#but either extend that empathy or don't make me watch the glaring lack of it lmao

[youandthemountains]

1, 9, 17 - dealer's choice for the fandom(s) you pick

oh we're going FULL THROTTLE salt, huh. I have object impermanence wrt interests sometimes so this is going to be cobra kai sorry

also this got obnoxiously long bc I'm feeling chatty this morning, absolutely understand if you don't wanna read all that lmao

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Look I think anything can be approached in an interesting and compelling way. I'm also a big fan of like, absolutely wild out-of-the-blue ship concepts. So it's really more particular relationship dynamics that I don't get - for instance, I get the appeal of liking Lawrusso obv and I personally like it similarly to fenders (lol this will be popular /s) -

Okay actually as a tangent - you know that post roasting the reasons people are into various tropes that says like, you're into enemies to lovers because you're into the fantasy of someone seeing you at your worst and loving you anyway? I think that's cool and enjoyable too but for me, what draws me to it is the fantasy of resolution, of achieving solidarity i guess, of discovering a core commonality between what felt like insurmountable differences. It's about walls and the fantasy of reciprocity in someone knowing exactly how to find the fracture point and you instinctively hitting theirs.

Anyway the point is, that's what I enjoy, so I don't personally get when the dynamic is more like, the relationship is fulfilled when Put-Upon Real Man Johnny gets Daniel to submit and all of the unpleasantness could have been avoided if he had just realized his place at the start. I just dislike it on a lot of levels, I personally think it's a disservice to both characters, but I get that the power fantasy can be the draw for people. I also think Johnny's interesting because of how garbage he can be while we still root for him lmao, so I don't get the draw of turning everything he does into, for example, a sign of how much he ~respects women or whatever when it's like, I mean that just reads as pretty classic sexism/homophobia etc. to me (which can be fun and funny to play with but personally don't feel the draw of just playing it straight) but idk. I'm also an ~awful feminazi I guess, so.

Oh also don't get some of the teen ships but they're teens so I do also believe it bc teens can be dumb and horny, I also don't get romantic endgame Silver / Daniel bc of the same reasons I don't get that particular Johnny / Daniel dynamic, but I also fully believe that Silver / Daniel happened, and ykw, kinda enjoy reading it when it's played as fucked up and awful. I'm not into most of the Cobra ships, I just dislike shitty men that hype each other up, and boys' clubs in general, and prefer not to dive into their psyches, see evil misandrist disclaimer. I also laughed at how hard the show tries to make them into Actually Good Chivalrous Old Boys, See They Will Start A Bar Fight for the Honor of a Black Woman. the transparency of it all esp considering they get the most ethnic looking guy to play the sleazebag as per usual. convenient. love props.

9, Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Kreese not even bc of the villainy but bc I want him to shut up about the war!!!!

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Hard to say since the show's not finished yet so we don't really know for sure what they're doing with all the arcs. I would make all of Kreese's backstory unreliable narration though, give Johnny like, one working class white dude to beat up bc I get uneasy sitting through his fights sometimes, give Miguel a longer recovery from his coma & broken back??? maybe one that'd contribute to slowly jolting Johnny into an awareness of how treating himself like shit hurts the people he loves who emulate him too idk, help him really be hit by the awareness that he isn't alone and that's both a gift and a responsibility, also as a parallel to tkk Daniel and Miyagi since the show loves that. Also, I'd like to see more of Robby and Shannon's relationship and Shannon in general outside of Johnny's perspective of her.

Also jfc either don't have characters of color or stop making them some of the only characters who act as pure antagonists without any attempt made into seeing where they're coming from like literally every other character including the weird child abusing karate teachers get.