#bwoc is fantastic

[andavs]

What are your thoughts on the werewolves in Teen Wolf? I feel like Jeff Davis may have butchered them a lot, completly throwing out how wolfs actually act, and like a lot of parts it was like he forgot they were werewolves or didn't know how to use their powers. Also the beta shift looks sooo ridiculous

Full disclosure: I don’t have a lot of exposure to werewolves outside of Teen Wolf. Prior to this show, my main source of wolfy entertainment was the 1999-2002 timeless classic, Big Wolf on Campus. 

If you don’t know this masterpiece, the entire reason I started watching Teen Wolf was because it reminded me of BWOC.

On the right, you have the Big Wolf himself, Tommy Dawkins. Jock, not the smartest, has never seen a horror movie, but a very sweet and lovable, all around good guy.

The left: the brains of the operation, Merton J. Dingle: loyal best friend, local werewolf expert, president of the Gothic Fantasy Guild.

They’re a little married.

Want to see their werewolf makeup?

It’s sideburns and eyebrows. And fangs, obviously, but the point is, my werewolf standards aren’t that high. 

But jumping back to Teen Wolf, I think I jived more with the werewolf lore they started to set up in the first two seasons. Control didn’t come easy, it was a constant struggle, and it felt like the pack hierarchy was firmly set. Derek may have made some really dumb choices along the way, but when he was alpha, it felt like he was really in charge (until Boyd and Erica dipped). It was a little darker, alphas could actually force betas to do stuff through “pack bonds”, for lack of a better term, and it would’ve been really cool to see how they navigated that, especially since despite that, the show had a much lighter tone.

Like I would’ve loved to see Scott constantly fighting against that control over his betas. He’s not a controlling kind of person, he hates authority figures telling him what to do, and after having Peter fuck with him, it seems like he would be really strongly against doing that to anyone else. But does the alpha status and power come with the impulse to use them? Was Peter acting on instinct while he healed? Could Scott have used that control to help Liam with his anger issues, and if he could, would that even be ethical?

As the show went on, it seemed like the werewolf part of it got really watered down and like you said, they seemed to forget they were werewolves. Control wasn’t really an issue, being alpha seemed more like a rank than a…physiological status? It was like Scott got promoted and he was the new commander of his troops. Except instead of a commander, it was more like a group of friends standing around saying, “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” There were no impulses, no wolfy instincts…Liam went streaking once, but that was about it.

Pack territories are always interesting in fics, the scope of power of an alpha beyond being a little stronger… At the end of the show it seemed like a human alpha was totally possible; it was more about character, whereas at the beginning that would’ve been impossible. A little more of the pack structure would’ve been nice, more of the politics, actually showing more of the werewolf culture that must’ve developed…

Though honestly, I’m kind of glad they drew a pretty firm line between their werewolves and how wolves actually act. The few times Scott and Derek run on all fours make me cringe so hard I have to look away. It’s just so bad.

I also wish TW had more jokey kind of aspects of werewolfdom that are based on wolves/dogs. Like in BWOC, when they were about to part for college, Merton packed Tommy’s heartworm medication for him. He eats insane amounts of chicken on the full moon. I’d have to rewatch, but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of shedding jokes. All of these things are totally in character for Scott and Stiles of the first two seasons. Maybe less so later when the show got all serious and dumb and people got murdered everywhere.

Anyway. 

I know like nothing about werewolf lore outside of ridiculous shows, so I’m the worst person to ask, and also I really love this show from 1999.

[nevospitanniy]

Rambly Teen Wolf/Big Wolf On Campus meta

Preface this by saying I didn’t expect to actually get into TW. This show kicked me in the teeth, balls and every organ I do and do not possess. If I’m going to be any degree of helpful, I need some structure up in here. Fair warning, it’s just like my opinion man.

1. Characters

Tommy is Scott. A werewolf with a heart of gold that cares deeply about people around him. It’s explored much more in depth with TW, duh - they had more seasons, more money and a higher age rating, using more drama and angst. But the outline is definitely there: they are both introduced to the fantastic world of lycanthropy by their extremely knowledgeable and helpful buddies (Merton/Stiles respectively), can be shitty to their best friends (Tommy throwing Merton under the bus to save his popularity/Scott abandoning Stiles for Allison multiple times), take on the role of the designated savior of the town from supernatural threats, prefer non-lethal methods, are Alphas (Tommy’s status could be contested, I guess, but the show never put an actual emphasis on pack dynamics, probably they thought it was too odd of a concept to start explaining because then you have to get to the whole omega part and that is c o m p l i c a t e d), fight organized evil!werewolves, had two main love interests, none of which held up (yeah, weaksauce, but I thought I’d still put it out there), kinda subpar in academics but good athletes. Scott gets so much more actual character development it’s not even funny, while Tommy just sort of meanders in what he has and gets dumbed down a lot for seasons 2/3.

Merton is Stiles, no shit. A nerd best friend, a friend in need more importantly, a loyal (mostly) spastic (very) companion. Dynamic between sciles and tommerton (platonically) is quite different because of how their backstories differ - after all, Scott and Stiles have known each other since forever, while Tommy pays attention to Merton only after being bitten, when they become friends almost out of necessity. But there is no denying that all four of them, in their respective duos, are joined at the hip, oftentimes with an inclusion of a girl to break up their awesome bromance (Allison/Lori and Stacy). Merton/Stiles go unappreciated for their efforts a lot, especially if you consider they are human and yet get into the same exact shit as fast and durable werewolves, surviving by wits, last ditch effort loyalty change (Merton) or a fear override (Stiles) and saving the day half of the time because they actually do research. Both seem to have a penchant for magic (unsubtly implied but never expanded upon for Stiles), both are comedic reliefs, even if in slightly different ways as commanded by the genre, both are excellent students, both are mostly unsuccessful with women and ambiguously bi/pan/omni, if you consider the technically non-human options. Complicated family relationships. Both have abandonment/commitment issues, both room (jury is still out there for sciles because of 6b) with their best friends in college. As for notable differences, Stiles undergoes a massive character transformation, a monumental shift, I’d say - not exactly doing a 180, but inching closer than any other character to actual plot relevant growth, and not for better, which is a rarity. Merton’s personality also changes for the worse, but it’s a result of clumsy writing and forced female presence in the shows plot as a romantic crutch. It would be interesting if fan meta on Merton’s less ehh flattering moments was expanded upon and explained in the series; what I wouldn’t give for an actual quality heart to heart between Tommy and Merton Ike every show nowadays seems to have in abundance, where they call each other out on their issues.

Women are more complicated. There are no exact parallels, barring the very basic archetypes, which would do no justice to any of the four, namely Allison and Lydia for TW and Lori and Stacy for BWOC. But yes, Allison is close to Lori - a fighter, someone who can take it and dish it out. Problem with Lydia/Stacy comparison is that it breaks down as soon as Lydia gets a sliver of character development, because at first, her queen bee status definitely resonated with Stacy, but while she was put on a bus without any real involvement in the show’s plot, Lydia becomes downright plot essential.

2. Writing

BWOC had an incredible season 1, with select episodes of season 2 being very good and, well, we don’t talk about season 3. Point being, even with the constraints of a cheap Canadian show for kids it managed some genuine brilliance, I’m sure in a big way thanks to the chemistry between cast members (specifically the two of consequence). Monster Of The Week format certainly seemed to work well for them, and I will forever mourn the loss of all the potential arcs and plot twists that never saw the light of day. TW had the privilege of, despite a mediocre display in season 1, becoming popular enough to spawn 5 more seasons, and I think they definitely had very strong moments, most of them carried on the back of Dylan O'Brien, like void!Stiles, relationship between him and his dad, and yes, his relationship with Derek, which turned out to be largely inconsequential to the plot (writers queerbaited the f u c k out of its audience and then just did nothing of worth with the pairing, BUT THATS HARDLY RELEVANT). I don’t know whether Peter Knight is just that good or the innocent nature of BWOC lends itself to less complicated plots and finished stories, but most BW episodes were microcosms, closed systems that had little bearing on any overarching storylines. They provided closure, well-defined villains and good guys, which is a very appealing quality, if a touch simplistic. I admit, I would’ve liked to see something with more “depth” and conflict, but the restrictions of the channel/network/rating are nothing to sneeze at. TW on the other hand ties almost every episode into another, weaving a continuous storyline. Personally, I think they should’ve done more one off episodes to break up the monotony of waiting for action set pieces. You need some hella witty dialogue to keep people watching while fuck all is happening and they sort of failed at that (again, Stiles carried most of the comedy). Almost everyone in BWOC is uniquely likable; TW has a much bigger cast so they definitely had ups and down as far as character writing was concerned.

Main problem with this whole disjointed comparison is how you can’t compare things that aren’t on the same level. It’s not a dig at quality or anything, but TW had 6 seasons and a huge budget, while BW barely got 3. TW and BWOC kinda started in a similar vein, but boy do they differ. That being said, I have an inkling that BW may have ended up looking a lot like TW in different circumstances - if it was made at a later date, on another channel, with a different rating/audience in mind. But then again, a lot of good things BW is liked for are a direct result of these aforementioned “hurdles” - all the double entendres would never fly for a tv-14 rated show, its generally cheerful and uplifting tone was probably required by the network and being a child of the 90s it carried a lot of charm that would be borderline impossible to fabricate now if they wanted to keep the ~aesthetic. So I can only compare real TW with hypothetical BWOC that got a bigger budget and more screentime. But doing that makes NO SENSE, so imma just finish with some general thoughts about the direction show might’ve gone.

I genuinely think that in different circumstances, Merton could’ve had a wonderfully dark character development. He’s a non-violent character, but does have this morbid curiosity that could’ve put him eventually in a position to cause grievous bodily harm to someone. He seems to get off on power play (both having power over someone and surrendering it), and that’s a slippery slope for an emotionally tender and damaged character. Tommy is his rock in a number of ways, his human connection outlet, a more teen oriented show would, of course, use his ‘scars’ to carry the narrative of overcoming tragedy. Merton does the same for Tommy, being his emotional support, because how liberating it must be to not hide his werewolf side and he could do it literally with 1 (one) person before Lori came into focus. Queerbait aside, their relationship was great, a deep involved friendship, and with Tommy being so resistant to evilness and Merton being so easily corruptible, they could’ve played off this contrast in a way more interesting than what we saw in s3.  

I also would’ve loved to see some female characters that aren’t barely two-dimensional; Stacy was, in one word, confused - we know very little of her actual personality, aside from her feminism rhetoric and an allergy to committed relationships. Lori was ‘the action girl’, and she got a slightly bigger piece of pie, but still not nearly enough. Fuck, I don’t even know if the show passes a Bechdel test. TW showed us actual fleshed out female friendships that weren’t toxic or competitive, would’ve been nice to see something of the sort in BWOC.