#also the degree to which the were characters engage in self injury is soooo interesting to me

[blackhholes]

Self-Injury in Teen Wolf

“A Hideous Torture on Himself”: Madness and Self-Mutilation in Victorian Literature by Sarah Chaney / Representing the Unrepresentable: Self-Harm as Affect by Laura Wilson / Damaging the Body Politic: Self-Mutilation as Spectacle by Alexandra Gray

Written for @teenwolf-meta‘s Meta May Monday theme: pain.

The idea of pain making you human was introduced into the show when Derek said "And that's what keeps you human- pain." to Scott in the season one episode The Tell. It's a concept which is repeatedly brought up throughout the show and might actually be one of the more consistent facets of werewolf lore seen within the show.

When lycanthropic characters are incapable of relying on their anchor to tether them to their human side, they can instead draw on their own pain, often self-inflicted, to avoid the consequences of shifting. Throughout the show the character shown to utilize this the most is Liam. He's often incapable of controlling his anger and as a result is incapable of keeping in touch with his humanity, meaning that he's pushed to the edge of self-injury more often than other characters.

Another instance where we see characters inflict injury on themselves, or others, is when they need to trigger their healing. As seen in the season four finale when Kira is unable to heal after being attacked by berserker-Scott, where she then has to cut up her hand with a shard of obsidian for the rest of her body to heal. This is interesting because it visualizes a clear disconnect between the body and the self, the self which needs to heal can only communicate this with the body through more pain and injury.

Lydia is also seen injuring herself in season two when she's being controlled by Peter. When she's awoken by her mother her sheets are covered in blood and it's then revealed that she punched her mirror with no recollection of it. This serves as a narrative red herring as it's revealed later in the same episode that the Kanima hates its own reflection, but on a personal level it also shows the viewer the disconnect Lydia is experiencing between herself and her mind.