My favorite part about this kiss is how intense Dylan/Stiles’ face is. He’s kissing her like she’s his lifeline, the air he breathes. He’s so consumed in this moment, in this kiss, in Lydia. You can feel how much he loves her and how much this moment means to him. This is everything Stiles has spent the past 10 years building up to, and the intensity with which he kisses Lydia is like none I’ve ever seen. Lydia holds onto to Stiles, kissing him back just as forcefully, and we get this incredible moment that seems to stop time. I just can’t get over how much you can tell that this is quite possibly the most important day of Stiles’ life just by the expression he makes when kissing Lydia. It’s gentle and intense and heartbreaking all at the same time. You can feel the gentleness he possesses for Lydia, but it’s also this intense fire that burns hot enough to consume them both. It’s so amazing that these two completely opposite things can exist simultaneously in just one expression. Dylan never ceases to amaze me with how much he understands Stiles as a character and his unconditional love for Lydia.
LISTEN i feel like a lot of people rn are gonna be really salty and all like “this is such bullshit Sciles obviously has a stronger connection than Stydia does” and like acting all high and mighty about how the show is being too shippy and it should’ve been Scott that opened the rift or gotten it started instead of Malia yada yada but then I feel like they’re missing the point. Scott’s remembrance was like the jump starter—they needed it to help them better understand this process, to use it as a jumping off point. Malia’s memories were the next step, as she dove deeper into the idea of honing in on a connection, not just a memory. the light first appeared here because not only was Malia focusing more on the concept of connections, but the gears were already in motion after Scott kind of laid the groundwork with getting a visual image of memories and stuff like that. they then needed Lydia for the final piece of the puzzle, to get the engine fully running. Lydia does of course have this intense connection with Stiles which only helps their cause but does in no way weaken or discredit the different kinds of connections that Scott or Malia have with him. it wasn’t Lydia’s memories that created the rift, it was Lydia’s memories that were the final kick. it just so happens that she had a huge emotional revelation in the middle of it, but that’s beside the point rn. each person’s different connections and memories had their own jobs, and they needed the power of all three to get everything going. it was a group effort!!!
There’s just something so special to me about how every time Stiles is doing his detective bit and really wants to say/ask something, Lydia always knows just by the look on his face. She can see the curious and sometimes even accusatory look in his eyes. The way he purses and licks his lips. She just knows instantly when he’s thinking about what a situation could mean and how it’s deeper or more complicated than everyone wants to admit. And I think that truly is just so special and really shows how much she loved him too, even when she didn’t know it.
it's been rly getting to me how wasted stiles and lydia's potential was. I feel like the show never gave a breather to our characters. there are quite literally no filler episodes where the pack just goes to the beach,or camping and has fun, or has a new year's party, NOTHING. episodes like that would develop so many friendships and relationships, these poor kids NEEDED a getaway.
I feel like s3 is really where the show peaked in that regard as well, besides the plot. we saw the pack actually spending time together, and the things our main characters went through and the impact those horrible things had on them were ACTUALLY explored and not swept under the rug. bc wdym lydia had a hole drilled into her head in s5 only for it to be never mentioned again. at least show her recovery??? or SOMETHING?? ik they had limited episodes bc each season came out in 2 parts, but that shouldn't get in the way of coherent storytelling and character development.
other than that, the way they handled stydia really really gets on my nerves. yes i love every single scene they're in and their dynamic HOWEVER the writers only ever gave us those scenes, and not how their interactions individually affect them. the 'show don't tell'is always welcome, don't get me wrong but at least make the characters mention it?? lydia's been in love with stiles since season THREE, and she never mentioned it to kira for instance? and stiles has been in love with her the whole show, at least show his conflict with himself bc he has a gf?? that's why that scene between scott and kira in s5e5 is so important, bc even the other characters have been noticing (they'd be blind not to), but god we rly had to live on the crumbs huh.
those scenes in s4 and 5 are so precious to me, those little moments of stiles looking at lydia when she's not looking back at him, and vice versa. s4e1. those episodes where they're solving the deadpool, and go to the eichen house. stiles finding a bleeding lydia in s5e4. s5e5. s5e6 I'm pretty sure (where they're matching with e/o 😋) and so on and so forth. the thing is, make them TALK to each other. i can't believe they've never spoken about their feelings with each other, idk.
and then there's my dear season s6a. i get why people wanted scott to remember stiles, but i truly believe all 3 of them (+ the sheriff) had an impact on the portal (ig?) opening. lydia was the one to have the biggest impact because 1. she's his anchor (which, also, wasn't explored beyond s3, of course 🙂) 2. she just realized she's DEEPLY in love with him and she never got to told him, imagine how emotional it was for her?? how emotional it would've been for anyone??
besides, I personally believe that scott and stiles' friendship was strained after donovan (also underexplored and not fully addressed). that was a pivotal moment of their friendship, and they should've talked it out more.
there is SO much more to say, but I'll save it for another day.
i can't stop thinking about lydia's role in the nightmare-ception nightmare stiles has at the very beginning of season 3b. it's fair to assume that the nogitsune is, on some level, pulling the strings on this matryoshka of a dreamscape, possibly because it doesn't yet have the strength to control stiles while he's awake, but even if it's not the nogitsune, lydia's presence and behavior make no sense.
she's in the part of stiles's dream where he thinks he's awake, and other than wish fulfillment, there's no real reason why she would be there. and while she seems like just another part of the dream - manifested by stiles's subconscious - the way she acts suggests more than that. her presence is the first thing to tip stiles off that something is wrong. he thinks he's awake, but if he's awake, then why is lydia in his bed? maybe lydia was not, actually, supposed to be part of this dream at all.
the moment stiles realizes this, his door creaks open, distracting him from lydia and drawing his attention to the door - specifically, the idea that someone could "get in" if the door is open. if we run with the likely theory that the nogitsune has already entered stiles's mind by this point, then this is stiles's subconscious understanding to a certain degree that he could be in danger, but not yet aware that he already is.
but lydia knows. from the second stiles moves toward the door, lydia does her best to persuade him not to. first she tries to dismiss it ("just go back to sleep", "don't worry about it") and then to challenge his reasoning ("what if someone comes in?" "like who?") but by the time he's reaching for the door, lydia is full-on begging. she's panicking. she knows that (1) stiles isn't going to close the door, but walk through it and (2) there is something through the door that is incredibly dangerous.
and i keep wondering: if the nogitsune was already there, and on some level, however small, controlling the dream, then why the hell was lydia there? her entire role was to counteract the nightmare. she did everything she could to prevent stiles from opening that door. how did the nogitsune benefit from that?
now. i know this is a far-fetched theory. but hear me out: the lydia in stiles's dream was the real lydia. stiles and lydia were in the same dream - they just didn't know it.
essentially what i'm saying is lydia "dreamwalked" into stiles's mind without meaning to. i know there is no canon basis for this being a thing that can happen, but play in the space with me for a minute:
lydia is specifically singled out for her clairvoyant ability to predict danger and death, though it is often presented to her in an abstract fashion
she has been known to sometimes have these visions while she's asleep
there is a door open in stiles's mind, meaning theoretically anything with the capacity to enter a mind could enter stiles's mind, whether intentional or not (and we know that at this point, lydia lacks the ability to control her powers)
there is a connection between stiles and lydia - a tether - that linked them in a supernatural capacity at least once before (with the ice baths)
given the other supernatural concessions of the show, it's not that much of a stretch to propose that lydia could have unwittingly entered stiles's dream, perceived it as her own, picked up on the threat to stiles, and been inclined to protect him from it, without knowing exactly what "it" was.
and before you say "banshees can only predict death, not any danger," that has generally held true for lydia...but with one notable exception, which happens later on in this season: she finds nogitsune!stiles unconscious in the parking garage, after the nogitsune slices his stomach open. he's not dead, and we know he's not dying because deaton says he seems to be healing. something about the connection that exists between lydia and stiles enables her to predict any kind of threat to him, not just the imminently fatal kind.
so: stiles has a nightmare where lydia is inexplicably there, the only part of the nightmare that isn't nightmarish. and at the same time, lydia has a dream that has all the makings of a banshee vision, and responds accordingly: by trying her best to protect her friend, pleading with him not to go near the door, because she can tell there's something bad behind the door. they had the same dream. they were both there. lydia, somehow, entered through the same open door the nogitsune used to get into stiles's mind, and, thinking the stiles in her dream was a premonition of danger coming to him, did her level best to keep him safe, unaware that this was the real stiles, and the danger was already here.
THE STYDIA KISS (and hug)- an Extra™ frame by frame analysis
ok so we start out with this shit. even before this frame, dude is staring at them Martin lips like he’s in the middle of the desert and they’re the only water for miles. Then we get here and they both go in OPEN goddamn MOUTH for this kiss. she is PUCKERED for him. She was puckered ten feet ago, she was puckered when she walked in the damn door, hell, she was puckered 3 months ago. She got her tongue fucking ready to dock at Port Stilinski Lips.
She comes in fucking Little Caesar’s Hot ‘N Ready with the hands on the neck. goddamn. And they are PRESSED into each other. If they were kissing any deeper they would swallow each other. Which now, come to think of it, might have been their goal.
sometimes there’s other things you wouldn’t think would be a good combination end up turning out to be, like, a perfect combination, you know, like two people together - who nobody ever thought would be together, ever.
Little bit of (unintentional?) symbolism in this scene that I love.
This moment takes place directly after Stiles explains the color-coding on his crime board - green is solved, yellow is undetermined etc. - and Lydia is upset. She thinks that her banshee prediction was wrong, she feels guilty for getting Stiles in trouble with Coach, and is just overall doubting herself. As she admits to this, she winds a red thread around her fingers, the color for “unsolved/uncertainty.”
But when Stiles realizes what’s going through Lydia’s head, he immediately crouches down in front of her to look her in the eye. He tells her that she’s not wrong, that he has faith in her. “If you wanted, I’d go back right now and search all night just to prove it.” As he reassures her, encouraging her not to lose faith in herself, he quietly unwraps the red string from around Lydia’s fingers. The last shot we get is of Stiles, staring softly into Lydia’s eyes, playing with a green marker - green, the color of certainty, of things set in stone. Because while Lydia might be tempted to doubt herself, she is the one thing that Stiles is absolutely sure about.
I know it’s probably not an intentional bit of symbolism (forethought and poetic storytelling isn’t really Teen Wolf’s forte) but it’s the way I chose to read this scene.
I am so, SO tired of the idea that female characters being in a romance or wanting to have love and/or a family is somehow incompatible with also wanting to have a career and be successful and capable.
The internalized misogyny is so pervasive in media and it is just exhausting. If women are "bad-asses" or a "boss" then it is treated like a betrayal if she also wants a happy homelife because it is treated like a given that the first will have to be given up for the other.
But where is this same double standard for male characters? If a Male character has dreams and a career but hooks up with the love interest do we immediately assume that HE will have to give up on that once its time to have kids? Do we assume that they will be bad fathers because they also prioritize their own future? No.
But if a woman does try to have both we are teaching everyone that they will fail. They can only succeed if they choose domesticity OR they chose to isolate themselves and be a "career woman". Woman who have both are not allowed to be considered the norm because that is a threat to the status quo of misogyny that is hidden under the tokenism of the 'strong female character' who is actually one dimensional and often male coded.
How can people be so oblivious to how incredibly problematic it is that we continue to teach women that if they want to have love, and kids, and a family that she has to give up on herself to do so. That no matter what she is expected to be the primary caretaker regardless of any circumstances.
(Yes I am bringing this up because of dumb Anti-stancy hot takes)
I will never get over the moment in 5x16 when after Lydia wakes up she like winces slightly and Stiles IMMEDIATELY notices and sees that there’s still alittle glass on her face and wipes it off while softly saying “there you go, there you go”. Tbh that moment felt kinda improved (very on brand for Dylan to be like “how can I make this guy even more of a simp”). It was so minor but it meant so much😭😂
Watching 5x16 live felt like an out of body experience.
THE WHOLE SCENE THOUGH. What about his face when he lifts her off the table, HOW GENTLE-
I couldn’t find the exact gif I was looking for of his face but y’all know the one I know y’all do. Like HOLY SHIT!! That happened.
DOB went so hard for stydia like- why have I never seen him paired with someone like Holland on anything ever because he can do so so much with the right acting partner.
And his body when it covered hers from the glass instinctively while everyone else ducked/got blown out of the way.
THE RELIEF WHEN SHE WOKE UP. “Show me your eyes.”
He was our hero with the improv and Holland was too for going along with it so beautifully without fail. Jeff Davis didn’t make stydia Obroden did 😌
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