After watching Holland’s latest interviews and because of tonight’s episode and all the frantic energy running around in my brain in anticipation of Lydia’s rescue, I’ve decided to make a list of some of the KEY Stydia moments that led us here...
1. OTP: Strong connection. Do you remember your first reaction when Allison and Lydia are in Macy’s about to go dress shopping and Allison tells Lydia she’s going to the dance with Stiles? I feel like this moment right here is when everything shifts for Lydia. She’s not showing up to the dance on the (co)captain of the lacrosse team’s arm. No, she’s showing up with Stiles. And then, throughout the course of the evening, he makes her smile, he makes her dance and he saves her life. I feel like this moment is also a turning point for Stiles. When Lydia’s lying bloody on the ground after Peter’s attack, he realizes he would do ANYTHING for her, because he LOVES her.
2. OTP: The perfect combination. The beautiful Stydia friendship blossoms in season 2. Lydia is realizing how much Stiles truly cares about her. He is relentless in searching for her. He knows she likes Reese’s. He thinks she looks beautiful when she cries. He bought her 1,394,572 presents for her birthday. He would literally go out of his freaking mind if anything happened to her. Obviously, at this point, Lydia still loves Jackson. But there’s SOMETHING there and Lydia is warming up to the idea of it.
3. OTP: Emotional tether. I know the tether started after Stiles’ sacrifice to find the Nemeton but I firmly believe the strong connection was always there. Remember when Stiles clawed his way across desks, shoving them out of his way to protect Lydia? Remember him helping her try to figure out what she was? Remember when Lydia ran across lit gasoline to tackle Stiles to the ground? Remember when she kissed the hell out of him so he would HOLD HIS BREATH?! Remember neither one questioning their connection when Deaton uttered my five favorite words, “Lydia, you go with Stiles.”
4. OTP: You’re the one. Season 3 is the birth of Stydia banter. Their constant back and forth is a distinct love language of theirs. Stiles needs someone to challenge him, to put him in his sarcastic place. Lydia needs someone to keep her grounded, to stimulate her intellectual side. Stiles only figures out how to disarm the trap in the woods when Lydia tells him he’s the one who always figures it out. Lydia stops doubting herself regarding Barrow when Stiles reminds her that she’s been right every time something like this has happened. Stiles encourages Lydia to embrace her superpower. “Scream, Lydia, scream!” Lydia screams for Stiles when he’s in the hospital. She’s his literal support when he’s so close to dying. He’s the one she turns to when Aiden dies. They’re the ONE for each other.
5. OTP: Focus on my voice. Season 4 may not have had too many Stydia scenes but the ones that were there were some of my favorite. Lydia forcing Stiles to stay and fix the jeep. Lydia being jealous in the backseat. Stiles helping Lydia figure out the clues for the dead pool. Stiles being Lydia’s comfort at Eichen House with Meredith and after her “death.” Stiles pleading with Lydia to listen to his voice and block everything else out. Lydia channeling her inner Stiles and arming herself with a baseball bat. And the very best scene, “NOT WITHOUT LYDIA!”
6. OTP: He still likes her. More like he will always love her. Stiles almost losing Lydia paralyzes him. He won’t let her go back to Eichen House alone. He holds her close in his arms when they are hiding from the Dread Doctors. And when she’s sent there after Theo’s attack, he visits her and begs her to come back to him. Stiles always visits her. After she’s attacked outside the video store in season 1, he makes his first trip to her room. When she’s in the hospital after Peter’s bite, he’s there all weekend. He’s at the hospital after she’s attacked by Tracy. Whether or not he gets screamed at by Lydia’s mother, he will go to her. He will always go to her. Because he still loves her.
7. OTP: The red string. Woven throughout all of this is the red string of fate that ties Stiles and Lydia together. From their first dance, to Lydia cheering on Stiles during his lacrosse game, to Stiles ensuring Lydia’s safety after the car wreck, to their first kiss, to Lydia staying with Stiles while her best friend died, to Stiles’ determination to break Lydia out of Eichen House, and everything in between. They are tied together. They are on the same frequency. They pull each other back. THEY BLEED THE SAME.
Hang on Lydia, Stiles is on his way. (And hang on shippers, because Stydia is endgame.)
