But How Are We Supposed To Feel Bad About Baby Meow Meow Theo If We Don't Ignore His Horrendous Actions?

But how are we supposed to feel bad about baby meow meow Theo if we don't ignore his horrendous actions?

On Wasted Potential

(The return of the early morning meta post before work.)

It’s been hard to put into words what is so odd about fandom’s reaction to Stiles and Scott and the concept of being a werewolf in Teen Wolf, but a recent comment I saw mentioned something that maybe puts things into better perspective.

The comment boiled down to the idea that being a werewolf and having powers was wasted on Scott. I don’t recall having seen comments like that before, but it makes sense if people are looking at it in that way. He’s wasting his powers, he’s not using them to their full potential and therefore he’s not a good werewolf.

The thing that clicked for me with that comment is that people are treating Scott’s werewolf powers the same way Stiles did in early Season 1: with excitement, like it’s something cool that should be used always to solve every problem, including using it to murder people (but only the Right people, of course).

That in itself isn’t too weird to me: we see the same kind of suspension of disbelief in all sorts of media, especially those involving kids or teenagers. If you give a kid a sword in order to go on a question (Percy Jackson, for example), it’s not a bad thing, it’s part of the story. You obviously wouldn’t give an actual 11-year old a weapon, because they could hurt themselves or someone else, but for the sake of the story? Hell yeah, go around waving that thing, no problem.

Teenager has superpowers that could very easily be used to do bad things if so inclined? Yeah, that sounds about right, as long as an adult figure reminds them that they need to be responsible with their newfound abilities. (Uncle Ben’s only line in any Spiderman project comes to mind, obviously.) There is a lack of weight behind the statement, though, until something bad happens and our teenage hero realizes they have a real responsibility to be good or save lives or whatever, but the real consequences of those powers are never really touched on unless it’s a specific plot beat.

Teen Wolf doesn’t do that. 

From the very beginning, the bite is framed like a horror movie. A kid is attacked in the woods in the middle of the night by a monster and he’s left to walk home alone in the dark. He tells his best friend about it the next day and the very real, very terrifying attack is treated like a joke. (And in his defense, Stiles didn’t know, so I don’t actually hold it against him too much at this point.)

He starts experiencing weird changes in his body, hearing and seeing things he’s not used to, and while some are benefits – no asthma is a plus – he’s clearly shown to be unnerved by it. He snaps at Jackson and spills almost everything because he’s scared, and that’s completely reasonable. Scott doesn’t get a cool little montage set to catchy music where he gets to practice his Cool New Abilities in his room while his mom calls out from another room asking if he’s okay. He’s immediately thrust into a situation where he is being manipulated by the Alpha, thrust into a world he doesn’t fully understand, and is intimidated and threatened by the only other werewolf around.

Derek calls the bite a gift, and I partially blame that scene for fandom’s idea of it, but you wouldn’t have to change much to make Scott’s werewolf origins into a full-blown horror series. He’s been given a weapon he can’t control, that he knows he needs to control, while there’s an active threat of death and violence hanging over his head. The Sheriff gets injured peripherally to what’s happening to him, and Stiles loses it and hurts him because in his teenage brain that’s all he can do, and fandom thinks Scott’s in the wrong? He’s living a nightmare and all people can focus on is the fact that he’s not following the trope, so obviously having these powers is wasted on him.

Even in later seasons, fandom holds Scott’s reluctance to embrace his powers to the fullest against him. He doesn’t want to be a killing machine, he never wanted the powers in the first place, and even if he had been asked I don’t think Scott would have agreed. He was fine being normal, and all he’s gotten since the bite is death and violence and threats against the people he loves. Peter gave a teenager a gun and set people after him, and fandom is angry that the teenager isn’t going full John Wick on his enemies so it’s a waste.

Teen Wolf’s writing isn’t always the best, but it does a good job of flipping tropes around and exploring interesting concepts. Scott’s story isn’t a hero origin story: it’s a horror story where the victim becomes a hero in the end without losing his humanity. And fandom hates the idea of it, because fandom has been conditioned to believe a hero is only ever good if they embrace violence to the fullest.

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A gif for Mermay!

"As a person who hasn't watched this piece of media, let me give you a 10 page essay on why this film sucks ass."

Scott should have been the one to sacrifice himself!

God... Reddit is the gift that keeps on giving.

I cropped it because this person rambled.

So, right from the word go, this person admits that they both never watched the movie AND that they dislike Scott. Why would anyone think they have ulterior motives for saying that Derek should have lived instead of Scott? They're totally not racist, just ask them.

In all honesty, this isn't even remotely surprising at this point. We all know that there is a significant portion of the fandom dedicated to hating Scott McCall for just existing, but in the same breath, it is a little tiresome. This person is upset that Derek died (fair) and that Eli went to Scott "like a prize" despite them barely knowing each other. But by that same logic, why would Scott give up his life for someone he barely knows instead of the boy's actual father?

The elephant in the room obviously being that Scott did try to sacrifice himself until Derek moved him out of the way. But, of course, that was in the movie, and this person admits from the very first sentence that they didn't watch the movie.

What I find the most amusing about this whole experience (the aftermath of the movie) is that Derek's death was probably Tyler Hoechlin's idea, so he wouldn't have to reprise the character anymore.

sketchy sketch i dont like this inker onto a new brush

AU where the McCall pack run a popular vlog about their supernatural exploits and normal lives, and after a close brush with death against the sword wielding Oni, viewers keep asking Kira to train her girlfriend Allison.