Oh Yasin....... a man of many word, beautiful words, hot-tempered and still devoted, who shows respect but also has enough self-respect not to let himself be compromised beyond salvation. I love this man, kisses on both cheeks, in the sunlight and the moonlight, he is perfect!
If we go back to the beginning, his character went through quite radical changes during development. I believe I already mentioned once that Anders was a much more ambiguous character at story conception. He was a person who wanted to aid Ghita in her search, but who also secretly was the father of the missing child.
As the plot took form, so did the need to refine Anders’ character and it meant splitting the ‘helpful’ persona from the antagonistic one. I was listening to a lot of Tobias Rahim at the time, so Yasin emerged as middle eastern immediately. I wrote in the design document:
Son of a local shopkeeper in the small town where season one starts. He has a Syrian background, born in Denmark and with a younger sister. He is quietly flirtatious, but also very serious when he’s in his element. He is finishing his law degree in Copenhagen, but is on a sabbatical while his dad is ill.
There were slight changes to his background and context to match the plot better as it developed, but as it were, he was meant to be a chance encounter that would merge naturally into Ghita’s life by season 3, regardless of your relationship with him. I used to watch Law and Order a lot, and I pictured Yasin as the 'Law' part to Mads' 'Order' - we didn't get to experience the two of them going head to head as much as I had initially imagined, but whenever they were in the same room, I tried to make sure it was obvious how their different perspectives clashed.
As a love interest, I went in with the purpose of creating an uncomplicated, honest and dreamy man, a character who (in theory) would “tick all the boxes” and ensure Ghita a happy ending. He’s smart and competent, absolutely smitten with her and loud about it, has a great relationship with his family and overall has his life together. There is always this unfortunate correlation between ‘a good man’ and ‘a boring man’ so despite his infatuation, Yasin always pushes back on Ghita’s nonsense (Mads is right there but let’s face it, he’s a natural pushover in Ghita's presence lol) to offer friction on the route. A more…. dramatic source of friction is that unlike Yasin, Ghita can be one hell of a problem and her potential (repeated) infidelity is a major part of their arc—can she even commit to this man? Does she even want peace? Or is she too broken? Yasin is the only one with the capacity to deal with her antics head-on (unlike both Alba and Mads, who run away at the first sign of trouble). I love/hate the “bad” reunion at Yasin’s house at the end of Season 2, it was a real bitch to write, but the emotional turmoil, angst and regret was kinda fun to read in-app. She really put him through hell.
inspo for Yasin's gorgeous face - the nose was very important.
I say he's perfect and maybe too perfect... he seems to have taken the backseat in The Missing discourse and even I'm struggling to "reveal" a lot of stuff about him because he's so freaking open. He has a jealous streak though, and as much as I think he's incredible at handling Ghita, there are more than one instance where he tenses up, uncomfortable with the knowledge that Ghita's flaws can hurt him so deeply. He's very much the ultimate lover and I, too, wanted to test how far Ghita could go. In the end, he did have a limit.
Yasin has the honour of being the only love interest to properly propose to Ghita. Though both Safaa and Mads talk about eventual marriage in their endings, Yasin was the only one whose arc was meant to have this explicitly stated. In my head, he was picturing them growing old together on their first date (while they were doing the dishes)—that man was waiting for Ghita to make up her mind about him this whole time, there was never any doubt that he wanted her. I also think he’s the healthiest choice for a partner (followed closely by Safaa) as he doesn’t have any personal issues and has the mental capacity to take on the full brunt of Ghita’s chaos.
All in all, Yasin is in my eyes, the perfect man. Ghita Davoud is a lucky girl.
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