Just Hawk...

Hiiiiii @soe-leo! Always nice to hear from one of the other regulars in the Binary Boyfriend fandom! I love your posts so much and The Cobra Effect absolutely SLAPS and is still one of my all-time favorite Elimetri fanfics <3

There’s actually a couple of fics on ao3 that I really like that address what Moon would think of them being together!!! They’re called Sparrowhawk and With Friends By Your Side, both by none other than the lovely @cc-tinslebee! (Btw bro I SEE YOU WITH ALL OF YOUR TAGS IN YOUR REBLOGS AND I APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW). Sparrowhawk has Moon and Demetri talking about both their relationships to Hawk, and later Hawk and Demetri’s budding romance. With Friends By Your Side has Moon giving Hawk “the talk” about not breaking her friend’s heart after they (somewhat awkwardly) reconnect through Demetri. Both worth a read to get a snippet on what Moon’s take on their relationship might be!

My personal take is that Moon would be somewhat wary at first, since she definitely knows how destructive Hawk can be at his worst. And hell, she remembers being so angry about him hurting Demetri that she left him for it, and she might not trust that that person is completely gone now. But Moon has also seen a softer, kinder side of Hawk, too (or at least we’re led to believe they were serious enough in their relationship that she has, lol. We didn’t actually see him being all that “soft” around her in the show proper, I feel like.)--I imagine it’s what led her to believe that she loved him. She’s seen, perhaps, some of his sensitive side, and loyal and committed he is when he makes up his mind that someone or something is what he wants (he DID get a tattoo for her, after all--it may have been some impulsive teenager dumb shit, but it’s still no small thing XD). And she’s seen firsthand how much he DOES care for Demetri at the end of the day, even if he doesn’t show it in super obvious ways. She saw Hawk constantly inviting Demetri to hang out with her and his other Cobra Kai friends and making an effort to include him in everything he could, despite Demetri having no affiliation whatsoever to Cobra Kai. She saw Hawk pull Demetri onstage at Valley Fest so that he could get in on the spectacle and be a part of the show. And, of course, Moon can see the genuine care from Demetri’s end, too--going to the All Valley Tournament to support Hawk despite basically having no interest in karate, just to name one thing. Moon can definitely tell these boys have a bond, and it’s possible she may have even picked up on it somewhat while she and Hawk were dating. She’s not the jealous type, of course, so she doesn’t feel threatened by Demetri--she’s secure enough in her relationship to not see him as competition. If anything, she feels an odd kind of solidarity with Demetri, because he can look past the lip scar and the overcompensating hairdo and see the beautiful, gentle, and loyal parts of Hawk, just like she can.

Of course, after everything that goes down between Demetri and Hawk, Moon can’t help but be overprotective of Demetri--she’s got an almost maternal streak, and I imagine she’s very protective of her friends and goes much more Mama Bear than you’d expect when they’re in harm’s way. She’s not a physical fighter, of course, but she’ll damn well fight for them with her words, like she did for Demetri when she broke up with Hawk. However, she’s seen that these boys have a genuine connection, and always probably felt a kind of “energy” between them, as she’d put it--and if anyone would be willing to let bygones be bygones and give people another chance, I feel like it’d be Moon. She knows Hawk can be good to Demetri (and mind you, he’d better be, or he’s going to get an earful from her), and she knows that he really does care. She just has to hope Hawk is at enough peace with who he is now that he doesn’t take his insecurities out on Demetri again and drive another rift between them.

Aaaaahhhhh I can totally see this happening!!! Like Demetri seeing that kiss incident as all water under the bridge and not thinking it matters anymore, and figuring hey, they’re among friends now--no one there is going to judge them for some dumb practice kissing they did years ago. And him just completely underestimating how embarrassed and ashamed Eli still is of the whole thing, and how much he still isn’t really...over it. 

“Then why did you say all of that private stuff? One public humiliation wasn’t enough?” AHHHHH I CRI ;____; Yeahhh...despite how much Demetri and Eli want back in each other’s lives, Eli ain’t forgetting that little speech at Moon’s party in a hurry. As awful as Eli was to Demetri prior to that, and as much as Eli honestly had it coming, it’s hard not to feel bad for Eli that he was honestly probably terrified after that of Demetri throwing out more private stuff about him whenever Demetri wanted, and Eli couldn’t do anything about it. And, of course, he was probably terrified the whole time they had their rivalry that Demetri would let loose about the time they made out. Demetri would never stoop that low, of course, and it would also kinda be throwing Dem himself under the bus (it takes two tango--or have a gay makeout sesh, in this case--after all), but Eli had no way of guaranteeing that, and of course was probably really paranoid after the whole sleep enuresis thing getting revealed. Demetri’s definitely got some work to do before Eli fully trusts him the way he used to.

Eli flinching when Demetri’s like “No one things you like guys or anything”...ouch, my heart :( Poor boy has enough internalized homophobia to fill a small country, probably. But Demetri putting together that Eli does like boys and IMMEDIATELY going in to support him and reassure him and make sure he knows that he doesn’t think any less of him and that he still cares for Eli immensely??? Demetri holding Eli while he cries it out, and letting him process his emotions while showing he’s still there for him no matter what??? Absolute perfection. The pinnacle of human creativity and imagination.

And Demetri’s totally right, for the record--none of their friends are about to think poorly of them for a few stolen gay practice kisses in middle school, and in fact Miguel basically concluded these two were homosexuals from Day 1 anyhow. So when they walk back into that room finally, and if/when Eli chooses to open up to the rest of the team about being gay, you dun best believe the whole dojo is gonna have his back! No one’s gonna think any less of Eli for liking/having kissed Demetri--after all, everyone already called it anyways XD Someone owes someone $20, I’m betting.

AlSO CONFESS YOUR LOVE YOU DAMN IDIOTS DEMETRI YOU LIKE MEN TOO YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL, DID YOU THINK KISSING ELI AND LOVING IT WASN’T GAY??? I’VE GOT SOME BAD NEWS FOR YOU PAL

And why frame the issue as “the mohawk didn’t define who you were” when Hawk literally says he feels he deserved what happened. Shouldn’t that have eventually lead to a scene where someone assures him that he didn’t deserve it? Does the narrative want us to believe he deserved it? I desperately don’t want to believe that was their intention. But that’s what I mean when I say they mishandled a frankly dark subject matter. 

Demetri: So, everyone knows the power of love is a curious thing right?

Eli/Hawk: Don't you dare say it can turn a Hawk into a little white dove!

And I do love that song

No. The show portrays this “transition” or mask as something the Eli created “overnight” at first glance but if you watch closely there are still quite a few instances where Eli is clearly uncomfortable with “Hawk”. Sometimes an autistic person might start something we call mimicking to fit into a drastically new situation, in this case Eli really wanted to be friends, good friends with Miguel and he wanted the protection and power that Miguel had. So he mimicks both Miguel and Johnny (particularly Johnny quite a lot!). Mimicking is the base to any autistic mask.

Some examples of mimicking and masking

•the way Hawk speaks about women and “nerd shit” none of these things are his own opinions or thoughts it’s obviously regurgitated from Johnny. We especially see this when Demetri clocks what Hawk is saying as insane/ridiculous at the park and they have a little moment over it.

•his fighting style in the beginning it’s incredibly similar to Miguel’s, his desire to get a girlfriend, randomly gets with Moon at the first big party is quite FULL on with her too. (Something Miguel did with Sam, Miguel did it more  eloquently).

•mimicking Johnny’s literal face, Johnny teaches them all a style of fighting but Hawk really mimicks it so hardcore it’s almost laughable. Be tough strike hard, no pussies, the fucking back tattoo and that ridiculous movement he does with it (notice how that little move fades over time).

•how genuinely confused he is very frequently

•citting the situation after the  tournament Johnny says “yes Robby is my son but that has nothing to do with how I run my dojo” and Miguel replies “yes  sensei” and Eli is confused “but but”. Miguel clearly understands there are deeper issues going on here but Hawk is just upset because he doesn’t understand. Hawk almost always looks at people to gauge reaction (which is very common with ASD) and see how he in turn should react.

•it can be difficult to mask and mimick around people who know your autistic self well, we see this frequently between Demetri and Hawk. I’d say Hawk almost always drops the Hawk mask even for a moment whenever he’s with Demetri or gets triggered and becomes incredibly upset (be Demetri being a safe person he’s lost is very difficult)

If this was a genuine personality change Eli wouldn’t feel the INCREASING guilt he has over the Demetri arm situation citting the beating up of his team mates at Daniels house (also sometimes we as autistic people will do a gesture vs use words and I think that contributes to the forgiveness scene between Demetri and Eli). Also he drops the mask when Kyler joins the Dojo because he triggers Eli.

Yes. Great question, let’s get into it!

* I am autistic

Starting off with Eli before Hawk

I’ve seen some people theorize that Eli’s mum was dressing him and that’s why his style changes so drastically, I don’t agree.

Gif by @miguelsc

• the oversized clothes, sweaters, polo’s are a purposeful choice. Eli uses these clothes to hide to cover himself. That’s what he’s doing during this time, he wants to be hidden. He doesn’t want to be seen so he chooses these neutral colours and loose fitting garments.

•After the Halloween dance + after the first time at the dojo Eli learns that covering his scar helps him with his confidence and since he can’t cover half his face all the time a distraction might work better. (In comes the hair, and the tattoo)

Gif by @miguelsc

•the clothes at this point are still pretty muted

•graphic teeshirts , tighter pants, but the colours are still muted (blues, grey, black)

•sweaters/hoodies are still a major theme (definitely a safety tool and coping mechanism)

Season two

•Something really important to note! In this scene (gif below) we see one of the only times Eli isn’t wearing something baggy/a hoodie why? Because it’s hot? Maybe but it’s always hot they live in California. I think he gained a layer of genuine confidence from Miguel winning the tournament and his own success. He’s extremely proud his brother (they are both wearing these tank tops which indicates to be a kinship) won and that confidence is revealed through his clothes.

•But once Johnny expressed his anger about the tournament and Kreese arrives and hurts Demetri. Eli changes his hair. More colour is coming in aka more distraction the red is so much louder and because it’s his hair colour it’s a lot easier for him to use the colour in clothing. (I think he’s using it mask how he truly feels about the situation with Demetri which is conflicted as he usually feels, he’s very angry which is the main emotion behind of a lot of his meltdowns).

•hoodies continue to be used as protection. He’s still hiding just in a different way (distracting with colour but still hidden)

•the “I’m Hawk” scene is such a perfect example of his masking, watching it is so awkward because the way he’s speaking, his gestures it’s so put on.

Season three

•baggy clothes/ tops persist

•the hair keeps getting more intense both in colour and style

•looks the most distraction filled at the last fight

•the yellow, the red, matching the other boys it’s all so forced, like he feels required to look like this.

•Back to Demetri where he feels comfortable and doesn’t have to mask as much we see muted colours back the grey black and white, he might have also chosen to dress like this to give the impression of being less intimidating to the miyagi do kids.