#will yasmine actually have character development next season? probably not

[soe-leo]

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

I know it's been said before buy I just have to say I know the whole demetri and yasmine plot was just so that all the gay undertones of the rivalry and obsession and tension between Demtri and hawk could be easily overlooked

Lololol Anon you’re not even WRONG

Once they yeeted Moon out of the picture the writers were like “Oh shit, better No Homo it again!!!”

I guess in the writer’s (very feeble) defense, they DID set it up kinda, by having Demetri be like “Wow!!! I’d love to have Yasmine spit in my face!!!” and then very atrociously trying to hit on her at the beach party. But I thought his sorta-crush on her was just supposed to be like...comic relief??? Like “haha look at this nerdy guy being hot for this sexy popular chick he’ll never, ever get, isn’t it good memes???” I mean, him coming on to her at the party and just FAILING at every level was so incredibly funny BECAUSE of how much someone like her was just...never going to go for a dude like that in a million years. Like I thought that was the whole joke??? And Cobra Kai seems a bit more realism-leaning than some teen shows in how the teenagers actually act, so I figured from that angle it was gonna be the trope of “nerdy guy into hot popular bitchy girl” set up...but then, Reality Ensues, and she’s not only not remotely interested, but mildly to moderately disgusted at the idea. And that’s the comedy of it.

So yeah, after Season 1, I thought we were done with that whole arc, and it was literally just like...a joke “love” subplot to balance out the more serious relationship difficulties Miguel was having at the time. But now...Yasmine’s back, I guess??? And she apparently did a full 180 and is sorta nice now and went through a bunch of Character Development offscreen, none of which we got to see? So I GUESS her and Demetri were hinted to eventually become a thing, just like...very, very poorly. And in “hints” I assumed we were in no way meant to take seriously at all.

But yeah, the Yasmine/Demetri thing DOES seem kinda thrown in last-minute, given how finished that arc felt back in s1. And we only ever really get to see Yasmine when she’s interacting with Demetri, so it really feels like she was only brought back to be his love interest, which like...VERY weird flex, Cobra Kai writers, but okay :/

It IS incredibly sus how much time and energy Hawk and Demetri devote to their rivalry in particular, rather than like...idk, moving on with their lives??? Just ignoring each other and doing their own things, now that they are officially no longer bros and are in different friend circles, etc etc? Like they go OUT OF THEIR WAY to fuck with each other when they could just like...chill and move on. Like Demetri, a socially-awkward dude with limited people skills, works up the balls to get onstage and roast Hawk in front of an entire partyful of peers. Hawk SEARCHES THROUGH AN ENTIRE SCHOOL to hunt down Demetri at the school fight. Hawk goes up to Demetri on the first damn day back at school just to GLARE at him ominously (which I also just realized is RIGHT after some freshman girls give Demetri moony looks as they pass--jealous much???) Later on, Hawk coulda ignored Demetri and finished eating lunch with his Cool New Friends, but instead he goes out of his damn way to bust Demetri’s project and then come over and roast him about it. Demetri then eagerly goes over and reciprocates said roasting and spends that entire fucking soccer game tryna screw with Hawk in particular. They fricken almost IMMEDIATELY go for each other in the Golf N Stuff fight, IIRC. Really, they devote more time and energy to each other and their Rivalry™️ than either does to like...any other character? Like are Eli’s thoughts 90% “what’s the next thing I can do to fuck with Demetri?” Are Demetri’s thoughts 90% “what’s the next thing I can do to fuck with Eli?” Because like...I just don’t think obsessing over another man that much, even in a negative context...is very straight XD

There’s also the fact that their arcs are WAY more intertwined with each other’s than ANY girl either of them dates or interacts with. I mean ffs, Moon dumped Hawk BECAUSE of how he treated Demetri--even Hawk’s supposed Straight Romantic Subplot™️ ties directly back into Demetri! And the only reason Demetri joins Miyagi-Do at ALL and doesn’t just like...fade into the background in Season 2 is to show HAWK SPECIFICALLY that he can “fight back.” And later we have DEMETRI being the one to make Hawk realize he’s gone too far with Cobra Kai (i.e. his guilt after breaking Demetri’s arm) and ultimately being the catalyst that makes Hawk SWITCH SIDES! I honestly think every major point of development for both characters directly involves the other in some way--you could even argue Eli initially becomes “Hawk” in part because Demetri quits Cobra Kai, and isn’t around to stick up for him anymore--so he has to find another way to protect himself from bullying. Even their sense of “dojo rivalry” is mostly just about each other--Hawk’s animosity toward Miyagi-Do lowkey seems to stem almost entirely from Demetri in particular joining it and “betraying” him, while Demetri’s animosity toward Cobra Kai basically entirely comes from Cobra Kai taking Eli away from him. I literally like...cannot think of a single thing in either of their developments that doesn’t tie into the other in a major way. 

Like to put it plainly, Moon and Yasmine feel like a single step in each of the boys’ character journeys--a single turning point to spur them in a certain direction. But Demetri and Hawk just...ARE each other’s character journeys. They’re not a step for the other to discover something about themself or get pushed in a certain direction--they just ARE the entire arc for each other, if that makes any sense. Like you could argue BOTH Demetri and Eli/Hawk’s arcs like 90% center on how to navigate their relationship when Eli gains confidence and their interests diverge and they no longer need each other the way they used to. Like??? Name ONE aspect of either of their arcs that doesn’t tie directly into their undying gay love friendship in some way??? It’s INCREDIBLY integral to both their stories and is just...SO much more compelling to watch than either of them making out with hot girls at parties or in the hallway. And them repairing their relationship and/or evolving it as needed, realizing that they love each other too much to let one another go, even if they’re both somewhat different after everything??? And realizing it’s a romantic kinda undying love they’re feeling, because really, what good reason is there for it NOT to be??? We HAVE enough male characters in media already with strictly platonic/brotherly friendships, why not just let two male characters with a compelling story, a strong prior friendship, and REALLY good romantic chemistry just like...be gay??? It feels natural, it’s a good ending to their arc, it feels narratively satisfying in a “Finally having the ‘will they or won’t they’ couple get together” kinda way...why not do it??? It makes ALL the damn sense and would be incredibly thematically interesting and SATISFYING, but y’all writers are COWARDS DAMMIT

Just gonna make that crack ship from Season 1 canon so we can prove that Demetri isn’t gay, no sir??? No Homo my guy??? We can only have one (1) LGBT character per television show, or the “traditional values” viewers will come for us???

Pre Season 3 I honest to god was hoping that part of Demetri’s arc, if he ran into Yasmine again, would be him realizing that he could honestly do better than someone that bitchy and vile, and having enough self-respect to just...lose interest in someone who’s going to push him around, act like he’s beneath her, and talk smack about his friends the second she thinks they’re “lame.” Maybe it isn’t too late though, and we’ll see this in Season 4? Here’s to hoping, because I am going to THROW HANDS if this fricken pairing is ENDGAME endgame. Like...what even do these people have in common, besides getting wedgies??? Do they even have like...any of the same interests??? At all??? How are they going to build a lasting relationship off of...both having gotten a wedgie? And being mean to people sometimes, I guess?

Like, sure. Let them date for a bit--they’re horny teens, they’re prone to jumping into relationships for not exactly the most deep and meaningful reasons. Physical attraction, teenage horniness, and raging hormones are no joke. So sure, I can see them having a fling solely because they both think the other’s hot. But you wanna tell me they’d LAST??? No SIR, I must inform you I Do Not Buy it.

(Tfw you meant to do a short ask making memes about what a crackship Demetri/Yasmine was in Season 1 and you ended up having WAY too much to say about All The Things and now it’s 3 am and you’re typing like a madman. I probably cycled back across the same 5 points like 5 times each because it’s late and I’m not thinking straight, I apologize.)

[cobra-kai-never-dies]

Okay, fuck it. I’m too catawampus to do anything but think about ‘Cobra Kai’ right now, so I guess I don’t care that the premiere is like six hours away because here is some final pre-watch babbling, anyway:

Returning cast- I still don’t care about seeing Mike Barnes or Ali or really anyone from TKK2. I’m down to see OG Cobras or Julie, if that Wikipedia listing is accurate. I wouldn’t mind seeing a toned-down Terry Silver, but his actor hasn’t been onscreen in over a decade.

Echoes from the past- I wondered for a long time how much paralleling season 2 could do with TKK2 when they are staying put in the Valley, but I’m convinced that will see some elements- although some will undoubtedly be twisted in that way I think might become strongly associated with CK. What put me onto this was the second teaser, where they bring back the drum & the scrolls & even a flashback from the second movie. And that made me look back on the first teaser. The context & severity & purpose is quite different, but what we have- again- is the Cobra Kai sensei berating & physically punishing his top students in the wake of the All Valley. We also know that we will be getting ice breaking (probably in front of a crowd), which is obviously associated with the second movie. So what further parallels might we see? Daniel’s line about “destruction & disrespect” when he storms into CK makes me think his dojo might be vandalized. I think I saw where someone had the same idea? It’s a reasonable one, IMO.

The soap opera romances- I’m assuming that there will be something going on between Samantha & Robby. He was obviously interested from the first time he saw her, & she wasn’t immune. She’ll also like that her dad already approves of him. If they do that whole song reprisal thing again, I think they’ll get ‘The Glory of Love’ in much the same way that Miguel & Sam got ‘Young Hearts’. I’m less certain of a thing between Miguel & Tory. I can see Miguel trying to make a go of it to get over Sam, but I’m not sure he’s a guy who will easily move on from a first love even when he wants to. It did look like Tory might be into him though, so his torch-carrying for Sam will be a problem for her if so. I truly sort of hate that Johnny is on something resembling a date with Carmen in that one clip, but it’s not because I don’t want Johnny to date Carmen. Hell, I want Johnny to marry Carmen. It’s just too soon. He’s still a mess, & he needs to get his shit together first. I think Hawk & Moon will break up, pushing Hawk closer yet to the edge. I’m sad about it. Daniel & Amanda may wind up struggling a bit with the shift in his focus, but NBD.

Johnny- He’s gonna struggle big time with Kreese being there, & that might eventually lead to two divided CK factions. It is my most fervent hope that he will- someday- get a chance to make Cobra Kai what he truly wants it to be. But before he can even begin to get there, he needs to face his demons.

Daniel- He’s gonna work on starting his dojo & hopefully eventually realize that he needs to chill with the competition angle because it’s undermining the whole concept of Miyagi-Do karate. I think that will happen- eventually. And he may waver. But I think that Daniel still knows in his heart that Johnny isn’t Kreese.

Kreese- He’s a freaking snake & will try to take over CK, even while we get a more nuanced portray of his philopsopy & motivations.

Miguel- He needs to find a balance between the sweet boy he was & the badass he is now. He needs to avoid letting Tory be a bad influence on him if they do get involved. He needs to be told about Robby. I think his connection with Johnny could lead to him questioning the whole Kreese situation. It’s obvious that Johnny isn’t comfortable with it, & Miguel will hopefully see that.

Robby- He needs to find a driving motivation that isn’t getting back at his dad. He’s on the right path, but he needs to make peace with that relationship one way or another.

Samantha- The appearance of a rival indicates that this will be a big season for Sam. Hopefully she matures. Samantha’s great flaw is that she lacks the courage of her convictions, so she winds up unintentionally hurting people when she should have their backs. I think that’s very believable, given her raising. She takes it easy because she’s always had it easy, but owning & growing out of that weakness will need to be a vital component of her character development if she’s going to be anything resembling a heroine.

Aisha- I guess she’s leading the class in jab punches. She may be taking the back burner this season because Yasmine has been defeated & the dojo war has to put a damper on her friendship with Samantha. Hopefully she’ll have something substantial to do next season.

Hawk- His path looks pretty dark right now. I’m gonna put the food court fight in episode 5 because I’m absolutely convinced that it’s basically going to serve as the flip-side to Miguel’s 1.5 cafeteria fight. Miguel won that fight & brought in droves of new recruits for CK. We can see in the trailers that Hawk & his buddies lose this fight in another public eating area. And given that CK is apparently raking in students & money, beating a highly-visible representative of that dojo- c’mon, who can miss Hawk’s hair?- has to be a boon for Miyagi-Do. He’s fighting with Demetri, but I also think there might be a issue with Miguel brewing. In the trailer, Hawk kicks Miguel into a tree. The Cobras are obviously doing a training exercise at that point, but... I remember something I once read about a highly competitive gym that trained Olympic athletes. One of the trainers there compared the athletes to scorpions in a can that would fight until only one was left. As I’ve said before, Miguel doesn’t seem to resent sharing Johnny’s time with other kids. But what if Hawk is stewing on his losses- the mall fight & possibly Moon? What if Kreese is like that Olympic trainer & pits the kids against each other in a struggle for supremacy? I can see that happening. And Miguel won’t be Kreese’s little dude so long as he’s Johnny’s little dude. But Hawk is obviously a different story.

Demetri- I still don’t love that Demetri is studying karate, but I’m also having a hard time imagining him becoming very good at it. Really, though- does everyone who studies karate have to become a black belt? Miyagi-Do does seem like a better fit for his personality. I’m assuming that he’s fighting with Hawk because he won’t accept who his old friend is now, which speaks to one of Demetri’s genuine strengths- the kid knows his own damn mind & isn’t easily convinced of much. I do wonder how his friendship with Miguel fares.

Tory- First off, I don’t see her being Ali’s kid. I’ve seen too many glamour shots of Peyton to not recognize how they’ve deliberately roughened up her edges for this role, & that probably wouldn’t be necessary if she were playing a surgeon’s daughter. I’m hoping she’s not just some kind of psychopath because I find that to be a boring-ass motivation, but I’m also just not sure how much context you can give to using a spiked bracelet as a weapon during a school fight. Did they tip their hand too soon with her? IDK. But if she isn’t a psycho, then what that tells me is this girl feels like she has nothing to lose in that moment. She is new to the Valley, and troubled. Where does she come from? I’ve been reading “wrong side of the tracks” since that first image of her. So, she goes to CK & learns of a rival dojo. This rival dojo has one girl, just like it’s meant to be. Samantha, like Tory, is a pretty girl who can fight- but then she has so much more going for her: her two adoring parents, her big beautiful house, the white BMW she was gifted the day she turned 16. And she has a cute boy- the All Valley champion & the runner-up, no less!- wrapped around each of her pink-nailed pinky fingers. Sam has known stability & privilege & comfort her entire life. And for a girl like Tory, that resentment could burn. It would probably amount to nothing, if not for the dojo war. But what could prompt such an attack on Samantha? I looked to TKK2 for a possible clue & found one. Might Tory be disowned- AKA kicked out of CK? Is she Chozen to Sam’s Daniel?

A fight to the death- And if so, maybe that fight is also flipped. I think that we all know something major will have to go down to make a team-up happen. Somebody may have to be hurt, & I think Samantha makes the most sense. She is Daniel’s daughter, possibly Robby’s girlfriend, & Miguel‘s ex. She isn’t really anyone in particular to Johnny, but he may need the least convincing. So say Samantha loses her fight with her Chozen & is seriously hurt. This idea bears an unfortunate resemblance to fridging, but I don’t think it counts because Sam is an active character in her own right & is fighting her own battle when this potentially happens. Random note- Peyton stated in an interview that her CK stunts included a huge fall, which I took to mean from a height. But she gave no context, so IDK. And actually, I’m not even sure Sam has to *lose* the fight so long as it’s sufficiently shocking to the others. Either way, I feel like whatever happens with Tory in the aftermath will provide a mechanism by which the other Cobras- particularly Hawk- may be saved.

[rochellespen]

Watching Doctor Who Season 37 (Series 11), Episode One

I’ve been reluctant to talk about the newest season of Doctor Who publicly, despite being a fan for years, having run a Doctor Who blog at one time and now slowly integrating that fandom onto the main blog I use these days. It’s not because there was a point where I stopped being a fan, even though my interest isn’t always at its peak. No, it boils down to another reason.

I am one of those fans who was wary/skeptical about having a female Doctor.

This isn’t the most popular fandom opinion out there and to some extent, I can understand why. Far too many “fans” (and I use that term with reluctance) used the announcement of Jodie Whittaker’s casting to spew all sorts of horrible, sexist (if not downright misogynist) opinions along with expressing disdain for “progressive” people/ideas in general. It was an ugly display of the worst in fandom politics.

Sadly, these people seemed to become the “face” of fans who weren’t enthusiastic about a female Doctor and hey, who wants to be associated with jerks like that? I certainly didn’t. And I certainly didn’t feel like having to explain my own reasoning over and over again at best or at worst dealing with drama and arguments just because I have this view. 

So, I just...avoided the new season and any fandom things related to it. Didn’t watch the episodes. Didn’t check out one iota about the new season on social media. Didn’t read any issues of Doctor Who Magazine that could give away potential spoilers or details about the newest season. I remained blissfully unaware of the most current episodes of Doctor Who Heck, I didn’t even know the names of the new companions or any of the episodes. It wasn’t easy, but looking back on it, I’m glad I made that choice.

However.....

I still consider myself a Doctor Who fan. Having a female Doctor, while not my ideal choice, wasn’t going to invalidate all the years I spent watching both Classic and New Who, all the hours I listened to Big Finish audios or all the time spent reading comics/published spinoff novels and fic. Also, this isn’t the first time I haven’t agreed with a casting or story choice, although if there’s one constant to Doctor Who it’s that it’s always changing. 

So I’m always aware that, if you totally love something on the show or don’t care for it at all, it doesn’t really matter. Because it won’t be forever anyway. 

Although that said, none of my concern for this new season was due to the casting of Whittaker in particular mainly because I haven’t seen her in anything and can’t really comment on her abilities as an actress. That’s actually the same boat I was in for just about every other Doctor before I saw them on the series (with the exception of Patrick Troughton who I had seen in a couple of movies before seeing him as the Doctor). 

No, my concerns were totally focused on how the change to a female Doctor would be handled by the writers and directors of the show. It seemed like something that could become cringey and regrettable so easily if handled badly.

Still, I knew deep down that I would eventually want to watch the newest season anyway. However, I surprised myself when I realized all the ways I kept putting it off and I kept wondering why I was so reluctant to finally watch the new season.

Eventually, I think I understood why: because the reasons why I never wanted this development were still nagging at me. Would a female Doctor be treated more like a gimmick the same way the concept had been in EU media for years? Would we get vaguely sexist and/or transphobic jokes about how she had been a man before and “hurr hurr, she do lady things now”? Would the show start to head in a direction I dreaded, such as making it more about soapy romance drama rather than friends having adventures in time and space?

Putting aside my own fandom preferences isn’t always easy, but today I finally decided to say “heck with it” and take the plunge. 

This post is the first of a series where I’m going to reflect on my first impressions each episode of the season as I watch it and see if and how my opinions about these changes evolves.

So let’s get started with....

The Woman Who Fell To Earth (nice Bowie reference, by the way....)

Spoilers aplenty under this cut....

Episode thoughts

If you’re going to start a new era of Doctor who, you’re probably best off starting it with a story with plenty of action and emotional intensity. 

On that count, this opening episode fulfills this mission well. It starts out nicely by giving the audience a mini-mystery about these aliens and their intentions that unfolds at the same time that it does for the main characters. It only seems a little disjointed at first, but in classic Doctor Who style, the pieces come together quickly and even manage to give us a surprise or two at the end, such as how the Doctor can still maneuver things around to her advantage without us even realizing it. I even liked the framing device of Ryan talking about this amazing woman she knew and the twist that it wasn’t the Doctor....

Although....I honestly just knew that Grace was going to die long before the episode ended. The foreshadowing was just a bit thick although, I can forgive it though, because it’s still less heavy handed than I’ve seen elsewhere.

The pacing was great too, giving us the right mix of peril and action and quieter moments where we get to know these new companions and they, in turn, are getting to know this new Doctor (once again, in tandem with the audience which I like).

If I had one complaint, it’s that the alien threat was a bit too pat. A Predator-type villain that we’ve all seen before and didn’t really have anything new to offer here. Maybe if we had learned more about his race and society it would have come off more interesting. As it is...he’s the blue guy who hunts those “inferior races” and who also has his teeth fetish.....

I almost had a complaint about the episode continuing on after the resolution of the main story, but after thinking some more about it...no, I actually like that they took the extra time to show us more of these people’s lives and who the Doctor has become. It’s too easy to stick to the “fix problem and then *boom* goodbye” way of ending a Doctor Who episode, so kudos for taking a break from that format.

And I really was not expecting that sort of ending for the episode. So I guess we’re back to the Doctor accidentally kidnapping people then. XD And that was a solid cliffhanger at the end. I just hope they actually take the time to give it a satisfying resolution. 

Character thoughts

This is where I think the true meat of the episode was and rightly so as it’s a whole new TARDIS team.

I like these new companions. I like that they aren’t complete strangers to each other while also probably having huge gaps in how well they truly know each other. I also like that this is going to be a diverse set of people who have differences in age, gender, ethnicity and life experiences. 

What I also like is that these feel like actual people rather than ideas. Graham clearly is skeptical and critical, but also has good ideas and wants to help out. Ryan has a huge chip on his shoulder, but keeps on trying. Yasmin seems to get frustrated when things fly out of her control, but she adapts quickly to new situations. 

In other words, we’re given glimpses into how these people are flawed and yet good potential companions for a new Doctor trying to find herself.

And speaking of a new Doctor....

I really had no idea what to expect with Whittaker’s take on the role and thus, I knew whatever I got would be a surprise. My only hope was that it wouldn’t be something that would make me roll my eyes. Thankfully, the former turned out to be true and the latter turned out to be something I didn’t need to worry about.

With every new Doctor I watched while going through the series, there was this sort of “waiting” during their first episode/storyline. A holding period while I looked for a moment where the latest Doctor went from “ok, this is different” to “ok, this is the Doctor” for me. That scene where they just clicked into the role and made that incarnation their own.

That moment came for me while she was tinkering about trying to explain what regeneration was like. Some Doctors are more blase about it than others, but here, I think we got a look at Thirteen’s mindset with the honest, earnest way she talked about it....with the fun moment of eccentric levity at the end. 

It is different as far as the energy and personality....and yet, I was so comforted by how Doctor-y it felt to me. That and the moment where she managed to make a sonic screwdriver out of stuff she found around a guy’s shop space....

By the end of it, I was finally able to let go of the tense feeling of worrying if this would work out to being intrigued with what Thirteen would do next. I was even laughing (in that friendly way you do with characters you like) at the quirks that she appears to be cultivating for this incarnation. 

The Last Word

Overall, a solid, intriguing way to start this season. The writers have some interesting characters to work with and it looks like they are going to have the episodes have some connection to each other. Both of which have plenty of promise depending on how they are handled. 

Most of all though, I am happy to say that I’m looking forward to seeing more. And that is the outcome I was dearly hoping for.