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onlycreatedtowriteoneessay · 1 year

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The Hypocritical Nature of Fandom Shipping

Pairings we should be concerned with in Teen Wolf

Please read this as I feel I have made some relatively important points

Disclaimer:

This is about the concerning age gaps and what people focus on, this is mostly regarding people who are Anti-Sterek.

This is primarily on AO3 because I couldn't be bothered to go on any other website when it is the prominent one people use.

I have made a separate blog in order to keep those who may send me hateful DMs and I don’t exactly want what could be hate mail in my personal DMs because I am arguably a fragile person, and I will absorb the hate until I need to seek a therapist.

I also come from England, where the age of consent laws differs from the State of California, in which it is legal for 16-year-olds to date anyone over 18, so long as they are not in a position of responsibility/authority – like a teacher or an officer[1].

I would also like to point out that I am not against any ship except ones with particular elements I am completely against, such as people who ship blood-related family members (Wincest) or age gaps larger than ten years. However I won't go after people for shipping them, I would block that content so I don't come across it.

If you are curious about the ships that are found in Teen Wolf you are free to follow this link to all the known pairings (platonic and romantic)[2]

EDIT - 14th April '23

I can't reply to comments as this is a side blog so

I realise I didn't talk about the predator and abuse of Isaac aspect, but that wasn't really the focus, I wrote this based on what I have seen on tumblr and twitter and even TikTok(?) and the only thing that really gets brought up is the age and how people who ship these fictional characters are "delusional", but thank you for adding to the discussion!!

Fanfiction is a transformative world. There are endless fandoms and pairings to write about such as those that focus on Formula 1[1] and Real Person Fics (RPFs)[2].

I hope to give a reasoned analysis on the pairings of Teen Wolf and the issues that I am aware of following the release of Teen Wolf: The Movie in January 2023.

This essay will focus on the hypocritical nature of shipping fictional characters with age gaps in Teen Wolf but will have a small comparison to other popular media. There will not be a heavy focus on age but rather than size of the gaps of these fictional characters.

TEEN WOLF'S ORIGINS AND AO3

Teen Wolf[1] originated in 1985s with Michael J. Fox starring as Scott Howard; the original production greenlit two sequels[2] leading MTV to adapt a modern version produced by Jeff Davis in 2011[3]. Teen Wolf has been met with a positive audience in the years of production with favourite seasons including season 3B and Season 5. The show continues to exhibit overwhelming popularity as the years go by as people rewatch it for nostalgia or because they wish to return to comfort episodes.

As with anything that exists, there are people who wish for their favourite characters to have an extended story or they do not agree with what the writers have decided is their fate, such as character death (Derek Hale in Teen Wolf: The Movie). Due to the disagreement viewers have with how their favourites end up, they will turn to fanfiction websites, specifically, in this decade, Archive Of Our Own (AO3)[4].

The AO3 tagging system is a complex aspect of the website but can be understood when the time is taken for people to find suitable fics relatively easily (when the fanfics are tagged properly of course). Tags often include spoilers regarding what is contained in the fanfic, typically “watersports”[5], “dub-con”/”dubious consent”[6], and “misunderstandings”[7]; but the tags could also include the author ‘talking’ to the reader which could include “no beta we die like [character]”[8].

THE STEREK SHIP AND THE POTENTIAL ISSUES

The Teen Wolf fandom contains popular ships such as, Sterek[1], Stydia[2], Stalia[3], Scallision[4], Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken[5], Berica[6], just to name a few. A lot of pairings include Stiles Stilinski, most likely because Dylan O’Brien’s performance allows Stiles to have a chemistry with anyone he comes into contact with.

The pairing that contains the most fanfics is of course, Sterek; at the time of writing, Sterek contains 70,770 works which according to the last page of the date posted sort by began 26 June 2011[7]. Due to the popularity of the pairing, there is of course an exceptional amount of hate that comes with it, a lot of this hate can simply be found on Tumblr, known as Anti-Sterek(s)[8].

The chief problem that people who consider themselves to be Anti-Sterek have with the pairing is the age gap, Derek Hale is meant to be older than the rest of the main characters, however, it is unknown exactly how old he is meant to be due to the constant changing of his age (shown in the pilot screening presentation script where he was written to be nineteen[9]), but based on the events of that took place before the pilot episode, and for the purposes of this essay, it can be assumed he is around twenty-one to twenty-two at the beginning of the show[10].

Stiles Stilinski has obviously been written to be over sixteen years old, as he holds a valid licence. However, again, it is almost unknown when he turns seventeen due to the discrepancy in the timeline of events and almost contradictory statements made by the Teen Wolf calendar and the Teen Wolf Facebook page[11]; but it can be assumed Stiles turns seventeen during the events of Season 3 (3A and 3B). For the purposes of the writing, it can be assumed Stiles is sixteen during the pilot episode.

I am aware that shipping a sixteen-year-old with someone who is supposed to be (at the maximum) twenty-two is a large problem, however, if you consider reality, there are a lot of people who actively seek out relationships with people who are significantly older than them. When you contemplate actuality there are celebrities who have yet to face repercussions for dating people who are remarkably younger than them; Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sam Taylor-Johnson.

A factor that could be the reason that Sterek is scrutinized is due to the relationship that Kate Argent pursued with Derek when he was fifteen to sixteen. There is a lot of discourse on Tumblr and Twitter and even TikTok comments where fans equate the Sterek ship with that of what Kate did to Derek.

It is reasonable for viewers to abhor the relationship when based on these facts but, it should be remembered that a lot of fanfics involve alternative universes such as those of High School, and College where a lot of characters are specifically written to be the same age. I am not removing the reasoning behind the dislike of Sterek, I just want those who will take the time to read this analysis to realise that there are hypocritical aspects of shipping.

THE OTHER POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC SHIPS OF TEEN WOLF

It cannot be ignored that Sterek is not the only ship that has an age gap, there are viewers of the show who enjoy reading fanfics involving Steter (Peter Hale x Stiles Stilinski)[1]; this ship is also a problematic pairing due to the even larger age gap than that of Sterek’s, and this pairing on AO3 is considered to be the second most popular Teen Wolf ship with (at the time of writing) 10,766 works[2].

If you were to venture onto Tumblr and searched for the Anti-Steter[3] tag you would find less posts than the Anti-Sterek tag, and less frequent postings in general. Based on this, it would appear that there is more hate for Derek than Peter.

Another ship pairing that is more concerning, if fans of the show dislike large age gaps exceeding ten years, would be (Chris Argent x Stiles Stilinski) of which 866 fics are found on AO3[4], this is less than other ships but of course, still an interesting number of fics that have spanned 2012-2023.

The more popular ship containing Stiles and Chris is Stetopher which is a polyamorous ship that also comprises Peter. The works on AO3 are few in number, with only 739 published at the time of writing, these fics began being uploaded in September 2012[5].

This ship should again be scrutinised far more than that of Sterek because of the even larger age gap that exists. As aforementioned, it appears that Derek is greatly disliked due to the awareness of the Sterek ship.

Another ship that fans should be aware of is the Melissa McCall x Stiles Stilinski ship, of which there are 45 works on AO3, starting from November 2012 to 2023[6].

This ship is feasibly far more concerning considering Melissa is Stiles’ best friends’ mother, and undoubtedly this is the most unsettling pairing of all as Melissa would have watched Stiles grow up, and this would therefore be considered grooming.

In sum, the ships involving, Peter Hale, Chris Argent, and Melissa McCall should give rise to far more concern than that of Sterek. Again, this could mean that Derek’s character is far more hated, either because of Derek himself being written as something of an enemy in the first few seasons of the show airing, or because it’s easier to target pairings that are more popular than the other.

OTHER PAIRINGS THAT HAVE LARGE AGE GAPS BUT RECEIVE ALMOST NO HATE

The Vampire Diaries is also a popular show that aired from 2009 until 2017. The premise of the show is a seventeen-year-old Elena Gilbert falls in love with a one-hundred-and sixty-three-year-old. It is common lore that a vampire stops aging once they are turned, however, if people are concerned with age gaps of characters then there should be far more concern over the beloved shows.

Let’s not forget that popular fantasy books, such as that of A Court of Thorns and Roses and the Throne of Glass book series, also contain exceedingly large age gaps, it should not matter how old the characters are when they first meet, it should instead be about how many years apart they actually are. Yet, there is almost no hate found online regarding this aspect. When you compare this notion with that of Teen Wolf’s, there is a hypothetical question that could be raised, is the reason that Sterek is so hated down to it being popular, or is it because it is M/M pairing?

If an age gap is larger than ten years, that is when you should be concerned. I am not really concerned with age gaps in fiction being less than ten years, because it is fictional and I like the dynamic the pairing has, it is very rare that I read fanfics for any media but when I do, it is because I want more from these characters. If people in reality (where it is openly illegal to do so) are in relationships with large age gaps with someone underage, that is when you should troubled.

CONCLUSION

Teen Wolf is a popular show that generates a lot of discourse in the online community, it is probable that there is a heavy hypocritical nature to the pairings that people find. If people were truly concerned with age gaps exceeding two years, they would have more hatred for other ships in the show such as Marrish (Lydia x Parrish); however, it appears that Sterek is hated more due to how popular it is and could also be because Derek was written as a villain, especially in Season 2.

FURTHER POINTS

As stated in the disclaimer, I come from England and I write this with a different attitude, I am aware that the age of consent is eighteen in California, and it is illegal for anyone to leave the state with someone with the intention of having sexual relations. However, Teen Wolf is not real, and if you are getting exceedingly defensive and antagonistic around characters that other people ship and proceed to write long hateful messages to people anonymously on Tumblr to Sterek blogs and those who tag Anti-Sterek with claims that shipping Derek with Stiles is "pedophilic" in fact shows up the Sterek tag.

I expect that I could get hate for this, but I am not defending Sterek, I just hope I pointed out a few problems that I have found, I attempted to do extensive research, but I admit I would get more annoyed about the hypocrisy that I would have found.

I am not against people shipping whatever they want (look at the House of Dragons show) but I personally will not seek out ships that I don’t like and I don’t write hate because what’s the point? It’s not like it’s going to change anything, people enjoy what they enjoy. If you personally attack someone for who they ship, you are a terrible person. If you don’t like something, just block it so you don’t ever see it!!! IT IS THAT SIMPLE!!!

SOURCES

INTRODUCTION

[1] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Formula%201%20RPF/works

[2] https://archiveofourown.org/media/Celebrities%20*a*%20Real%20People/fandoms

TEEN WOLF'S ORIGINS AND AO3

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090142/

[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272412/;https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094118/

[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567432/

[4] https://archiveofourown.org/

[5] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Watersports/works

[6] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Dubious%20Consent/works

[7] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Misunderstandings/works

[8] https://archiveofourown.org/works/search?work_search%5Bquery%5D=no+beta+we+die+like

THE STEREK SHIP AND THE POTENTIAL ISSUES

[1] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=264659&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[2] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=301210&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[3] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Stiles+Stilinski%2FMalia+Tate&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[4] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=280222&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[5] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Liam+Dunbar%2FTheo+Raeken&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[6] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=280222&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[7] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Teen%20Wolf%20(TV)/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=264659&page=3539&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=

[8] https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/anti%20sterek?sort=recent

[9] http://www.zen134237.zen.co.uk/Teen_Wolf_1x01_-_Pilot.pdf p. 17

[10] https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/a42596259/teen-wolf-the-movie-cast-ages/

[11] https://www.tumblr.com/cupidsbower/112807545186/how-old-are-the-other-characters-then-stiles

[12] https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tDP1TdIKctNMWD0EsxJzc9LLErJV0jJTE4sKMrMBwCL2QoE&q=leonardo+dicaprio&oq=leona&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j46i433i512j46i131i199i340i433i465i512j46i131i340i433i512l2j0i20i263i512j0i433i512j69i60.2189j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[13] https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=APwXEddzeFoS5DHyEmaO4XJhSdWXbqHpqQ:1681421852321&q=Sam+Taylor-Johnson&si=AMnBZoEofOODruSEFWFjdccePwMH96ZlZt3bOiKSR9t4pqlu2IBZAUCsyQgyLwj0MoQ908Yd_5yfBFTQnKmrTdOBY_oGZMx_iDGadZ7BTbaX1BRN2xJ09_hJbT1ar31kHk-6dwqLOBGvzEIYoQZLvnmd_LzjzLjljhUzrWuM6alU8XkV8NtcXQ5mteAHnosD10Mit8AZSn-qBTOut8iiP9hjTojm_q-T_A%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiInubB6Kf-AhWabcAKHSraDxQQmxMoAHoECB8QAg&biw=803&bih=690&dpr=2

THE OTHER POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC SHIPS OF TEEN WOLF

[1] https://archiveofourown.org/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=297569&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&tag_id=Teen+Wolf+%28TV%29

[2] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Teen%20Wolf%20(TV)/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=297569&page=539&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=

[3] https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/anti%20steter?sort=recent

[4] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Teen%20Wolf%20(TV)/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&page=44&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Chris+Argent%2FStiles+Stilinski&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=

[5] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Chris%20Argent*s*Peter%20Hale*s*Stiles%20Stilinski/works?page=37

[6] https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Teen%20Wolf%20(TV)/works?commit=Sort+and+Filter&page=3&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Melissa+McCall%2FStiles+Stilinski&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=created_at&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=

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