Ready To Fly

saucefactory:

This?

This is who Stiles really is.

Not the snarking, not the spazzing, not the flailing.

Well, not just that.

What he really is… is this incredible thinker, this incredible planner, a tactician that you goddamn well need on your pack team if you have any intention of winning.

He’s perceptive in the extreme, canny as a canny thing, and arguably more intelligent, in real-world situations, than Lydia the genius is. Lydia couldn’t figure out what supernatural hell was breaking loose all around (and within) her, despite being given all the clues - but Stiles? Not only worked out what was up with Scott almost instantaneously, but also figured out what to do about it. Again, almost instantaneously.

And it’s not just because Scott’s his best friend. Jackson is Danny’s best friend, but Danny has thus far managed to stay willfully ignorant of the weird shit going down in Jackson’s life and in the entire town. I mean, I love Danny, but seriously, dude? The guy you grow up with is turning into a GIANT MUTANT LIZARD. That kills people. And you haven’t noticed anything? And Lydia, sweetheart, the guy you’ve been in love with and that you’ve dated is turning into a giant lizard, and you haven’t noticed anything?

Stiles isn’t oblivious. About anything.

He keeps his eyes open. More importantly, he keeps his mind open.

He does his research. He covers his bases. He thinks.

He figures it all out.

He has the deepest focus and strongest will of anyone on the show.

That’s why Deaton gives him that job, the job of willing the dust to work.

Stiles is the only one with that insurmountable will.

And that will is what we see, in this picture, coupled with his intelligence.

That’s who he is.

That’s why Peter wanted him so desperately.

That’s why Peter respected him enough to offer the bite.

And when a guy like Peter respects someone? You’d better believe there’s something worth respecting.

I’m just waiting for everyone else to clue in and realize what an asset Stiles is - especially Derek - but one of the things that makes Stiles so effective, as a tactical wildcard, is the fact that so few people know how important he is.

Sometimes, I even find myself thinking that he’s planned it that way.

When an opposing pack (or a hunter) targets Derek and Scott, they’ll take out those people that they see as posing the greatest threat. Stiles is the sort of person most of them would ignore - this dorky little kid in a plaid shirt, uncoordinated and awkward, overly fond of junk food and unattainable girls. Just your average Joe, right?

Wrong.

Stiles keeps the people he loves safe, in part by appearing to be innocuous. He’s the stealth security system. The hidden booby-trap. The silent tripwire. The quiet landmine. (I’m running out of metaphors, here.)

He’s the threat you don’t take into account, when you go after Derek’s pack.

You can plan for Scott, for Boyd and Isaac and Erica. You can even fight them, in the sort of conventional warfare that they’re capable of. (And that’s all they’re capable of. Being conventional.)

Stiles, though? Is anything but conventional.

He’ll make fucking Molotovs in a school lab. He’ll bribe a hacker with the shirtlessness of a hot cousin. He’ll find out how to categorize you and how to take you down. He’ll research the hell out of you. He’ll have contingency plans. He’ll sneak into police stations. He’ll collude with ex-cons. He’ll make sure that people are where they need to be.

And all the while, you’ll be aiming for the more obvious threats, the ones with fangs and fur and claws.

And that’s why you won’t be able to get to the more obvious threats. Because, while you’re focused on them, Stiles will be focused on you.

You’ll never know what hit you.

And, ironically enough, neither will they.

The people Stiles saved.

That’s who Stiles is. Stealth-Ninja of Awesome.

He does the work, but doesn’t get the credit for it, because he doesn’t set out to get credit for it. Not only because he’s selfless (which he is), but because he’s clever. He knows it’s better to stay under the radar. You can’t nuke a goddamn submarine if you don’t know where it is.

Stiles for the win, people. Stiles for the win.

savedean:

A day in the life of Stiles…

(Source: dixonwings)