This is a podcast I thought we’d get to way down the line but with some pretty big developments and recent events we decided to finally tackle something big, Sterek. In this minisode, Micah and I try to put aside the seemingly vicious discourse and have a measured and thoughtful conversation regarding Sterek as a ship, the viability of it happening on the show, and take a good hard look at the various sides of the fandom reactions to the possibility of Sterek. This is not mean to serve as the end all be all for the conversation surrounding Sterek but we hope it will serve as a jumping off point to maybe a more social conscious conversation using a critical eye.
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Further Reading Material
-Hypable Article: http://www.hypable.com/2013/06/29/teen-wolf-takeover-why-sterek-should-and-should-not-become-canon/
-Suaine’s Question in the Q&A: http://teenwolf.tumblr.com/post/54308177952/dear-jeff-i-was-really-terribly-hurt-by-the-way-derek
-My thoughts on the Ms Blake/Derek Relationship so far:
http://lenoirauteur.tumblr.com/post/53926125594/emerald-orbs-is-not-an-insult-anonymous-asked-you
http://lenoirauteur.tumblr.com/post/53280084449/some-thoughts-on-derek-love-interests-sterek
That was really interesting. I think for me I see Derek and Stiles as this push/pull pairing. They push each other’s buttons and I could see one insult, one joke going too far and they either make out or murder the other 😉
I would love for Jeff to say whether it will happen or not but at the same time there is that risk of losing fans whatever the answer is. For me Doomed (who came up with that lol?) is nothing new, how many times have we seen pairings like this on our TV screen? I have no problem with people liking it but one of the reasons I adore TW is because they aren’t afraid to try something different, to push the boundaries. I’m still hoping there is more to Jennifer Blake but I can’t buy into the pairing. Every meeting between her and Derek is just a huge ball of cliché. It’s like there is a huge flashing sign in their scenes saying ‘Ship Us’.
If they ever decide to go down the Sterek path I do see it opening more doors for other TV shows and pairings. Could you imagine the twitter/tumblr explosion lol? I like other pairings, I was a big fan of Lydia and Jackson and I love Scott and Allison but scenes with Stiles and Derek are the ones that always leave me wanting more.
The actors really do have this unique chemistry.They are great when doing comedy scenes but at the same time could you imagine if these two ever had a real shouting match? These two actors are heart breaking when doing dramatic scenes and putting them together for one would just be intense. There are so paths they could explore with this pairing (thank god for fanfiction) and many hurdles that would come with it but I want to see them struggle, the fight for it on my screen. I’m very much enjoying that element from Scott and Allison this season, of wanting to be together but having many problems stopping them.
This whole season is a bit crazy (or a lot) and I honestly think people should wait and see how it plays out.
Thank you for doing this, was great hearing different opinions and I had a bit of a laugh at Derek being a lady’s man.
Hey there, its SammiChaos from twitter. I decided to leave a comment here rather than message it on twitter.
I absolutely love your comparison of Sterek to Castle and Beckett. I am an avid fan of Castle and I can completely see the parallels in the chemistry and the characterization. The seemingly antagonistic characters that eventually fall for each other.
The quote from this episode that really got to me was “I never realized there was a quota” in response to the hypable article. It’s 100% true. The reality of this world is that there is no quota of gay characters on Teen Wolf. You can realistically watch this show and say oh there’s one gay couple or character, thats enough. It’s not plausible. This is the type of show to have more than one gay couple whether two men or two women.
Now I genuinely like Blake on the show. Her entrance was cool, and she had the capability of becoming a very cool character. What I didn’t want was for her to become a vehicle for a Derek romance. If they really wanted the audience to ship Doomed, they could’ve used the first six episodes, or even the first twelve episodes building Blake a backstory, made me care about her, and instead they forced chemistry that was barely there to begin with between Derek and Blake, and literally every scene she has been in since has been a way to get her and Derek together. Now I am all for Derek being happy but both characters deserved more than a forced relationship like the one being portrayed on teen wolf right now.
I just wish they weren’t writing Derek so completely out of character at the moment.
A few points you guys touched on that were just spot on were when you guys were saying how you don’t understand how people can instantly ship Derek and Blake after a 30 second moment with sweeping music but after two seasons, they can’t ship Sterek or even see where the Sterek shippers are coming from, and the other point is how amazing the thing about fanfiction is. Fanfiction is something that will always fuel fans even if Blake and Derek marry and have three kids.
And with Jeff basically saying that if you didn’t like what was happening on the show, you shouldn’t watch it, which is foolish to say the least, I honestly am just glad that he doesn’t make Sterek canon to raise ratings.
Also, to speak just freely on the subject of Sterek which is something I don’t get to do often, one of the most amazing things about Sterek is the chemistry. We see chemistry between other ships such as Scisaac and we saw passion between Jackson and Lydia. However, in this amazing world empty of homophobia, a passionate gay relationship is possible. Now Dethan would fucking awesome, if we saw them interact more before they apparently jump into bed next episode (which don’t get me wrong, I’m totally for it). It’s just this world, this TV show, and this whole story deserves to have a strong, chemistry riddled, passionate gay relationship rather than the run of the mill heteronormative bullshit we’re seeing with Blake and Derek. If they’re not gonna make Sterek canon, which as much as I ship it and see how much it would be amazing for the story and would add such a new dynamic, then they should at least entertain the idea of Scisaac or at least maybe showing Dethan interacting more than 45 seconds and not Ethan beat up and Danny comforting him and them not having sex.
This podcast is awesome. It’s open and honest, and you can tell you guys really care about the show! Keep up the good work and sorry for the absurdly long comment!
Well I don’t think Sterek should happen, because he mistreated Stiles on multiple occasions, he beat him, he is obviously annoyed with him, Stiles is afraid of him and says so on multiple occasions. Like I don’t understand how this would be healthy.
Btw. I also feel like the ‘LGBT’ representation angle is just that an ‘angle’. If you want more representation say so. That doesn’t mean a concrete pairing. Maybe Dethan should be bigger. Maybe another character should be LGBT (like we don’t know Isaac’s, Boyd’s, Deaton’s etc. characters).
A lot of Sterek depends on complete woobyfication of especially Derek and to a lesser degree Stiles (who is often mistaken for being like Scott, Scott’s the nice one, Stiles not so much), if you look at him as he is eeeeeh a shitty alpha tbh.
I do not ship either Dennifer (because I am mad that she is until now treated as a plot device ‘the love interest’, and I fear that she’ll be fridged or villified) nor Sterek (that I believe to be a crackship tbh.)
Also there’s from a lot of fangirls a clear fetishising thing going on tbh.
Well if the fans are being reaaaallyy entitled than somebody might at some point tell them to stfu in the nicest way he can. And yeah Sterek does not HAVE to happen and it won’t happen, because it actually does not fit the story. (and if you want my personal theory, he is now introducing a female character to shush it a little and he probably is going to kill her or villify her to appease the Sterek shippers, like honestly I believe that is what the whole shipping will lead to: a supernatural like dynamic where no female character can stay to appease the shippers, but also they’ll never get together, because if you look at the actual canon (not fanon) it’s not sensible)
Thanks for your comments Maria! The latter part of this statement is very interesting. i would hate to see Teen Wolf go down the road where every female love interest is removed to appease the shippers. I don’t think that’s what’s happening with MS Blake but it could.
I agree with you that Sterek won’t happen, but I think that fans have a right to feel entitled since it’s their hours of tv watching, fan fiction making and tumblr posting that keep this show afloat. The problem is that Jeff and the writers should just tell their story rather than as you put it “tell them to stfu in the nicest way” That creates a problematic dynamic that I personally don’t feel the show could come back from. I know plenty of Sterek shippers who would be fine if the show doesn’t go all the way with them, but the writers don’t need to throw forced relationships (and this Ms Blake thing is one) to get people to quiet down. In fact that prob made it worse lol