See the part where 'Scott winning means Derek losing' is another one of those things that actually hint at unintentional racism. I know it sounds harsh. But it comes from the notion that Derek is 'owed' certain things.
Like the notion of Derek being 'owed the right to be an alpha', or 'owed a pack'
Now don't get me wrong, Derek is probably my second favorite character on the entire show. Right after Scott. There's a reason I love scerek so much.
Derek's growth over the course of the show, was one of the best examples of character development the show had, right along with Scott's and Lydia's. Because those are the three characters who grew the most, and character development is like katnip for me ;-)
But part of that character development had to come from Derek facing consequences for his mistakes, just like Scott did. Because like Lydia and Scott, Derek actually is forced to face consequences for his bad behavior.
When Derek went from antagonist and mirror to Scott in s1 to becoming a full on villain in s2, we see the consequences of this in his relationship with his pack.
He doesn't lose his pack because of Scott, he loses his pack, because he's using them, because he's taking advantage of them. He loses Scott's trust, because he betrays Scott, because he lies to Scott. And as a direct consequence his pack rejects him, Boyd and Erica run away, Isaac leaves him for Scott... And Scott flat out calls him out and rejects him in masterplanner.
But it's 'because' of this, and because in s3 Derek starts learning from his mistakes, that he becomes a better person, and as a result a more interesting character.
When he gives up his alpha spark, it's just such a moment of growth for Derek. Of giving up that toxic masculinity and need to be dominant, and to choose love and family over power. It's something his uncle Peter has been utterly incapable of. And it's why Derek eventually finds himself as part of the pack, whereas Peter remains an omega, even after he's reunited with his daughter.
The problem for a lot of fandom is that they are used to seeing the dark broody anti hero be the main character. It's the clichΓ©, the boring expected outcome. With of course said dark broody anti hero eventually proven right, and everyone has to apologize to the poor dark woobie and grovel for his forgiveness...and they resent Scott for being the main character instead. They resent Scott for not just stepping out of the way, and letting Derek (or Stiles) be the main character instead.
After all, that's what most shows would have done. The poc char gets to be the leader, or the main char stand in, till the white guy is ready for leadership, and takes up the position. (just look at what Teen Titans did with Aqualad and Robin)
Because teen wolf didn't go with the boring clichΓ© that they expected the show to go for. Instead the show subverted the clichΓ© and gave Derek actual growth, allowing him to mature instead and to become a better character as a result.
People talk about 'Scott doing dumb stuff' which of course, he's a teenager, doing dumb stuff is part of that. (though these same people also complain about Scott being 'too perfect' without any hint of realizing that this is a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't paradox)
But you don't see these same people focus on all the dumb shit that Stiles does. (and to far greater degree than Scott does)
When Stiles, or Derek, or Isaac, or Jackson... behaves flawed, or immaturely.. when they make mistakes, it's seen as 'making them more interesting', or excused with 'they're just kids', but with a Latino character like Scott, any flaw, or mistake he makes, gets instantly condemned and is treated as damning. And even sixteen year old kid Scott is expected to behave more instantly mature, more like an adult, than an actual adult like Derek. Because poc kids like Scott don't get to be kids, and they sure as hell aren't given the lenience that white characters are treated with. (this also happens with female characters like say Allison. Whose mistakes are treated far more harshly than far worse mistakes made by white male characters)
It's esp noticeable how often people give Scott flaws that he doesn't even have, while ignoring his actual canon flaws, because they don't fit the stereotype they try to push Scott into.
It actually makes it hard to talk about Scott's actual flaws, his actual mistakes, because far too often posts about those are used not to discuss Scott's actually character, but are used instead as an excuse to attack him even more.
Take the scene in Lies of Omission, where Scott confronts Stiles with the wrench. Fandom often uses this scene to condemn Scott, when if you actually look at the scene, Stiles is the one actually at fault.
I've even seen Stiles fans claim 'well Scott is at fault for talking about it with Stiles at that point, instead of delaying it' (or something along those lines)
But those same fans don't point out that Stiles had a chance to tell Scott about Donovan's death for over a week, if not longer, ... It's Stiles lies that led to that situation, and Stiles refusal to ask questions about just what Theo told Scott. But somehow Scott is supposed to be completely emotionally detached and logical and ask Stiles all the right questions, while perfectly reading Stiles mind... Despite all the trauma Scott is going through at that point. Despite Stiles attack on Scott, despite Stiles throwing abuse at Scott...
That's part of what I mean when I say that often Sterek fics, push Scott into the 'lamp' mode or 'fluffy teddybear' mode even in 'Scott is a good friend' fics. whereas in 'stiles is a bad friend' often they just push Stiles' and Derek's canonical negative traits onto Scott.
These same fics can go on and on about Isaac's trauma, or Liam's trauma, or Jackson's trauma. While still focusing on Stiles and Derek.
Yet for Scott it's like they completely flatten his portrayal and limit him entirely to being Stiles' emotional support. If you replaced him with a teddybear, he'd have the exact same role, which is something these writers don't do with other characters, aka white male characters.
I'm not saying people can't have character preferences. But it just gets hard to ignore when people claim to hate Scott's character, for traits he canonically does not have. And when it's obvious they weren't paying any attention to the show itself, and are basing their dislike of the character on how he's portrayed in fanfic, or assumptions they have on whom they assume him to be, rather than on what the character was actually like in canon. Along with a strong refusal to think deeper on the character beyond the surface level.
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