#twmeta

[blackhholes]

Bardo as a Transitional Space in Teen Wolf

Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos by Chögyam Trungpa

Written for @teenwolf-meta‘s Meta May Monday theme: bardo

The first time we’re introduced to bardo within the Teen Wolf canon is in Anchors when Kira brings it up to the pack as an explanation for the things they’re going through after sacrificing themselves to the Nemeton. The idea of an in-between place between living and dying is brought up within the story multiple times after that with the main two being in Time of Death when Kira slows Scott’s heart until he is basically dead, this results in him having violent dreams throughout the episode; and in Heartless after Theo is brought back from the skin walker realm and the episode opens with an exploration of his experiences underground. In all of these instances the character in focus is transitioning from one stage of being to another or coming to terms with something from their past which they have yet to deal with. 

For Allison in 3b her bardo experience becomes a way to deal with her familial trauma, she sees hallucinations of Kate and enters fugue states wherein she acts violently or threatens the supernaturals around her. Her hallucinations of Kate also tries to push her towards further violence forcing Allison to come to terms with who her family (particularly Kate and Gerard) wanted her to be. Kate is who Allison would have become if not for the rest of the pack there to pull her back from the ledge. Allison is able to break free of her bardo experience by reminding herself of the new code she created at the end of 3a “we protect those who cannot protect themselves” which in itself is derivative of the Argent family’s original code “we hunt those who hunt us” it’s not a way to hide from the past and her previous actions, instead it’s a way to acknowledge them and vow to be better in the future. 

Stiles’ bardo experience is not contained to the first two episodes of 3b like Allison’s is. He breaks through the initial realm at the same time as her but the same problems he faces during the initial experience carries over into the rest of the season during the nogitsune possession. It is also important here to note that the “symptoms” of the initial bardo experience are cognitive, he becomes incapable of differentiating between dreams and reality with the main indicator being his inability to read. Language problems are a common symptom of frontotemporal dementia and it’s not uncommon for dementia patients to have difficulty differentiating dreams and reality. The whole season, which is ripe with the undercurrent of the disease which killed his mother, becomes a bardo experience which functions as a way for Stiles to come to terms with losing his mother at such a young age. 

Scott enters a bardo realm twice within the show. The second time functions as a continuation of the first. During his first experience he becomes incapable of controlling his shift, it forces itself onto him throughout the two episodes and he refuses to make the conscious decision to shift out of fear that he will become stuck there and become more monster than human. His second experience is a dreamscape wherein he is initially pushed to kill the Mute and it results in him killing Liam with a tomahawk. In 3b it follows immediately after he becomes an alpha himself, the alpha who turned him was a werewolf who was no longer in control of himself, Peter was an alpha who acted purely on instinct and a vision for revenge. Derek, who despite being a close friend of Scott’s wasn’t a good alpha, he quickly got caught up in the power of being an alpha and ended up taking it out on those around him. This bardo experience also follows Scott’s interactions with the alpha pack, all of whom became power hungry and cruel to anyone they deem beneath them. Scott doesn’t want to become an alpha like them but he’s unsure if there’s any other way to be an alpha which doesn’t revolve around letting the animal side take over. His second bardo experience follows him biting and turning Liam, he has taken the final step into being an alpha and he can no longer kid himself that he isn’t one. This is also further underlined when the dream sequence result in the death of Liam. Scott feels as though he metaphorically killed Liam with the bite and took away his ability to be a normal person, something he hadn’t wanted to do after he went through it himself. Both of these bardo experiences serve as spaces wherein Scott has to come to terms with the changes to himself and his status as a werewolf. 

Heartless opens with a sequence of Theo repeatedly waking up in a morgue drawer in the hospital’s morgue where his sister then chases him and takes back the heart he stole from her. It’s important to note that from a production standpoint this sequence is very repetitive, the viewer sees the same thing happen to Theo for five minutes until the credits roll. This helps drive home the point of timelessness in this particular bardo realm as Theo has been trapped there going through this for months at this point. Forced to live through being chased and attacked by his sister for eternity. Forced to come to terms with the things he did under the Dread Doctors and forced to realize who he can be without them. The sequence ends when Tara captures him and instead of attempting to placate her to avoid the inevitable he says “It’s okay. You don’t have to stop.” This marks the point in which he gets to a place of peace with his past actions and can learn to move on. 

[spikeface]

the terror you long to look at

Written for @teenwolf-meta’s Meta May Monday theme: Ties. 

Despite my frustration with the show’s handling of the anuk-ite’s mythology, I really liked the idea that, in the finale, it lures people into looking at it by becoming someone they long to see--but, at the same time, because the anuk-ite is a fear monster, someone they’re terrified of. I was frustrated, however, by the fact that the shape it took was either never explicit, or depended on who was doing a cameo for the finale. Here would be my picks for what the anuk-ite would look like, for the people who had to face it, if casting and time weren’t an issue:

Peter Hale would see Laura Hale. I didn’t dislike that the monster took the form of Malia, for Peter. She’s definitely someone he longs to see, and I’d interpret the fear aspect as either shame for when he’d hurt her or her loved ones, or simply fear of the fact that she sees through him. I think it would have meant a lot, however, if they’d shown explicitly that he misses Laura, and is afraid to face the fact that he murdered her even as he longs to see her. His murder of her starts the entire story, and it would have been an interesting way to incorporate it into the show’s finale.

Malia Tate would see Kylie Tate. We don’t actually know what form the anuk-ite took for her, which makes me mad, because it would have been such a good time to explore her grief for Kylie. One of the first things we learn about Malia is that she’s haunted by her sister’s death most of all, and is still, in some way, looking out for her. No matter how much time passes, she’s always going to.

Jackson Whittemore would see Matt Daehler. This one’s a little shaky because s2 ends with Jackson very clearly growing out of the headspace that made him a kanima, and literally growing away from it. But 1) they made him part-kanima again in the finale so I’ve decided that means he’s still got Baggage and 2) even if he moved on from being the kanima in general, Jackson never got to confront Matt specifically. Matt--this guy he had this intense and toxic relationship with, who represented everything the deepest part of him wanted--just disappeared from his life, only to be found dead in water Jackson could have saved him from. I think Jackson is terrified of somehow running into Matt again. I think he’s even more terrified of the idea that, on some level, he’d be happy to see him.

Ethan would see Aiden. How could he not? Of course he longs to see his brother, his literal other half and the one who felt what he felt all his life, whose life Ethan felt in turn. At the same time, we see in both 3a and 3b that Aiden’s passion for violence disquiets Ethan, even though he knows he’s protected by it, and in Motel California, Aiden also represents everything Ethan most fears, what he’d kill himself to escape. 

Derek Hale would see Paige Krasikeva. I loved that we got a cameo from Haley Webb, but I maintain that Jennifer was the weakest choice for Derek. It’s not that I don’t think memories of her haunt him, but Derek already confronted Jennifer—multiple times, and in ways that literally had to do with “seeing” her. I definitely don’t think he longs to see her the way he’d long to see Paige, the girl he was manipulated into forcing the bite on—a mistake we know still haunts him. He was rattled to lose even the blue eyes that represent his guilt about her death. I think that even now, his longing to see her would frighten him, since his desire for her once led to her death.

Scott McCall would see his own murdered body. Ok, stay with me on this one! I loved that they did a cameo with the nogitsune wearing Stiles’ body, and I think that ranks near the top of Scott’s fears, but I don’t think he’d be tempted to look at him. Conversely, I think he’d long to look at Allison, but I don’t think that desire would terrify him.

I think the desire that most terrifies Scott is the one for his own death. Scott has struggled with suicidal urges since at least 3a, and Tyler Posey has discussed how, by the time Scott’s murdered in s5, he was “ready to die.” Scott’s death is the end of the relentless struggle his life has been since he was bitten, freedom from all of his perceived failures that haunt him--like the nogitsune taking Stiles’ body, like Allison’s death. It would be so fitting for him to confront that in the library, where he was originally murdered--where his murdered body once lay on the ground, the one part of himself he’ll never be able to see. Unless he looks now. 

It would also fit really well with @daughterofluthien’s excellent meta about the meaning of Scott’s self-blinding in the finale. If the anuk-ite represents Scott’s desire to die, then the mutilation represents, ironically, his rejection of that desire, and would foreshadow his similar rejection of the lure of death in the movie, when he growls at the nogitsune: “I’m not ready to die.”

[teenwolf-meta]

The first suggested theme for Meta May Mondays is Power!

What does power mean to different characters? How do they become more powerful? Whose powers do you think are the most fun? What exactly is Josh's power based on? Tell us your thoughts!

Throughout the month of May, we’re encouraging people to post meta. We have some themes suggested for each Monday in May below, but all meta that fits our guidelines is welcome! Generally, we are looking for canon-compliant meta based on good faith analysis of the show, of at least 100 words. 

If you’d like to play, remember to tag your post with #twmetamay or mention us @teenwolf-meta so we can reblog your work!

[thousand-page-dreams]

watching Teen Wolf Season 3B again. Skipped the movie because it looked bad (no Kira?), but I did feel some nostalgia for the better parts of the series.

The first two episodes are painful for me

As someone whose health has decreased the past two years, I empathised a lot with Scott, Stiles, and Allison. They can’t perform the responsibilities they’ve built their identities around. 

There’s a lot of activities I can’t do, places I can’t go.  And it was horrifying at the start, though I’ve done a lot of acceptance since then. 

Scott is constantly worried he’ll lose control and not be able to transform back. Stiles can’t read, and is having difficulty telling reality from his dreams. Allision can’t use her bow and arrow anymore, her signature skill.

But people still need their skill sets, so they have to try anyway. There’s no time to be anyone else.

[momentofmemory]

One of my favourite things about Scott and Allison’s relationship is that their attraction for each other doesn’t have to do with Scott’s new werewolf abilities at all. While they’d already interacted in passing with the pen exchange, and then Allison sees him on the lacrosse field, neither of those actually lead to anything—no phone numbers, no invitations, not even a ‘see you later.’ Instead, it’s this moment at the vet’s office—a chance, human encounter—that leads to the two of them clicking.

Allison isn’t interested in Scott because of super hearing or super reflexes, but because of traits he had before the bite. Scott’s able to properly diagnose and treat the dog she brought in, while easily slipping in SAT prep words, showing off his smarts. But more importantly, when Allison is embarrassed about crying, Scott gently tells her that he would, too—a sharp contrast to how we know her parents react to tears (3x05). Scott puts her at ease and helps fix what’s bothering her, and it’s only then that Allison accepts his invitation to the party.

[jessmalia]

Do you ship scalia or is it just something that you don’t mind seeing?

I ship scalia in a vacuum. I think it's a sweet dynamic with a lot of potential. Shelley and Tyler do have a lot of chemistry, so I can see why the writers wanted to explore that pairing. They have a very similar awkwardness/cluelessness that feeds into each other well (I think the same can be said about stira, which is a ship I like in a similar way, actually even more because of the tricksters/kitsune angle in their dynamic, and I also think there's some sciles meta in there about how they both got girlfriends that are so similar to the other lol) and I'm happy with how they really utilised that during their scenes in 6B. I've only seen the season once, so I can't even recall what the scene was about, but I remember the scene that sold them the most to me as a couple was that Malia face palm one lol. Where Malia is trying to communicate something but they're both just totally clueless.

This one:

The problem is the circumstances of when this pairing was explored. The messy way stalia broke up, the unfair way Malia's feelings about st/ydia was completely disregarded. Granted, this makes a part of me go "Stiles unfairly dumped you and got with Lydia without asking how you'd feel about it? Fuck yeah you should get with his best friend! Give him a taste of his own medicine! Fair is fair!" but that's more about me being a Malia stan than having to do with any ships lol. When viewing the show as a whole, it's just impossible NOT to compare scalia and stalia, and when you do, scalia so obviously comes in short.

Like, every single argument I can come up with for scalia potentially working better is disproven by what stalia was in canon. Like, "oh maybe Scott could help her with her werecoyote struggles and do it better because as a werewolf he knows what it feels like" but we literally saw Stiles help Malia with that and he did it perfectly! After hammering in for 2 and a half seasons that Stiles is Malia's anchor I can't see anyone buying how Scott could just replace him in that aspect. Also "Scott is so good and anti violence that he could help Malia get over her kill first ask questions never coyote thing in a way Stiles can't because he's very similar to Malia in that regard" doesn't work for me either. We saw throughout their relationship that Stiles and Malia felt the best about their violent tendencies and trust issues with each other because the other one could understand. They could tell each other "You're still a good person" and the other could actually believe it for once. They opened up to each other and told the other aspects of their trauma that they never discussed with anyone else! "But when I came through it, I learned something else... Control is overrated." "I said, 'I wish you were all dead.'"

Then there's the scira of it all too! I'm not gonna go too much into it since I'm mainly a stalia stan lol, but the way Kira was pushed out of the show is honestly so horrible, and the fact that scira was so huge and how Tyler and Arden kept talking about how in love they were AND the fact that the writers said that they didn't actually break up and Scott was gonna wait for her... it's all very frustrating. Add the fact that Shelley is a white woman and Arden isn't and, yeah... it's all very bad.

Plus the way season 6 not only sucked in general, but also how the writing was really bad at actually selling st/ydia and scalia. I really like what @bericas said in the tags of this post: #like on a real level#i just don’t understand what they wrote it like this#like#why would you do this#6a outside of the narrative telling us stydia showed stalia and scydia like crazy#and it’s so weird#if you’re gonna lie to me at least do it well. If they really wanted to make the endgames make sense, they really needed more time to do it. You can’t just decide to completely change your character dynamics for the last season of the show. Don’t know what the writers were on during that decision. 

TLDR: I think they’re a nice ship in theory but they just don’t work in canon. 

[scottappreciation]

Posey’s acting does a phenomenal job of communicating Scott’s despair in 5A, but I really love the almost childlike uncertainty he brings to the table in this scene from Status Asthmaticus.

Hayden’s dying, he’s fallen out with Stiles, Malia’s in the wind and Kira’s been gone for days, and he’s just seen the first glimpse of havoc the Beast is about to unleash, thanks to the busted school sign taking up half a halfway. And then Lydia texts him—a spot of hope!—so he goes to the library and can’t find her but when he calls her, he hears the phone.

But there’s no Lydia.

He’s already uncertain—there’s been a lot of steeling breaths and half-glazed eyes, and the almost dissociative way he spoke with Theo at the beginning of the episode—but there’s just something about the acting choice of holding the phone with both hands here that feels so small. Like a child clutching to a favourite animal in the dark, or a drowning man to a single piece of driftwood. He knows it isn’t going to help, not in any way that matters, but it’s literally all he has left to hold on to. 

Scott’s arc in s5 is really dependent on Posey’s ability to portray a lot of his emotional state through his body language and line delivery, and it’s little moments like this that really sell the performance.

[scullysdogkelly]

Forever mad that the show never explored Malia and Derek’s relationship. It was so focused on Peter being Malia’s dad that no one ever even acknowledged that she and Derek were also cousins! 

Now, I am all for the Malia’s canon choice of being a Tate instead of a Hale. Henry is her real father! Biology be damned! But it could’ve also been so good if after deciding that she doesn’t want Peter in her life, she realizes that she can still connect with her biological family through Derek. And Derek, who’s lost more family than he can count, welcoming her with open arms. 

– They grow to care for each other really quickly but they are both TERRIBLE at expressing it. 

– Just a bunch of awkward silences and nods, and LOADS of awkward shoulder pats from Derek. 

– She goes to him for advice and he tries his best to help her even though he does not feel qualified AT ALL. 

– Malia is already basically besties with Braeden in canon, they can have family dinners together! They just sit there silently eating food and it’s their absolute favourite time of the week. 

– Stiles gets invited one time but he can not shut up so he's never invited again. 

– And OMG, Derek and Malia working through their trauma together because they both feel responsible for their family’s death!!! Why did we not get this instead of Peter’s stupid dad arc????