered him helpless in a way he didn’t think it was possible to understand until you’d seen everyone you knew and loved walk past you with... nothing... in their gaze.

Losing his vision meant losing his edge, meant losing the only tool he had to make connections, to solve puzzles, to find that one, vital piece of information that would keep them alive to fight another day. His eyes were more than his primary sense, they were the way he made sense of the world. There was a reason his mystery board was a mass of pictures, colors, strings; sight lent the chaos order, signal overload made the random logical.

Even his combat skills stemmed from his eyesight. He would never be able to hear or smell as well as the wolves, or move through the world guided by currents of electricity like Kira. Never be able to track a path with a slight touch here and there along the ground like Argent.

But he could swing a bat, watch for uneven movement and strike at the weak point. He could be the getaway driver, barrelling through buildings and danger to take them far away from the danger (always, forever) biting at their heels. He could be the research guy, sleep and relaxation traded for the final solution.

All of it just part of being Scott’s friend, Derek’s ally, his dad’s back-up, and all of it based on being able to see.

So when his vision started to dim, he naturally ignored it as long as possible and kept the information to himself.

The first inkling he had was in Mexico, Derek on the ground in front of him and the rest of his friends rushing into danger just beyond. At first glance he didn’t see any visible injuries, it just looked like Derek was resting. Stiles knew that couldn’t be right, knew from the sounds of the fight before and Derek’s posture that there mustwounds, but he accepted the wild hope that somehow Derek had escaped the odds again.

Derek told him to go, sent him to help his friends, and Stiles ignored the almost physical pull he felt to go to Derek, to gather him up and drive far, far away from there. Stiles went to aid the others, secure in the belief that Derek was just gathering his strength before following Stiles into the fray.

Afterwards, knowing that Derek’s wounds had been fatal, knowing that it was only by the grace of another supernatural miracle and the resilience of Derek’s own spirit that he wasn’t gone forever, the pull he felt towards Derek bordered on painful to resist. In fighting that impulse, frozen in denial as a flash-fire sequence of terrible almosts ran through his mind, Stiles chalked the momentary darkness that blocked his sight up to nerves and adrenaline after-effects.

But then Derek left, left Beacon Hills and Stiles in his wake. Stiles had to accept the ache he felt for never yielding to his desire for Derek, his need for a deeper connection, was more than just mundane regret.

More than the bittersweet yearning for a missed opportunity, the chance at real, tangible love.

More than longing for a piece of happiness born of a multitude of sorrows.

As his dreams were consumed with increasingly elaborate visions of a life lived with Derek, of languid mornings drenched in sensual touches and days measured in warm glances and liberal embraces seen in his mind’s eye with crystal clarity, his days were filled with increasingly frequent moments when his vision failed.

Finding a way to get his eyes checked without alerting his dad, or Scott, or anyone else had taken a fair amount of subterfuge, but Stiles was nothing if not resourceful. The results offered no answers, the doctor clearly confused at Stiles’ dismay to be told his vision was near-perfect.

Supernatural it was, then. Again. Which wouldn’t have been so dire in and of itself, if Stiles had found a shred of information to suggest there was a solution. Or even a known cause. But Stiles found nothing, and none of his hints and inquiries to Deaton or Lydia had yielded anything, either.

For a while, the episodes seemed to level off. Stiles dared to breathe a sigh of relief his sophomore year in college, following nearly a month of only occasionally blurring vision after hours of reading on top of too little sleep.

That relief was short-lived once winter break ended, and Stiles woke from another dream to the crushing realization that Derek wasn’t really there. And the terror of seeing only vague patterns of light and dark, like shadows through cheesecloth.

While his vision cleared after less than five minutes Stiles could no longer ignore the fact that this problem was not going away, was in fact getting worse. Could no longer avoid contemplation of what would happen if his vision failed while he was in pursuit of someone (or something), while he was firing a weapon. While he was driving in general, but that wasn’t something he was ready to address…

What he could do was figure out a way to reshape his future, to find a path that would allow him to use the skills he had and his affinity for mysteries and protecting others without endangering them with his weaknesses.

Most of all, how to keep putting one foot in front of the other without falling apart and without laying another brick on the backs of his family and friends.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“The FBI internship program?” Scott asked, puzzlement on his face and in his voice.

“Yeah. Figure it’s probably a great way to get my foot in the door, see what options might be out there with the Bureau, you know?” Stiles strove for casual, willing his heart-rate steady in the face of Scott’s suddenly sharpened focus.

The early afternoon sun dappled the grass in front of him, shadows weaving with the intermittent breeze as they lounged on the ground after an impromptu shared lunch break.

“But-- why would you care about that? When you’re coming back to the Beacon Hills PD?”

It was the last day of April, and they were both enjoying a long weekend before the summer semester ramped into full swing. For Scott, that meant another attempt at organizing a weekend getaway with Liam, Mason, and Corey that would somehow resolve the still-awkward limbo that still stood like the elephant in the room when it came to their “pack.” Stiles got it, he really did. It was hard to be “the Alpha”, or even establish an identity as a pack, when you were dealing with a werewolf, a chimera, and...whatever Mason was. Add to that the very small age difference, and the secondary challenges of integrating Lydia and Malia, and Stiles could well understand Scott’s continual dismay at the prospect.

But he could also use Scott’s preoccupation with the task to his advantage when it came to dodging questions that hit a little too close to home.

“Hey, it can’t hurt to pad the resume, right? Anyway, why are you worried, aren’t you going to be tied up with the Pack Junior this summer? And learning the ropes for your assistant coaching gig with Finstick?”

Scott laughed, chuckle turning into a groan as he flopped back onto the ground. “Don’t remind me! Don’t think I don’t see your real motivation.”

“Real motivation? Why, Scotty, whatever do you mean?” Stiles forced a casual laugh, worried for a fleeting second that Scott might have realized, might somehow know.

“You’re running away to D.C. so you don’t have to sit through yet another night of Liam moaning about Hayden, while Corey and Mason make out in the corner.”

“Don’t forget about Malia, sharing in thorough, excruciating detail her plans for international travel and European men!”

They both snickered, chuckles turning to outright laughter until they ran out of breath. Lying on the grass, looking up through the canopy of branches and leaves, Stiles could almost write off the indistinct image as a product of sunny glare and a shifting breeze. Almost, and yet that “not quite” held a lifetime of terror and terrible possibilities. For the moment, it was easier to just close his eyes.

“Well, just don’t decide you want to stay there.” Scott’s words were punctuated with a gentle fist bump against his shoulder. “You know we count on you to be the voice of insanity around here.”

“Ha ha, very funny. You know you’d be lost in a fog of noble intentions and self-sacrificing logic without me. Or something.”

“Or something.” Scott snorted, waggling his eyebrows sarcastically.

Stiles forced himself to relax, storing this feeling for the future. If he was correct, if his waking eyes were fated to grow ever more unreliable while his dreams grew more vivid, then he would make every effort to capitalize on moments like this.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Seeing Derek running through the woods, hearing the instructor capture everyone’s attention with references to a “feral unsub”, Stiles felt the low-frequency hollowness he’d grown accustomed to flare to screaming, excruciating, life.

For the first time in weeks, his vision sharpened to perfect clarity, misty edges growing crisp as if he’d finally been able to blink away the ever-present film through which he’d viewed the world for the past month. More than just visible details, he could see the possibilities and paths before him. And while the routes wound in different ways, the final destination never wavered: Derek.

Over the next days he found himself energized in a way he hadn’t felt in years. He slept less, researched more, gathered facts and intel from reliable and unreliable sources (each less “official” than the last). He maneuvered his way into a field op, managed to leave with Derek with both of them free and (mostly) in one piece, and ultimately drove back to Beacon Hills in time to walk head-first into a melee more deadly and widespread than anything they’d faced before.

The fact that he’d given little thought to Lydia as more than a friend and potential confidante--

The fact that he’d given less thought to the long-term ramifications for his career in leaving D.C. in the midst of his internship and in the open, known company of a prior suspected serial killer--

The fact that his vision never wavered after he saw Derek on the video feed--

That fact that the empty, hollow feeling was filled with total rightness once they were again breathing the same air, even as they hurtled back towards likely mortal danger--

Well, denial was another of his best skills, after all.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Confessing blindness as his greatest fear was surprisingly easier than it should have been, especially after years of hiding both his fading sight and his turmoil about it. Of course, Stiles was counting on their preoccupation with the dangers at hand and the conflicting he-said/he-said stories he and Derek crafted on the drive to distract them from examining his statement too closely.

Derek’s scepticism worked to further divert any uncomfortable questions about his phobia. There was a pulsing sense of happiness that they were so in tune, even if it was completely inadvertent on Derek’s part. Stiles carried that feeling of warmth with him, weirdly confident in their chances for victory given both the scope of the dangers they faced and the brutal losses of the past.

They would win.

The anuk-ite would be defeated.

Gerard’s henchmen/henchwomen… henchpeople… whatever, would be diverted.

He would have the chance to finally follow the impulses he’d been fighting for years, wherever they might lead and however they might resolve. The hardest part of the conversation would likely be explaining to Derek just how long he’d been fighting the compulsion to find him in a way that didn’t sound completely obsessive. Or the connection between his unreliable eyesight and the dreams of their life together in a way that didn’t sound completely delusional. Or the fact that Stiles was increasingly positive he’d been half-way in love with Derek for years, but afraid enough of what a real once-in-a-lifetime commitment to someone with a past as emotionally complicated as his own would mean, that he’d willfully clung to the concept of Lydia-and-Stiles.

Stiles wasn’t naive enough to think Derek would respond with easy acceptance or declarations of love of his own, but he also knew it was no longer a choice to stay silent.

Just as everything he’d never allowed himself to consciously reach for seemed within his reach, his vision darkened to nearly black-out, and Stiles felt like he’d been stabbed.

He refused to consider what that could mean. Refused even the possibility that Derek could be gone entirely, and did what he always did - turned adversity into advantage.

When he faced the anuk-ite, his aim was true. Mountain ash enveloped the creature, the plan worked flawlessly, made possible only because Stiles was not frozen to stone.

Because Stiles was immune to the effects of the anuk-ite’s gaze.

Because Stiles was blind.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Oh, my God. We did it. We did it!” Lydia’s voice scaled from shock to giddy joy, as she turned to fling her arms around Stiles’ neck. “We did it.”

“Yeah, we did.” Stiles forced a smile, hugging Lydia tightly for a moment before she drew away.

“I need to go--” her voice trailed off, a bit of embarrassment creeping in.

“Why don’t you go find Jackson, make sure he’s okay?” Stiles suggested. The sooner Lydia was on her way, the less time he had to try and hide his sudden loss of vision. It wasn’t rational, Stiles knew, but he couldn’t stand the thought of everyone knowing. Not now. Not yet.

“Thanks, Stiles.” Punctuated by a quick kiss to his cheek, Lydia left in a flurry. He could almost be insulted with the speed at which she accepted his offered out and exited the room, but that seemed petty given his motivation was getting her to do exactly that.

Slumping against the wall, Stiles ran a shaky hand over his closed eyes, ostensibly giving privacy to Scott and Malia who (by the sounds of things) were making sure Scott’s healing continued by duplicating the catalytic kiss. Repeatedly.

Footsteps alerted him to their approach, and Stiles forced himself not to flinch as Scott grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a near-crushing hug.

“Thank you.” Scott’s voice was quiet, but fervent. “Stiles, thank you so much. I don’t know how you did it, but…”

“Did what?” Stiles asked, genuinely confused. “You’re the one who won, Scott.”

“Trapping the anuk-ite. Facing it head on. Coming back to Beacon Hills. Take your pick.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Scott, like I would let you have all the fun without me? I’ll always come when you need me, you know that. It’s what we do.”

“Yeah, but we couldn’t have won if you hadn’t sprung the trap. Speaking of -- how did you manage it? How’d you get the ash all the way around the anuk-ite without looking at it and getting turned to stone?”

Stiles forced a laugh, patting Scott on the shoulder as he drew away from the hug. Leaning his head back against the wall, eyes closed, Stiles hoped his posture looked like a natural enough pose of tired relief that Scott wouldn’t question it.

“That, my friend, is a long story. Why don’t you go check on everyone, see if we have any more to do here, and I’ll tell you all about it later tonight?”

Stiles breathed a shaky sigh as Scott left with Malia, both of them too focused on each other and the need to find any stragglers or survivors that might need their aid to examine Stiles’ brush-off. The sound of measured steps to his right and the impression of solid warmth at his side alerted him that someone had joined him. The accelerating pulse of near-here-now that flared back to life in his center identified that someone as Derek.

“You okay?” Stiles asked, unmoving except for swallowing nervously. “Not hurt?”

“I’m fine. But you’re not.” Derek’s voice was quiet, sure, his hand coming to gently press against Stiles’ arm. “Stiles, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t see anything. I’m bl-blind.” He stuttered over the words, voice breaking as a tear spilled from his tightly squeezed eyes. “I’m blind, Derek.” Saying the words made it suddenly real, terrifying. “Oh, fuck, I can’t see. What am I going to do, how am I going to-- I can’t see!”

He wondered if his panic would have continued to spiral, anxiety escalating into all-out hysteria, but he didn’t have the chance to find out. He felt himself pulled gently forward, his head tucked underneath Derek’s chin, hands clutching the front of Derek’s sweater as Derek held him immobile in the circle of his arms.

“We’ll fix it, Stiles.” The matter-of-fact words were at odds with the closeness of the embrace, a non-nonsense contrast to the slow sweep of one hand up and down Stiles’ back as his other hand moved to cradle Stiles’ head closer to his shoulder.

“Okay.” Stiles whispered. “Get me out of here?”

Derek hummed in reply, navigating them out into the hallway and back to the car by tucking Stiles against his side, arm snugly around his shoulders. They managed to avoid crossing paths with anyone inclined to ask questions, and the silence continued all the way back to the loft. It felt surprisingly easy to wait for Derek to come around, to slip an arm around his waist and nudge him in the right direction, to lead him to the edge of the sofa and wait for him to sit down as well. It was significantly less easy to answer Derek’s question.

“What happened, Stiles?”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“I’ve been having… issues… with my eyes. For a while.”

“How long? And what kind of issues?” Derek’s voice was calm, but Stiles could hear the heavy sound of his exhale. A small smile teased the corner of his mouth, ridiculously charmed by Derek’s attempt to stay calm for his benefit.

“Losing my sight, or having my eyes go fuzzy for a while. Since Mexico.”

“Since Mex-- Stiles, that was years ago!” There was the agitation, the edge of fear/anger Derek was trying to hide. “Have you seen someone? What’s causing this?”

“Yes, I have ‘seen someone.’ In fact, several someone’s. As far as any medical professional is concerned, my eyes and eyesight are perfectly normal and healthy. But it just kept happening, and at the same time I was having these really intense, really detailed dreams.”

“Okay, so not a human problem. But what about Deaton? Did he have any suggestions? Or Scott? Lydia?”

“They don’t know.”

There was another moment of silence and then Derek cleared his throat, his voice going tight. “What do you mean, they don’t know?”

“No one knows. Not Deaton, or Scott. Not Lydia. Not my dad. No one. I just… I couldn’t tell them. There was only one person to tell, one person that might be connected. But…” Stiles voice trailed off, words failing him.

“But I wasn’t here.” Derek finished for him, utter certainty in his voice.

Stiles’ eyes flew open, his head whipping in Derek’s direction. “Wh-- how do you know?!” he demanded.

“Because you’re not the only one who’s been having the dreams, I don’t think. I just thought it was wishful thinking.”

“Wishful thinking?” Stiles asked, his voice hushed and hopeful. “You mean you wanted…” Stiles stopped, closing his eyes as he gave a quick shake of his head. “I don’t know what you were dreaming Derek, but I doubt the dreams were the same as mine. Because my dreams? Were of us, you and me. Together.” Stiles gestured quickly between them, before dropping his head, shoulders slumped in defeat as he waited for Derek’s outrage.

But instead of agreeing with Stiles--

“We lived in a yellow, wood-frame house. There were three steps that led up to the front porch, but you always complained that there should have been four because--”

“--because the bottom step was weirdly tall and I stumped my foot on it at least once a month when I was carrying groceries inside.”

Stiles felt Derek shift closer, a solid press of warmth against Stiles’ side as he continued talking.

“You worked for the sheriff’s department, and I was doing some freelance work as an editor but we used to argue about whether or not I should go back to college and finish my degree.”

Stiles laughed, the sound turning into a sob as he leaned over to rest against Derek’s shoulder. “Because I said that you would be the best thing to ever happen to the Beacon Hills High department of English, and it was only fair that you teach the next generation of authors instead of just--”

“--complaining about their poor grammar after the fact.” Derek murmured the words against Stiles’ temple, his arm wrapping around Stiles’ shoulders to draw him closer.

“Oh, shit, you had the same dreams. You had them, too.” Stiles turned towards Derek, half crawling in his lap as he clutched him tightly. “Does that mean-- do you want--- oh, God, do you want me?”

“Other than having my family alive, I’ve never wanted anything more.” Those words, the reality of them, the fact that Derek couched his desire for Stiles in terms that were so completely honest, convinced Stiles more than anything else could have. There was only one reply he could offer.

“Other than my dad, you’re the most important person in my life. And, honestly--” Stiles stopped, swallowing heavily before breathing the final truth between them “--honestly, if the bullets were flying, I don’t know who I’d jump in front of first.”

Derek growled softly, giving Stiles a small shake before pressing his lips against the shell of Stiles’ ear. “Neither. You won’t jump in front of either of us. You will keep yourself safe, and you will stay alive for us. For me.”

It was both completely surprising and entirely expected when Derek followed the statement by sinking his hand into Stiles’ hair, gripping and tilting his head back to take his lips in a slow, deliberate kiss. Stiles exhaled heavily, mouth opening under Derek’s as he wrapped one hand around Derek’s neck and snaked the other between Derek’s back and the back of the sofa.

Stiles felt the world shift, Derek lowering him back to recline against the sofa, shifting himself forward as he lifted Stiles’s leg underneath him until he was lying half on top of Stiles. Derek pressed his face into Stiles’ neck, tilting his head just enough to press a series of kisses against Stiles’ throat. “It doesn’t have to be a dream.” Derek murmured.

“But my eyes, what about the fact that I can’t see? I don’t know…” Stiles trailed off, hope and joy warring with outright terror at the thought of facing the rest of his life without sight.

“I know we’ll find a way to get your sight back. And I know that even if we can’t, it won’t keep us from building the life we’re meant to have. Together.”

And, really, who was Stiles to argue with that? He tightened his arms around Derek, shifting one leg to tangle with Darek’s, as he nodded. “Okay,” he replied, “together. I think that sounds like a dream come true, already.” It wasn’t I love you, not really, but it was somehow so much more.

Derek sighed in satisfaction, growing heavier against Stiles as the events of the day swept them both toward exhaustion. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about the details of this new reality, and how (and what) to tell everyone. Tonight was for them, for sharing space and breath that was more than, better than, a dream.

And if the price for this was facing his greatest fear, was losing his sight? Well, nothing less would be a fair price for the possibility of a future this wonderful. For both of them.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As it turned out, telling everyone was both far simpler and more complicated that he’d considered the night before.

Simpler, because Stiles opened his eyes the next morning to the sight of...sight. The light filtering in through the huge windows was a weak, watery gray. It streaked across the floor in hazy strips, dim enough to lend a damp, subdued air to the room but bright enough to throw the dust into sharp relief. This was a loft that hadn’t seen full-time habitation in a while, and it showed. Still half asleep, Stiles tracked the light with heavy lids, to where small fingers striped across Derek’s back, turning swaths of his hair silver-tipped and casting his eyelashes into sharp relief against the cheek not pressed to Stiles’ chest.

He was truly beautiful, relaxed completely with a faint smile curling the corners of his lips. Stiles raised his hand, tracing delicately down the curve of Derek’s jaw as an answering smile teased hip own lips. Such a wonderful sight, like so many dreams, but--

But--

Stiles stilled, eyes snapping open as the reality hit him fully. This? Was not a dream. He was awake, lying on the sofa in a neglected loft, pressed into the cushions by the solid weight of a fully relaxed Derek. A Derek who had dreamed of him just as he longed for Derek. The werewolf who wanted him enough to consider their dream world - one in which he came back to live in the town where his entire family had either been killed, betrayed, or left him- a desirable future.

The man who held him close, and told him in no uncertain terms that his blindness was a challenge to be accepted, and no barrier to the happiness they both deserved.

The Derek who had been such a huge part of Stiles’ life, whether in thought or in deed, for so long that Stiles had a hard time remembering his reality before him.

The man he could see, in all his glorious imperfections. The small patch of stubble slightly thinner than the rest near the curve of his chin. The dark shadows under his eyes, testament to the effects of recent months of too little sleep and too much stress. The gap in his eyebrow, still too bushy to be fully fashionable but so completely, endearingly Derek.

Stiles inhaled, a soft, shuddering gasp that woke the other man. Derek’s head snapped up at the sound as he turned towards the door, one head clenching into a fist, before swinging his gaze back to face Stiles as he registered the absence of a threat.

“Stiles?” he asked, brows furrowing in concern as he took in the stunned expression on Stiles’ face.

“Don’t frown, Sourwolf. It’s too early for that.” Stiles watched the smile bloom across Derek’s face at his words, had the pleasure of seeing Derek’s eyes crinkle with joy before he bent down to rest their foreheads together.

“You can see me, can’t you?”

“Yes. Yes, YES! I can see you!”

They were both laughing clutching each other and shaking with relief, and Stiles could honestly say he’d never felt more alive than he did in that moment. Every inch of skin pressed against Derek’s felt warm, the rhythm of Derek’s laughter rolled against his belly like the tide, and the hot, damp flow of Derek’s breath against his collarbone sent a shiver up his spine.

He turned his head, nuzzling against Derek’s temple as they stilled, and felt Derek cant his hips closer in response. Stiles rolled his own hips in response, pressing his hardening cock against Derek who shuddered, before surging up the last few inches needed to take Stiles’ mouth in a deep, wet kiss.

Stiles rocked upwards, feeling Derek’s cock hardening against his hip. He slid his hand down Derek’s back, pressing against his ass as he thrust upward as much as Derek’s weight allowed. Derek grunted in response, sound transforming into a near growl as he sank deeper into the cradle of Stiles’ thighs.

Stiles broke away from the kiss, panting softly as he met Derek’s heated gaze. He raised both hands to cradle Derek’s face, stunned at the utter tenderness reflected there.

“I feel like I’m dreaming, like this is too much, too perfect to be real.” Stiles confessed.

“It’s no dream, or if it is it’s one we’re going to share forever.” Derek replied.

Stiles giggled, rolling his eyes. “Dude, that’s ridiculously sappy. Even for you.”

“Even for me?” Derek asked, schooling his face into mock sternness. “I’ll have you know, I am renowned for my sentimental side.”

Stiles snorted, nodding his head sarcastically. “Uh huh, sure. Derek Hale, Giant Softie.” He drew Derek’s face downwards, pressing a row of kisses down his cheek and across to claim his lips once more, the kiss turning from teasing into something hot and urgent in the span of a breath.

And if the rest of the morning was spent in a haze of lust, if Stiles lost count of the number of times he came on Derek’s cock, with Derek’s lips or hands wrapped around his cock, with Derek’s tongue buried in his ass as he screamed into the pillow beneath him, with his cock buried balls-deep in the tight clench of Derek’s ass as he gasped out a mixture of Stiles’ name and pleas of don’t stop, never stop, Jesus fuck-- Stiles!?

Well, that was one secret that they kept for themselves.

[sleepymayonaise]

Reasons I stopped watching Teenwolf that have nothing to do with Sterek

Its hard to get past the cringy feeling you get when someone disses a show for not making their ship cannon- I get that. And even when we get past the blantant queer bating, its hard to understand what 'problematic' really means when we're discussion a show on MTV. So here are just a few of the reasons so many people have given up on Jeff Davis and his creation. ■ Queer Bating Completely disregarding Sterek, this is a huge issue within the show. We'll start with Stiles. Throughout the show Stiles' sexuality is often joked about. In one episode he tells his father he's gay to get out of trouble, and in another, when the token gay character of the season offers to take his virginity, Stiles is flattered and actually considers it. On several occasions Jeff Davis has said that these points in the show have had the purpose of hinting at Stiles' Bisexuality. This should be a good thing, but despite the so-called "hints" we get, there is never a single instance of any kind of obvious and confirmed attraction between Stiles and another man. We can speculate and hope, but the show never gives into it outright. A person of course does not ever have to be in a relationship with someone of the same gender to identify as Bi, but when we're talking about representation on a major TV show, its important that at least some sort of 'proof' is shown. Maybe in the future we can have a bi character who never canonically dates someone of the same gender and still have it be representation, but we're not there yet. Rather than anything involving Stiles (a main character of the show) Jeff Davis oftwn substitutes queer representation with relatively unimportant side characters. Moreover the show has been know to make the main token poc and queer person the same person on the show. Danny, for instance, had no real plot importance as a character except for being gay and not white. The show advertises a diverse lgbt cast, but like most shows, does not deliver. ■ The strong female charachter The strong female character does not exist on this show. In fact every instance of a "strong" female has been used as a romantic interest in the plot, whose sole purpose is to give their male counterpart something to fight for, idolize, and have sex with. We'll start with Allison. Allison was a kick ass, arrow shooting, rebellious teenage girl. Unfortunately, she was also the love interest of the main character. Given that her family presented issues for the main character, she became the juliet in a cliche Shakespearean situation. But a girl can still be badass with a boyfriend right? Of course! However, as badass as Allison may have been, her character was used consistently as a romantic interest or problem and nothing else. She was Scott's girlfriend, and then Matt's love interest, and then Jackson's love interest, and then Issacs girlfriend, and then she was dead. A girl can be in a relationship on a show, sure, but when her character is only ever used as a love interest to serve the plot, it becomes demeaning and disheartening. Next, Lydia. With Lydia we find are biggest issues. Lydia Martin is an actual genius. She's beautiful and popular, funny when she wants to be, assertive when she needs to be, and her brain is a stunning work of art. But she also has flaws! She can be shallow and mean spirited, she's obsessed with her public image, and known to have fits of jealousy. She's a fantastically well rounded character that is utterly wasted the same way Allison is. Lydia spends half of her time on the show either suffering from severe mental issues (which we will address later) or hunting for a boyfriend. She's better off than Allison was as a character, but when it comes right down to it she's just another love interest to cause problems for the main male charachters. What's really unfortunate, is the stydia situation. There's nothing wrong with the ship, don't get me wrong, but there are some serious issues with its realization. Jeff Davis actually did a pretty cool thing when he made Stiles and Lydia just friends. He took a boy who was idolizing and sexualizing a girl that was uninterested, let him understand who she really was, and accept her into his life as a friend. Its so rare that we have an instance in the media of a straight boy and girl just remaining friends in the media, especially when their is initial interest from the male protag. It showed rejection from the female counterpart and acceptance from the male side and that's huge. Stydia of course ruins that by making a short appearance, and whats worse, especially for Stydia fans, is that the ship is short lived, and ends up only being used as bait for views. I don't need to go into kira, malia, and erica, because the same shit goes down with them. ■ Mental Health I'll make this part short, because theres so many issues with this particular aspect of the show, I cound go on for years. One of the biggest issues though, is eichen house, a psych facility that is consistently used to scare voews. This place grossly stereotypes non-neuro typicals as violent and unhinged. Another huge issue in the presentation of mental health on this show, is that the charachters are endlessly traumatized but never get resolution. PTSD and anxiety are practically used as quirky charachter flaws half of the time. ■ Derek Hale This is personally my biggest issue with the show. Derek Hale, like many of the characters (except for the main one of course) is very well rounded. He makes mistakes, he evolves as a person, he does his best. Its no wonder that he's so loved by the fandom. I personally stopped watching when Hoechlin left. He wasn't a deal breaker, but I was at my tipping point. The problem with Derek Hale starts with his tragic past, which involves him being seriously emotionally abused and the victim of statitory rape. His abuser then is used as a plot point. She terrorizes him and on occasion sexually assults him, and this is never addressed. Kate is made out to be a bad person, but when Derek is being sexually assaulted he's shirtless, hairless, and oiled up. Its filmed to be sexually enticing for the audience, which is seriously disgusting. Kate is basically a sexual predator that keeps being brought back to hurt Derek. Whats worse is that the emotional trauma that results from sexual assault is literally never addressed, and Derek is consistently used as a sex object. In another season, the big bad of the show is revealed to have been disguising itself as a woman named Jennifer Blake. Jennifer blake, aka the big bad, is used as Derek's love interest, and they have sex on multiple occasions. Its later revealed that Blake seduced Derek with magic. What the writers of this show don't appear to comprehend, is that if someone is coerced into sex they wouldn't otherwise have with supernatural means, that's rape. So Derek gets raped a couple more times, and its all hunkydory because the sex scenes were hot l, am I right Jeff? (Also, Questionable consent concerning sex appears on show way more than acceptable. In example, when Stiles loses his virginity, he's partially posessed by a demon, and the girl he has sex with isn't all there mentally either) Derek is consistently used and abused on this show. He is beaten down and taken from, manipulated, ridiculed, and oversexualized over and over. His entrance to the show involves the loss of his sister just a few short years after the loss of his entire family, which he is led to beleive was at his own hands. His rapist and abusers are never fully brought to justice, and the serious emotional damage inflicted on him is never addressed. Rather its ignored for the sake of continuing to use him a sexual object. Below are some sources to back the claims I've made in this post as well as articles that better articulate what I've tried to explain . If you have anything to add regarding the issues with the show, please feel free to add on. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/09/17/op-ed-trouble-teen-wolf%3famp http://www.teen.com/2017/03/12/television/teen-television-shows-queerbaiting-gay-bait-audiences/#2 https://www.google.com/amp/amp.dailydot.com/upstream/teen-wolf-dead-female-characters-chart/ http://www.tv.com/news/teen-wolf-has-a-problem-regarding-female-characters-and-we-need-to-stop-ignoring-it-143956767458/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/trigger-warning-kate-argent/amp/