Why Did We All Ship Sterek?

[@rabnerd28]

Time stamps for content in Controversy section Sexual Assault: 44:16-45:47 Fetishization: 46:04-51:03 Homophobia: 48:12-52:14 Discussion of Romantic Relationships between Adults and Minors: 42:53-52:14

[@LazarusHazRizen]

You knew EXACTLY what you were doing! I'm glad I found these videos!

[@PhoenixPlays669]

Thanks

[@ligiarodrigues9680]

Dylan O'Brien and Tyler Hoechlin are two realy good actors. And I think that was one of the main reasons for Sterek to be such a thing. In the Teen Wolf show (where so much doesn't live to it's full potetial) Sterek scenes are always good. It's nice to see! Satisfying to watch! They're both good at their job, and we crave that. There is also the fact that everyone unanimously feels that Derek deserved better... He had a shitty hand in life, and all his relationships were really trauma inducing... They barely talk about Derek's trauma, but it's clear that he is someone who would've benifitted a lot from real in depth therapy sessions. And then there's Stiles, everyone's goofball, the one who shows time and time again, his caring side towards his friends, his willingness to throw himself into danger to protect those who matter to him (even despite being one of the only ones who is not supernatural, and therefore, being put in added danger for he doesn't heal like most of them). Stiles is the one character who, from begining to end, shows what a truly good friend should look like. And it feels like Derek needed someone like Stiles beside him, maybe then he could have healed a little better, a little earlier, and maybe be a little less destructive (in the beginning of the show). Derek deserved someone who loved him like Stiles loves. And that's something.

[@freakhope7314]

It's beautiful what you say, I think something very similar and as for the age difference it seems to me that they could have that development from acquaintances to friends to lovers, I mean that in the future it wouldn't be crazy for them to be a couple but that type of relationship evolution to where you know every single thing about that person and you feel attracted after only having had a deep friendship, for me they would fall in love at a point in their lives where they are already mentally, emotionally and personally mature, when they already know what they want in a partner, what is necessary for a healthy and lasting relationship.

[@anonymous-rq2lh]

i never watched teen wolf nor was i involved in the fandom, but i just wanted to say that i misread the title as “why did we all ship shrek” and almost had a heart attack

[@ashtonactually445]

For me at least, what solidified Sterek as a ship was just the exceptional writing of the fanfiction. Teen Wolf fanfiction (at least on AO3) has some of the most well written fanfiction I have ever read. And it's not just one or two, it's almost every other one that is amazing writing. I wasn't really into the whole Teen Wolf craze but I did watch a few seasons. And Derek is kind of a dick in the show. But fanon Derek is usually a little rough around the edges but is generally very sweet. So maybe the ship holds no ground, but that fanfictions are amazing so what are you gonna do.

[@niyah7139]

Yeah the writer saw how much the fan shipped Stiles and Derek and purposely separated them for two seasons because of that. Then they kept trying to ship stiles with Cora or Malia as a replacement. It was very clear watching the show that Stiles was bisexual but they never wanted to confirm that because he was a main character. They have continued to queer bait Styles sexuality there was a lot of shady things that they did behind the scenes the actors did try to lean into that concept though for the fans. When we did get queer representation most of them were one-off plots and they got killed off

[@autumnmoon5325]

You raise some very interesting points, especially the possible correlation between racism and the non interest in the canonically queer relationships on the show. I shipped and still to a certain degree ship Sterek. It’s a nostalgic comfort ship for me however I do recognize that it is actually quite problematic. Quite honestly if a friend was dating someone who was as physically aggressive towards him as Derek is depicted as being towards Stiles I would be helping my friend pack and encouraging him to leave.

[@11nytram11]

I've always shipped Sterek for the entirely superficial reason that I think they look good together. And this is probably because I found the ship through Tumblr and haven't ever really watched the show but enjoyed it through fanfics.

[@crystalzaddy9664]

Fascinating video! I watched Teen Wolf when it aired in my 20s, saw all the gif sets and knew about Sterek but it just didn’t grab me. I recently revisited the series to brush up before the movie comes out and I got lured into the fandom with the fanfics. I read a couple and fell into the ship hard. I feel like what the show did was mainly fan service which I appreciated but what really cements Sterek for me is what the fans produced in fanfics. I like that the fans took all those moments from the show and made it fit within their works. I’m also a gay man

[@victoriae725]

I firmly believe fanfic is for altering the original media, so the mentality I have (and it seems like many people do) when reading fanfic is that Derek is only 3 years older than the rest of the crew. Also, that the Derek hitting Stiles scenes don't exist. Yes, it doesn't happen in the show, but fanfic doesn't exist to be a slave to canon. (Although, I do think it's super cringe to pester producers and actors about ships when YOU KNOW they're never gonna happen.)

[@lovedqueer.]

i've never seen teen wolf but this video is really interesting and i like a lot of the points you made, especially about how sterek wouldn't have been as popular if one of them was a girl. also you reading the definition of queerbait in a robot voice while destiel plays in the background is giving me life 🤣

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

I laughed so hard at that! It's what the show deserves.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

This was so good! Thank you for making it. I am in awe of your ability to speak through gritted teeth as well. There was so much here I didn't know. I think I stopped watching Teen Wolf after season two, but don't remember why. However, when I started, we were all watching week by week, and there were immediately fics, of course. But there definitely was a variety of pairings, not just Sterek. Then there was a turning point, and I have no idea what it was, but Sterek was absolutely everywhere, and it happened overnight. I did have issues with the pairing that you mentioned, mainly the violence. Although, I truly thought Stiles was 17 and close to turning 18, and could swear a lot of early fics addressed the age difference, such as Derek refusing to even think of Stiles in that way until he was 18. (Not saying that's necessarily right, just that I do remember people addressing the issue.) The actors are also older than their characters, which I do think subconsciously affects viewers and their feelings around characters and pairings. But I really enjoyed the AU fics. My favourite was one where Stiles was a teacher and Derek was a single father to Scott and Jackson (their mother was Derek's sister, IIRC - Laura? It's been a while since I've read it. EDIT: THEIR MOTHER HAD PASSED AND DEREK ADOPTED THE KIDS, DEREK WAS NOT THE BIO FATHER, I REPEAT, HE WAS NOT THE BIO FATHER). I think the popularity was partly due to the chemistry between the actors and, as you said, their scenes are the funniest. But why it became THE ship, I don't know. It did bother me immensely that the POC were sidelined, and that Scott was the main character but ignored for the main pairing. I remember there being criticism of the show at the time, not just the fandom, in pushing certain characters aside. Honestly, I thought we were going to get Stiles and Danny. Oh, also regarding the violence: When shows are inherently a little fast and loose with reality, and have an element of the absurd, I do think people can ignore 'funny' moments of violence because the harmful intent isn't there. It's meant to be ridiculous and over-the-top. Not to mention the element of 'it's funny if it happens to a guy', which is sadly more prevelant that we sometimes realise. While I didn't like those moments at the time (super sensitive when it comes to violence) I did put it aside and enjoy the AU fics. That said, I definitely think times have changed. If the show were made today, Derek wouldn't be as violent as he was. Oh, and I definitely remember some talk about Kate Argent being an abuser, that's for sure. But I don't remember where. Wow, this got longer than I intended, lol. I really loved season one of Teen Wolf, and felt the show and actors deserved much better writing than they got. Thank you again for this video!

[@ПепеКилджой]

Yes! I was thinking about Danny and Stiles too. I feel like Danny could have been a great character if they made his personality more than just "that one hacker gay guy".

[@Dara3008]

Honestly, I feel like shipping got a little weird in recent years. Did I ship Sterek back then? Hell yeah. Did I ever think, for a second, that it would be canon? No. Did I care, did it make me ship it any less? No. Shipping, a couple of years ago, wasn't really about it becoming canon. It was looking at two (or more) characters and thinking "Hey, their dynamic is kinda fun." and just going with it. It wasn't about wishing for it to be canon. Would it have been nice, for the representation with some couples? Of course. But I feel like Sterek was never one of those. The violence, the age difference, and stuff would have made that way too weird. Hell, the second listed ship in your AO3 screenshot was Stiles/Peter! Even more bizarre, but their dynamic was fun. It was fun to explore those two ships in fics, because the possibilities were endless. It was never about Sterek being canon, at least to the majority of people I interacted with back then or the majority of posts I've seen.

[@zer0luv]

Thank you for this deep dive. I watched Teen Wolf when it aired and was a Sterek shipper, but I didn't really want them to hook up. If anything I wanted Danny/Stiles or Allison/Isaac/Scott. By the time TW came on I had been through several other teen shows where I shipped same gender characters together but never actually got them so I had no Real expectations for Sterek. What annoyed me wasn't just the fandom, but the fact that it seemed like the writers and creators would tease things on social media. This show was probably one of the first ones where creators would interact with fans and it wasn't always a good thing cause it started feeding peoples delusions. Im a big fan of fan fiction so whatever I'm not getting out of a show I like, I just look for fan fiction to fill that hole. I don't go fishing for validation from actors who have little say in the characters they portray and have always hated when fans crossed that boundary. If an actor says they see something in their character that alligns with my wants I'll take the crumb, but I won't demand they see something that is just my interpretation.

[@jameshorn6284]

Great video. I haven't thought about this ship in years, I didn't really ship it back then but had friends who did, and I agree that it was no near Buck and Eddie levels.

[@autbot9365]

oh my GOD thank you! I've been asking this question ever since I started watching! I got into Teen Wolf a few months ago because I was constantly seeing fan content on them, but I was confused when I got into the show and found that they barely interacted. Partway through the second season, I just stopped watching because I realized there was so little of them interacting (and also because I can't stand the writing). I've learned what happened in the rest of the show through the wiki and other things, but Sterek was really the thing that got me interested. It's all just bizzare to me, because other ships I've had have always had a hefty amount of 'evidence'-- ships like Merthur (Merlin), Bellarke (The 100), Hannigram (Hannibal), and Villaneve (Killing Eve). The claims that Sterek was canon or should've been canon just feels like grasping at straws. The way I see it, there's nothing wrong with them not being canon. There was never any real buildup in the first place, so there was nothing viewers were being cheated out of. I enjoy the hell out of Sterek fanfic, but I've never felt that they should've been canon. The canon itself isn't a masterpiece either, so I don't get why it's so important to the fandom. Anyways, wonderful video. It's nice to know I'm not the only one that was thinking this. I thought I was delusional when I was watching the series and there was nothing remotely romantic about the pair.

[@astral4742]

Did you mention K-k-k-klance?

[@MissLunaSoleil777]

I ship sterek to be clear. Yes... still do. I think you have a few good points though and I love the math part and every together scene explained etc. (I think Stiles telling Chris about it being the hunters fault that the Hale house burned i.o.w somehow being the only one to figure out Kate and Dereks past before the viewers do, is another big Sterek moment.) Ok.... the reason I think Sterek didn't get more scenes together is Jeff Davis. And not because he is homophobic, duh. But just because the fans could see the chemistry between DoB and TH and ran with it. And he had his mind set on stydia endgame. So him using sterek scenes in later seasons to attrack viewers does equal to baiting. Because he only did that for getting viewers there. Yes I agree with you that if you only watch for sterek you don't watch for the right reasons, but that doesn't negate Jeffs action into baiting viewers. Especially since he had no intention of ever going further . TP was his muse. Stydia was his Ross and Rachel. He hated the fact that sterek blew up like it did and just used it for promo purpose. Comparing Buddie to this is not entirely fair. And I adore Buddie. I think it's a little like Twilight. We can all see that there are things wrong with the relationships and / or canon situations. But something (yes please figure out what that something is 🤣) just triggers: yaaaaaaas I ship that. I mean in the end Destiel at least got an I love you. And silverflint at least had one of them be queer in canon. That's indeed more than sterek had. But Sterek was (and is) such a juggernaut in fandom. I also do not understand why.... I don't agree with the racism remark as far as I can see. With no judgement or bad intention though. However... mason and corey were hella cute and if you have to choose between sterek and stydia thats just both white folks (eventhough some say Derek has Latinex roots) However I am open to discuss this because I am not as familar with this topic. Come find me on tumblr though because it's easier to talk over there. Lunadoesitagain. That all being said... I can't help it. I still read loads of Sterek fanfics and I indeed hope for something in the movie.

[@rabnerd28]

Okay, you're saying that Sterek is queerbait in later seasons, but you're not saying why. Care to explain, as Stiles and Derek didn't interact much in later seasons and none of their scenes were ever used to promote the show from what I recall, so I still don't understand the queerbait accusation. And I don't necessarily mean to compare Sterek and Buddie, but I'm just using it to point out that people put Sterek on the same level as ships that have deeper and more fleshed out relationships despite never reaching that level of closeness in canon.

[@gilleecriz2813]

honestly, your completely right, im not even a sterek shipper, (dont rally have a fave ship for stiles, my muilti shipper heart just cant commit

[@macattackvlogs5204]

One big thing with the age difference is that it would have been illegal for Stiles and Derek to have any kind of sexual contact before Stiles would have turned 18 per California law. The age of consent in the state of California where it is said that Beacon hills is located is 18 with no Romeo and Juliet clause. With Derek being 23 and Stiles being 16 when they met, if there were to be any kind of sexual contact or dating, Derek would have been arrested and charged with statutory rape.

[@panlizi]

While I definitely think there’s interesting things to analyze with this ship, I think a big part that you’re missing is that A Lot of sterek shippers were never under the illusion that they could ever be canon, we knew they had extremely limited content and overall interactions but like they had a really interesting dynamic and shipping is supposed to be Fun!!! The fun lies in the fanfics and the fanfedits and fan theories etc. As for the age difference, while I can definitely identify it as problematic now, I think myself and a majority of people that shipped sterek were ourselves teenagers at the time and we didn’t fully understand those aspects of the relationship, this happened not just with queer ships I mean look at PLL

[@D1ona1]

I started reading Sterek fics becore even watching the show. And when I did I was not only shocked by how little screen time they had together but how much they didn't even like each other. I had to stop watching so I could stay delusional about this ship. And I fully admit to being delusional, its one of my favorite ships.

[@icecreamchick45]

My hot take is the people who ship Sterek actually ship Klance from Voltron

[@rabnerd28]

@icecreamchick45 Ironically before I realized that I actually didn't like either ship, I also shipped Klance. Truly what they're all looking for is SasuNaru.

[@alexisbaker578]

1:18 stiles is basically the Matt of the vampire diaries except he’s way more likable and is actually important 53:38 the silence is loud, and wtf is wrong with people?

[@only_moy.4393]

I started the show way before it ended, i mean like 4 years since the movie release and never had contact with the ship before At first i really dislike it, for the whole controversial reason, but for every episode of the show and interactions with the fandom it ended up growing on me, like yeah its wrong, if that ever happened in real life would be wrong, but i kinda get it why people ship it, i dont actively ship them, i never were lot into shipping, but they are indeed funny to watch together and they easily became my two favorite characters of the show, and even tho a finish it already and a lot of the hyper fixation weared off... I still think a lot of this two because i genuinely like them Also i heard a lot of people ship them because stiles is so easily relatable and anywone with two working eyes can see derek it's fine as wine so they do it like a self insert thing where they view themselves as stiles and date the hot emo bad boy with a lot of unresolved trauma But yeah its fine as a ship, weird and problematic yeah, but its fun and at the end of the day its harmless... Peter and stiles tho It still hunts me that it exist... Why? Like genuinely why?

[@auroraj8987]

I think the sterek references in the movie are closer to queerbaiting than any sterek moments in the show (making Derek’s son a copy of stiles’ personality and all the stuff about Derek’s complicated relationship with the jeep) I don’t know if they fully crosses the line into queerbaiting though

[@bryonerwin3758]

Im sorry to be sooo late to the party but i watched the show from the beginning when it premiered on MTV and sadly went to a couple of conventions to see them in person. I was a casual Sterek shipper but it was cute fun. Styles was my favorite character and Dylan Obrien became my only reason for watching the show. But the actors got a kick out of the fanfiction in the beginning but when the tumblr stories starting turning overtly sexual and having them married and adopting children, all while Styles was in high school. Tyler was understandably weirded out and vocalized it. They entertained it for a minute and then pulled back. Then Tuler started talking about how it looked bad that a 30ish man was spending so much time with teenagers. At that point he wanted out of the show.

[@filmfreak1913]

I was actively drawing klance while listening to this 😔 I feel called out

[@thegachagremlin]

Honestly I love the ship but I can live without it the show is funny and people shouldn't make it all about a ship that didn't happen

[@inesatt1313]

That one scene where they were in the room and he was threatening styles, you know how guys do that weird thing where they get in your face intimidate you? Well that’s what Derek did and ever since then people have made those two a ship and it became really toxic and twisted and weird. There is nothing to suggest that they are gay for each other at all. Absolutely none. It’s even creepy. Stiles is underage and Derek is in his 20s. Someone commented on Peter’s speech about love but he was literally talking about Lydia and Jackson and that scene played over a Stydia scene (power of human love = Stiles getting suddenly good at lacrosse after being encouraged by Lydia, lol they even looked at each other in slomo). Dylan and Tyler have good chemistry (I think they were one of the closest cast members back in the day) and Sterek scenes are fun to watch for comedy value but I don’t see any indicator of it being romantic, at all. Okay so I just started watching Teen Wolf and i already knew about all the Derek and Stiles stuff but so far I'm on the second half of season 3 and I don't get why people ship Derek and Stiles they havr like no interactions and their relationship like Draco/Harry where they hate each other but have enough interactions to justify the gay shipping but what they have isn't the love hate that make couples its literally a mutual dislike with practically no interactions. I get fangirls need something to you and ship but why those two if anything I'd see Scott/Stiles or more than Derek/Stiles. Like I don't understand.

[@myladyofmercy]

i love watching videos about sterek because i never shipped it (shipped stydia and didn't really care about derek as a character) so I'm always intrigued why i didn't ship it because i usually crave all the gay ships (destiel, buddie etc) so I'm just fascinated by my lack of sterek shipping 😂

[@wonderlandbunny8160]

I don't ship Sterek on the series, the Fanfics though. . .

[@alexleonard2348]

Can you please asnwer, where is this from 7:37 ??

[@rabnerd28]

Voltron: Legendary Defender...its not very good.

[@alexleonard2348]

@@rabnerd28 oh... maybe it at least has some good ships? Thanks for the answer!

[@rabnerd28]

@@alexleonard2348 *proceeds to have war flashbacks*

[@alexleonard2348]

@@rabnerd28 I see lol, thanks again. Love your channel tho, discovered it recently!

[@QuintrellDemary]

I’m new to this video actually first Time watching it to be honest I was just trying to be nice never seen this video until now i don’t see what I said was upsetting to you I really like the video 😊

[@Garig755]

As gay (as per todays standarts cis-male) i love your brain.i watched teen wolf because im fantasy sucker. Thou im geting tired of the ovedrama in nowadays shows. Thou i might fantasize the view that there shoul be more lgbt+ open representation. Im more fan of those saddle interactions to be honnest. Because its more relatable to what i grew up with. But life and screen has so much fasets to it. I sometimes feel like a fosile thou I was born 1989. 😅

[@gamz33]

i've never watched teen wolf for anything but scallison, derek and the nogitsune arc. legit, this show it hot garbage (like i love it and can quote the entire thing but like. it's bad. i have to admit that, or i'd be lying, and i never lie about teen wolf.)

[@WynterFyre]

I'm sorry. The actual gay characters were boring. BOR--ING. Now, if Danny had a larger part and got better writing, I'd be ALL about it. I loved Danny. Stiles and Danny could've had an awesome relationship. This didn't happen. You could tell the writers didn't know what to do with the actual gay characters because they were flat. Also? I was barely watching "Teen Wolf." I watched it for Dylan, Tyler, Keahu, and the Carvers. 😜

[@Caleb17-ym6pq]

I am not a fan of shipping in general because I think shippers are (for the most part) weird, obsessive and even sometimes delusional. It's kind of scary how fans can get. I was never a fan of Sterek because of the age difference and I was annoyed how obsessive people were about it. 52:42, I agree with Posey on this one. Everything he said was true.

[@dreads8220]

Stiles x Scott was it for me.The age difference with sterek was a no.

[@deltaboy767]

I loved when she said, i meam stiles and Derek have never hugged and y'all are complaining it to two people who are raising a child together.

[@w23c-e9c]

I feel so bad for you. You made an hour long fully edited video and you only got 92 views

[@rabnerd28]

It's the story of my life