#Emletish watches Cobra Kai

[shrinkthisviolet]

rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

Thank you to @icedteaandoldlace and @northerngoshawk!

so many walls up (i can’t break through) - The Flash

Things got…complicated after Barry woke up.

one tries to fly away (and the other watches close) - The Flash

“Mr. Stagg, I wish you’d reconsider our offer for protective custody.”

Eobard scoffed lightly, hiding it with his hand.

come in, the water is(n’t) fine - Star Wars

If Rey had to trace things back, she thought perhaps the trouble started when Kylo had the chance to kill Han right in front of him and rejected it.

i won’t apologize (for who i am) - Star Wars

Lucy’s hair was a messy, tangled disaster. That was perhaps the tamest manner of putting it.

i hear it calling (i feel it in my soul) - Star Wars

At 19, Lucy’s life was surprisingly settled. She had a steady job as a healer, apprenticed to a friend of Beru’s: Asha, who was a fairly proficient healer originally from Coruscant, more than willing to take on an apprentice. Lucy was learning more every day, and even when it was frustrating, it felt purposeful.

i just like hanging out with you (all the time) - Star Wars

After school let out for the day, Luke and Lucy made their way to the Lars homestead. Lucy usually spent an hour or so at their house before making her own way home, since they lived closer to the school and it was easier to wait for the day to cool by late afternoon before venturing on the long walk home while the suns inched towards sunset.

you were bigger (than the whole sky) - Star Wars

Ferrix was a strange place. Everything was loud, disjointed…and the people rushed about, distrustful except for small pockets where they clung their families tight and scowled at everyone else.

my knuckles were bruised (like violets) - Cobra Kai

Tory loved her bending, really. Sure, she sometimes wished for a cooler power, or one that made her seem tougher (especially hearing how people talked about powers and ranked them), but in the end, she was a certified expert in knowing what she could and couldn’t change. What she could change was what she fought for. What she couldn’t change, well…she tried to make the best of it. So she learned to love her power.

silence that only comes (when two people understand each other) - Star Wars

Rey had heard legends of Luke Skywalker growing up, from travelers passing through Jakku, and she was never quite sure what to make of them. Surely no one person could do all of that.

a picture ripped (right down the middle) - The Flash

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Morgan…happy birthday to you!”

Tagging (no pressure ofc): @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @starstruckpurpledragon @thinkingisadangerouspastime @blackaquokat @fezwearingjellybananas @abc2411 @emletish-fish @promiseofthepremise @seek--rest

[emletish-fish]

Cobra Kai Seaon four feelings

The Great Things: 

Amanda and Tory’s storyline.  Did not expect it, but I friggin loved it. How Amanda treating Tory like a human being (not a psycho or a monster or a useful tool), caused this slow growing profound change in Tory, from ‘there are no rules’ to her blunt and definate refusal to cheat and her graciousness in victory. The way Tory responds to Amanda. How she comes to respect Amanda enough to feel comfortable asking her for help (which is huge for Tory) - the fact that we know Amanda provides this help and counciling. 

In fact the Tory, Sam, Amanda mess was amazing. Sam’s understandable anger and lashing out at Tory, her hyper-vigilance and how she’s so quick to react negatively and escalate with Tory, which is completely understandable given the history between these girls.  But how Amanda sees Sam being an entitled brat (and Sam is very privileged and coddled, but she wants to fly the nest so bad), and sees that Tory is a human being, who’s young and upset and struggling.  How she tries to balance her role as a mother to Sam while also trying to support a girl so many characters have written off as a lost cause... and to have it work. To have Tory blossom into a fire-cracker of a fighter, but one who fights fair.  But how Sam feels resentful that her mother doesn’t understand her trauma. The way they fight over amanda.  (how refreshing in a show that is packed to the rafters with Daddy issues that we got two girls fighting about the mom for once.)

Tory in general was great this season. loved her arc and my heart broke fore her at the end, when she realised her dream of being the best, and of EARNING it fairly was completely crushed. because I counted at least 3 times the ref ruled in her favour in a way that was shady - and one of those was for the final point with Sam - and that is just going to haunt Tory. 

Tory and Robby was also surprisingly great. It was not on my bingo card, though I was hoping for a strong friendship between these two.  However when it turned romantic, I liked it.  These two genuinely like and respect and care for each other. they have a surprisingly healthy dynamic given how traumatised and damaged they both are.  And they won me over. 

Robby and Kenny - are everything. I love them. I love everything about them. they are precious and lovely and they make me just want to wrap them both up. 

Robby’s character arc in general was so incredibly well written and such a wonderful journey for him. Tanner knocked it out of the park in every scene.  

AISHA!!!! I love her and she was such a radiant breath of fresh air. Seeing her scene with Sam was just everything. 

Sam and Johnny was so astonishingly cute and precious and sweet. How Sam has been treated like a princess her whole life and now that castle feels like a cage. How her how life is planned out and her parents have her in this mould. Larusso 2.o,  Daniel’s mini-me.  How Johnny’s chaos and off-the-wall ideas are the complete opposite to Daniel’s order and tradition. But how it’s so freeing to be trusted to forge your own path.  Johnny doesn’t not want any child to grow up like him. He doesn’t want Sam to copy him. He wants her to be true to herself - and gives her the strength to find her own path and step out of Daniel’s shadow.  I loved everything about their dynamic. How proud she made him, and how proud she was of herself when she mastered an eagle fang technique. 

The truly deranged and twisted love between Kreese and Silver. My god, this was pure, unadulterated toxic sludge love.  The epic struggle to control each other. The insane power dynamics. the over-flowing toxicity.  Kreese’s manipulation and weaponising Terry’s PTSD against him to drag him back into the swamp of their love. Terry’s absolute unhinged jealousy of Johnny and the idea that Kreese has an emotional connection to anyone else.  It’s all so grotesque in the best way possible.  Compelling television.  Hand-in-unloveable-hand fuckery. 

The Good Things:

The hug!!! the hug has me deranged.  it was so beautiful and hopeful and healing... But so unearned on Johnny’s side.  I actually like it as a resolution to Robby’s arc, but they just needed to put in the work with Johnny and they didn’t. So it’s beautiful and I love it, because I love Robby being comforted.  But it could have been so much more!!! (I actually write a gigantic post about how Johnny’s arc could easily be fixed with a few small changes so that this moment is earned on both sides. It could have been done in four short scenes. less stingray and more of these two.)

Daniel’s  overall arc. It makes so much sense, given Daniel’s flaws, and his arc (which is all about Trauma and Control and Grieving Mr Miyagi, and how his unresolved issues cause brings out Daniel’s worst instincts).  Daniel’s behaviour, while dissappointing, is not surprising.  But I wish the show could have balanced all his problematic behaviour with some nuance and some understanding of his trauma and his grief, and how being confronted with the monster from his past with no Mr Miyagi to protect him is at the root cause of his attitude and actions. The narrative rewards and punishes him for the wrong things - but overall, it still makes sense. 

-0- 

The huh? 

Miguel’s arc. Another one that was very heartfelt, and Xolo broke my heart in a few scenes.   but with just a little extra groundwork and linking better with Johnny’s character journey, this could have been epic. instead it was a few heart-breaking moments and then a whole lotta filler and nonsense.  but it still makes sense overall. 

The pointless

The way the Larusso drama was dragged out, unnecessarily villianising Daniel and regressing Johnny. I feel like these same plot points and story beats could have been hit without all the unecessary drama. I would have liked their arguments to be a push pull between Johnny’s chaos and Daniel’s order, rather that squabbling about styles in a nonsensical way. (all martial arts have offensive and defensive moves. the idea that CK and MD are just complete binary opposites doesn’t hold water.) 

 instead the argument about how to use karate and how to respond to threats, like the way they both react to the kids pulling the sprinkler prank on the CK. Daniel thinks it’s smart.  cool trick. fun joke.  and they avoided fighting. what Mr Miyagi would have wanted. Johnny thinks its a stupid escalation that will get a kid hurt because Cobra Kai always needs to finish the fight and they will respond.  Why did they poke the bear then run away like pussies - there is nuance there! We could have had more conversations like that - instead we got a montage of Johnny fighting the ocean cause he was pissed at Daniel.

The What THE FUCK, that doesn’t even make any sense!

Hawk’s story line.  Like it was well telegraphed that Hawk was going to do a redemption arc, but the way it was executed was terrible.  Violation of bodily autonomy is healing?!?!  Hawk’s anger issues were in his hair and now his hair is gone so he’s a total fucking doormat. but he wins so it’s okay. I can’t even enjoy him winning because it was in service of Daniel’s story, not Hawks. Hawks win isnt even about him. it’s an unearned moment. I can’t even with this story line.  I wrote out how I would fix it. 

Johnny’s character arc. They didn’t even know what to do with Johnny’s over-all arc until episode 7.  They had him running around and propping up other plots and being a reactive character with no narrative drive of his own; regressing randomly and then being super self-aware and show growth in other places. it was so sloppy and all over the place. And like, a well written Johnny arc would have perfected Robby’s storyline and made the hug earned, and enhanced Hawk’s journey and recovery and made his victory at the AVT earned,  elevated the found-family tragedy and is our love enough even though we aren’t biologically related that was happening in Miguel’s journey.  

And it’s so frustrating becuase there are some really good elements to Johnny’s storyline. His connection with Sam, his poignant scenes with Miguel and then hug are all emotioanlly charged and beautiful, but they are surrounded by so much sloppy mess and nonsense that these moments get dragged down. 

My two biggest gripes are Johnny and Hawk’s storylines. Neither of them are perfect people, but they both deserved better writing than that.  But because both of these storylines are quite pivotal, they distracted from the whole season when they’re bad...And they were really bad. 

The unforgivably bad

Get off my screen stingray.  Why did we have to spend so much time with stingray.  he is a tedious and grating character and there was alreay so much else happening. 

[emletish-fish]

Is the Kobra Kai fandom okay???? I don't watch the show and only know bits and pieces of what's happening because of your blog and people don't seem happy with Kobra Kai's canon.

It seems fanfics are being spitefully written in response and people are so much happier for it.

Is it bad or is it Game of Thrones season 8 bad?

I dunno?

Are we okay, CK fam?

Reactions to the 4 season are...mixed to say the least. It's definitely the weakest season out of all 4. It has some lovely moments and some interesting ideas, but it feels... like a third/fourth draft to me. I feel like they needed to go over it once or twice more, to really iron out some of the iffy bits.

Season 4 is really polarising in how people feel about certain characters/themes. (and to be fair, Season 4 reduced a complex ethical and philosophical difference down to simplistic defence vs offence nonsense with bonus pettiness, so the parts of the fandom that skew younger having reductive arguments about characters, eg character A is special and precious and character B sucks, is something that follows from that).

So season 4 being a weaker season probably explains the explosion of fix-it fics. (I have even written one myself. And I certainly feel better for having got it out of my system. Hawk Deserved Better, and So Did Johnny.)

I still don't know how I feel about season 4 - but I am actually cautiously hopeful that season 5 will be a stronger season. Season 4 definitely feels more like a 'set-up' season, if that makes sense. So I will reserve judgement until season 5 - after I know the end point of all these storylines, it will be easier to tell if the nonsense was worth it or not. (Eg, I loved Robby's plotline this season and it makes more more forgiving of the plot contrivances in season 2/3 to get him to CK, because the story did pay off well).

But that said, CK, even at it's worst, is miles and miles superior to the unending pile of suck and misery that GOT became.

CK is better written, more co-herent, much more fun and has something really interesting to say about the human condition, intergenerational trauma, conflict, mercy and healing - all without gross glorification of sexual assault.

In fact, refreshingly, female characters are very rarely sexualised. I can only think of 1 instance, (Johnny's dream of Carmen), and it was played for laughs, rather than titilation.

Cobra Kai has endearing and entertaining characters, even the evil ones are entertaining in a delightfully fun way. It is a show with huge heart (and campy karate ridiculousness), while GOT only had gritty, grimdark childish cynicism.

So, yeah, CK will never be as bad as GOT.

[emletish-fish]

Good Boy Chapter 15 - Ragnarok

Here

“You want to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s again? Dad asked worriedly, as he saw where Robby had led him.

Robby shook his head.

“What about something more fun, like Iron Eagle ?” Dad suggested.

Robby shook his head even harder. No, thank you.  That movie sounded like it was going to be really stupid.  He looked at the shelves for something they both might like. His eyes fell on Thor: Ragnarok , sitting right there in front of him. He hadn’t been able to see it when it was released in the movie theatres, but he’d heard it was good.  It had a bit of an 80’s aesthetic going, so Dad would probably be able to sit through it without too much complaining.  He pulled it out from the shelf. Dad took it from him with some bemusement.

“This one? Are you sure? It’s from that comic book series. Isn’t that kind of nerdy?”

Honestly!

This was the thanks Robby got for trying to be thoughtful, and choosing something they would both like. He walked to the end of his lead in a huff.

“Hey, don’t be like that. It’s okay that you’re a nerd dog!”

[emletish-fish]

Chapters: 15/? Fandom: Cobra Kai (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Robby Keene & Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz & Johnny Lawrence, Bobby Brown & Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso & Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz & Robby Keene, Robby Keene and happiness(eventually), Carmen Diaz/Johnny Lawrence, Oblivious Lawrusso Characters: Robby Keene, Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso, Samantha LaRusso, Miguel Diaz (Cobra Kai), Carmen Diaz (Cobra Kai), Amanda LaRusso, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Demetri (Cobra Kai), Tory Nichols Additional Tags: Found Family, Daddy Issues, Magical Realism, Animal Transformation, accidental wishes going awry, Robby discovering he is loved, Post Season 3, johnny lawrence's chaotic attempts at dog parenting, Daniel and Johnny's chaotic attempts at co-dojoing, Robby realising his dads are morons, Robby and Johnny rebuilding their relationship, love gives you strength Summary:

So Robby’s day couldn’t get anymore shit. 

He’d been turned into a dog by a crazy homeless lady - and that wasn’t even the worst thing to happen to him in the last 24 hours!

That’s how shit his life was!

[shrinkthisviolet]

For The Top 5 Ask Game: I’ve got three for you:

Your Top Five Storylines You Wish Cobra Kai Will Do In The Series Going Forward!

Your Top Five TV Shows You Want To Watch, But Haven’t As Of Yet

And Your Top Five MCU Characters

Cobra Kai Storylines

I’d be happy to see any and all of these, but I do have a definitive ranking, surprisingly 😂:

1. There’s my S4 theory that Robby and Tory know something’s off with Kreese and Silver and are trying to take down CK from the inside. Aisha links them up with Sam and Miguel, because they hear about the new weapons rule for the AVT and know they need to shut it down. Since this probably won’t happen in S4, they could make CK win the AVT and rework the spies plotline for S5!

2. I want the parallels between Hawk and Johnny to be explored. I want Johnny to realize that he’s let Hawk down, that maybe his behavior towards Hawk is rooted in some issues he has with himself...and I want Johnny to do better for Hawk. And to acknowledge the harm he’s caused–because guess what, Johnny? Your actions don’t exist in a vacuum, and neither do Kreese’s. Kreese tried to recruit Hawk and Miguel (and Robby!). Guess which one it didn’t work on? Hint: the one you actually tried with 💀

(Disclaimer: I don’t actually hate Johnny. I just want some accountability for the stuff he did in the movies and in the show).

3. Robby and Johnny reconciliation done right! Maybe not exactly like this amazing fic by @emletish-fish (the stuff with faeries seems too outlandish for these writers)...but the depth!! The characterization!! The way Robby’s adults are trying for him, truly and honestly!! And Robby gets to be upset and express his feelings and he’s valid!!

4. Sam, Tory, Aisha, Miguel, and Robby all becoming friends! They don’t all go to the same college, but Sam and Aisha do, and Miguel and Robby get into a different college together. Tory visits though!

5. I want Sam and Robby to face off in the final fight, for Sam to trust him not to hurt her...and then for Silver to goad Robby into breaking Sam’s knee 😭 and Daniel...oh, Daniel. He can’t handle it.

Watchlist Shows

1. Daredevil, a must after NWH and Hawkeye 😂

2. Agents of Shield! I’ve watched the first couple episodes but then life got in the way. Hoping to pick it back up though!

3. Leverage, because @blackaquokat sings its praises and it has antihero/morally-gray stuff going on!

4. Jessica Jones, mostly because I’ve heard a lot of great things and wanna watch it!

5. Manifest, especially since it’s getting another season!

Honorable Mention for Irregulars. It’s tentatively on this list...but I have a question. I heard it got cancelled, did it end on a cliffhanger?

MCU Characters

1. Peter Parker! Maybe it’s the NWH talking but just...AHHH HE WAS SO GOOD IN THAT MOVIE! Spidey’s always been my favorite hero, and the end of FFH started to sorta sell me on him...but THIS MOVIE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK OMG (PS4 Spidey tho...always my favorite Spidey 💞)

2. Yelena Belova! She’s such a fascinating antihero character who is incredibly likeable and sweet 💞 but also incredibly fiercely loving! And she’s canonically aroace in the comics...and hopefully in the MCU too! 🤞

3. Kate Bishop, because she’s around my age and I respect her initiative and drive and I just love the whole vibe she has going

4. Tony Stark, because the theme of actively working against the bloody legacy he built is a compelling tale for sure! There are definitely things I don’t like about him, but honestly, his arc as a whole picture is amazing! And yes, I too wish he’d lived to raise Morgan and start his family. But...his death did serve a narrative purpose. He started the MCU off, he put it on the map and made people care about superheroes they might not have cared about. Him dying passes on that torch to a new group of Avengers–the New Avengers, if you will. Like Pepper said, he’d never truly be able to rest, not like the other Avengers–this is the closest he’d ever get to retiring for good. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t break my heart tho 😭

5. I really like MJ tbh? Like...just in general, her character in FFH and NWH (didn’t like her so much in Homecoming, but she was okay) was fantastic 🥰 tho I’ll admit, part of why I love her so much is likely due to @seek--rest (if you haven’t read their amazing fics, what are you even doing??)

Ask me my top 5 anything!