I think the most heartbreaking part about the death of Cedric diggory is just Harry's reaction.
''Next time there’s a ball, pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does, and not as a last resort!''
Yule Ball - December 25th 1994
Every time I see someone say that Lucien screamed, "You're my mate!" to Elain after she emerged from the Cauldron, I think of this:
There are 2825 "Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)" stories on AO3 as of this morning. There are 161 "Scott McCall bashing" stories.
There are 18 "Bad Friend Stiles Stilinksi" stories on AO3 as of this morning. There are 5 "Stiles Stilniski Bashing"
Or maybe you can look at the lovely series "101 Ways to Kill Scott McCall."
Who's spreading hate?
Just a quick update, as I wanted to point something out.
There 2825 "Bad Friend Scott McCall" stories on AO3.
There are 2936 "Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura" tagged stories on on AO3.
SO WHO'S SPREADING HATE?
Just to remind everyone, this is the longest lasting relationship on the television show, hands down, at 42 episodes. This relationship had "whump", "enemies to lovers", "hostile parents," "hostile friends," "torn apart by fate," and more romantic tropes, and yet it receives the bare minimum of attention.
That's not even taking into account how many times it's a background relationship that gets two or three lines at most or is used to attack Scott's character. Think about how many times Scott has been accused of "chasing girls" by pursuing a relationship with Kira rather than, I don't know, following Stiles around like a service dog.
When you single out stories that include just this relationship (which does not mean it is the focus of the story but just the only tagged relationship) there are only 224 which is ONE FOURTH the number of stories featuring Derek Hale's Father, a character who was never named or discussed in 100 episodes and a movie.
But we're supposed to believe that there is a very good reason that peaceful and not at all hostile Sterek fandom is so fundamentally uninterested in this relationship as compared to exploring the story of Derek Hale's sperm donor or explaining how Scott was such a terrible, terrible friend for trying to save lives.
BUT IT'S NOT RACISM.
I'm sorry, but I don't understand what the amount of Scott/Kira has to do with your thesis that Sterek shippers spread hate. Fanfics are written by fans and there is no rule about what someone should or shouldn't write.
So whether or not Derek's father is explored I don't understand what it has to do with it, as well as the fact that there are few stories with Scott/Kira. First of all secondary pairs are not always tagged with /, often only the names appear, so your number is already not 100% accurate, secondly if you want to say the numbers you have to say them all: on ao3 (just one of the fanfic platforms I would like to remind you) at the moment there are 141,605 fanfics on Teen Wolf.
- 73,483 are stereks;
- 8,714 are Allison/Scott;
- 3,904 are Scott/Stiles;
- 3,669 are Isaac/Scott;
- 2,937 are Kira/Scott.
- 1,012 are Allison/Isaac/Scott
- 718 are Scott/Malia
- plus 899 where is either with Allison and Kira; Theo; Jackson; and others.
- while there are 321 fanfics with Derek/Scott/Stiles for your information.
This means that 22.495 fanfics have Scott in a tagged relationship (one more one less, also because I didn't go and look for all the possible ships).
Btw, of the 63 fanfics in the "101 Ways to kill Scott McCall" series only 9 include a relationship between Stiles and Derek.
- There are 2,179 fanfics with Bad Friend Scott McCall (and not 2,825 as you say by the way).
So, first of all we are talking about 2,179 fanfics out of 141,605 total, of which only 1,129 stereks (out of the 73,483 total stereks, I remind you).
So just to clarify, your claim that sterek shippers are hateful and racist towards Scott is only supported by 1,129 fanfics out of a total of 73,483 fanfics, which is 1.5364097819% to be precise. And here we are not even taking into consideration the fanfics where he is tagged as a bad friend but then in the end he redeems himself and they make peace or how -being a specific tag and not as widespread as you would like us to believe- many fanfics are written by the same author, decreasing the actual percentage of people writing about Bad Friend Scott McCall.
And you're also not taking into account that Scott is shipped (even canonically) with multiple people, so the total percentage of him being in a relationship is split between all the ships that involve him (where Stiles is mainly shipped with Derek and vice versa).
In all honesty, I couldn't care less if you hate Sterek or just fanfics about Derek's father (which apparently bothers you a lot), if you love Scott McCall and would like to see him more with that person rather than the other one, but please stop screaming racism or hateful fans just because people don't write enough of what you want.
There may be (and there are) many reasons why people may not like Tyler Posey and receive queerbaiting where they promise sterek if it wins the ship contest and then be told that whoever watches the show for that ship is delusional is one of these and it is perfectly valid.
The same goes for Scott McCall's character. If some fans don't like him, it doesn't mean it's due to the fact that the actor has a certain percentage of origins not considered white by Americans. The show itself gave the material to write stories where Scott is held accountable for his mistakes. And whether or not they can be thought of as real mistakes by you or me is completely irrelevant.
Fanfics are a way to escape and write about things we like, people don't have to write about people you like just because then you might accuse them of god knows what.
If there are racist fans this has nothing to do with sterek or any other ship. A person is racist no matter what the topic is and unfortunately there are still too many racists around. But this does not mean that it is the ship that generates racism.
Also, I would like to add that not all fans write fanfiction. There are dozens of people who love Teen Wolf who don't even know what fanfic is. Sterek fans being more prolific does not mean that they represent the real fan base. And among other things, fanfic is often written to share what you would have liked to see but haven't seen. Until proven otherwise, Scott's character has had his fair share of well-constructed romantic relationships. And it wasn't Sterek fans who pushed Arden Cho to leave, but Scallison fans. So if you really want to point fingers, look the other way.
It is absolutely true that there is no rule about what people should or shouldn't write. However, it's not about rules. It's about results.
When I compare the number of tagged Bad Friend Scott stories to the number of stories tagged with Scott and Kira's relationship, I'm not saying there is a specific ratio that should have been maintained. I'm saying that these results show that the fandom is far more interested in making a Hero of Color into a bad person than exploring one of the primary relationships in the story, which happens to be the relationship between two characters of color. What I am saying is that there being almost the same amount of stories in the 141,605 total stories underlines a significant problem.
Your own statistics confirm it. There are nearly 74,000 Sterek stories -- more than half -- for a relationship that did not exist in the show. Their canon relationship is a minor one that barely attained friendship. Again, there's no mandated ratio, but the idea that parts of the fandom could find that much to write about a relationship between two white male characters who never even expressed interest in each other but very little at all to write about a relationship that went on for 42 episodes between two of the main characters is not indicative of bias seems to be on shaky ground. While, simultaneously, they could find just as much to write about turning the Hero of Color into an antagonist or a downright villain (contrary to canon)?
That's not hate?
There's no rule that people have to write about Scott and Kira's relationship, a fundamental and extensive part of the story they profess to be fans off. Of course not! But the truth is that they don't. It's just not interesting to them. But what is interesting to them is a manufactured relationship about Derek and Stiles, two white male characters whose relationship is at the most only minorly relevant to the plot and themes of the show?
That's not hate?
You made a point about the Bad Friend Scott stories is that I am neglecting to take into account the ones where he is redeemed. I am doing nothing of the sort. Even if we set aside the fact that most of these are based on readings of canon designed to delegitimize Scott in his role as lead protagonist and that a lot of them use racist Latino stereotypes (sexually obsessive, stubborn and angry, lazy and uneducated), it would still be concerning. There are 2800 Bad Friend Scott stories -- all of them are uniformly popular and you know it -- and yet only 18 Bad Friend Stiles stories. I know, I know, fanfiction is transformational! But then where are all the Bad Friend Stiles stories? Or the Bad Friend Isaac stories for that matter?
Why is Scott McCall singled out as the Bad Friend? If fanfiction was only about exploration and transformation, wouldn't there be just as many Bad Friend stories about white male characters, too? Why, in so many Sterek stories, tagged and untagged, is Scott the sole character seen in opposition to Sterek? If it was just 'someone has to be the obstacle' wouldn't there be equal numbers where Isaac is the obstacle? Or Jackson? Especially since Scott was one of the few characters to love both Derek and Stiles canonically, why is he so often chosen to be the one who is the problem?
That's not hate?
As for Derek Hale's Father? Here are some more stats.
- Noshiko Yukimura (16 episodes) -- 503 works
- Ken Yukimura (20 episodes) -- 288 works
- Satomi Ito (4 episodes) -- 324 works
These characters, who are important to the story, who have interesting backgrounds -- and if you try to tell me that a 900 year old celestial kitsune, the human husband who tracked her down after divining her existence, and the world's oldest living werewolf are not interesting, I won't believe you! -- are less interesting to the fandom than a man who was never seen, was never referred to, and can only be seen as implied to exist because someone had to be Derek's father. Somehow, the fact that Talia and Satomi were close enough friends that Talia kept one of Satomi's gifts in her secret vault escapes their imaginations.
That's not hate?
And what has to do with Sterek? Your very statistics answer that question. It dominates the fandom to an inordinate degree. It dominated the fandom so much that conventions had to ban questions about it and the stars of the show had to beg off answering questions about it. Sterek shippers have not only made the entire fandom experience about a romantic relationship that never happened while sidelining or denigrating the actual character of color which the show was about (the absolute preponderance of post-3A Alpha Derek Hale stories should make that clear) but they have also felt entitled never to be questioned about whether that's a legitimate pursuit.
It doesn't have to be announced hostility. Sterek shippers looked at this show and said "the only thing that we find interesting about this show is something that didn't happen on the screen, and we will remain interested in that and only that seven years after the show has concluded."
As for fans disliking Scott McCall. They certainly could dislike him for reasons, reasons that every single time they explore them in meta posts, reaction posts, or fanfiction come down to things that other characters -- including the white male characters they do like -- indulged in just as much. How can they like Derek and Stiles and not like Scott? The show literally said that Derek and Scott were a lot alike (through Peter's mouth) and Stiles and Scott have almost too many parallel scenes but there is just something, some ineffable quality, that makes people dislike Scott that they don't have to explain and don't need to think about.
BUT IT'S NOT RACISM!
But that's a whole other thing! And no, it's not hate. Just because someone prefers to write about certain characters, doesn't mean they hate the others. And there are A LOT of supporting characters who became more famous than the main characters. This doesn't mean it's racism.
- Loki is preferred to Thor, is it racism?
- Octavia and Raven from The 100 are preferred to Clarke, is it racism?
- Regina of OUAT is preferred to Snow White or Emma herself, is it racism?
- Damon from The Vampire Diaries is preferred to Stefan, is it racism?
- Jughead from Riverdale is preferred to Archie, is it racism?
- In Sex Education Otis is the least favorite, is it racism?
- In Bones, Booth is one of the least favorites too, is it racism?
- Angel from Hazbin Hotel is preferred to Charlie, is it racism?
- In anime and manga there are plenty of secondary characters widely preferred to the protagonists to the point that the mangaka often go so far as to kill them to safeguard the main character.
- Or real secondary couples who are much more famous than the main ones: Zutara and Malec to name two, is this also racism?
I don't doubt that some fans are racist, what happened to Arden Cho is a clear example of that, but please don't mix things up.
Have you thought that Scott might not be the focus of fanfiction because he isn't deemed equally interesting?
There are plenty of posts here and online explaining why Scott's character generates conflicting opinions. People often prefer Macchiavellian characters to spotless and fearless heroes, Loki for example. And it's not even the fact that some can make mistakes and others can't, but the fact that when someone makes mistakes, they pay the consequences, for better or for worse, and recognize themselves as imperfect and not totally good.
Stiles is significantly more popular than Scott. This is a fact. But the question to ask is not what ethnicity the characters are, but what mentality they have. I'm not saying it's like this for everyone, but for many, the good one is boring. The good one doesn't surprise you, because you already know that they will make the "right" decision. The ambiguous character, on the other hand, you never know how they might react.
You can't be sure Magneto will save an innocent, but you know Charles Xavier will. You don't know if Loki will help the Avengers, but you know Thor will. You don't know if Regina from OUAT will help the group, but you know Snow White will.
And often it's not even a question of whether they will do it or not, but how: Regina is willing to kill to save others, Snow White is not. Stiles and Scott are the same. You know that Scott would look for another solution, at the cost of being injured himself. He said it explicitly in season four.
There's a pattern here: like it or not, good and sweet characters will always be outnumbered by morally ambiguous and distrustful ones.
Tyler Posey had the "bad luck" of getting the role of a good character, the classic hero. It's not about his ethnicity, because as I have shown, we're talking about a pattern.
Personally, as I've said in several posts, I can't stand Allison. Because unlike others who committed bad deeds, she was not held accountable, and she never apologized. If it weren't for the fact that she is considered canonically good, I wouldn't have a problem with the character itself, because for example I like Peter, in her madness I consider Kate to be a well-written character (I don't like her as a person!) and even Theo succeeded to redeem himself in part. One thing that people don't like about Scott, for example, is that he has made some mistakes but still persists in believing he is the right one (or at least that's the message the show wants to give). But going back to Allison, as I was saying, I don't like her and I find her relationship with Scott extremely unbalanced. I loved Kira, I loved her relationship with Scott, I think they were perfect together, but I recognize that they haven't really unlocked their potential. Arden Cho leaving wasn't planned. Is the fact that I prefer Kira to Allison racist? No, because there are reasons why I prefer one rather than the other. Whether other people agree or not is their problem.
Then, beyond the individual characters, it is no mystery that homosexual couples are the most popular in fandom. If you ask someone who doesn't read fanfic and doesn't have tumblr what the most famous ships with Scott or Stiles are, you can be sure that they will answer Scallison and Scira on one side and Stydia and Stalia on the other. Many people limit themselves to canon. However, if you ask those who frequent AO3 and social networks like tumblr, they will tell you about Scisaac and Sterek. Is Scisaac racist towards Scallison? No!
People don't care whether it's canon or not. People ship characters that aren't even from the same universe!! Jack Frost and Elsa for example. Because it's not always about what was written and broadcast on TV, but about what could have been. Scisaac was never even thought of in the show, but people still like it because they saw potential. Is this also racist for your tastes? Or hateful?
The Malec is the most famous Shadowhunters ship ever, people got closer to the books THANKS to the Malec. Why? Were they two white people while the protagonists were not? No, since Magnus isn't white while Clary and Jace are. But because they are a queer couple.
You can't deal with a discussion like this without keeping in mind all the factors involved. The queer fandom part is extremely important and is present in practically all fandoms! If queer people decide to see each other in non-canon queer couples, it doesn't mean they hate the canon ones, they're just not their focus (and here the question of lack of representation would arise. There are no non-canonical ships in the fandom of Sense8 for example, or Motherland Fort Salem, or Siren, because the shows already provide them). If people prefer more complex characters, it doesn't mean they hate the heroes of the story, they just find them less interesting.
And here we should talk about how Scott, of all people, was given the least background by the writers. The only dramatic event in his life that people might resonate with is the issue with his father, which however isn't explored in depth and doesn't particularly affect Scott (we only know what we know because the Nogitsune reveals it to Melissa). How can someone who apparently has no problems in life or particular traumas and has a loving mother and the love of his life who loves him back be more compelling to people than someone mistreated and locked in a freezer by his father, or someone who has had to kill his first love out of mercy, lost his entire family because of his second love and lost the last person he had left at the hands of his uncle, or someone who went mad after her mother's suicide becoming an almost serial killer, or even someone who lost his mother as a child and considers himself responsible for it, takes care of his father, often choosing the parental role for himself instead of that of son, and has been possessed by an evil spirit that he stained his hands with blood and made him believe he had the same terminal illness as his dead mother? It's not the fandom that took something away from Scott, it's the show itself that didn't make him a 360° character like the others.
Back to us, out of 141,616 fanfics, Stiles is present 107,034 times; Scott 54,665; Derek 85,264. Of the times Stiles is present, Scott is present 48,065 and Derek is present 79,336. This means that 27,698 fanfics aren't even sterek. And it always comes back to the fact that, like it or not, people like the gray character of Stiles more.
In addition to the fact that gray characters are preferred and in addition to the fact that gay couples in the world of fanfic are preferred, we must also add the dynamics of these couples.
Zuko and Katara will serve us as a first example. Is Katara preferred with the sweet, good, loyal Aang or with the villain with family trauma who later redeemed himself? Emma from OUAT is preferred in the heterosexual couple with Hook or in the sapphic couple with Regina, where Hook's "evilness" pales in comparison to Evil Queen's. Even in Supernatural the couple in question is between Castiel and Dean and not Castiel and Sam. In Gen V Marie is seen well with Jordan, and not with Andre or Luke.
All queer couples and with enemies to lovers relationships.
Scott and Kira have never been enemies to lovers. Scott and Allison were never enemies to lovers either, but rather a Romeo and Juliet retelling.
Look at the publishing market of YA fantasy: enemies to lovers are the favorite trope, followed by found family and sunshine x grumpy. Regarding romantic relationships, the found family is to be excluded, therefore Scott has none of the two remaining ones. Who is it, though, that in Teen Wolf has both Enemies to Lovers and Sunshine x Grumpy tropes? Sterek and Thiam. It is no coincidence that these two are the most popular couples.
But just because they are popular doesn't mean that people hate the friends to lovers that Scott or Boyd and Erica can have. It's just less intriguing to most people.
And to answer your question of why it's always Scott who is in opposition to Stiles and Derek the answer is simple: people like angst.
What do I do with the fact that the bully (Jackson) is against Stiles and Derek's relationship, why should he be an obstacle? Where is Stiles' emotional dilemma? The very fact that Scott is the most important person for Stiles (after his father) makes him the perfect candidate. Scott is someone Stiles doesn't want to lose. Scott is someone Stiles might think about before choosing Derek (Peter or whatever you prefer). And the show even provided some good source material to create such a scenario. I'm not saying that canonically this is the case, but that some canonical events are certainly usable. Scott was hostile to Derek for a long time before he learned to trust him. So not only is Scott perfect to create Stiles' dilemma but he also already has some canon motivations.
Fanfics are all about cutting and sewing, taking what you need from canon and adding the rest of fantasy. It doesn't help, then, that many fans didn't like the scene in season 4 where Scott doesn't believe Stiles about Donovan's death. Here a whole other question opens up about the fact that Scott had been manipulated by Theo, that Stiles hadn't really explained himself, but that at the same time that Scott should have at least asked Stiles' version before judging etc etc etc. All things that now is not the place or time to discuss, but which must nevertheless be kept in mind if we want to understand why Scott is "the chosen one" for fanfics of this type. As for the other options you provided like Isaac or others, they don't carry the same weight because there isn't a relationship on the show like the one that Stiles and Scott have.
Finally I can't understand if you don't like sterek shippers or that sterek is more famous than Scott and his relationships. What do you care if people keep sterek as otp for years? What does this fact change in your life or in your perception of the show? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like you're very fond of Scott's character and don't like that he's not as famous as you'd like.
First of all, I would tell you to consider yourself lucky, because a character you love has still canonically obtained a relationship that you like. That's more than many fans of any show can say they've had.
Secondly, people simply bond with characters. Derek for example is my favorite. I would choose him above all. And my favorite ship after Sterek is the one between Boyd and Erica. And to disprove your logic once again, if it was racism I should have put any of the many white couples on the show. Until proven otherwise, however, Boyd is very non-white.
In the end, if your goal is to demonstrate how Scott is an amazing character and how Scira should be more widespread, going against the other ships accusing them of hatred and racism without real concrete evidence is not the right way.
Positivity brings positivity.
The more you speak well of Scott, the more people you might convince that you are actually right. The more fanfics you write about Scott and Kira, the more people you'll get to ship the two of them. Sterek fans have the only fault of being prolific and not letting the canon stop them. But we must have started somewhere, there will have been a first sterek fic. Then more and more followed until we got to people who started Teen Wolf because they first met Sterek and then decided to see what the show was all about. I am one of these people for example. And personally it happened to me with many other ships.
Lastly, I'm gonna repeat myself because it never hurts, just because Scott isn't the protagonist in most fanfics, it doesn't mean he isn't loved as a character. From my experience, the only times he misbehaved was when the "Bad Friend Scott McCall" tag was there, in all the other thousands of sterek fics I've read (both on ao3 and Italian fanfiction sites) Scott is always a loving sweetheart and if Derek is associated with eyebrows and Stiles is associated with amber eyes/moles, Scott is associated with puppy eyes and the loyalty he has for Stiles and his friends, which is a beautiful thing.