#YOU ALWAYS WANT A KARATE WAR

[judahlux]

Fellas, gimme the fucking script. I'll rewrite ck myself, cos the writers are killing the damn show.

[augustinewrites]

you should absolutely add naoya to the story!!!! i would LOVE some drama between gojo and that loserrrr i just know they hate each other so MUCH

useful context for this fic can be found in three conditions!

"'salt to taste,'" satoru reads, already confused. "what the hell does that even mean?"

tuesdays are always his day to cook dinner - meaning the second you smell something burning, you kick him out of the kitchen to take over - but you'd left about left twenty minutes ago to pick the kids up from karate, so he's on his own.

shrugging, he pours a questionable amount of salt into the bowl of vegetables he's been attempting to season.

after tossing in the rest of the spices, the next step is to cook over medium-high heat. so he flicks the stove on, leaning against the counter as he waits for the pan to heat up.

that's when a knock sounds at the door.

he doesn't move, hoping whoever it is just gives up and goes away. he wasn't expecting any guests, and the backup food he'd ordered shouldn't be arriving for another half hour.

but whoever it is bangs on the door this time, clearly impatient and wanting to get on his nerves.

huffing, he flicks the stove off and stomps to the door, yanking it open.

"you've gotta be fucking kidding me."

"still as uncouth as ever, i see," naoya zenin scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"and you're still as ugly as i remember," he fires back. "no wait— uglier."

that gets the reaction satoru's hoping for, naoya scowling as he says. "seems the rumours are true. my dear relative's run away to become a gojo whore."

satoru barely manages to keep his hands off the blond's throat, because killing him would start an all out war with the zen'ins, and he isn't ready to make waves (yet).

it wouldn't take much force to just put his head through the wall, would it?

"just tell me what you want so i can say no," he says instead, voice fighting to remain steady.

god, he hates the smug look on his face as he asks, "how much do you want?"

"excuse me?"

"how much do you want," he repeats slowly, as if he were talking to a particularly stupid animal. "for her. and the fushiguro boy."

it takes satoru a moment to realize what exactly he's asking for, the request so outlandish that he can hardly believe it. "how much do i— you're insane."

he goes to slam the door, but naoya is quick to catch it.

"it's only right that they should be with their family, don't you think?"

"and that's you?"

"if we're being sentimental about it, yes."

"well, they're not for sale," he says firmly, removing his sunglasses and tucking them into his pocket. every molecule of restraint is quickly leaving his body. "nor will they ever be. now leave."

stupid as he is, naoya senses the thinly veiled threat and turns on his heel, satoru keeping his eyes trained on him until he disappears down the hall.

_____

"naoya stopped by."

"what did he want?" you ask, lips already pulled down into a frown as you take another dish to dry.

"you and megumi."

"of course he does," you sigh, setting the plate aside and resting your palms on the counter "they want ten shadows."

"what are we going to do?" he asks seriously. "what if next time they don't ask?"

"there's not much we can do right now," you tell him grimly. "it’s the zen’in clan, satoru. we just need to keep our heads down and focus on getting megumi into jujutsu tech. at least he won't be so vulnerable with all of us around—”

“hey, hey,” he murmurs, pressing his forehead to yours. “i’m not going to let anything happen to you both. you know that, right?”

“i know,” you smile, kissing the tip of his nose. “that’s why i’m not suggesting we’ve halfway across the world.”

“that’s not a bad idea. we could move somewhere hot and tropical. i’d get to see you in a swimsuit almost everyday…”

“you’d get sunburnt,” you correct, laughing as he nudges his face into the crook of your neck.

“i’d happily let myself get sunburnt if it meant you were safe,” he murmurs into your skin. “the kids would probably eviscerate me if i let anything happen to you.”

“of course they would. they’d starve otherwise.”

[vintagegeekculture]

There are some books that are functionally boy’s adventure books, but are not advertised as such (Stuart Gibbs is a good example), but I absolutely know what you’re referring to. I have some experience in the public-facing library/bookselling field, so I have a guess at some of the reasons that boy's adventure books are currently out of fashion. 

Shonen anime, and graphic novels trying to cash in on being similar to shonen anime, are currently considered to be the main replacement.

The dual successes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants are seen as the overall representation of “what boys want to read”. As with any success, middling-to-bad (or at least incredibly cynical) knockoffs are rife. 

Right now, books aimed at boys who have poor experiences around masculinity, or little interest in it, are extremely popular. So any story that celebrates masculinity is going to be looked at as being somewhat dangerous.

If you’re not interested in toilet humor and are a masculine kind of guy, you’re going to be looking at slim pickings.

-------------

P.S. I'm a WWII guy, except for a few years when I was a Spanish-American War guy -- I thought that was the same as having a personality.

Here's my observation on the popularity of Captain Underpants and Dogman: it ties in to an absolutely well understood track for stages of development in boys.

Now, keep in mind that I am not an expert in childhood development or education, but in the past, the reading habits of boys went through three comic book reading stages that maps, roughly, onto their growing capacities as they get older:

Archie/Harvey Comics Stage. This is usually a boy's first comic book, friendly and humorous and childlike. In the past, every boy's first comic is usually Archie, Jughead, or Richie Rich, or Casper the Friendly Ghost, Peanuts, Garfield, or Wendy the Good Little Witch. They like surreal humor, and the absence of concrete thinking and unreality of these books is a positive, as it matches the non-concrete thought processes of young kids, which is why adults often have trouble relating to this: if you ever saw a kid's drawings from this stage, people just float or fly in space, their feet not on the ground, and the sun is often drawn with a face. Notice that kids absolutely accept as a given that Pete and Pete are two brothers with the same name, which is something adults have a problem grasping. If you ever asked yourself why Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea, of all things, instead of accepting it as a given (of course he lives in a pineapple, what do you expect?), you're probably past this stage.

Superman/Batman Stage. After the Archie/Harvey stage, boys move on to Superman and/or Batman, as their imagination capacities develop, they start to envision adventure and science fiction/other worlds apart from just humorous surrealism. Because they start to experience stories vicariously as their imagination expands to include putting themselves into the story, they tend to start to want adventure and action at this point, power fantasies of muscles, freedom, swordfighting, karate and sweet jump kicks, swinging over a rickety bridge with a rope, and wrestling a monkey (this is also the age that in decades past, boys got obsessed with Tarzan, and in more recent times, got into Adventure Time, a show about two brothers with no parents). All this is mingled with fantasy and science fiction as the ability to think in terms of other worlds and places emerges, but they still prefer pro-wrestling like good and evil as clearly delineated, as their moral reasoning is not super well developed. There are female villainesses in stories at this level, and their master plan is often to get the hero laid, which is a sign of evil instead of good. The fact that Batman and Superman seem to always have all the answers and win cleanly is a plus at this stage, since stories are lived vicariously as opposed to handled and seen with distance. Some people don't move past this stage, and you can usually identify these people because as they identify closely with a main character's state and emotions, put a book down when things get bad for the main character, and often say things like "wow, why does this writer like killing off characters or making them suffer?"

X-Men Stage. After a phase of being into Superman and Batman, most kids move on to an X-Men phase, usually by 6th Grade, but it depends on the kid. They start to be aware of society and the individual, and with that, in the case of many, comes an awareness of being on the outside looking in, so themes of being an outsider, rebel, and alienation start to be important. This is the stage your kids start to turn into little jerks who mouth off to you, and the reason why is the same reason kids (usually) move on from Superman to X-Men: it's the era that kids start to develop moral reasoning, a muscle they flex and apply to every aspect of their life and play with like a new toy. They probably aren't able to articulate it this way, but they like the idea of conflict with society, rebellion (as they are conscious of an individual and society for the first time), and even the idea of moral dilemmas. Also, because boys are going through puberty at this point, they start to find girls interesting, which is why the X-Women like Rogue, Storm, Marvel Girl, and Psylocke were so much more alluring and appealing than Lois Lane and Betty and Veronica. They also start to be aware of status for the first time, a person's relationship in comparison to others, something younger kids are only barely cognizant of, which is why they like things being hardboiled and "cool."

You could, for more modern times, update this list of stages to the Spongebob Stage, Adventure Time Stage, and Jojo/One Piece Stage. In the 1950s, the trajectory would be Tom Swift and other "boy with a helicopter" stories, then boyish gee-whiz adventure writers like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, and finally, big-idea, believable guys like Heinlein and Asimov by age 12-14. The exact content is not important, the developmental stages in boys are.

If you're a Star Trek fan as a kid, Captain Kirk is usually your favorite character early on (in the Superman/Batman stage), where you vicariously experience and enjoy his coolness and ace-status (as a kid, I thought Captain Kirk was cooler than all the comic book superheroes put together), and then it usually becomes Spock as you get older and start to relate to his alienation and the fact he is different from everyone else. Star Trek deserves some genius prize because it has the adventure, cool monsters, and moral framework to appeal to kids at the Superman stage, but then grows up with them with dilemmas and big ideas as they enter the X-Men stage.

I do believe the reason Harry Potter has such a fan following is the books grow up with you. Harry Potter started off whimsical and charming (Harvey/Archie Stage), then became about adventure and good versus evil (Superman/Batman Stage) then was about moody teenagers, where the heroes are outlaws on the run from the clueless government and pair off with each other in love stories (X-Men Stage).

There are bound to be problems when something aims at one stage but has fans of the other. Hulk Hogan and John Cena are often hated by a certain kind of wrestling fan because they are Batman/Superman heroes kids love because they experience their strength and indomitability vicariously, and only grow to prefer the X-Men-like "cool rebel" Rock and Stone Cold later on. You don't like John Cena, or Superman, because he's not for you.

Now, all that said, when you talk about how boys don't move past Dogman, the Archie/Harvey Comics is the stage of development you're talking about, that books like Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Dogman operate at. And the reason they seem to be dominant is that boys stop reading after the Archie stage. In other words, in my opinion, you're confusing effect with cause: they have nothing for them except manga after this point as most boys stop reading entirely past the Archie/Harvey Comics stage.

Why? Your guess is as good as mine, it is simply the largest and underdiscussed social problem of our time, boys stop reading and often never read again. "Young Adult" essentially means girl's books now.

The reason why nobody is examining this issue is simple: men's rights advocates are not particularly concerned with helping boys, but more with bitterly whining about ex girlfriends and gripes with the family court system. So when a legitimate social issue happens that affects boys disproportionately (the fact boys stop reading entirely around age 9-10 and never read a book again in their lives) they have nothing to say and are not particularly interested in the issue.

As someone with a concern and interest in helping boys, I was initially very sympathetic to the Men's Rights idea that society leaves them behind, and it does happen more or less as they say it does: society lets them slip through the cracks, especially in the school system, where they are seen as a problem to be solved, especially when high spirited (normal). However, there was very little sympathy in that group for boys who were physically abused and beaten by parents. Most believe in corporeal punishment, as they care less about boys and more about the primacy of paternal authority - just as you'd expect from bitter, divorced dad, malicious pieces of shit. And boys being molested is often treated as a joke, and not with the seriousness and primacy the issue deserves.

Likewise, despite the talk of feminism helping men, women's rights are not especially concerned with helping boys either, because...well, why would they be? It also doesn't help that the leadership and vanguard (though not necessarily the rank and file or activist base) of women's rights movements are usually professional, striving educated women (a group with high rates of sociopathy and reduced empathy) so their focus is on access to elite institutions and professions. This is more especially obvious in the UK than in the US, where feminism is more explicitly linked to class, as one can see with JK Rowling. As a consequence of this, #MeToo was not about waitresses or gig workers who endure horrible harassment, but about access to elite institutions. There's a reason why when we picture sexual harassment, it's in business suits at a law firm, and not a diner waitress bothered by creeps or her manager.

I will say this: I am very heartened that #MeToo and activism and so on are now starting to include boys who were molested. Very few changes in our culture have been positive and that is one. There's a reason male survivors of sexual abuse and molestation keep their head down, were not included as a part of #MeToo initially, and that is starting to change. Self blame and guilt is a part of every abuse victim, but it is especially crushingly intense with boys too young to understand, and who are trained to endure and not ask for help from male friends.

[astrobiscuits]

Astroids you should check out in Solar Return chart part 2

Loves, ik it's been FOREVER since i last wrote a SR asteroids post. Truth is, i find not many asteroids have got a meaning which fits the specific of SR charts. My apologies😭😭

💸Asteroid Erben (40106) - "to inherit" (its meaning comes from German)

Having asteroid Erben (40106) prominent in SR chart indicates a year when you're gonna inherit money. Whether it's from one of your parents, your spouse or somebody else, only the chart will tell (but of course, for additional info always compare it to your Natal chart!)

If it conjuncts your personal planets in 4th/10th house, you're going to inherit money from either your mom or dad. Erben in 4th house conjuncting one of your planets also talks about inheriting a living property, like a house or an apartament

If it conjuncts your personal planets in 7th house, you're going to inherit money from your spouse. Unless Pluto, the 8th house or prominent death asteroids are also involved (will talk more abt them later), the money is highly likely going to come from a divorce

If it conjuncts Mars/planets in 3rd house, you're going to inherit a car, while if it conjuncts Uranus/planets in 11th house, you're going to inherit a plane (please let me play with it) or tech gadgets

If it conjuncts Jupiter/planets in 2nd house, expect a red warning of heavy cash rain☔💵

(For additional information check: death asteroids - Anubis (1912), Atropos (273), Grieve (4451), Rip (7711); name asteroids of the important people in your life; asteroid Split(12512) in case of divorce)

🏆Asteroid Nobel (6032) - named after Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman and philanthropist

Having asteroid Nobel (6032) prominent in SR chart indicates a year when you're going to receive an important distinction, award, or maybe even the Nobel itself!

The domain you might receive this award correlates with the planets, North Node and the houses they're in

If it conjuncts Venus, you might be awarded in the fashion industry/beauty industry or in the arts field

If it conjuncts Mars, you might be awarded in sports (especially at violent and competitive sports like karate, box, weightlifting or cars racing) or in the military field

(This is for my STEM peeps) If asteroid Nobel is located in your SR 11th house and is ruled by Virgo, you might win an award/Nobel in physics! In this case, the planet (or even NN) that is conjuncting asteroid Nobel isn't as important as the house and its ruler

Albert Einstein had Nobel conjuncting his North Node in 11th house in 1922 when he received his physics Nobel. And guess what its ruler was...u guessed it♍

(For additional information check: fame asteroids - Fama (408), Varuna (20000), Zdislava (4275); asteroid Einstein (2001) if you've got a passion for physics)

⚔️ Asteroid Hedda (207) - "war/battle" (girl name of Germanic origin)

Having asteroid Hedda (207) prominent in SR chart indicates a year when you're going to be in frequent conflicts with various people and entities, depending on the planet it conjuncts. Your relationship with parents, siblings, friends, lover/spouse, co-workers, public institutions (universities, government etc.), mentors/teachers is at risk if this asteroid is involved

If it conjuncts Moon in 7th house, you're going to be in constant conflict with your mother regarding your romantic relationship. She might not approve of your partner, even though you two love each other💔

If it conjuncts Saturn in 9th house, you're going to be in constant conflict either with your father regarding college (you might want to study literature, but he wants you to become a doctor) or with an university's teacher (he might grade you poorly for no reason when you know you studied all the material)

(For additional information check: victory asteroids (in case you're gonna win these conflicts) - Champion (8732), TRIUMF (14959), Victoria (12); name asteroids of the important people in your life; abuse asteroids (if you got these, i'd suggest you to walk away from that relationship completely) - Adrastaeia (239), Astraea (5), Dejanira (157), Nemesis (128), Nessus (7066))

Take it easy today, don't forget to take some time for yourself and do something you love! Hope you enjoyed!🤍

[livingdeadgirl3]

intro!!<333 (last updated 12/23/2024)

Haiiii!!! I’m Delilah!!! Aka THE living dead girl!!

🎶 “Living Dead Girl.” 🎶

ABOUT MEEEEE •im a virgo!! august 28 baby!! •im a girl! (obviously.) she/her •andy biersacks wife!!

•im a minor! music is life. im lowkey hella fucking annoying, cringe and stupid. im pretty fucking awkward and need to die. i spend most of my time on here bc i have no friends and i use tumblr to vent and yap so be prepared bc im ALWAYS here. im an asshole so um yea. i love my moots so much omfg. nghhhhh i love you guys so muchhhh nghhhhh!! please love me, meet my mother!!/the cure reference…

•i post stuff such as my mental health, ed/body image, self harm, gore, depression, sexual topics and other stuff like that. if you have a problem with that please just click off/unfollow/block, there is no need to report!!<33 love ya!!<33

•dms/inbox are always open if you ever wanna talk!! Don’t be shy to message me or send me asks!! i love the attention!!<3

•dni: pedos, ppl scared of gay ppl, racists, creepy old men with porn blogs and such. I WILL NOT HESITATE TO BLOCK AND REPORT.🎀🎀🎀

^MY SONG GUYS!! REAL NOT FAKE!!^

•music i goon to: (the sounds of @iamthedisappearingboy whimpering and moaning) hole, zach bryan, bvb, fir, sws, ptv, billie eilish (seen live twice!!), korn, type o positive, poppy, metallicum, she wants revenge, blink-182, three days grace, lana, putrid pile, bad omens, cattle decapitation, 2pac, acid bath, alexisonfire, evanescence, kraanium, nin, manson, amy winehouse, elvis, no doubt, $uicideboy$, shitknot, limp dick (bizkit), bikini kill, fleetwood mac, black sabbath, rob zombie (if you couldn’t tell from my user), cannibal corpse, clown core, genitorturers, guttural slug, halsey, icp, in this moment, jack off jill, knocked loose, lil peep, misfits, mitski, a perfect circle, spiritbox, and suicide silence. obviously, i could go on but it would be pointless too. my spotify

•movies/tv shows I love: the office, family guy, glee, the simpsons, the bride of frankenstein, nosferatu, ghost adventures (zak💚), jennifer’s body, death note, cowboy bebop, aot, house of 1000 corpses, donnie darko, texas chainsaw massacre (1974), the original it, killer klowns from outer space, the lost boys, supernatural, the karate kid movies, pll, one tree hill, the twilight saga, star wars movies, 10 things i hate about you (all time favorite), the big bang theory, beetle juice, edward scissorhands, sweeney todd. those are some of my favorites.

•i <3… music, ultra strawberry monster, fruit, sushi, clowns, cats, possums, raccoons, vinyls, clothes/makeup/fashion, sleep, my bed, rain, the sims4, concerts, plushies, the twilight books/movies, 10 things i hate about you, fall, shitty low budget horror movies, gore, smashing my head against the wall and my moots!!<33

^^ ME AND @iamthedisappearingboy ^^ REAL NOT FAKE !!! NOT CLICKBAIT !!! MOMMY LOVES YOU KITTEN !!! ^_^ @iamthedisappearingboy IS FREAKIEST POOKIE FRFR ^_^ WE ARE MARRIED WITH 2 ADORABLE CHILDREN WHO ARE MY WORLD ❤️ LOVE YOU DADDY !!! XOXO BUNNY ❤️🐰

^^ ME AND @dead-end-gurl ^^ I LOVE HER AND SHES SO AMAZING !!! SHES MY POOKIEBEAR SHAWTYBOOTHANG !!! 💗🫂 (Top right pic is me and her with our man🙏❤️)

^^ ME AND @evilvampwhore ^^ She is like, really amazing and cool guys…I love them…❤️

^^ ME AND @whats-youre-deadname ^^ LITERALLY US ON GOD !!!

thank you for coming to my yap sesh!! mwah!!<33

xoxo, Delilah!<33

[donnerpartyofone]

This is from Adam Bornstein's column in Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter, which I feel somewhat silly about reading so faithfully but it is not infrequently interesting. Over the past few years I have been thinking about discipline, how you gain it and lose it, and what it does for you besides achieving a specific outcome. To say that the product of self-control is self-control itself may not sound very enticing, but it's pretty important. I feel like I've lost a lot of that over the last few chapters of my life, and I suspect that it is harder to gain back at my age, but I need to think about it.

I've been thinking about my entire life history with self-control. When I was a kid, I was masochistically disciplined. As early on as I can remember, I had this impression that life was essentially or even exclusively difficult and the only way to justify your existence and satisfy other people was to continuously demonstrate your ability to endure pain, boredom, frustration, deprivation, disappointment, and embarrassment, every hour of every day, forever. (Not that I always endured these things without having a fucking meltdown, but they were the entire content of my life it seemed, so I WAS enduring them) It wasn't all bad, I guess; I got good grades and, like, I remember enjoying karate classes, which are heavily predicated on repetition and endurance and delayed gratification. I had a weird fixation on the army; I didn't fantasize about war or patriotism or whatever, it was this whole thing about how I would be amazing at boot camp and getting yelled at. I also had some sort of bizarre idea about prison, like I would be the best at being a prisoner. This is because I'm a natural-born pervert.

Sometime in my 20s, I started to lose my discipline. I think there were a lot of reasons. A big reason is probably that I didn't have anything to be disciplined FOR. I'd been told my whole life that I was smart and I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, or whatever, so I thought that eventually it would start to become clear what I should do with my life, but it never did. The few things I thought would make a good career for me were things I had no practical understanding of, no idea what it took to make them into a job, so I just didn't do them. This surely means I was never going to be good at them anyway; I think when you're truly interested in something you become compelled by an affectionate curiosity about what you need to learn and do in order to participate in that thing. I may also be too intellectually deficient to have figured out the right questions about my interests, but anyway, all that youthful discipline I had built up to get good grades and satisfy adults didn't really have a purpose when I became an adult myself, so my grip on myself started to slip.

My early adult life was pretty bad. Just the basics of finding jobs and places to live eluded me; I never had the knowledge or the paperwork or the experience or the self-confidence to do the adult things, and I think this was pretty painfully obvious to other adults who were in a position to give me opportunities. I had a sense of being really stunted and way behind where I should be in my personal development, at my age, but I didn't know what to do about it. I did try; there's a perception about me that I just give up and don't try, so I often feel like no one is willing to recognize how often I try and fail, and I'm struggling to let go of my resentment about that. Anyway I continued my early childhood trend of having relationships with pushy, manipulative, abusive people who fed back to me the worst truths about myself, so they seemed very "honest" to me, a quality I admired. I spent most of my time just feeling bad and/or trying to survive social situations. It bothers me now when I think about all the years that I could have spent reading really great books that I still haven't read, trying to write and draw more, watching the movies that I'm still struggling to catch up on, seeing more art. Being in pain is a full-time job, it is incredibly time-consuming, and you will lose a lot more time if, in addition to being in pain, you are spending your evenings not reading Nabokov but watching The Jersey Shore and Mad Men and various other shows about abusive cheaters with your abusive cheating boyfriend who is shouting at the screen about how the girls force the guys to cheat, and who might start screaming at you and keeping you awake for days and chasing you into the closet if you betray the slightest hint of discomfort. All of that is extremely time-consuming.

When life got better, I think I had kind of a revenge reaction against discipline. Like in the early part of my life I had no money, and by the time I had some money I had no understanding of how it worked and no respect for it because I always had this powerful sense that everything is turning into ash before your eyes anyway and nothing is yours so who really cares. So if I got money, I'd just fucking spend it. Being so intensely disciplined as a kid had gotten me nowhere, as far as I could tell, so fuck it, I'm eating fucking candy bars, I'm having another suicidal bodega hoagie for dinner, why the fuck shouldn't I. I will sleep all goddamn day if I want, for days on end, I have a lot of self-indulgence to catch up on!

I'm not completely without discipline as a full-blown adult, I still have plenty of guilt and obligation and fear motivating me to go to the doctor and shit like that. I wish I were more motivated by optimism and a sense of building something, but I must say that doesn't often seem to work. The doctor is often frustrating and ambiguous. Sometimes I get a simple-seeming treatment for a problem, and it destroys a different part of my body and then I have to be on four new medications, and medications to control their side effects. Sometimes I pick up a new form of exercise and I feel good about myself for making an effort, and then the new routine causes problems I need to pay for treatment to fix. It seems I always have to sacrifice one part of myself for another and it's just a perpetual balancing act of barely-normal or sub-normal functioning. I wish it felt more like self-improvement. I wish I could enjoy feeling responsible without then feeling like I made a huge mistake and basically my whole being is just a lemon that does not warrant this much maintenance and concern.

But anyway.

After XX years I just had so many disappointments and made so many unpleasant discoveries, I started to wonder why people say "At least you tried." Like are we SURE that "trying" is, in and of itself, virtuous? Isn't it sometimes that you should "choose your battles" or something? Isn't giving up at least sometimes the actual correct and rational thing to do, when the ROI is nonexistent? What's with the "trying" all the time, what's with the not so subtle suggestion that there's some superior moral affect of trying?

It took me a long time to figure out that making an effort, at anything, even if it doesn't pay off in the specific expected way, builds you into a more resilient and capable person. I did have some counter-examples that helped me see what was going on, of people who performatively did the absolute bare fucking minimum and expected to be showered with praise and encouragement for it, and it was like this big trap to prove that nobody was giving them the unconditional love that they believed they deserved, and being in that behavioral habit all the time eventually rendered them incapable of actually sitting down and writing the thing or making the art or shooting the shot, or whatever, just for the love of doing those things and the curiosity about what could happen if you try. I saw that happening and I did not want to be like that. It painted a very clear picture of what "character" is, what is meant by "building character". The total refusal to ever make yourself uncomfortable doesn't only have specific in-situ destructive effects, but it also makes you a person who is generally less capable of dealing with life.

I want to get back to where I can make myself do things, not only out of fear and shame and masochism, and also not only to obtain a certain result which may not ever come, but just to rebuild self-control. I know that at my age, after a lot of neglect and nihilism, it's going to be harder to get that back. But it's gotta be worth it. I'm thinking about that thing where Arnold Schwarzenegger took ballet lessons to improve his posing, which by his account made him feel totally ridiculous, and like he knew he wasn't going to become a skilled ballerina or anything--but in the short term it did improve his poses, and in the longer term it made him more capable of doing things that felt embarrassing and hard and that he wasn't necessarily cut out for. That seems like a reasonable goal for me.

[nardaviel]

Been doing some thinking about the characterization implications of Makoto's aikido black belt, and the interesting contrast between aikido and her Metaverse weapon.

Like, to start with, the fact that Makoto knows aikido specifically says a lot. Aikido is extremely not an aggressive martial art. It's a little difficult to translate something like a martial art name from Japanese into English, but the one I always heard was "way of the harmonious spirit". I'm not going to do a deep dive on it, just summarize a couple of the most relevant points, but it was created by a war veteran who was inspired by a spiritual experience. His guiding concept was like... self-defense without hurting the aggressor.

(Disclaimer: I obviously only studied in one school! Although all of aikido shares the same overall principles, there may be some schools out there that are extra-aggressive. However, given that we lack any indication of what style of aikido Makoto studies, I would guess that it's not anything wild or unusual.)

Aikido focuses on using an attacker's energy and momentum against them. You learn throwing and pinning techniques to defend against various attacks, but specifically techniques where you can pull back before you cause serious damage. You don't learn barehanded strikes at all, except as much as you need to know to initiate fake attacks to help your partners practice. And you don't need to know how to throw a really good, dangerous punch for that. I had years of aikido training and I still sure as fuck can't. At more advanced levels, you start to learn other things such as weapons forms, but even those aren't really attacks. You just perform a ritualized series of movements against imaginary enemies.

It's not the world's most practical martial art, to be honest, although someone who's really skilled can get good use out of it. If Makoto claims she can use it to ensure her safety, she must be that good, because I expect she's too practical to delude herself with false confidence. More importantly! It takes years to get a black belt, like it does in any martial art. So little middle-schooler Makoto looked at all the martial arts on offer in Tokyo, which I imagine is pretty much every martial art on earth, and decided aikido was the one for her.

It suits her, and continues to suit her up through the end of canon. She's not Ryuji; outside the Metaverse, she's not going to start a physical fight. But she's perfectly willing to finish one. Given her family history and personal values, it makes sense that she'd be drawn to the idea of defending herself, but not in a way that causes unnecessary pain. It's also considered a good martial art for women, due to the lack of emphasis on size and strength.

But pre-canon Makoto is also very repressed, very focused on being composed and perfect. Aikido promises self-defense and an outlet, but nothing too aggressive. Nothing that looks too loud or rebellious. Martial arts are male-dominated practices; by studying one at all, she's already being a little bit out of the ordinary. Best not to stand out too much.

And then she gets into the Metaverse.

It's easy to think that the brass knuckles and the punching make use of her martial arts background, but they don't. At all. Makoto has absolutely not learned how to strike with her fists to cause damage during her training, at least not like people envision. If Atlus wanted to go that route, they'd have given her a karate backstory or something similar.

And if they wanted her to know aikido and wanted to carry her training into the Metaverse, they could've given her a staff, which she will have learned forms for during aikido training. The other classic aikido weapons are already taken, or at least the non-wooden versions are lol. But no one else among the Thieves uses a staff. Makoto the warrior monk with her jo staff and her Pope persona would be a coherent design.

But Atlus didn't do that either. Instead, they gave her brass knuckles (among other fist weapons, I know, I know) and let her punch the shit out of her enemies. That's not merely unlike her training; it's in total opposition to the core tenets of aikido. No "way of the harmonious spirit", no self-reflection, no pacifism. She's going to beat up Shadows for justice.

In short, the brass knuckles are an emblem of her rebellion within the Metaverse. They come from the same place as her spiky leather outfit and motorcycle Persona. In the real world, student council president Makoto isn't afraid of anyone hitting her or grabbing her because she can put them on the ground before they can blink. Like I said, I think aikido suits her really well, even without her pre-canon baggage. But in the Metaverse, Queen doesn't bother to wait for an attack. She hits first. <3

[kisaamisa]

𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 ™

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ; Bully! Katsumi x F! Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 ; When a woman meets her middle school bully in a party, things seem to go down a path she didn't expect it to.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ; smut, virginity loss, non-con/dub-con, yandere tendencies, delusion, obsession, masturbation, breeding kink, cream pie, bully x victim trope, blood and gore, mentions and scenes of beating up and attacking someone, spitting, threats, smut with a plot, p in v sex, fingering, size kink, undressing w/o consent, public sex, public masturbation, pet names; darling, sweetie, love, and basically a mess! 😝

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ; no i don't condone bullying, if you have been bullied, please contact someone to talk about it. there's no comfort in this because im lazy but if you would like comfort please request.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 ; 𝟔,𝟓𝟔𝟔

Katguria Academy for Young Excellences.

A prestigious school in Japan, where only the best of the best could attend. Tuition was always expensive but it was no problem for the kids who went here. The kids that attended were from well respected families such as Samsong, Abbias, Mine, and many more.

In this school resided the adopted son of the man known as Doppo Orochi, God of War, and the daughter of a prestigious company called SVP.

“Guys, look at my new gold medal! I swear, those stupid karate competitions my dad puts me in are wayy too easy!”

November 4th, 2012

The day everything went bad.

It was gloomy day, the clouds covering the sun as rain poured. Most people if not everyone brought an umbrella except you so you were soaked and wet. You sat was near the window in the classroom and you were lost in thought. You had so many tests today and you were hoping one of them got rescheduled to another day. The rain knocked on your window and you finally came back to reality to see your crush, Katsumi Orochi.

You were honestly disappointed to be in love with him, I mean, every girl in the school liked him. It was all girls, loners, popular girls, and even gothic kids. He was the embodiment of perfect. He was good looking, had good grades, was favored by all students and teachers, and even knew how to fight. You were kinda jealous, he had everything. Money, girls, and talent.

You were talented too but not to his extent. You always got what you wanted because of the funds you had from family, you had the best grades in your class, and people liked being in your company. You weren't popular but well known but you had a few close friends to get you through the sixth grade. You were just about to go back to zoning out untill something Katsumi and his friend group said caught your attention.

“Yeah, it's kinda dumb to think that some people couldn't fight at all, its just so easy!”

Well, that was controversial.

You looked his way, your hand on your face with a dead panned expression. You rolled your eyes and muttered a slight ‘stupid’ under your breath before you were interrupted once again by your friend storming towards you.

“Hey [Nameee]! Di- ack, Did you study for the test todayyy?”

Your best friend, Los was in front of you, out of breath. Why the hell would they run here, we aren't even starting class until 8:15. You looked up the clock with your eyes. It read 8:12. Three minutes left, no need to run.

“Well? Did you?”

“Obviously, did you?”

“Of course! I just wanted to make sure my best friend won't fail the next test! We both need to make it in good high schools, y'know?”

All of the boys who were previously talking to each other decided to whisper amongst each other after Los's comment on succeeding in life. After the whispering came snickers.

You ignored their stupid laughs and decided to prepare yourself for the first test of the day, Language Arts.

“Uh, [Name]? Um, you might wanna stop preparing yourself. Karateka is approaching us, like right now. At a fast speed, well not really but he's coming.”

Your best friend kept urging you to look forward and your were so tired of them bugging you so once they stopped talking and only huffs of breathe came out of them, you looked forward to see Katsumi's face right in front of yours.

A loud scream erupted from you so suddenly every single person in the rom or outside of it jumped at the sound of it. You fell over in your chair trying to get away from the guy you considered your crush.

“OH MY GOSH.”

You were scared out of your mind while your crush and his friend group just laughed loudly.

“Hahaha, Dear God, you should've seen your face! You looked like a pufferfish when startled, damn, you could be a comedian with this stuff!”

You slowly got up with a glare on your face. You made sure to shake off any dust on your skirt or cardigan. You picked up your stuff that fell off because of your stupid fall and sat down.

“That wasn't funny Katsumi. That actually hurt.”

“Whatever, boo hoo, you'd never make it in the fighting world.”

“So? I don't even want to fight anyone without a reason so you can respectfully get out of my face.”

“Yeah yeah, suck it up already and hop off me for a sec.”

He rolled his eyes as he walked away from your desk. You started feeling really mad and angered by him but Locs told you it wasn't worth it. You sat back down once the teacher entered the classroom.

“Alright, since everyone is present, we will be commencing our exam now.”

“UGHHHHH! Those test study guides were total scams! I didn't seem half of the question I was expecting to see on the exam. I'm so deadddd…”

Los was trailing behind you as the two of you walked to the lunch room. You both complained about the two unfair exams you just went through because of an inaccurate study guide.

“I know right! I probably got lower than an 80% on the stupid thing!”

As you two entered the luxurious lunch room, you got into line for the lunch lady to serve you both.

“Ooh! Chicken sandwiches, not to bad for a day like this, right?”

“Yeah I guess,”

You couldn't even finish your sentence before you felt a push on your back.

“What the-”

You were about to fall face first unto the floor untill Los caught you just in time.

“Oh Gosh! You okay?”

You somehow managed to shake your head a bit to hard which cracked your neck harshly. You hissed in pain while rubbing your neck in an effort to make it feel better.

“Yeah..Just cracked my neck wayy to hard for my own liking.”

You both laughed it off while you said ‘Thank Goodness for Los’ internally as you looked behind you to see the perpetrator of this heinous act.

“Well hey there, Miss-I-Can’t-Keep-Myself-Off-The-Floor, how are you?”

Katsumi-Fucking-Orochi.

“Dude, what's your problem? I didn't even do anything to you, why are you just randomly picking on me for? What’d I do?”

“Well, you pissed me off this morning so I'm just teaching you a lesson! Simple, really.”

“Not my fault your such a prick, I can't believe there is actual girls who like someone like you.”

What a nice way to out yourself [Name].

“The hell you say? You wanna repeat that for everyone to hear?”

Katsumi walked up to you, practically towering over you. He leaned down to get on your level to try intimidate you. All you did was smirk, if he thought that he would scare you while being a 10 year old, he thought wrong.

You were strong at your age so you didn't mind if you had to fight even though you and Katsumi had a diffrence in height, despite being the same age.

“Sure,”

You took a deep breath and screamed with all your might,

“KATSUMI OROCHI IS A PRICK!”

Every student, teacher, staff member, and anyone who was in the school probably heard the scream. Katsumi stood there with a shocked expression on his face, absolutely baffled that you actually went through with it.

“You b-”

Shortly after your scream, teachers and lunch ladies separated the two of you and sent you both to the Principals office.

You didn't regret it, not one bit.

‘Keep looking at me and I'll beat the shit out of you, stupid Karate Major.’

You and Katsumi had been sitting in Principal's office for about a good 30 minutes and counting while shooting dirty looks at each other to pass the time untill he finally entered. The room was clean and organized but the feeling of dread surrounded the place as he walked in. Not one of you even dared to say a word to each other or to the Principal himself. The scent of paper and rain started to be suffocating.

“So, what happened exactly?”

The Principal tried to break the ice but it wouldn't budge. It seemed if the tension could be cut with a knife, it was just such an uncomfortable room to be in.

After a few minutes of the Principal waiting for a response, Katsumi decided to speak up.

“She called me a prick.”

“Well you pushed me.”

“So? It was by accident.”

“Really? Even though you called me Miss-I-Can’t-Keep-Myself-Off-The-Floor?”

“It was a harmless joke, I don't know why you got so hurt by it.”

You and Katsumi kept going back and forth, spewing insults and starting to raise your volume. That's is until the Principal put your whining to an end.

“That's enough!”

You both went silent as the Principal continued.

“Do you two want me to contact your parents because I will if you two keep provoking me.”

The both of you agreed on something. You couldn't have your parents come here or all hell would let loose. The two of your heads shaked in sync, both signalling the fact of the discomfort at the sound of their parents coming there.

“That's what I perceived. Okay, you two obviously don't get along so I won't waste any more of my time dealing with this. Both of you will a detention on Saturday and you will write apology letters to each other. Understood?”

The sound of his voice and the things he listed made you sick. Apologize, to him? Hell no. You rather die first than apologize to a dick like him. Seemed like Katsumi agreed with you on this one thing and gave you a nasty glare.

But did you have a choice?

“Fine, we'll do it.”

Katsumi’s face seemed like someone just killed his mom. He was furious. You gave him a sign to tell him to shut up so you won't get into more trouble and of course, he obliglied. You decided to speak for the both of you to avoid him protesting.

The following days were absolutely amazing. You kept feeling Katsumi's glare on you and you were dreading the sound of Saturday. You had to tell your mom and dad and of course they were disappointed, they ended up taking away your iPod and Computer so here you were.

Saturday, November 9th

Here you were. In front of the school you went to daily. You were absolutely terrified, you just had a very bad feeling about today, you had a feeling. You tried to tell your mom and dad but they told you that it was punishment and you couldn't escape the ‘consequences of your actions.’

“Love you sweetie! Don't forget, okay?”

You simply waved to your dad who tried to keep everything positive, no matter how negative it might be.

“Love, she's in trouble! We have to be mean and angry!”

Your mom is goofy too but she is wayy more serious than your dad.

“But dear! I just love our little girl, she's such an angel!”

“Ugh, just drive you idiot!”

Your mom and dad were just so lovey dovey, you were kinda glad that they were kissing and making out.

Anyways, on the more important subject at hand, how will you survive the dreading feeling in your stomach?

It didn't matter, you were going to be late, it was already 12:38 and you needed to be there by 12:40.

You quickly rushed inside and got to the library where detention was held.

‘‘What the?’’ you muttered so quietly, you're sure no one heard.

As soon as you walked into the room, you saw Katsumi's whole friend group. They looked at you with the same shit-eating grin that Katsumi had. One of them got up and purposely bumped your shoulder. You looked at him baffled.

Why was Katsumi's whole friend group here? What business did they do?

Whatever, not your problem. You kept walking to an empty seat in the back of the library where a window was. Then came the King.

Katsumi walked in with a duffle bag, he probably just came out of karate practice and came straight here. He looked behind to make sure you were there, which was weird, and once he locked eyes with you, he grinned.

Oh gosh, what are they planning?

The two hours of detention finally went by and you and Katsumi exchanged your apology letters. His glare was deadly and you could tell that everything he wrote wasn't sincere but who cared? You wanted out of here. Like now. Your gut feeling got even worse, it was like you were getting kicked in the stomach.

You were looking really beat up so you asked the teachers who were supervising you to go to the restroom. They told you yes but after going, go downstairs because your parents were already here to pick you up.

You silently agreed and went to the bathroom quickly.

You were inside of the girls bathroom fixing your hair and doing basic toilet things. Of course, as expected, you were the only one there.

That is until you heard Katsumi's voice.

“Knock, knock! Anyone home?”

He intruded anyway, peeking in and telling his friends to follow him.

This wasn't good in any possible way.

“What the hell Katsumi? You guys can't be in here! It's the damn girl's restroom!”

“So? You think I really care about the fact that I can't be in here right now? What I care about,

Katsumi approached you slowly, almost like a snake waiting to bite it's prey.

Is to fucking make your life miserable.”

And with that you were jumped.

“Pleas- ACH!”

You tried to scream out for help but one of the boys holding you down covered your mouth.

“Oh shut up bitch. No one will hear you anyway.”

Tears fell from your eyes, you couldn't see at all. All you could feel was every one of Katsumi's friends beating you up. Kicks, punches, slaps everywhere. One of them kicked you so hard in the stomach to point blood came out of your mouth. They all in unison laughed.

“Guess you won't try and mess with us again right bitch?”

“Hah! If she even tries, she'll be dead!”

They all kicked you and continued to mock you.

“Wah Wah Wah! I want mommy!”

“Hey guys, move out the way. I have something for her.”

Katsumi came from the background, just watching all of this. He stepped up to you while you were now on the floor coughing up blood. You were clutching your stomach and you felt like you were about to die.

“Hey whore! You're done for!”

“Hey Katsumi, try to not kill her, I don't wanna go to juvie!”

“Whatever, whatever. Hey bitch. Look up will you?”

You refused to, keeping your head pointed downward. You couldn't, the pain was excruciating.

“I said to fucking look up.”

His tone got even harsher, you terrified. What could you do? What the hell would happen if you kept disobeying his orders? Well, you were about to find out.

“Fine, I'll force you then. Grab the scissors.”

You froze. Scissors? Was going to stab you? Kill you? Cut you? What the hell was about to happen to you? Oh Gosh. You wished you hadn't talk badly about him that Wednesday. As if one of Katsumi's friends shared a brain with you, he asked the same question you had in your mind.

“Uh Katsumi, I hope you're not planning to hurt her with them?”

“Of course not! I'm just going to cut her clothes.”

Clothes? My clothes? What the hell. Oh God help me, what did I get myself into.

Katsumi bent down to your shriveled figure, shying away from him and his crew.

“Well, you're about to be naked! We might even take pictures!”

He came closer to your face, practically breathing on it.

“So you better make up your fucking mind before I decide to stab you instead.”

‘How the hell was this a 10 year old?’ was the only thought going through your mind.

“Well whore? Speak up!”

All of the boys kept yelling at you to respond to Katsumi's question and you were stuck there. Motionless.

It felt like someone just pushed down a cliff of abyss. You felt like you were falling and the tears came gushing out. You were terrified. Scared. This boy was going to kill you, you didn't know what the hell to do. So many thoughts were running through your mind. Help me. You didn't know what to do, your body shaking rapidly. It was over. And you knew.

“Well, Miss Whore won't respond so I'll just make the decision my self!”

Snip.

Snip.

Snip.

part 1 because this thing is longggg 😝👍

rip [name], she be going thru it..

[purpleheartskies]

The Road Back in Robby's Hero's Journey

The "Need" to "Find Balance"

Mr. Miyagi told Daniel in kk1:

“You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”

Robby's second place trauma isn't just from karate...

"Second place. Second place. Second place."

... it's from his whole life

Johnny chose alcohol over Robby. Johnny chose Miguel over Robby. Johnny chose Carmen over Robby. Johnny chose the plot device baby over Robby. Johnny chose his rivalry with Daniel over Robby. Johnny chose his own ego and himself over Robby, always. 

Shannon chose herself over Robby too. She still did in s5. Shannon also chose alcohol and drugs over Robby too for a long time.

Daniel chose his rivalry with Johnny over Robby. Daniel chose Miguel over Robby after the school fight (now recognizing Miguel as the avt champ, dismissing all of his wrongs against Robby, and participating in scapegoating Robby for the school fight). Daniel chose his war with Cobra Kai over Robby.

Sam chose trying to make Miyagi-Do look good over trying to do right by Robby. Sam chose Miguel over Robby. The Miyagi-Dos also chose standing by Miguel over standing by Robby. Robby was scapegoated by all for the school fight. "There's nothing complicated about it. You had a choice and you chose."

"It's still better than always coming in second."

As I talked about in my "Finding Balance" - Part 1 post, a major theme of the series is "finding balance":

Finding balance is about coping with trauma, especially with your emotions and responses due to trauma. This is a major theme that is explored throughout the series. Through the characters' stories, we're shown that trauma isn't permanently gone by "finding balance" momentarily. "Finding balance in your life" is a constant struggle that you have to consciously work on.

In my post about Robby's Hero's Journey, I talked about how Robby's "need" in his character journey is to find balance.

"You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.... I didn't mean balancing your body. I mean balancing your life. Look, Robby. I know it's hard growing up without a dad, believe me. Mine died when I was young, so I know."

"But when those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta... you gotta search inside for the good stuff, you know, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life. Understand. It's not easy, but you'll do it."

In s5e5, when Robby started people-pleasing, he gave up on his "need" to find balance. He gave up believing in himself and trying to figure out who he is. He stopped believing in a future for himself; a future in which he will not end up like Johnny. He had said in s4e4 that he won't end up like Johnny because he is better than Johnny. In s4e10, he didn't want to give up his compassion to become a champion using Cobra Kai. He left Cobra Kai and tried to work on his relationship with Johnny, his "want". Robby ended up giving up who he is completely to achieve his "want", but Robby understanding who he is and believing in himself is important to achieving his "need".

The Road Back

Part 1 overlapped with "The Road Back" stage of Robby's Hero's Journey. In the Hero's Journey post, I wrote:

10. The Road Back - The hero returns to the original world and sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges. "One version of step ten sees the hero returning to their ordinary world, believing that the adventure is over. It seems like the hero has defeated the Shadow because the Reward has been claimed. This false sense of security creates the massive fake-out you're setting up! This scene often shows the hero and the remaining cast of characters at peace, feeling safe and secure." (quoted text) Robby has also seemingly defeated his Shadow---Johnny---and obtained his "want"---a relationship with Johnny. However, Robby gave up his "need"---finding balance---, falsely believing that he has achieved it. Given that he hasn't achieved his "need", his journey isn't over yet. And, this stage includes the "fake ending". The Shadow can be the part within the hero that they don't like or that is deep repressed feelings or trauma. The antagonist or villain to the hero usually is the physical version of this Shadow.

Robby's actual Shadow is his traumas, mostly due to Johnny, that Robby calls his "hate". Johnny is the physical version of this. Robby's overall goal is to break the cycle of generational trauma from Kreese and Johnny due to Cobra Kai by finding balance using Miyagi-Do. Robby's main antagonist/rival throughout the series is his traumas/"hate", which Johnny represents.

Since s5e5, Robby seems "fine" on the outside, but Robby's inner turmoil is still there. Robby obtaining his "want" at this stage was never going to satisfy his "need".

"It is here that the hero receives the object of desire they have been pursuing in the story thus far. But it cannot be enough to fulfill the central conflict in the story. That's because your hero must have an internal need that the object doesn't satisfy." "The hero can also be too easily satisfied with the Reward, leaving unresolved conflict. This sets up an even more shocking twist later when the Shadow rears its head again, shattering the false comfort provided by the physical Reward."

Robby indeed has a lot of unresolved conflicts. All of his reconciliations in s5 were one-sided, and those have yet to be resolved. s6e5 showed that Robby hasn't found balance yet.

His suppressed rage is so palpable in this scene.

"When those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta search inside for the good stuff, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life." After his conversation with Tory about winning the Sekai Taikai and being on the podium together, Robby started believing in himself again, for the first time since s5e5, because of Tory's belief in him. But Robby couldn't get in touch with Tory the day before the match and she wasn't there at the start of the match, so Robby was off-balance in the beginning of the match. After Tory arrived, Robby was able to "reach inside for the good stuff" and "find some balance".

It's interesting that the first time Robby's flashback is shown since s1 is in s6e5 (during The Road Back). The last time his flashbacks were shown were in s1e8 (Meeting the Mentor) and in s1e10 (Crossing the Threshold).

s1e8 - The first time Daniel, the Mentor in Robby's Hero's Journey, told Robby the "need" for his character journey---to find balance---Robby's flashback was of the Inciting Incident in his journey which lead to his Call to Adventure.

s1e10 - The first time Robby faced his Shadow (traumas/"hate" and Johnny) during a karate match, Daniel reminded Robby to find balance. Robby's flashback was to the lesson in the woods about his "need" to find balance.

These flashbacks in s1 were before Robby officially crossed the threshold in the special world at the end of the Hero's Journey stage Crossing the Threshold. In s6 part 1, Robby returned to the ordinary world in The Road Back, and his flashback is shown again for the first time since before he entered the special world at the end of s1. That is, while Robby was in the special world from s2 to s5, no flashbacks were shown for Robby.

Per the 3-act story structure, the s1 avt is the 1st plot point, the school fight is the 1st pinch point, the s2 avt is the 2nd plot point, the apartment fight is the 2nd pinch point, and the captaincy match is the 3rd plot point.

Robby's flashbacks in s6e5 showed his karate tournament losses, but the chanting in his head, "Second place, second place, second place, second, second place", of course alludes to so much more than karate; it alludes to the traumas he's experienced in his whole life.

In the s1 avt, Robby lost his balance while focusing on Johnny during the match with Hawk, so Daniel told Robby to remember what he learned. Johnny is the physical version of Robby's Shadow, which is his trauma/"hate". Robby was able to "reach inside for the good stuff" and "find some balance". However, he was physically injured by Hawk and Miguel. Robby lost because Miguel pulled on Robby's injured arm between rounds to secure the win for himself. Miguel's win wasn't focused on. Robby's loss was. Robby had an important moment with Johnny (Shadow) and a important conversation with Daniel (Mentor). Robby's loss was part of the Hero's Journey stage Crossing the Threshold into the special world. After this loss, Daniel and Robby reopened Miyagi-Do.

In the s4 avt, Robby's balance was already a little off because of his match with Kenny. Robby fully adopted Cobra Kai in the match, and later found out that Kenny had fully adopted Cobra Kai despite Robby's efforts to stop him. Then, during his final match, Robby looked at Kenny, and Robby said that he was looking in a "mirror" and saw his own "hate". This threw Robby off-balance. (Though, I still wonder if he was even trying his hardest after he looked at Kenny.) He lost again, and once again the win wasn't focused on. Robby's loss was focused on, and Robby had an important conversation with Johnny (Shadow). This loss after looking in the "mirror" was the start of the stage The Ordeal, which is a major turning point for the Hero and leads to a false victory of getting his want but losing his need, "even if you win, you lose" (Daniel's words to Robby in s4e9).

In the captaincy match during The Road Back, Robby didn't have balance but at one point was able to "search inside for the good stuff" and "find some balance". The s1 avt and the captaincy match, in which Robby was able to find balance successfully in his match, both happened at important stages in the Hero's Journey that overlapped with opposing "plot points" in the 3-act story structure in his story. The school fight and apartment fight are opposing "pinch points" in his story. Robby's four main matches in this points all take place versus Miguel, his "rival"/bully amongst the teens. Robby's win in the captaincy match was also focused on. He had an important scene with Johnny (Shadow) as Johnny put the captain headband on Robby's head. This is symbolic, as Robby had successfully overcome his trauma/"hate" momentarily to win the match so that he could take part in his final battle/tournament championship.

Robby overcame his actual Shadow, his trauma/"hate", in his mental match and found balance momentarily. Johnny, the physical version of his Shadow, acknowledged Robby's win in his physical match.

In the two tournaments and the captaincy match, Robby encountered his Shadow (his trauma/"hate") and it threw him off balance. Now, Robby is heading into his final tournament with his Shadow, looming and ever present. Robby's balance is the worst it's been, now with Tory being back in Cobra Kai. Robby's journey has been leading up to this final battle against his Shadow and this next stage in his Hero's Journey---The Resurrection.

The Remaining Journey

The Sekai Taikai is Part 2 and that overlaps with the next stage in the Hero's Journey:

11. The Resurrection - The climax. Also known as the "dark night of the soul". The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.

This stage overlaps with the Sekai Taikai. Robby will have to find balance in order to win. He can't keep suppressing how he really feels, that rage he keeps bottled up inside. Robby has to confront those feelings and his traumas, the root of his traumas. Robby has to face his Shadow, Johnny, again and this time Robby needs to embrace his "need" to find balance. He needs a real resolution that involves believing in himself and his future: "Well, you are the tree, Robby. You've got strong roots. You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen." Of course, Robby needs real resolutions in all of his relationships, especially with Daniel and Sam. (Shannon too, of course.)

In s6e2, Robby expressed that he's not going to Stanford or anywhere. This shows that Robby wants to go to college and to build a better future for himself. He just doesn't know how, especially with his lack of belief in himself and his lack of a proper support system. Coming out of The Resurrection, Robby should be on the right path for his future after embracing his "need" to "find balance", with or without anyone's help.

Hand in hand with Robby's Hero's Journey is Johnny's Hero's Journey, as I've mentioned in that post about Robby's journey. Johnny's Hero's Journey is centered around his own trauma, and coming to terms with his past both with Kreese and with Robby. Johnny also has to find balance is his own life. Since s3e10, Johnny has been avoiding facing his past, especially his past failures with Robby. Johnny can't keep shutting down any mentions of those.

In s6e3, Johnny got the lesson about "finding balance in life" from Chozen, and Johnny was successful in applying it one time soon after. Chozen told Johnny that Miyagi-Do isn't just for dojo, Miyagi-Do is "a way of life" and that it comes from the heart ("search inside for the good stuff" as Daniel had told Robby). Daniel later told Johnny that Miyagi-Do isn't a quick fix and can help him become a more centered person but it doesn't mean his problems go away overnight. That is, "Finding balance in your life" is a constant struggle that you have to consciously work on.

I've mentioned before (in this post and this one) that Johnny has been slowly transforming from Cobra Kai to Miyagi-Do throughout the series. In S6 Part 1, Johnny finally joined Miyagi-Do officially (s6e1) and learned about finding balance from Chozen (s6e2). Johnny of course reverted to some of his Cobra Kai ways, like trying to get Sam and Tory to fight (s6e3) and fighting Barnes for essentially no reason (s6e4). When it came to Sam and Tory, they ended up resolving things a Miyagi-Do way, though Johnny kept saying that girls are easy, as in they resolved things this way because they're girls. Johnny of course has a lot of his Cobra Kai (toxic masculine) traits still, which affects his views and behaviors. He also kept passing comments about Miyagi-Do that show that he doesn't view it as tough or as badass as Cobra Kai. Maybe he stopped trying to find balance because Daniel gave him a job, and that's what he was really seeking instead of finding balance. In s6e5, while his second place trauma from Kreese was being portrayed alongside Robby's second place trauma, Johnny learned about Miyagi's secret past. During their argument about Tory, Johnny insulted Miyagi. Daniel punched Johnny, and Johnny told Daniel that after the tournament, Johnny's done with Daniel. That is, Johnny claimed to be done with Miyagi-Do and taking over its legacy.

However, this is just the usual drama and conflict. Johnny's The Resurrection stage is coming too. Johnny will adopt Miyagi-Do permanently, as in he won't renege, if he is to achieve his own "need" to find balance and have a positive growth arc overall:

"It's a moment of rebirth and transformation, where the hero accepts and commits to their new identity. The hero is reborn with the attributes of their ordinary self, plus the lessons and insights they've gained from their journey. They've changed and grown, and are now ready to take on the villain and defeat them." 

Both Johnny and Robby will experience this as they go through this stage of their Hero's Journeys. After this is the final stage:

12. The Return - The hero brings their knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world.

This "elixir" is Miyagi-Do---"the way of life" that involves finding balance. Johnny and Robby will make their legacy Miyagi-Do. It's possible that Johnny finally truly adopts Miyagi-Do because he realizes that he needs to do so for Robby and for himself. Given the setup, Johnny's demons related to his mom's death (when he abandoned Robby) have resurfaced and Kreese has now returned to Johnny's life too. Johnny's can't keep running from his past. He must face his own Shadow---Kreese---once again, and this time Johnny must become serious about finding balance.

s5 and s6 part 1 made it clear that the dysfunctional blended "family", including the plot device baby, were never going to cause true growth in Johnny. The main purpose of the "family" has been to worsen Johnny's behavior towards Robby to add to Robby's traumas. Johnny said in s5e9 that he stopped focusing on his past and started focusing on his present. Johnny's behavior is a major source of Robby's traumas and negatively affects Robby's ability to find balance. This "family" situation needs to be resolved, but Johnny and Robby are the only ones in the "family" with Hero's Journeys leading to true character growth. As I've been pointing out for some time, the "family" storyline doesn't fit with the overarching story. The storyline is a misdirect, and I'm curious to see how all of this plays out.

This post is also titled Robby is the underdog - Part 5, "Finding balance" - Part 3, and Robby has a Hero's Journey - Part 2.

This is a follow-up post to Robby has a Hero's Journey ("Finding balance" - Part 2)

(As always, please don't comment or reblog with dismissive comments about the nuance in the story. The nuance is part of the story, and the story is exploring important topics like trauma, bullying, neglect, and dysfunctional relationships.)

[lady-ashfade]

Hey mate! It didn’t say anything about Cobra Kai male requests so not sure if you’ll do this.

Can I request Yandere Hawk & Miguel x male reader? Plot can be anything. Just want to read some no mercy era Hawk and Miguel. Thanks!

Little thing

Yandere!Hawk&miguel x reader. (HC’s)

Notes: Even though my requests for cobra Kai are closed- Honestly I was in a cobra Kai mood actually, which is kinda scary. I was going to write something and I have been reading cobra kai fics for the best two days- Anyway. This is short because I didn’t know what to put down, I hope you like it.

(Opening up my cobra Kai requests man)

Yandere type: Medium (idk)

Warning: Stalking, Yandere tendencies, violence, obsession, dark themes.

The boys would notice you when they get into a class with you, they have never really seen you around before.

You sat in front of the two boys, and they caught glimpse of you one day and couldn’t get enough.

You’d always smile at the people who walked by but you never seemed to talk much. They always notice you always tapping your foot to the music in your ear pud, that you secretly put in.

Hawk pointed you out in class. Saying along the lines of how you were kinda cute but how you always seemed shy, Miguel agreed.

So the two started to follow you around school without you noticing, they learned where you were at all times. What subjects you liked and didn’t, who you talked to and didn’t.

“They need protection, just look at them.” Miguel pointed out as you stood at your locker, hawk smirked and leaned on Miguel shoulder, “I’m in, little thing doesn’t seem to notice anything.”

No matter if you are taller, bigger, shorter, anything. They see you as a small, weak, fragile thing. And you know how people have this thing to protect the person they love, the two go over border.

Ever drop a pencil in class and don’t notice? It’s theirs now. They have a whole bag of things they have of you.

Now, when someone gave you a bad look even just once, or talk bad to you. The two of them teach that person a lesson. They did it at night where no one can see, beat the living shit out of them.

You started to find it weird how everyone around you stared to get hurt, it made you think you were cursed.

In the locker rooms they always come behind you while you change and pretend like they are focused on themselves but make sure no one looks at you, or gets near you. Or if you change in a stall they stand outside it just to make sure but have a conversation loudly to make sure you don’t really notice.

They have snuck a few glances.

Then one day their prayers were answered when you three got paired up in a class project. Oh, the boys couldn’t stop their heart beats when they heard your name.

The two almost didn’t know how to actually talk to you at first, but when they started they couldn’t stop. How they could be so close to you, to touch you, smell you- Hold you. It drives them crazy.

They asked things about you one right after the other and overwhelmed you. You answered as best as you could and thought it was just them being friendly. But you knew them both because of the whole karate-war going down.

You invited them over to your house to start working on projects and they couldn’t wait.

While they were in your room they stole things, small things but still. I see them stealing a shirt of yours, or objects they found.

The two “befriended” you that night and decided to calm themselves down to drawl you in. They acted really nice and kind, which they were. But hide there other side.

Here’s some things they do, romance or in the friendship area.

Following your around to make you untouchable. Glares at anyone who looks close to your way.

They call you “Little thing” constantly. Or tiny, or anything that’s belittling, but not that mean. Hawk tho will call you stupid but he just want to make you feel dumb so you ask him for help.

(Hawks the meaner one of the two)

They start to control you, like saying what you should wear but make you think you chose it yourself. Or by getting you things to eat. Where you go, when you go. They only make you hang out with them.

Miguel is the one who babies you the most in a sense. He treats you like a prince. Always being the joking guy who makes you smile and laugh. He’ll hold onto you by the waist. He’s “softer” with you. Because come on, he’s so fluffy when he doesn’t want to murder anyone.

Hawk treats you like you can’t do anything alone. Like walking, you could wonder off. Or maybe you’ll walk out into traffic, hold his hand. Hawk is so overbearing. Like you have to tell him to chill at moments.

But the thing they both have in common is being feral over you.

I’m talking about they don’t care where they fight, but it’s away from you, but school fights happens all the time.

Broken a guys wrist, treated some guy with deadly threats, have put so many people in the hospital.

They will stop at nothing, I mean never killing anyone…But if someone hurts you then it’s not there problem if their body gives up on their own.

Don’t allow you to join a dojo. The only way you are going near a dojo is watching them practicing.

Man, I just seen them ass overbearing.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

HIIIIII HAPPY MIGUETRI MONDAY!!! It was only a matter of time before my post-S6 shitposting about them started, I fear ^^;

ANYWAYS I was thinking about this mlm-ass hoodie everyone is talking about, and I need to yap about my own headcanon about it. Bear with me!!!

So tbh this seems like...a really weird wardrobe choice to me. Miguel is, imho, the closest thing this cast of characters has to a Token Straight Guy™️. (Like I know I kinda ship him with Demetri or in a poly Miguetreli arrangement, but I'm mostly clowning! It's kind of an AU for me because to me he doesn't actually read as queer in canon.)

But this hoodie is just. Undeniably the gay mlm flag??? Plain and simple??? Out of all the characters to put in this article of clothing, this is baffling me the most. Especially showing him in it while he trains with his long-term girlfriend who he loves very much???

(Side note: I feel like Miguel is aware of what the mlm flag looks like. Moon told him about all the pride flags! Although him accidentally buying a gay pride flag hoodie would in fact be very funny, it doesn't strike me as particularly likely.)

So here's what I'm thinking: This is not a hoodie Miguel Diaz bought. It was a gift from Demetri.

If anyone's been following me for a while, they might have heard me talk about how I think queerness runs in Demetri's family. He seems to have a single mom, and he's never once mentioned his dad. It's very much giving "lesbian woman who didn't realize her sexuality until she already had a kid with a man, for better or for worse." And Demetri's dad being gone...maybe he left Demetri's mom because he was gay??? Or left her FOR a man, perhaps??? I think Demetri's parents 100% had him during a lavender marriage they may or may not have even REALIZED was a lavender marriage.

Anyways, these are just my wild little headcanons, but I do think Demetri's mom has always known he's gay. She sees a lot of herself and Dem's dad in him, and she doesn't want him to make the same mistakes she did and wait until middle age to finally accept his sexuality. SO, naturally, she starts trying to nudge him toward...Realizing Some Things. Including buying and gifting him a fucking gay flag hoodie. Because, like her son, Mrs. Alexopoulos lacks any and all subtlety.

Demetri realizes what she's trying to do, but he pretends he doesn't. He's all "Wow! Thanks! I love the colors!" and then proceeds to never wear this item of clothing to school ever because the poor man gets bullied for enough already. He wears it in private and maybe to the grocery store or something, but not where he'll be around other kids (except maybe Eli, who he has definitely bitched about this at length to. "UGH, why does everyone think I am gay, I am NOT gay!!! I like women, Eli!!! I totally want Yasmine to spit in my face!!! I also want to make out with and exchange handjobs with women, I promise!!! No, I'm not getting defensive!!!"). Hence why we have not seen The Gay Flag Hoodie until now.

Flash forward to The Karate Wars. Demetri has started training on the regular and has grown MASSIVELY, especially his fucking shoulders. Tragically, they are now too broad and jacked and he is too much of an Absolute Unit to fit into the mlm flag hoodie anymore 💔 But it's still perfectly good!!! Quite comfortable and honestly barely worn! So what does Demetri do????

He gives it to his bestie like the generous closeted hero he is.

Miguel is aware he's wearing the mlm flag, by the way. He is okay with this. This is his way of showing he's an ally! Although it WOULD lead to a very amusing conversation with Sam when they first meet up to train.

Sam, eyeing the mlm flag hoodie dubiously: Miguel, um...is there something you wanted to tell me? Miguel: Oh! It was a present from Demetri! Sam, who also absolutely knows What's Up here: ...no explanation necessary, actually.

[multifandomwhore-003]

Coward

Pairing: Robby Keene x female! adopted! Moskowitz! reader

Summary: Honestly, just the most angsty shit I've written in a while.

Genre(s): angst,angst, and more angst.

Warning(s): I'm only following the show's timeline from season 1 to the first half of season 4. They're Taylor Swift/Billie Eilish/other depressing artists coded, more specifically "No time to die", "My tears ricochet", "I love you", "The Archer", "Afterglow", "Line without a hook", "All too well" "That way", "You broke me first", "The Great war", and the list goes on and on so just pick your poison.

Taglist: @rafecameronswhore @barbiekatz @l-o-v-r-s @kaitieskidmore1 @rosepetalsparks join taglist here

A/N: QUICK DISCLAIMERS, I made the reader adopted bc clearly Eli's/Hawk's family is white so this way the reader can be a poc if that's the case, I started this back when S4 came out and just finished it... what does that say about me? Idk. ALSO, Robby's S4 era will always be superior, Robby from S4 you will always be famous, he was unhinged, hot, a menace, and iconic, in this essay I will-

Gif credits to whom they belong

𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗

REQUESTS CLOSED

THIS IS NOT FREE USE, YOU CAN NOT USE MY WORK

Reblog if you like

The All Valley's karate rivalry was as old as time, as strong as god's will, and in your opinion, as stupid as it sounds; not to everyone though, especially your brother, the great and mighty Hawk who loved to parade around the city with his new look that carried every piece of confidence he had, unfortunately, now that it was taken away from him, he felt worthless.

You never had a thing against any of the participating parties in this ridiculous dispute, you didn't mess with them, and they didn't mess with you, but you had a limit whenever they attacked your brother, a tiny fine line that went from 'superficial wounds' to 'profound damage' and they crossed it. More like, Robby 'cute face' Keene, crossed it. Even though there was a 98% chance that your brother had brought this on himself, he was still your brother and you'd do anything for your family.

You pushed the glass doors storming into the empty section of the building and hearing them slightly vibrate behind you, "Keene," your voice was stern, no response, "Keene!" 

"Back here!" He yelled from the back room.

The stride of your heels resounded in every corner of the concrete, a strong, dominant, and potent tone that could easily make anyone even slightly fearful. And Robby Keene wasn't the exception, no matter how many times Sensei Reese and Sensei Silver prepared him to be a champion, no matter how many hours he had proven to be Cobra Kai's worthiest inheritor, no matter how much muscle mass he gained by the minute, no matter how many days he spent in prison, no matter how many people he'd fought, no matter how many kids in the valley were scared of him, everyone has a weakness, and you were one of his.

There wasn't something in this world he could hate more than that because it didn't make sense, it didn't make any fucking sense for you of all people to hold so much power over him after everything that happened, there was an evident reason behind esteeming the adults around him, some of the other students even, but you? What else were you if not a lovely face? The most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his life, he knew the answer, a little too well for his liking, and as much as he hated it, the fact that you were so out of reach made him want you more.

But he pretended, okay? Oh, he loved, adored even, to act all tough and cocky around you as if you couldn't break his entire facade into little pieces if you so much as softened your features for him, a minimal act he thought he'd never see again, and still, he'd imagined it, he'd daydream about it almost every time you were near him, which with the new tournament coming up, seeing you became more and more recurrent, and so, it didn't get easier to hate you, in fact, the more he saw you, the harder it got.

If and only if you were held at gunpoint, you'd admit that the boy was attractive, pretty even, mostly because you would be sentenced to death by your family or hanged for treason by your brother's friends, but also because confessing to like him meant confessing you liked the guy who for better or for worse, ended up in juvie, and it was something that you didn't wanna be linked with.

You didn't have to say it to know that after all, you were still genuinely captivated by his physique and attitude, the way he carried himself everywhere he went, his ability to make himself seen without saying a word, how he wasn't easy to overlook; maybe it was just you who noticed his presence so intensely, perhaps you convinced yourself the rest of the world did as well just so you wouldn't feel so pathetic by the fact that you couldn't ignore him. And in the attempt to make your life easier and 'problem-free' by neglecting your feelings, it backfired by raising the complicity lever of your desires.

"What can I do for you, Princess?" he didn’t bother to turn around perhaps you’d go quickly so he didn’t have to train his self-control, not again.

If you were in a different mood, you would've rolled your eyes at the little nickname you despised so much, he gave it to you not only to point out that your economical status was clearly higher than his, but also to remind the 10-month-old age gap between you and your brother, a small amount of time that doomed your life to always be put under him, to your family, he was going to grow to be a King, the one who was gonna inherit every important part of their heritage, and you were stuck to be only that, a Princess.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put your ass back in jail?" You fumed, irritation blurring out your judgment.

"Because legally, I did nothing wrong, and even if I did, you have no proof of it," he grinned.

"Then explain to me what the hell is wrong with you?!” you spun him by his shoulder,  “You really thought you could just casually shame my brother by cutting his hair and I wouldn't come here to defend him?!"

"You mean the same hair that made him think he could be a bully?" he remained calm.

"You know damn well I never agreed with that," you spat, "Do I need to remind you he was suspended for a week because I went to the principal? And regardless of that, you wanna complain about him making others feel less with violence while you do the same?" you scoffed,  "Wow," you stated with sarcasm.

"It's hair, it'll grow back,"

"You humiliated him! You made him nothing! Not to mention you used a barber's blade, idiot, did you think about how fucking dangerous that was? You could've seriously injured him if he made the wrong move!"

"I warned him, good thing he knows how to listen, he’s not as stupid as he looks," he taunted you more.

You shook your head, "You're gonna listen to me Keene, and you're gonna listen to me very carefully," you got close to him, "If you even so much as breathe in his direction before the tournament, I will end you,"

He chuckled, "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"No, only cowards like you and your minions make threats, mine is a promise,"

"I'm not a coward," he clenched his jaw holding back the increasing anger.

You laughed, and somehow said more than words could.

"Says the one who came here when it was all alone knowing that if it wasn't, you would've gotten your ass beaten,"

"By who? Your little friend who's on probation?” you tilted your head with an arrogant smirk, “No, you see, I came here at this time because I'm smart, I mean let's be honest, you've never done anything to hurt me and you never will, because… well," you raised your shoulders feeding the fire in his eyes.

"So what? Do you want me to hurt you to prove that I'm not?" he towered over you.

You nodded, "Yes," you took another step towards him, "But then again, you don't want me to win, do you? Because if you hurt me, then that means you care about what I think,”  your voice got slower, “and what would that say about you? True winners don't have to prove anything to anyone but themselves, that's the difference between all of you and me," you separated from him slightly, "But go ahead, make my day and land the first punch,"

He froze in his place processing your words and just barely he noticed he missed your closeness, he couldn't bring himself to do so, pushing down the consuming rage that, later on, would show up stronger when Silver and Kreese find out about this encounter.

"That's what I thought," you scrunched your nose,  "You karate nerds are so stupid, who needs to get physical when you have words?" you told more to yourself, and right when you were about to make, what you considered, a triumphal exit, your arm got yanked, your chest hit him, and your faces were less than an inch away, "What are you doing?" you whispered.

The vulnerability of your words and the fragility of your look melted him, for a split second he lost track of his purpose, but it wasn't until he remembered your words that he snapped out of the trance, "Hurting you," he whispered back before placing your lips on his.

It didn't take long for his action to hitch your respiration, stun your nerves, fill your veins with adrenaline, whisk your logic, and for you to correspond. It was embarrassingly quick if to be completely honest, but it didn't matter, frankly, you were so unashamed of it that your hands slipped behind his neck pushing the two of you impossibly closer. It was hungry, desperate, and frantic; you finally understood Adam and Eve no matter how much you hated religion, finally comprehended the temptation of the forbidden fruit, sweet, delicious, and addictive.

Instinctively, he gently pushed you against the nearest wall and you felt his fingers getting lost in your hair, "I don't need to use a lot of strength to hurt you," he pulled you away trying to recover his breath, "I'm gonna hurt your pride by making you moan my name,"

"Easy there, snake boy," you managed to gasp out as you trailed your fingertips fastidiously along his jawline whilst slightly lifting his chin, "What makes you think you won't moan mine," you weren't ready to let your guard down, not yet, you then switched positions holding his shoulders against the cement. In an act of pure selfishness, you softly cupped his face somewhat catching him off guard, his nose brushed yours as your top lip created contact that was so minimal it could almost be imperceptible, "Nice try,  Keene, but unfortunately for you, I don't fuck losers," you mumbled, although you could've said it in a more impactful tone, you knew, you knew that the intimacy of it all would make your words burn into the very depths of his soul.

You walked out of the Dojo quite easily with him as perplexed as a Marmol statue, the catch was having to drive around the city to cool off your system and release the tension of it all. However, it didn't work, not even a little bit, not even at all, your mind played every different scenario of the continuation of your reckless actions, it was your fault, and you had to accept it, you went to face him knowing damn well how you felt for him, you went knowing damn well he wouldn't just back down easily, knowing he would've put up a fight one way or another, you knew deep inside you, you knew this could happen, you wanted it to happen. 

It was inevitable, your brother was just the perfect excuse and you used it, you took advantage of it, you abused it even, he begged you not to do anything and you didn't care enough to listen, you just had to see him, you had to confront him after almost a year of holding back. 

You met him while he was still working for the LaRussos, Daniel and your mom had known each other since college, so whenever they began a conversation, no one could stop them or be part of it; on that occasion, you two were invited for dinner, you brother naturally skipped it, but you were forced to go. You couldn't really complain, Sam was nice company at times, and you would mostly gossip about school or complain about teachers, nothing too deep; however, it even amazed you how rapidly you connected with Robby. Was your entire conversation from that night centered on making fun of the adults? Yeah, but you couldn't stop cackling the entire time. After that, whenever you saw each other you two resumed that same chemistry, constantly coming up with inside jokes or witty comments regarding your family, friends, possible love interests, etc. It then patiently evolved into a solid friendship by revealing heavy details of both of your lives; other types of sentiments involved or not, there was a time when all you had was each other. 

But the school fight changed everything, Hawk had a personal vendetta against the person who put one of his best friends in a coma, and you... you were scared, not furious, not bitter, just terrified. Of him, your brother and his friends, Sam, everyone that had to go through the aftermath of it all; you burned all of those bridges, gasoline and everything, changed schools in a different part of town, shut down that part of your life. You couldn't afford to give your family another reason to put you under. 

"Y/N,  could you stop procrastinating and do something productive?” your mother interrupted your thinkings, “I gotta take this call, take care of them for a minute," she pointed at the waiters.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I- I'll watch them," you answered.

She stepped away.

You huffed scanning the restaurant your family proudly called theirs, it was a second home, warm, comfy, filled with known people, and although you couldn’t make sense of it, you’d always perceived the hazy calmness through the chaos. 

There was something hardly recognizable besides the door, at first glance your eyes overlooked it, but as you double-checked your body tensed and your eyes widened so much you were sure they were gonna pop out, he was here.

The last time he showed up at the business was the night before the incident, your parents had conveniently gone to a business dinner and your brother had no intentions on getting out of the house with his hangover, and like every other time he'd been there, you two would steal food from the kitchen, go up to the rooftop and talk about nothing and everything.

Flashback

"And now Mr. LaRusso doesn't wanna have anything to do with me," his voice weakened.

"Oh my god, Robby," you wasted no time in hugging him tightly, "I'm sorry," 

He nuzzled in the crook of your neck sparking something in your gut, you never failed to react to the crumbs of intimacy you always had. His eyes began to water, tears falling into your shirt.

"It's okay, it's okay," you comforted him, both of your torsos gently swinging.

"It hurts so much," he sniffled, "Why does it hurt so much?" it might've sounded a little too melodramatic, perhaps absurd, but he wasn't afraid to be like that, vulnerable, not with you, you never gave him a reason to be.

You pursed your lips, your throat was dry, you were speechless although you'd never been the quiet type, and all you could do was hold him even tighter, a subtle yet relevant symbolism that reminded you that was the closest you could get.

"Why does everyone always leave?" he let the question settle into the breeze although it felt more personal.

It broke you to see him like this, no pain you've ever felt was comparable to seeing he whom you love miserable, there was nothing else you could do but be there, though you didn't think it was nearly as enough as what he needed, "I- I don't know," you couldn't tell if you were lucky to have never experienced such experience, or misfortunate to not have said wisdom to heal him. You cautiously cupped his face, as if one of your movements could hurt him more, he was like stained glass, complicated, fractured, fragile, and yet, his cracks and colors made him the most beautiful soul you’ve ever met "I won't leave you," you ran your thumbs through his cheeks, drying the small showings of his pain.

"You promise?"

"I promise,"

End of flashback

You tried not to draw too much attention to yourself while jogging towards the entrance, "What the hell are you doing here?" you blurted out.

"I wanna talk to you," he seemed happy, probably because of how fearful you, on the other hand, were.

"You- you can't be here right now, I'm not messin' around," you shook your head, you had to react as discreetly as possible.

"Why? Your brother isn't here,"

"It's not just my brother, okay? My family will kill you on sight, please, listen to me," you grabbed his shoulders, "We can't talk, not here,"

"Where then?"

"I-" you looked around making sure your mom was still in her office, "Do we really have to do this right now?" you insisted.

"Yes," he stated firmly.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, "Okay, come on," you pulled his hand with a strength that wasn't necessary.

You entered the tiny meetings room on the other side of the establishment, because of your dad's usual tantrums, it didn't have a camera and it was sound-proofed; you made sure to lock the door and turn off the light so it wouldn't be visible from the bottom of the wood.

"Okay, make it quick, I need to get back to my mom," your words were rushed and stumbling with each other.

"You truly are terrified of your parents aren't you?" he crossed his arms.

"I don't have time for this Robby-"

"Thought I was 'Keene',"

You only began to call him that after in consequence of the Karate outrage, his first name felt too personal, too close.

You shut your eyes in frustration, "Can you stop being an ass for a second and get to the point of whatever it is that you wanna talk about?"

"Why are you so nervous about me being here?" he continued to tease, truth is, he wasn't sure what he was doing there in the first place, all he knew was that here he was, with you.

"It doesn't matter, just- start talking," you pressured.

"Why are you so nervous about me being here?" he repeated.

Your fingers twitched, a manner you developed out of stress, "Because if they see me with you, I'll never hear the end of it, okay?" you fidgeted then with your jewelry.

"If you never wanna be caught in a lie I suggest you stop doing the ring thing," he pointed out, "It makes it easy to tell,"

You halted the action and then shrugged.

"Why are you so nervous about me being here?"

"Because they already filed a restraining order against you, I guess you didn't get it because you're here, but if they call the cops you'll probably end up in juvie and I don't want- If you ever wanna go back to school or get a job is gonna be incredibly difficult,"

He assumed at first you didn't wanna be seen with him because of how much you cared about the reputation of your new life, a valid perspective given how much you made an effort to conceal it all, but hearing you enlightened him, sore him "Don't look at me like that," a small part of his grudge came out.

"Like what?"

"Like you still care about me,"

A choked laugh resounded from your part, "First of all, I'm not apologizing for that, and second-"

"You should," his demeanor abruptly became more defensive.

You tilted your head, "Why?" your energy matched his.

"Because you don't care about me, and acting like you do is very hypocritical of you,"

"When have I ever told you that I don't care about you?" you frowned.

"You don't have to say it, you already proved it,"

"How so?"

"Don't play the innocent part now," he was close to losing his cool,  "You try so hard to hide everything that happened but at even the slightest inconvenience, you go right back where you started, tell me, do your mommy and daddy know you went to see me two days ago? Huh? Or let me guess, you were too scared to tell them?" 

"Oh, fuck off Keene, is that all you got? Is that the only thing that you think will affect me? My parents? My reputation?"

"Yes! Because that's the only thing you care about! You're nothing but a self-centered spoiled brat that doesn't know any better than to run away from her problems! You wanna know who the real coward is here? You are! Some of us don't have the privilege of a new start! Keep pretending all you want, but don't forget, I was your friend and you turned your back on me, I wasted my one phone call on you because you were the only person I had, and you hung up on me like I was nothing! Tell me, how am I supposed to be the coward if I'm the one who got hurt because of your selfishness?! You don't care about anyone but yourself!" as much as he attempted to divert the subject of the conversation, his eyes sabotaged him, quickly covering his face in a salty heartbreaking liquid. "You... you weren't there-" 

You were both stunned by his reaction, you'd think that with everything he's been put through, he wouldn’t snap so easily, so passionately, so emotionally, but no, all of this was a new part of himself that only you made him feel, he’d only allowed you to do so.

"I needed you! I needed you! And you weren't there! And- and then the first time you say anything to me after I got out-" 

If there's something he had while being in juvie was time, precious time he'd spent weaving, machinating; about you, about his dad, about the LaRusso's, about Miguel, about him. Strategizing his next encounter with the world was arduous, but the action of going through with it was the true challenge, and he realized how useless all that time truly was when he heard your voice the first time, suddenly all of it was gone, the effort, the time, the sleepless nights, the daydreaming noons, all of it, turned into nothing, you turned them into nothing. 

"I was happy," he exhaled like freeing himself of chains and shackles, "I was so happy, and I enjoyed seeing you mad so fucking much, seeing you in general," he laughed, "I tried to-" he choked on his words, "I tried to hate you so much because you bailed on me but I can't," every inch him began to feel... lighter, "I can't hate you," he sighed, "I- I just can’t,”

Your body didn’t allow you to move, roughly grounding you, vines of regret holding you hostage against soothing him, stopping him, following him outside, responding coherently to your family’s screams, to forget.  You’d lost count of how many days you’d feel as you were still glued to the wooden floor, completely stuck, dried-out blossoms of hope from your heart, rageful deep thorns clinging to your debilitated frame, daunting poison sinking your head.

—How many times?—

How many times would you have to come up with every pretentious and overly-thought narrative to justify everything? You’ve been silenced by your reluctance, aghast by your idealization, confined by your denial, triggered by tension, frozen by your guilt, and finally steered by resentment. 

You stared at the faint reflection from the glass, you wanted to immortalize the picture, hair slightly out of place, tugged at clothes, blood burst out of the skin, purple underneath the large organ, nostrils flowing with the lack of air, mouth agape. 

—Why?—

  You prepared yourself for the question before anyone else asked it. 

—Why was protecting Robby’s honor against someone as irrelevant as Natalie Dalmasos worth it?—

 You noticed your knuckles finally matching your brother’s.

—He’s never even met her—

Your stomach sunk as if releasing all the ire and digesting it as dread.

—Was it worth it?—

Hammering head.

—Did she deserve it?—

Striking heart.

—You screwed up everything you built—

Trembling legs.

—What did you do?—

Numbed face.

—Why destroy it?—

Streaking neck.

—Why him?—

Overwhelmed.

Then reality came back.

—Shit—

You reached for your phone, quickly texting your mother the first perfectly constructed lie you could think of, you had to disappear at least for tonight, eventually relieved by her believing your sleepover story, you started the car.

—Where else would you go?—

You blankly saw the infamous logo, the white clearness hiding the inside, you took a shaky breath and struggled to get yourself inside the walls, you didn’t have to make yourself known by words, the heavy door did all the work filling it with creaks against the floor for it being poorly moved. 

You saw him cautiously walk out of the dark.

“Robby,” you let out a soft smile.

He frowned as you gradually got nearer.

“I- I um-” you gulped, “I just got into a fight, the party- I-,” there was now a lightbulb over your head.

He rushed, “Y/N, holy shit,” 

“I- I’m fine, I swear,” you chuckled.

“Fine?! You look like shit!” 

“You should see the other guy,” you joked

He shrugged, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that, I’m just-,”

“Shocked?” you interrupted him, “Surprised? Amazed? Astonished? Stunned? fucking… every other synonym there is?”

He nodded still scanning your body, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he placed one of your arms on his shoulder to then swiftly carry you bridal style to his mattress. You tilted your head observing the side of his jaw.

“I never noticed you had a scar there,” you whispered.

“One of many of my mom’s bad boyfriends,”

“I’m sorry,” you delicately traced it.

He smiled, “It’s okay,” 

You were laid down rather dramatically, or so you thought by the way he treated you like you were made out of paper, you just rolled your eyes and sat up while he went to get the first aid kit. 

“This is gonna hurt,” he wet the cotton.

You scoffed, “Relax Robby, I’m a big girl, this isn’t my first drill,” 

“Right,” he nodded.

You lowly hissed when the chemical made contact.

“Thought this wasn’t your first drill,” he teased.

“Okay, just because I’ve been hurt before doesn’t mean it’s not painful,” you both laughed, “I can still handle it,”

The rest of the cleaning went somewhat silent, just a few mumbled sorries were thrown around, but by the time he had pulled out the bandages, you grew impatient.

“You’re not gonna ask?” you broke the ice.

“Not really,” he admitted. 

“Why?”

“Because,” he raised his shoulders, “It’s too late to go and make ‘em pay for it,”

“Oh god, please don’t, I already did that,”

“What do you mean?” he began to wrap your hand.

“I’m the one who started the fight because they were talking shit,”

“What kind of shit?”

“All kinds, throwing rumors and just- bullshit,”

“About who?”

You licked your lips.

—Really? Now you go silent? You’re already here, fuck it—

“About you,”

“What?” he tightened the cloth too much.

“Ow,”

“Sorry, sorry,” he let go.

“Yeah,” you confessed, “They were talking shit about you and I shut them up,”

“Who?” he was still confused.

“Some girl from my school who thinks she’s fucking… Regina George or somethin’, she’s just a bitch,” you shook your head.

“Why?”

—Why?—

You grabbed his face, and gave him the most mellow and honeyed eyes you’ve ever had, “You haven’t figured that one out yet, have you?” you joined your foreheads as you closed your eyes, “You’re not the smart one out of us anyway,” you heard him giggle.

He brushed his nose with yours, shyly getting closer.

—Are you sure?—

—Yeah—

—Fuck it—

You kissed him for the first time, but held on to it like it was the last, how was it that you could say everything with just that? The most disarming and humble expression there is; the touch of two epidermises, and the completion of dual fantasies. You almost blubber in it, oh sacchariferous little poison of yours, worth every penny, every dime, every tear, every scream, and every dream. 

He paused, taking a deep breath, yet never breaking contact.

You sobbed, “I love you,” you dried his cheeks.

“I love you too,” he whimpered.

[joannasteez]

crying, laughing, loving, lying - being comfortable is no good

pairing: roman reigns x angel (black oc) warning: this little chapter is all angst and unfortunately barely features angel. but i'm giving backstory!! no other warning besides swearing and talks of divorce. authors note: i love imperfect characters. so yummy. first chapter found here. word count: 1700

roman loves his job. he loves the campus. and he loves his office —which to him, despite seth's modernistic sneering, is wholly traditional—outfitted tirelessly to suit a timeless sense of taste. dark wood furnishings and overly warm lamp lights. deep shelf walls and old brass ceiling fans. the neat clutter of sports paraphernalia surrounding unread midterm papers —which detailed in their own ways and intellectual fashions, the steady rise of sociopolitical tensions of pre-world war-two society through a 1936 olympic games lens — and once looked over defensive plays meant for forthcoming football games. and this here was his little heaven, his peace, but said peace was being tainted. squandered and spat on. because of all the days he'd chosen to settle in at the office on campus versus doing work from home, she, had stopped by to see him this day. to parade around that pitiful frowning in her lips and the beautiful, un-useable ring she'd never bothered to just get rid of.

and he was very specific about not getting it back. about not wanting it back. about her even selling it, if thats what she wanted. since she'd always done what she wanted anyways. what difference would it make if she sold the eighteen karat in exchange for whatever dress or lamp or table caught her eye? roman really couldn't give less than a shit what she exchanged it for, just as long as he'd never have to see it again. because all the memory is stored there, in the all those beautiful cuts of diamond. but then again, as he said to himself, 'amina does what she wants', including showing face when showing face was exactly what he didn't need. 

he seems to be the only tired one in all this. the only struggling survivor, hell the only survivor really. amina's face feening to look written in a perpetual state of guilt which was complete, utter bullshit. but then again disingenuous was her forte. and roman was sure that the divorce lawyer was the happiest they'd ever been. maybe even eating off the money they'd made at the expense of his failed marriage. but who knew. at this point, who fucking knew. 

his glasses give the ring clarity. a shine. making his jaw twitch and his foot shift till his knee jumps. all of which are involuntary. and this burns his core, the very base of his belly, because why does the discomfort take him so wholly?   unsullied and lacking compassion as it travels his skin. 

he can feel her eyes fixing into him. screwing hot over every line and detail of his freckled face as she waits. and oh does roman make her wait. letting the silence drown the room till theres nothing but the whipping spin of the ceiling fan and the warm lamps singing with a buzz.

"are you gonna say something?"

and all he can remember is his bed. the distress of the sheets and the boiling heat in his body. her moaning and then the absolute fright. the guilt as she forced her body away into the wall, the sheets surrounding her, drowning her up to her neck. his fingers cold from the breeze. 

the ring still on her finger. why even keep it on?

something in roman's skin flares. a burning irritation. an anger bought on by the existence of anger itself. because why should he be reduced to something this wild and ill-controlled? why should he be the one suffering, feeining stability. why should a simple ring bother him so much. he was, is, better than this, better than the pity written in her eyes. he hated this. why didn't she just fucking sell the damn ring. 

"hows terry doing?", that name like poison on his tongue. the whole memory of it coming up to dry his throat till he's tasting bits of bile. his fingers flexing as he takes to fingering over the stacks of papers at his desk. "still enjoying my headboard?" 

"don't do that...", amina's eyes averting. guilt, guilt and more guilt. "...don't, don't bring him up like it's on him". 

"oh?". a scoff but a laugh too. disgust and amazement. but he's irritated too. surprised. "is this accountability? are we in the end times finally?" 

she sighs exhausted. "roman". 

"amina", exhausted too but wryly so. to dig into her skin in any way he could. 

and when she takes her beat, which he finds annoyingly dramatic, staring into his eyes with all the sincerity drawn up from her gut to say "i'm sorry", he still can't find the will to care. 

and he tells her as much.

"i. don't. care", pushing the ring with his finger over toward the edge of his desk. the fast motion threatening to knock it off the surface if not for amina snatching it mid drop. "take the ring back. pawn it. sell it. shove it in an envelop and burn it", rising from his seat to take a stack of book at the side of his desk to the deep shelf wall. his body tall and wide and rife with anger. "i don't give a shit. i don't want it". 

he can hear her shifting to get up too. her heels clicking small. cautioned steps. not so far but not too close. and now he's sees that's just been the regular state of affairs for everything concerning them. an arms distance of romance. 

"it belongs to you". 

one of the books tighten in his hand. a hard cover stress ball. "the simple fact, that i keep saying i don't wan't it, and you keep shovin' it in my face, really just lets me know you’re here to twist the knife". he shelves the books impatiently, the slotting of them ending, each, with a thud into the wood. "just give me this one thing. listen to me this one time". 

amina takes her turn to bristle. to advance at him and laugh. mirthless and mocking. 

"you wanted the wedding in the summer, so we planned it for july. you wanted to move back home, so i followed you", each click of her heel harsh against his office floors. straining to creak till it's edging into his skin. "you wanted the bigger house and you didn't want me to work and you didn't want me to hang around certain men. i always listened to you". 

'no', roman thinks. whipping away from the shelf. his ears scorching. "wrong", his pointing finger toughing into his chest. "i didn't want you around terry because he was a dog in fucking heat every time you were near him. and everything was always negotiable. i never forced anything". his blood pumping sharp and wild. "you liked me making decisions. you liked being taken care of. i made shit a playground for you, and you ran it to hell till you got caught". 

"negotiable? really?", amina's voice shrill and wavering. "like its a fucking business deal? well so much for a fucking merger of equals”. the ring clutched in her fist, her balled fingers pushing into his chest as she clicks up to him. no longer an arms length away. "you just knew that you knew what was best all the time". 

and when he refuses to accept her forcibly pushing against his chest, the ring falls. 

"and the one thing i didn't know?", his face a breath away from hers. the warmth of vanilla filling his nose. making his screen cringe and his jaw tighten. "that my wife was getting fucked cervix deep in my bed by terry, every other weekend since the night of our wedding". 

"it wasn't every other weekend". 

he laughs. from his belly and with a soft trembling in his nerves. his body uncomfortable still. bothered by the shake of his own anger. "but it was in my bed, in the sheets i bought".

she sneers. her eyes rolling harsh.

"everything with you is always, i and me". 

"yes amina", his tone patronizing. "because you cheated on me. you never even tried", his head shaking. "im not the villain in this". 

her eyes glisten. welling to threaten the breaking out of tears. 

"i had no voice. no say. no room to make mistakes with you. everything was always handled. i couldn't breathe". 

"why not say something?"

"you wouldn't have listened". 

he scoffs. "you don't know that", walking briskly to his desk. collecting the stacked papers to shuffle them inside the thick leather of a messenger bag. he needs desperately to leave. to come from under the thick air of the room. "because you never considered trying. and thats the one thing you can never say i didn't do. i always tried to make you happy. making things comfortable". 

"being comfortable isn't this good thing you keep making it out to be". 

he was over it. over the heat boiling his skin. over the aching in his chest. the lumping in his throat. the sharp pricks in his eyes. the mindless way his jaw twitched to tighten. and he was over seeing amina. he needed something liquid, strong and relieving. and he had papers to grade, he didn't need this. not now. not ever again. 

"if no one has ever told you before, i need you to know that you are filled with a concerning amount of bullshit". 

amina snatches up the things she came to his office with. being sure to leave the ring. "well look at us being two peas in a pod". 

her heels click out of his office. the silence enveloping him again. his shoulders heavy and his eyes tired, from the lateness of the day and the threat of tears. 

and the ring is still there. still and unmoving. his fingers curling to fist but lacking the heart to pluck it from the floor. 

his phone buzzes. angel's name popping up against the screen. a warmth fighting greatly to overtake him as he opens up an image she's sent, but it fails to do anything worthwhile. the chill in his bones icing over so easily that his nerves feel beholden to deaden with a cooling. 

text message | angel : ready when you are

and the heart to reply is void in him. more piqued that amina had destroyed his mood so much that it'd left him hollow enough to leave you unanswered. and God was the urge there, just not great enough to overcome the anger pushing deep in his skin. 

[calisources]

NETFLIX'S   COBRA   KAI.   all   sentences   were   taken   from   netflix's   cobra   kai   television   show,   from   season   one   to   season   five   at   the   time   of   releasing   this   meme.   please   change   pronouns,   names   and   locations   as   you   see   fit.   some   lines   might   come   from   the   karate   kid   trilogy   itself.

“Never mind your past mistakes; don’t let them determine your future.”

“I may not always win, but I never back out of a fight.”

“Put good into the world and good will come back to you.”

“Many of us used to be enemies. But rivalries don’t need to last forever.”

“We may have taken some losses. But it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.”

“If I’m extra hard on you, it’s because you have the ability to be better than me.”

“You’re a sensei. It’s who you are. If you can’t see that, you’re blind.”

“Everybody’s got a sob story. Doesn’t give you the right to be a bully.”

“If you have hate in your heart, then you have already lost.”

“When the fight comes to you, you have to be ready to fight back.”

“You just gotta feel the energy and just live in the moment, you know?”

“Kicks get chicks.”

“The best defense is more offense.”

“Clearly, our students want us to find a way to work through our differences, I know you don’t want to join Miyagi-Do, but at least you have to respect it.”

“You are the only one who can get up when you are down.”

“You gotta understand, man. I was taught karate was for defense only. It’s always gonna be tough to respect Cobra Kai.”

“Sometimes the scars you can’t see are the ones that hurt the most.”

“I wasn’t taught the difference between mercy and honor and I paid for it.”

“Some kids need a little aggression.”

“It may not seem brave, but sometimes, avoiding conflict is one of the most heroic things you can do.”

“I’m gonna have to face him sooner or later. Might as well be today.”

“If your enemy insists on war, then you take away their ability to wage it.”

“The world shows no mercy, so why should we? Some people have it good, but the rest of us we have to fight for every inch of what’s ours. Not just to score a point. For everything.”

“Nobody is more badass than Mr. Myagi.”

“All that Miyagi-Do mumbo jumbo, that might score you points in a tournament. But now you’re in the real world kid, you might wanna learn to strike first.”

“I don’t think of you as a pawn. I think of you as a king.”

“I still live with the fear. We all do on some level. I just try to not let it ever win.”

“You’ve come this far. This is your fight now. So whatever happens, it’s up to you.”

“Karate is not a phase, it’s a way of life. You can leave it for a while, but it never leaves you.”

“You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.”

“You and I, this… we aren’t done.”

“I’ve been fighting my whole life. I sure as hell ain’t afraid of you.”

"I wanted to see how much strength you had in your heart to accomplish what you need to do."

"Every time I try to fight for what's right, somebody gets hurt. I can't fail these kids again."

"This guy just destroys people's lives, bit by bit, and he never faces any consequences. You know what I see? Four consequences right here."

"I wanted to win All Valley more than anything. "

"There's a difference between being heard and being listened to. They heard you, but they listened to me."

"I was trying to make my students tough."

"Defending honor of Miyagi-Do, never a waste of time. Nor is helping friend."

"Everything was supposed to be better after the tournament, but it's getting worse. I'm becoming someone I don't want to be."

 "You know when you first met me, I was a messed up kid. But you gave me a job, and a home, and a purpose. You can't just give up.

"I'm so sorry for the things I said back in the day. The things that I did. Look, I wanted to apologize to you so many times."

"I really respect you for taking the time you needed to find yourself, but I need that time too."

"Right and wrong, there is no such thing. There are only winners and losers. Cobra Kai builds winners because we are willing to do whatever it takes to come out on top."

"Youth is not a liability. It is the greatest power."

"The roots are strong, the tree will survive."

"Miyagi-do existed way before any of us an will still exist long after we're dead. "

"Now the real pain begins, Danny Boy."

"Now that's the Cobra Kai student I remember!"

"You just don't want to admit there has always been a little Cobra Kai in you."

"I wanted to prove that I was better. A better fighter, a better man..... I was fighting against, your father was fighting for."

"We can't do this without you. Sensei."

"It's blood. So what? Make believe it's HIS! This guy wants to BREAK you! HUMILIATE you! "

"A man can't stand, he can't fight. A man can't breathe, he can't fight. A man can't see, he can't fight."

"You know… When MY father died, I spent a lot of time thinking I hadn't been such a great son. It seemed to me like I could have listened a little more, spent a little more time with him together."

"Now You're gonna learn to listen to us and do as your told. and if you don't, you better strap yourself in for one hell of a rough ride ."

"Karate isn’t all punching and kicking. It’s actually more about balance."

"It’s a lot easier to knock something down than it is to lift it up."

"My path wasn’t a straight line. And yours is still being written."

"That's Bullshit, You tortured me."

"It's considered unethical to pouch students."

"I didn't turn you into anything, Danny Boy. I only brought up what was already inside."

"All I had to do was to wind you up and get out of the way."

"If you are being honest with yourself, you know you liked it. You were powerful. . .free."

"Actions have consequences, Mr. LaRusso."

"How easy it's gonna be, to put Cobra Kai gis around both of your kids."

[notjustjavierpena]

That little glimpse of Husband!Joel and his wife Easter got me thinking, what about Halloween? It wouldn’t surprise me if they did a family-themed costume. What do you think, maybe some Disney/Pixar like Toy Story or Star Wars, or perhaps to keep with the season they would go after Ghostbusters? Or a totally different thing? It might be a silly question but the Pedro Pascal Fandom Bingo gave me the last push to ask, lol! Lots of love!♥️

I think Javier would despise dressing up for Halloween because honey, people respect me in this town, let’s not jeopardize that. However, he wouldn’t refuse it completely, and especially not when he has small, excited children, so he finds a loophole of dressing up as e.g. Superman with the supersuit peeking out from underneath his regular work shirts. Maybe he’ll dress up as Mr. Incredible but the version where he forgets to take his mask off in the church. Or as a sheriff. Or maybe he’ll go as far and allow Wife to put him in a Han Solo costume.

Inés doesn’t have patience for family costumes! She wants to be a princess zombie, a vampire witch in pink or a pirate that knows karate. Something that doesn’t make sense.

Lucas, Seb and Wife ALWAYS match. They go all out. If Lucas is Batman, Wife is Catwoman (this choice is praised loudly by Javier) and Seb is The Penguin. If Lucas is Mario, Wife is Luigi and Seb is Bowser. If Lucas is Buzz Lightyear, Wife is Mrs. Potato Head (and tries to make Javier dress up as Mr. Potato Head because you already have the mustache, however chooses Jessie when her husband refuses) and Seb is Woody.

(Also I assumed you meant husband!javi and not joel)

[stars-n-spice]

Thoughts on S3 Ep09!

Went to Universal last week on Wednesday so I missed watching it this week, couldn't watch it until today and oh my god,,,

Ignorance really is bliss <3

It's slowly getting harder and harder to bring myself to watch the new episodes ahaha

Anyways, spoilers and my incoherent screaming under the cut!!!

So I was like a puddle on the floor the entire episode

Ventress spoke and I melted,,

I love her so much I'm so glad she's back and I hope she comes back PRETTY PLEASE

SO M COUNT WAS MIDICHLORIANS!!! I mean,, that much was obvious but we're one step closer to having answers!

Wrecker and Crosshair helping out the Pabu civilians :(

Also noticed how fucking,, big Wrecker looks compared to Crosshair,, aahhhhhaaaaa big,, big man, big guy,,

Crosshair being like, "We aren't going to hand her over" AAAAA he really is worse than Hunter,, fucking love him

Ventress just,, being able to find them so easily and get onto Pabu without anyone noticing makes me,, so nervous,, oh my god

WRECKER FOLDING HIS ARMS ACROSS HIS CHEST AFTER SEEING HUNTER AND CROSSHAIR HOLDING THE SAME POSE?!?!

WRECKER STEPPING UP AND PUTTING HIS HANDS ON OMEGA'S SHOULDERS WHEN VENTRESS MENTIONS FORCE WEILDING?!?

Wrecker just,, fucking doing ANYTHING?? I love him

Ventress is actually really tall-

tall,, tall woman

AND HER GAY ASS HAIRCUT OH MY GOD

"Clearly none of you are normal" LMAOOO

I was like,, "hey why don't they recognize her?? they were fighting in the same war???" and then Crosshair was like "I went through Tech's files" or whatever and :(((

Tech mention :((( I miss him more and more everyday

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT FIGHT SCENE?!?!?!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

want that fight scene injected into my blood

SHE SLAPPED WRECKER?!?!

she kicked their asses oh my god

fuck I loved that

Meanwhile Omega's on a scavenger hunt

I felt like I was watching Karate Kid

Omega not knowing who/what she is :(( and wanting to figure it out and have answers :( MAN.

WRECKER CHEERING ON OMEGA WHILE SHE WAS TRAINING!! it was so sweet but also hilarious because it made me think of how Chopper and Zeb would MAKE FUN of Ezra while he was training (I love my space families)

Omega trying to convince them to trust Asajj,, fucking,, "I never gave up on you, didn't I?" SHUT THE FUCK UP :(((((

With every episode I love Crosshair more and more and it's fucking DAMNING as all hell because I will not be able to handle anything remotely bad happening to him at this point

fuckin,, something,,, about,,, Hunter,, on his back,,, legs spread with the,, lightsaber in his face,,, fuck,, fuck fuck

I'M TELLING YOU MAN I WAS A PUDDLE ON THE FLOOR THE ENTIRE EPISODE

WE MAYBE DIDN'T GET WET HAIR HUNTER BUT WE GOT WET HAIR ASAJJ AND I THINK THAT'S OBJECTIVELY BETTER!!!

Omega is just collecting like,, mentors/parents like Ezra,, I fucking love it,, she comes across adults who are like,, "fuck it. I'm adopting this kid" and Hunter's like "NO!"

Omega is just a teenager I love her so much - "Ventress is bad." - "Okay, but-"

WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A BIG MONSTER?!?!?!

RAAAAAAAH SO SHE IS FORCE SENSITIVE?!

look,, I feel like,, that training wasn't nearly enough to determine the right levels and honestly I'm still confused

ASAJJ YOU BETTER COME BACK

I was like begging for her to stay because I know shit is going to go down on Pabu and they could use her help :(

but also I'm selfish and want to see her more

"But I've got a few lives left" - RAAAAAAAHHH

Also Crosshair helping Omega and Asajj up onto the Maurader :((

I love Crosshair :((

The last two episodes have been relatively,,, calm? Like the calm before the storm and that makes me fucking TERRIFIED for this week's episode oh my god