Nan. 27. Welsh-Canadian. I like to write sometimes. I also like to post a lot of porn and food. Often simultaneously.
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I’ve been trying to formulate my reaction both within the story to Derek/Ms Blake and how fandom has responded to it, and it’s all kind of messy in my head, but I’m going to put it out there because maybe other people are feeling the same. What I’m NOT doing is saying this is the only/right way to feel. It’s how I personally feel. I am not attacking anyone’s opinion, but I am not going to soft shoe it either and be supportive of things I don’t understand/agree with - especially when I feel it’s damaging in some way. I am coming at this from the perspective of a Sterek shipper, and I don’t consider that a caveat at all, but rather a starting point.
1) Within the show itself:
I think these two posts by Suaine and Qhuinn have some very valid points about HOW the start of Derek and Ms Blake’s romance begins. It’s very cliche, much more so even than Scott overhearing Allison’s phonecall and immediately fixating on her. That was designed to fit within the concept of werewolves, anchors, etc. What Davis did with Derek and Ms Blake was straight up create a romantic relationship out of cheesy music and a hand stretched out in help. More problematic is the fact that they used the heteronormative expectations of viewers to create the romantic relationship in viewer minds without ever having them speak a word to each other. This is problematic in two-fold ways. First, it is based not on character chemistry or flirty interactions but on heteronormative romantic tropes - it’s purely designed to create a sense of romance with zero buildup/work. It’s like shipping a couple from the cover of a romance novel, without bothering to read the actual book. We all know Derek, but we don’t know Ms Blake and it’s a disservice to her character to have their romance start via cliches and not character moments. The second reason that it is so problematic is that they did this in the season after they discovered the popularity of Sterek, a fanon romantic relationship built of on many more scenes/chemistry, etc than Derek and Ms Blake were given. Yet Davis decided to straight up use heteronormative tropes and audience conditioning to show a het romance happening. Knowing how much more effort has to be made for non-Sterek fans see a romantic relationship between Stiles&Derek because of those same heteronormative assumptions - despite certain similarities between this scene in 3x03 to Derek saving Stiles in 2x02 - Davis went with the easy, heteronormative cliche route to show the start to Derek and Ms Blake’s romance. It bugs me, because it feels like Davis decided it was just easier to write a het romance and see how fans react, then to go for the harder writing of a Sterek slowburn because it bucks the assumptions of the non-shipping audience.
Now, while I find the start to their romance extremely forced, it’s possible that in the next few eps they will have more scenes together that show their chemistry/makes it more romantic. It was a bad start, but it could get better. And I personally am not opposed to Derek (or Stiles) having a relationship with someone else so long as it’s transitory. And given Jeff Davis has a bedside book titled “How to Torment Derek Hale” it would be probably the most shocking thing the show has ever done if their relationship works out. So while it’s off to an inauspicious start, and while I’m unhappy with Davis’ choice to do it at all, I’m not going to assume I’ll hate it. I won’t ship it, but we’ll see how the season goes.
2) How fandom reacts:
So, I really don’t like when slash fans respond to a love interest by hating on the character purely for being a woman and love interest. I think we’ve all seen the cardboard cutouts for characters many shows call love interests and are duly nervous - but insulting her purely for her gender is out of line.
On the other hand, I really don’t like when Sterek fans fall over themselves to show support for Derek/Ms Blake, either out of some misguided sense of fairness/not wanting to seem like a crazy shipper or because they truly like it. Here’s where things get dicy and I’m not saying people should do this or that, my way is right, whatever. I’m explaining my personal feeling. You know why I don’t like it when Sterek fans support Derek/Ms Blake? I feel like Davis is testing our resolve, seeing if he can convince people that Derek/someone else or Stiles/someone else is an acceptable substitute for Sterek, which would be harder for him to write. I feel like every time a Sterek shipper ships Derek/Ms Blake after seeing only the cliche romantic trope of their meeting, the probability of Sterek going canon decreases a little because it’s telling Davis that it’s ok to substitute an easier het romance for a m/m romance between two not immediately identified as gay characters. So honestly, every time I see a name on my dashboard who I know ships Sterek saying they also love Derek/Ms Blake I flinch a lot. I’m not invalidating anyone’s right to feel that way, I’m explaining how I feel when I see it, which is a different thing.
So, my take away is not that Derek/Ms Blake is a threat to Sterek because I doubt it is long term. It’s that I’m already side eyeing it because it didn’t start in a way that supports the characters themselves. And it’s that I’m worried Davis is testing Sterek fans to see if he can get away with substituting a het romance instead.
This is EXACTLY why, my personal feelings aside, the fandom reaction has broken my heart yesterday.
It goes like this.
The Camaro was a luxury. He bought it in New York when he was maybe starting to think that he could have something nice just for himself, something that was just his, not a tool for survival or something practical shared with Laura.
But then Beacon Hills happened, again. The ghosts nearly choked him and for a while the car was the only thing he could hold on to. He slept in the Camaro, before the train depot, most nights. When he slept at all, that was.
After what happened with Gerard, after losing Erica and Boyd, with the threat of the alphas over his head, something in him just stopped. He staked out the loft because it was better for Isaac, an address he could use when some school official asked too many questions. He traded the Camaro for a car that was sensible, less flashy, more easily overlooked in front of the school or anywhere in town, really. Practical.
He wasn’t growing up, he was shedding everything with meaning, and one day no one would even notice when he disappeared.
It hits Derek like a sack of bricks, the exact instant he realizes how fucking in love he is with Stiles. Maybe he’ll look back on this at the end of his life—whenever that happens to be—and remember the moment perfectly, and maybe he won’t; waking up slowly in bed to the soft postdawn light of his bedroom, seeing Stiles so gorgeously silhouetted by the curtained window, dressed in nothing but his underwear and cradling a mug of hot coffee, one leg casually bent, posture so painfully relaxed and innocent of Derek’s gaze. The sight overwhelms Derek in a heartbeat, drowns him in its weight, but if his love is an ocean he’ll never wish for a breath of air again.
All Derek can see is the dark, fuzzy impression of the back of Stiles’s head as he looks quietly out the window at something Derek can only guess at. A private mystery that, like a lot of things, like Derek, now, belongs to Stiles and Stiles alone, that might put a lingering hint of a smile on his lips when he finally—a minute from now, an hour maybe—turns and catches Derek staring. Knowing Stiles, the smile won’t be long for a teasing smirk and some offhand remark about Derek’s creeper tendencies, and then the moment’ll be gone, replaced by flirtatiously traded barbs and maybe a lazy round of wakeup sex. But until then, this Stiles is all his, the long, brushstroke-graceful curve of his broad shoulders down to the sensual dip of his back, the tender handspan of his impossibly narrow waist, the gentle swell of his ass and long lines of his legs, the unspeakably sexy way his skintight briefs cling to his cock and balls. Even the sight of his exaggerated puppy-paw hands and feet, for once motionless and calm, catches Derek’s breath in his chest, details of the body Derek knows so intimately just barely visible against the backdrop of morning sunlight.
He must make a noise of some kind, a gentle releasing of all the things suddenly building behind his breastbone in an unbearable swell of feeling, because Stiles suddenly turns, a minute pivot of hip and shoulder, and he’s looking at Derek with the same serenity he’d reserved for whatever he was watching outside. The smile isthere, but stays quiet and knowing for a drawn-out second as they do nothing but gaze at each other from across the room, Stiles’s expression open and warm and heartbreaking as the steam from his coffee teases tendrils up his jaw that Derek wishes very badly were his fingers, his lips.
It’s almost too subtle for Derek to catch, and would be if he didn’t know Stiles’s face so very, very well, enough to notice the way his mouth and eyes soften just so, a tiny quirk of the lips Derek hopes no other living soul will ever get to see, just him. And he knows, then, that Stiles understands just what he’s thinking, can read all the same things off Derek’s expression as Derek reads in his.
For a second Stiles opens his mouth like he wants to tell him, uncaring as ever that speech isn’t always necessary as long as it makes him happy. And from the gleam of his eyes, it’s clear saying it would bring him no small joy. But then he shuts it again and shakes his head a bit with a smile and a rueful chuckle, takes a step closer and says instead, “Hey,” low and private, something for Derek and no one else.
And that’s all it takes, that right there, that one word. It’s enough; it’s all he’ll ever need to know.
You know what’s really freaking nerve-wracking? Posting a fic within a fandom where you don’t really have a following.
Even more so is posting it, and having it fly under the radar for whatever reason - so I propose this:
Reblog this post, and if any of your followers are writers, they should take this as an open invitation to pimp out their own work - be it the first story they wrote, the one that was most challenging to write, or the story they’re most proud of - to you, in the interest of spreading the word around. You will then publish their asks with or without comment, if you so wish. It’s all about inspiring confidence in lesser-known writers.
I’ve seen countless fic-recs with categories which are missing stories that are simply amazing. Nobody’s going to know about them all.
Alternatively, if you haven’t caught the writing bug, I want you to respond with your favourite underappreciated fic that you’ve read.
(This way, if you don’t feel comfortable bragging about your own work - though you should, because you’re all fabulous - you can go on anon and pose as an avid reader. See? Everybody gets to play.)
I don’t want the fandom to lose authors because their work was pretty much ignored, and I know we are, at our core a place for love and encouragement - despite what goes on sometimes. Show me what you’ve got…
Just a reminder that I am participating in AO3’s Fandom Auction and that bidding will remain open until April 25th.
I’m offering 3 Teen Wolf fics over 1000 words to the 3 highest bidders (that’s one fic each), so get on over there and bid, or click the link for more information on what I will and won’t write. As a bonus, I will be matching the highest winning bid in a donation to AO3.
This is for a great cause, since we all rely on AO3 in one way or another, whether it’s to publish fic or read it until we can’t read no more.
And while you’re at it, check out all the other amazing authors who have also offered up their stories by visiting the Authors Page.
Last day to bid! Come on, kittens!
With a fic giveaway! Yaaaaaaaay!
I’m giving away three (3!) fics under 5000 words (meaning 5000 words is the maximum I’ll write, but if the story doesn’t call for it the wordcount could be less) to three lucky winners who leave a series of four (4) Teen Wolf prompts each in my askbox for me to choose between.
These can be anything, of any rating, as long as the promps do not include the following:
- Rape/noncon, extreme kink (a little bit of kink is aight… just no fisting, watersports, torture, etc.), permanent genderswap, major character death, incest, or bestiality.
Pairings I will write: Derek/Stiles, Peter/Stiles, Derek/Peter/Stiles, Derek/Stiles/FC
Everything else goes! AU, magical shenanigans, you name it. Just tell me what you’d like to see and your preferred rating, and on Friday, April 5 I will be selecting 3 winners at random.
Thank you all for being such amazing, funny, intelligent, passionate, WONDERFUL people!
ENTER NOW AND GOOD LUCK!
FINAL DAY! Leave your prompts in my askbox to enter—winners will be announced TOMORROW! Good luck to everyone!
Beautiful followers! To celebrate there now being more than a thousand of you (seriously, how?), I’ve decided to toast to occasion by doing more of what I do best—writing fic!
With a fic giveaway! Yaaaaaaaay!
I’m giving away three (3!) fics under 5000 words (meaning 5000 words is the maximum I’ll write, but if the story doesn’t call for it the wordcount could be less) to three lucky winners who leave a series of four (4) Teen Wolf prompts each in my askbox for me to choose between.
These can be anything, of any rating, as long as the promps do not include the following:
- Rape/noncon, extreme kink (a little bit of kink is aight… just no fisting, watersports, torture, etc.), permanent genderswap, major character death, incest, or bestiality.
Pairings I will write: Derek/Stiles, Peter/Stiles, Derek/Peter/Stiles, Derek/Stiles/FC
Everything else goes! AU, magical shenanigans, you name it. Just tell me what you’d like to see and your preferred rating, and on Friday, April 5 I will be selecting 3 winners at random.
Thank you all for being such amazing, funny, intelligent, passionate, WONDERFUL people!
ENTER NOW AND GOOD LUCK!
Signal boosting because I WANT TO WRITE FIC FOR Y’ALL! Reblog and get the word out!
DAY 4! Leave your prompts in my askbox to enter!
Beautiful followers! To celebrate there now being more than a thousand of you (seriously, how?), I’ve decided to toast to occasion by doing more of what I do best—writing fic!
With a fic giveaway! Yaaaaaaaay!
I’m giving away three (3!) fics under 5000 words (meaning 5000 words is the maximum I’ll write, but if the story doesn’t call for it the wordcount could be less) to three lucky winners who leave a series of four (4) Teen Wolf prompts each in my askbox for me to choose between.
These can be anything, of any rating, as long as the promps do not include the following:
- Rape/noncon, extreme kink (a little bit of kink is aight… just no fisting, watersports, torture, etc.), permanent genderswap, major character death, incest, or bestiality.
Pairings I will write: Derek/Stiles, Peter/Stiles, Derek/Peter/Stiles, Derek/Stiles/FC
Everything else goes! AU, magical shenanigans, you name it. Just tell me what you’d like to see and your preferred rating, and on Friday, April 5 I will be selecting 3 winners at random.
Thank you all for being such amazing, funny, intelligent, passionate, WONDERFUL people!
ENTER NOW AND GOOD LUCK!
Signal boosting because I WANT TO WRITE FIC FOR Y’ALL! Reblog and get the word out!
