#was thinking back on the early season Cobra kids

[brimstone-cowboy]

EVIL GANG 😈

[karatekels]

KarateKels watches Season 6 Part 2!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the KarateKels masterpost of me screaming about Season 6 Part 2! I was initially going to record some live reactions, but I think it would encourage me to scream myself into an early eviction (given that I’m currently starting my watch at 6am). I’ll be updating this as I go, and labeling each episode, but ANYTHING AFTER THIS CUT IS GOING TO BE FULL OF SPOILERS SO IDK MAYBE DON’T CLICK IF YOU’RE LIKELY TO BE UPSET BY THAT KINDA THING.

Initial hopes:

Terry Silver, past or present.

…

End of list.

LET’S GO!

6. Benvinguts a Barcelona (Gesundheit?)

Mr. Sekai Taikai whose name escapes me has great fashion sense.

I just love how we’re immediately starting out with adults glaring at each other. I hope they kiss <3

Robby’s lil ponytail is very silly to me.

So, to recap, we’ve decided to let the kids run around without adult supervision and the adults that hate each other are going to go get drunk? WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!

I love Johnny’s theatrical whirlaround to face Daniel he’s so silly.

Kreese is a dead man… foreshadowing?

Daniel + Johnny + “There was only one bed” trope?

I hope that Cobra Kai always gets this badass music when they walk into a room.

I LOVE KWON THE VILLAIN HE’S SO FUN AND EXTRA.

Yes Amanda, please go.

JOHNNY LAWRENCE IN A ROBE? AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED? HELLO?

Oh, Kim is being THE WORST. Nice sassy walkoff, though.

Poor Tory, she’s all alone.

HEHEHE GET HIM JOHNNY YOU WERE RIGHT TO BRING UP THE CHARITY AUCTION.

…Wolf and Johnny fighting over meat? WHAT COULD BE THE SYMBOLISM.

Johnny wearing the classic red jacket though…

Wait did I see someone with a worse hairstyle than Hawk?

Zara’s first lines are about wanting Robby TO Tory? Oof.

Okay why is everyone sexualizing these MINORS.

…wait did Johnny just imply he almost did porn? Hello? Can we go back please?

VERY subtle, Kreese, what with the whipping out a blade and such. This poor salesman.

Okay, this aquarium set up is AMAZING.

Kwon mocking American patriotism is my new favourite thing this show has offered me.

Master Serrano can do nothing good for Daniel. PLEASE stop looking into this.

THAT’S NOT HOW THE LAW WORKS, KREESE. THAT BETTER NOT BE HOW THE SHOW THINKS THE LAW WORKS.

…Oh no, drunk Chozen. I don’t like this.

Don’t you both have IDENTICAL ROOMS?! WHY DO YOU NEED AN EXTRA ROOM?

Oooh, nice whale shark.

I really wish Devon hadn’t done what she did to Kenny because I liked her as a character and would like to continue to do so but how can I respect you when you went and did all that.

WILL SOMEBODY HUG TORY PLEASE.

Oh my god Dimitri SHUT UP ABOUT MIT.

Oh hell yeah Kwon. (Sorry Robby)

…How did Chozen get to Spain drunk?

SHOWER MAN WAS PROBABLY A BROTHER OR SOMETHING, IT’S LIKE THE BIGGEST CLICHÉ EVER.

Way to ruin the dojo’s reputation, man. Don’t ruin my favourite characters, please.

Kwon sleeps like me (surrounded by a fortress of pillows)!

Awww, Robby’s eyes light up when he sees Tory and it’s really cute and sweet. Also Peyton don’t sleep in a full face, dear. WAIT FOCUS THEY’RE BREAKING UP.

9 minutes left in the episode? Setting up for the tournament? PERFECT TIME FOR A CERTAIN SOMEONE TO EMERGE THEATRICALLY.

Kwon don’t be a dick when she’s RIGHT.

Oh HELL YEAH what a first fight!

Oh damn the Dragons just sat back and watched while they destroyed each other.

OKAY WE’VE SEEN THIS FIGHT BUT IF ZARA WAVES AND WE SEE IT WAS TO TERRY UP ON THE BALCONY I’M GOING TO SCREAM.

Awww, tribute to Dutch! RIP.

No Terry in the first episode, but overall I’m pretty happy with this!

7. Dog in the Fight

I love the height difference between Axel and Zara.

ROBBY WOULD YOU GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME?

…I am the crowd, chanting for Zara. MY QUEEN.

Miguel fucking KILLING it!

Beach scene? CUT TO TERRY SUNBATHING (just kidding us Irish folks have no chance in the Spanish sun).

…I’m with Johnny, Daniel. They gotta strike FIRST.

Johnny’s not scared of Wolf, he says, while they get closer to making out with every second.

IF THIS MYSTERY PACKAGE IS NOT SENT FROM TERRY SILVER I WILL BE SHOCKED. Luring his beloved Danny-boy into a Spanish castle/sexy trap.

Influencer Zara is a queen, and a bitch. She’s Queen Bitch. I will die for her.

…Amanda is also a queen in her robe and her reasonable reactions to things. I will die for them both.

Daniel prioritizing his Mr. Miyagi quest over his students is ridiculous.

HELLO THIS CASTLE IS THE MOST TERRY SILVER THING I’VE EVER SEEN HE’D BETTER BE IN THERE.

…okay look at Wolf’s Iron Dragons swag. I WANT IT.

“Why you gotta be such a pain in the ass at every buffet?” is my new favourite Johnny Lawrence line.

Wolf is right about Americans a little bit (the loud ones anyway; sorry to my American friends)

So if/when Daniel is kidnapped by Terry, Johnny will be able to lead the kids to greatness. Everyone wins, right?

Jesus can’t help you now, LaRusso.

AND A CROWBAR.

Oh Jesus, Wolf. Why must we beat a child (a giant child, but technically a child)?

Oh I’m sure this platform competition won’t trigger some PTSD for Miguel at all. Oh, this isn’t the high one, nevermind.

Omg he’s in a cage. DANIEL’S IN A CAGE. THIS IS AMAZING.

LET’S GO MIGUEL. GET YOU A WIN AND A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP. THATTA BOY!

…oh Johnny. So mean. I mean, the locker room talk has a point, but give Miguel his flowers.

OH SAM SHUT UP. YOUR DAD IS JUST AS BAD.

YES HAWK, HE SHOULD SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT MIT.

Everyone is fighting ☹

BACK TO THE DOGS. I MEAN DANIEL.

NO COME BACK I WANT TO SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING.

Kreese and his damn apples.

Okay but Johnny where was this compassion like two minutes ago, for everyone including Devon?

OCCASIONAL GIRLDAD JOHNNY LAWRENCE.

If Silver picks up Daniel’s phone and calls Johnny I’m going to be cackling so evilly.

Omg he needs him <3

OH SHIT DANIEL LET’S GO! I hope the dogs don’t get hurt though.

Okay why does Goon #3 speak perfect English?

OH SHIT A COBRA KAI TATTOO.

…He doesn’t work for Kreese does he? He works for Silver. LET IT BE TRUE.

Is he hiding behind the conveniently placed curtain?

NO GOD DAMNIT CAN SOMEONE PLEASE BRING OUT THE SEXY GIANT MAN?!?

How can it change your life when you’re throwing the opportunity away, Robert?

You can beat the Irish, guys.

THIS is the platform that’s going to trigger Miguel.

God I love Zara. GOD.

Oh jeez Tory, fucking GET IT girl. A TOOTH??

Good guy Johnny trying to make up for everything. I don’t think it does, but I appreciate the gesture. HYPE MAN LET’S GO.

CAN YOU STOP LOOKING FOR TORY YOU DUMBASS.

Unleash the Hawk please – okay Devon, I like the strategy.

…uh oh. Demitri is in trouble.

LET’S GO MIGUEL. GET EM OFF THE PLATFORM.

…feels like we’re making fun of the Irish a little bit with these caricatures. But I’m not mad.

Okay there are less than 5 minutes left, this phonecall better be Terry.

NO NOT ROSA. IS CARMEN OKAY? IS THE BABY.

Hey, KREESE. Only Terry can call him Danny-boy.

No, wait, Miguel is leaving and THAT’S why Kenny comes back? WHAT?!?

AND WHERE THE FUCK IS TERRENCE.

...still happy with this episode, with one 6'5" gaping hole as an exception (don't take that out of context).

8. Snakes on a Plane

IF THIS EPISODE DOES NOT INCLUDE SNAKE GETTING OFF A PLANE TO REJOIN TERRY IT IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. Also, a grown man continuing to go by Snake would be hilarious.

Alright. If Terry doesn’t show up in this episode I’m going to start to panic.

And if Terry did something to this baby I’m going to be very cross.

So the real play to make is going to be for Devon to drop out and let Miguel come back when everything is fine, right? Maybe? Please?

Hey, Kreese, that’s another one of Terry’s lines. Get your own!

THOMAS IAN GRIFFITH, IN THE CREDITS, LET’S GO!

Damnit Chozen. Go find them kids.

Anyone else wanna go to Spain? We should do a Cult of TIG group trip.

They should really be sticking together, this is a terrible idea.

CALLING TORY THE TOOTH FAIRY IS AMAZING.

…Johnny as a flat earther confirmed?

Chozen please stop going into clubs “looking for teenagers”.

…I don’t ship Kim and Chozen but I will say there’s some fun tension here.

…Do I ship Tory and Zara? DO I SHIP TORY AND ZARA?!

BOOOOOO DIMITRI.

And Robby’s path to alcoholism begins tonight.

Scary Amanda is extra hot. I’m into all these women today – my bisexuality is off the charts this season LET’S GOOOO.

…oh my god I love Kim. And Chozen. I love all of this.

NOT THE SCOOTER I’M DYING THIS IS HILARIOUS. And Kim being like “hate to see him leave, love to watch him go.”

Oh my god Axel. No, my poor baby. Sensei Wolf may be an attractive slimeball but that’s some bullshit.

Is Hawk going to show Moon Dimitri dancing with another girl. OH AND YAS IS THERE TOO. I’m not mad at him tbh. DIMITRI DON’T BE SCUM.

Kwon is a master at pushing buttons. Terry Silver 2.0. SPEAKING OF WHICH, WHERE IS HE.

Also didn’t Devon wear that same hoodie Anthony is wearing?

“Fucking karate” AMANDA YOU’RE THE BEST.

Omg Johnny in the giant hat is perfection.

“You’re my son too” I’M CRYING.

Johnny please don’t end up on a no-fly list.

Oh SHIT I wasn’t expecting it to be Miguel.

…okay a brief interlude – I foolishly opened Twitter and have seen Terry Silver shirtless and am now distracted. OKAY BACK TO THE SHOW WHERE COBRA KAI IS COMING FOR SAM AND AXEL.

Damn that kick to the chest barely moved Axel that dude is a beast!

Oh poor Axel. He is love-starved and jumped to the wrong conclusion. My poor baby.

Devon’s gonna call Kenny. DO IT.

Is Anthony about to chug laxatives to make up for something he didn’t do?

THANK GOD FOR CALLING, DEVON.

…I’m weirdly here for sexual tension fight. OH DAMN GET IT YOU TWO!

Oh fuck you Zara. I don’t blame you but also you bitch! (Maybe nothing happened)

OH MY GOD PLEASE TELL ME SHE’S OKAY OH THANK GOD.

…this jetlag whiplash is gonna be insane for these two.

Damn Carmen okay, show up for 2 seconds and be a badass.

OH MY GOD THEY FUCKED ON THE BEACH?! GET IT, KIMZEN. MY NEW FAVOURITE SHIP.

Kim looks great with those beachy waves, though, regardless of if you agree about how she got them.

…so I was right and the goon was working for Terry?

IF HE IS IN A BATHTUB I’M GONNA LOSE IT.

OH HELL YEAH WHAT A TRIBUTE TO KK3. AMAZING. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RETURN ALSO I AM AROUSED.

9. Blood in Blood Out

3 months earlier?

Okay Terry that hair is a choice but I’m loving the leather jacket on you.

FINALLY they explain how bs that arrest was.

…Snake is dead? RIP. Weird to call him a friend but whatever.

We’re going full villain and I’m here for it.

I will happily “get into bed with the wrong people” if “people” is Terry Silver.

OH MY GOD I LOVE THE AGGRESSIVE RETURN OF THE VILLAIN.

LONG HAIR GUY IS DENNIS WHAT A TWIST.

…Please fight in the bath.

TIG SPEAKING SPANISH I AM SWOONING.

Johnny says “screw Silver”? I WILL TAKE ON THIS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GOOD OF THE TEAM.

They think Kenny is working for Silver?

HANG ON, THAT SUIT IS INCREDIBLE. A bit loose, though. Please don’t let him be sick.

God the fighting in this has been amazing.

Poor Kenny.

SOMEONE, SCREW SILVER INSTEAD OF JUST TALKING ABOUT IT. HE IS TOO FINE TO GO UNFUCKED.

Brothers supporting brothers. We love to see it.

Zara is such a biiiitch.

Ohhhh the eunjangdo is missing what a move.

OH SHIT TERRY LAUGHING AND BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE NEW KINK UNLOCKED.

Oh shit THEY stole it – let’s gooooooooooooooooo!

I do hate that they broke up the Silver/Payne mentorship. BUT DON’T DO IT KENNY.

LET’S GO KENNY!

OH MY GOD FLIPPING OFF SILVER DRAMATICALLY IS SO FUN.

We’re finally a team, at the 11th hour.

AWWW BINARY BROS HUGGING IT OUT.

…Does Kwon have the eunjangdo?

Awww Kim is hurt by Chozen calling it a mistake, poor bb. I THINK HE WAS JUST PLAYING IT COOL THE WAY YOU WANTED.

Kwon is such a douche and I am nowhere close to sick of it.

I’m a fan of all the flipping off going on this season, We’re being petty and crass and that’s exactly my speed.

GOD I love the music in this damn show.

Even Chozen knows the Binary Bros!

JUST GET THE POINT YOU THEATRICAL BUFFOON.

Holy shit what a win!

…But I think I heard something about one of the other teams getting eliminated because of doping or something so I’m gonna bet Cobra Kai is back.

Daniel can you not just let something happy happen for once without being a smug little prick?

Oh my god I love Silver so much. Take the bait, Danny-Boy.

Aaaaand we’ve just sent Daniel into a spiral. WHY ARE YOU SO EASILY MANIPULATED BY TALL SEXY MAN, DANIEL? …Not that I blame you.

“Did Silver just serve you papers?” Johnny Lawrence, I love you.

…Kreese gonna commit murder? WHOMST?!

Y’all when I tell you that these 5 episodes have more than made up for everything in Season 6 part 1 I mean it.

10. Eunjangdo

Last episode. Let’s go.

Daniel stop having a nightmare please I want to get to the real issues in present day, not you realizing that humans aren’t all black and white. You’re a grown man.

Although tbh who’s to say that Terry didn’t just forge those records? Why would Daniel choose to believe him? He’s really stupid.

…Okay but poor little Daniel missing his mentor does hurt – he’s got the childlike innocence in his eyes. Poor baby.

THAT MIYAGI LINE IS MY ISSUE WITH DANIEL LARUSSO IN A NUTSHELL. NOT WILLING TO ACCEPT.

…HOLY FUCK IT’S MR. MIYAGI. Not terrible effects imo.

Oh he actually took it to Gunther and got confirmation. Doing something smart for once. Okay.

Also Miyagi fought in a war? Are we to believe Daniel never realized that he’s killed people before?

Oh Zara you’re kind of a little bitch. ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, MS. MALIK.

Nice bruise on your face, Mr. Kwon Douche. (I still love you though)

TORY/ROBBY FOREVER.

KICK HIS ASS TORY. Damn, Kim interrupting my fun.

Oh… we’re getting a Cobra Husbands arc this episode. FUCK ALREADY.

Terry with his sleeves rolled up is just *chef’s kiss*

Of course it’s the Russians with the doping scandal.

Gunther is a scary mofo and I’d love to see him fight.

So only one of our girlies will go on to kick Zara’s ass. And I really hope that it’s Tory, for her sake.

GOD TERRY WITH HIS BARE CHEST AND HIS SMIRK. I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, MY LOVE.

Miguel is being so adorably supportive of his boy. I still think it’s too fast, but I’m in a giving mood today because the rest of this has been SO. MUCH. FUN.

I also kinda like that Devon is still there as a non-competitor.

“Must pull heads out of asses?” CHOZEN YOU SHOWED UP DRUNK AND CLASSLESS MERE HOURS AGO.

Okay but Johnny is right, Daniel? Why are you being a little bitch? Stop prioritizing your own bs when your daughter is about to get her ass kicked by 1-2 bad ass women! BE THERE FOR THE KIDS, DANIEL-SAN, LIKE MIYAGI WAS FOR YOU.

Kreese talking about war? GIVE US BARRETT AND NICK IN A FLASHBACK, YOU COWARDS.

Kreese is a sonuvabitch but I do think there’s something there with him and Tory.

Miguel parenting these grown men – HE IS A BORN LEADER TOO. AND SAYING EXACTLY WHAT NEEDED TO BE SAID.

I love a good training montage to 80’s music. It’s my lifeblood. Also wasn’t Chozen going to train them? Is he…otherwise occupied? ;P

GOD I’M SO PUMPED UP LET’S GO TO SPAIN EVERYONE.

Okay it’s fighting time, where is my man? OKAY I SAW HIM BLURRILY IN THE BACKGROUND AND WOULD RECOGNIZE HIS SILHOUETTE ANYWHERE <3

Anthony you’re such a fucking asshole. SHOW YOUR MOTHER SOME RESPECT.

So if there’s unlimited scoring then when does the match end?

I want Tory to win – girl needs it. Sorry Sam.

DAMN KWON.

Wait is this Spanish chick the one that was hitting on Dimitri and Hawk?

Zara is so fucking arrogant I love it and I hope she gets KILLED by Tory (not for real).

Omg Tory telling Kim how it is – THE STUDENTS HAVE BECOME THE SENSEI THIS EPISODE.

LET’S GO ROBBY. (Sorry Axel, I hope you find love and happiness and the opportunity to be more than a killing machine)

HOLY SHIT AXEL. I worry what he’d be doing if Miguel had been captain.

Omg he’s doing the same move that Terry did to Daniel in Stingray’s apartment… <3

OH MY GOD THE RUSSIAN SENSEI TOOK OUT GUNTER.

HOLY CRAP THEY WEREN’T LYING ABOUT AN ALL OUT KARATE BRAWL.

I GUESS I’LL BE FINDING OUT WHAT AXEL WOULD DO TO MIGUEL.

TERRY PLEASE DON’T GET INVOLVED I WORRY ABOUT KREESE.

THIS IS CHAOS AND I CAN’T STOP SCREAMING.

…Is Chozen gonna defend Kim and make her reevaluate her life decisions? HELL YEAH. GET MARRIED AND MAKE TERRIFYING KARATE BABIES.

Terry’s taking a phonecall he’s at risk of Kreese.

WOLF VS JOHNNY LET’S GO.

Kreese you leave the love of your life alone. You stop this foolishness right now.

Are Hawk and Diego gonna share a weird hair bro moment?

Hell yeah Gunther knock that guy OUT.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m having the BEST TIME.

If Johnny Lawrence stops Kreese from killing Silver, I’m going to have a lot of feelings to process.

Terry, baby, don’t.

He dropped it. Someone else (Kwon) is gonna pick it up.

Oh god the lighting I am TURNED ON.

Terry fighting in a suit let’s goooooo!

Pulling the curtain down, what a damn showman. <3 Our man loves theatricality THIS IS WHAT THE CULT OF TIG IS ALL ABOUT.

Aww, Keenry for life.

…Sam/Tory for life?

Axel acting like King Kong over here “UGGA UGGA SAVE GIRL WHO DOESN’T LIKE ME BACK UGGA UGGA”.

Oh no, Kwon found the knife. I KNEW THAT WAS HIS HAND IN THE TRAILER AND YET I AM STILL SURPRISED.

OH TERRENCE THAT LINE.

…JOHNNY SAVED KREESE?! YOU FOOL.

But also if they’re gonna fight I’m also happy.

Oh DAMN Johnny kicked Silver’s ass. (I still love you baby)

…Congratulations Kwon, you played yourself.

Even Terry’s like “oh damn”.

MY LOVES ARE ALIVE AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.

[purpleheartskies]

"I'm not afraid of anything"

Silver must hate that he isn't "anything" Robby is afraid of

Throughout early s5, Daniel kept striking first against Silver, and Silver retaliated each time. Daniel had warned Johnny in s4e5 that you can't strike first against Silver, but Daniel didn't take his own advice. At the end of s5, Miyagi Fang struck first against Silver from all sides and won their battle against him. But, no doubt in s6 Silver will be out for revenge, probably kk3 style. After all, Silver had already started thinking about making a move against Miyagi Fang before they ambushed him: "We'll send them a message way before the tournament. They'll stay out of our way, or someone will get hurt. When and how to deliver it. I don't know yet, but it won't be subtle." Silver's a person who (once again) lives by the "no mercy", "shed your weakness" philosophies. He assaulted Stingray and framed Kreese to usurp Cobra Kai from him, and Miyagi Fang knows this. Daniel and Johnny thinking that Silver is out of the picture for good, despite everything Silver has done, would be naive. But, it sounded like they might let their guards down when it comes to Silver: "No more looking over our shoulders at every turn, right?" Though, Daniel said this before finding out that Kreese had escaped.

Kreese has come back from the dead 3 times now and has even escaped prison. I doubt Silver will be out of the picture, or even go to prison. After s5 came out, Hayden basically said that Stingray isn't a reliable witness and Silver's biggest problem is his lost reputation. I'm thinking Silver and Kreese will be lurking in the shadows next season. I wouldn't be surprised if they team up again because "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Kreese is on the war path at the end mostly because of Johnny promising to end Kreese's legacy and Daniel lying during their visit, and not as much because of what Silver had done to him. Plus, Silver will have way more resources than Kreese to exact revenge on them. All the bad guys teaming up for one final battle in this war would be a climactic end.

One moment in s5e6 sticks out to me. Daniel told Amanda, "What if standing up to Silver just makes things worse again? Every time I try to fight for what's right, somebody gets hurt. I can't fail these kids again." At this moment, Robby said, "You didn't fail me," and surprised Daniel with his appearance.

And I wonder, "Is this a foreshadowing?" 🤔 Robby showed up right after Daniel said that standing up to Silver may make things worse again and that somebody gets hurt whenever Daniel fights for what's right. Daniel has failed Robby the most in the series, so if this is a foreshadowing, Robby being the person who gets hurt because they all stood up to Silver in the end wouldn't be a stretch. As I've commented before, Daniel did fail Robby after the school fight, and even in this scene. A little bit before Daniel said this, Amanda said, "There was nothing you believed in more than your family and friends." That's not true because Daniel hasn't truly believed in Robby for some time now because he's Johnny's son. In fact, in this scene and in s3, Daniel told Robby that he was only trying to "help" him wrt how he had handled things after the school fight. This feels similar to Daniel saying that whenever he "fights for what's right" somebody gets hurt, as Robby also got hurt (more traumatized) by how Daniel had "helped" him.

Robby is so central to the dojo war and to the characters, making him the one person connected to everyone Silver would want revenge on: Daniel, Johnny, Chozen, Miyagi Fang, and Tory. Tory told Silver that it wasn't Daniel's plan but theirs (the kids) to spread the video. After this, Robby said that it changes everything, and it did. When Silver tried to get his students to "listen" to him, they didn't. In a way, they now "listened" to Robby and believed what he'd said earlier that day, that Silver is their enemy, and before the brawl started, that Silver had lied to all of them (his students).

Robby had also been the first person to make a move against Silver that day, when he went to the dojo and made his speech. Kim caught onto the fact that Robby was there for Tory. At his house, Silver told Johnny that he wouldn't be around to screw up another kid, indicating that Robby was still on Silver's mind from earlier that day. When Silver got to the dojo, he learned that Tory had teamed up with Robby and "his friends" to take Silver down. Although, Daniel secured the win against Silver in the end, Robby's move against him earlier that day had been the first strike against him and had been instrumental in Tory eventually helping them and had planted the seed for Kenny and the others eventually not listening to Silver.

Silver: "LaRusso, Lawrence, Toguchi. They'll all pay for that little stunt they pulled with the Sekai Taikai."

Kim: "They are mosquitoes. The next time an unwanted pest lands on our arm, we will swat them."

Of the kids, Robby has probably gained Silver's ire the most. And this "little stunt" that Robby had pulled had its intended consequences in the end.

Narratively, Robby is also treated like the senseis, and this scene is one of many instances that establishes that. Silver's attitude towards Robby has also always been interesting. While Silver likes to toy with Daniel and dismisses Johnny as a screw up who screwed up his own kid, Silver seems to give Robby some consideration. As I mentioned in my Robby as a leader post, Silver knows Robby's potential as a leader because he's seen it, and he wouldn't have done his "they listen to me, but hear you" demonstration if he didn't feel low-key threatened by Robby's move against him.

Narratively, it's also been established that Robby is Johnny's weakness. Something Kreese realized back in s2 and tried to use against Johnny in s3/s4, and Silver picked up on this in s4 and used against Johnny as well. Robby is also special to Daniel, which Kreese and Silver both know.

Now, I know Johnny and Daniel leaving Robby in Cobra Kai with Kreese and later Silver, with little effort to get him back, is a really bad look for them, just downright disappointing. But, the fact that Kreese and Silver are very aware that Johnny and Daniel don't pay much attention to Robby leaves him and them vulnerable, like Kreese had told Johnny in s2: if you have a weakness, you let your guard down and it makes you vulnerable. Right before they attacked him, Silver had said that he's not going to send a subtle message when he sends one. I hope that message doesn't involve them messing with Robby.

Anyway, these are just some random thoughts about Robby and Silver, and what I wonder may happen in s6. Since s1, Robby has been the bridge between the two sides of the dojo war. Though many believe Robby is inconsequential because of how Johnny favors Miguel over him, Robby has always been a constant presence overshadowing Johnny and Miguel's relationship. Robby has also always been the most significant amongst the kids in the dojo war and continues to have the most connections to the other characters. Interestingly, even Kim now knows of Robby ("the boy"), his connections to both sides of the dojo war, and his potential to influence Tory and the others, all this despite Robby being seemingly inconsequential at the Sekai Taikai trials (the first time Kim and Robby were in the same space together).

[belphegor1982]

9, Cobra Kai: Miguel and Sam.

Hey, I actually managed to write something :D I hope I didn't miss the mark too much with this assignment - it's more of a discussion of sleep deprivation than the actual thing, like... 60/40? But I had fun with those kids and it was my first time getting into Miguel's head, yay 💜

(here's 900 words set in the almost immediate aftermath of 5.10 - no season 6 spoilers!)

[Put That Guy in a Situation™ ask game/prompts]

Restless

Tap-tap-tap-tap. Miguel’s knee bounces up and down and up again and down again. Small movement, quiet rhythm, heel to floor, never ending. When he tries to stop his toes take it up. It’s weird to think that there was a time not so long ago that even wriggling one toe used to be so much work. Perhaps this is why he hasn’t really tried to slow down. Besides, nobody’s told him to cut it out yet – not the nurses and doctors walking past him, not even the woman behind the desk a few feet away, answering phone calls, typing on her computer, and being tiredly polite to people asking her question after question.

Still, he startles when he registers the footsteps.

“Still wired too, huh?”

There’s a wry smile in Sam’s voice, and sure enough, that’s what her face looks like when he looks up and sees her standing to his right. She also looks pinched, with dark shadows under her eyes, but there’s a peace to her that matches the one tucked in a corner of Miguel’s heart.

“Uh, yeah. It’s, uh…” He glances at his phone – doesn’t unlock it, just switches it on then off – and feels his eyes go round at the time displayed on the screen. “Wow. Yeah. Well, it’s not like I could sleep anyway.” He cracks a smile. “Maybe I’ll never sleep ever again, who knows.”

“Or maybe you’ll crash for a week and wake up in the future,” Sam says with a twinkle in her eyes. She has a very expressive face, and it’s impossible to miss the worry furrow between her brows and the downturn of her mouth when she asks more quietly, “How’s Sensei Lawrence?”

“Still in radiology, but Mom said he’d be okay.” So did Sensei Lawrence, but Miguel is more inclined to trust his mom on things like that. “How’s Sensei Toguchi?”

Sam’s eyes dart right to the corridor she just came in from. Then she plops on the seat next to Miguel and lets out a sigh with the hint of a shudder.

“Still in intensive care. Mom said they’ll probably keep him for a few days – he lost a lot of blood.” Her eyes meet his, very blue, very warm. “But she also said he’s going be okay.”

“Good.”

There’s a million questions in Miguel’s head, like what the hell do you think happened to them, or what’s gonna happen now Cobra Kai isn’t a thing any more, or do you think you and Tory can be friends because I swear she’s a great girl when you get to know her, but for some reason they don’t make their way out. Probably because there’s too many of them.

Maybe Sam is having the same problem, maybe not; she lays her head on his shoulder and stays there, a warm, comfortable weight against him, and asks, “So. Not sleeping ever again, huh. What do you think you’ll do with all that time on your hands?”

Miguel has always loved to yes, and, and Sam has always been really fun to play off of. He grins.

“Well, apparently people who get up really early can, like, do crazy stuff with their brain, or become amazing athletes or something. Maybe I could take up a hobby.”

“Oh yeah?” There’s a grin in Sam’s voice, now, too. “Like what?”

“I was thinking crochet. Or running. Maybe karate. Or… I dunno, finger painting?”

“Back up, that third one sounds cool. You should look into it.”

“You know what, maybe I will.”

Sam laughs quietly. Miguel can’t make out her face very well from this angle, but he can see her eyelashes cast small shadows on her cheeks. The sight makes his heart beat faster, but more steadily, like the softness of it is soothing some of his raw edges from the fight, the stakes – the whole night, really.

“I might, too,” she says, her voice lower, but still smiling. “You know, if I can never sleep again either and I start seeing spiders and stuff. Apparently that’s a thing when you’re really sleep deprived.”

Miguel scrunches his face. “Arachnophobia?”

“Hallucinations,” she corrects with a snort. “Plus headaches and anxiety and being really aggressive for no reason.”

“Damn. Then I might try the alternative instead.”

“Crashing for a week and waking up in the future? That could work.”

Sam hums. The vibration of it travels down Miguel’s shoulder and into his chest. It settles into his stomach and stays there, and even though it fades after a second it’s like he doesn’t really go away.

Or maybe it’s just Sam’s deep breathing. In, out. In, out. It’s not even the sort of breathing exercises Mr. LaRusso likes to start his lessons with; it’s just… peaceful.

“We’re gonna be okay,” he hears her murmur, and smiles into her hair.

Miguel still doesn’t quite know what to do with the nervous energy he’s now recognising as a leftover from the adrenaline rush, but he’s startled to realise that somewhere in the last few minutes his knee completely stopped bouncing.

Sam slips into sleep surreptitiously, like dusk turns into night. Miguel holds her body against his, warm and soft and real, and wonders what the future will look like when she wakes up.

It’ll be uncharted, and it’ll be good – they all fought hard enough for it.

And he’ll be greeting it with eyes wide open.

—

(I've always loved how those two have their own games of "yes, and". It's adorable 💜)

I hope you liked it! :o)

[gemini-sensei]

You know what I think is one of the most stupid things in early Cobra Kai was?

The whole thing with Hawk’s lip.

I find his scar to be extremely attractive, like a lot. Like scars in general are pretty attractive, but lip scars are so cute and hot, even sexy.

It was just stupid that that was the only thing they could do to make Eli “less attractive” and use as a joke to “not get girls”.

I would have licked that shit so much while kissing him-

-Sensei-Venus

@sensei-venus

I agree, it's stupid, like most bullying is. But I also understand from a visual media standpoint why they chose to go with it.

Giving Eli a visual reason to get bullied was the easiest way to explain why he was being bullied instead of giving us more background information on his character given the runtime of each episode. Using a visual is more effective in that regard, as in other shows have had to use flashbacks to show an embarrassing event or younger version of the character to explain the reason for bullying. Think Hanna from Pretty Little Liars except that's a terrible example because to show she was "fat" before, they stuffed her clothes and made her eat all the time and didn't treat her ED seriously.

However, Eli's scar proves more visual aid throughout the show. In season 1 it's very obvious and catches the audience's eye without it being pointed out. It serves to show how shitty characters like Yasmine and Kyler are and that they are going to be our main characters' antagonists this season. Ofc we know that Yasmine is Aisha's main bully and Kyler is Miguel, Eli, and Demetri's. Making this line clear is important lays out the stakes for not only Miguel, but Eli as well, since it's Miguel that shows Eli he can be strong too.

(This is getting so much longer than I thought it would be lol)

Following season 1, Eli's scar becomes less obvious and this isn't just because of the mohawk and such. This is an intentional makeup choice made so that our eyes are drawn to the mohawk just like Johnny said. His scar is more subtle as his confidence grows, especially in the red Hawk era.

These two pictures illustrate it pretty well. Never mind the fact that one is an extreme close up, it's still obvious that the scar has been changed so that our eyes become drawn to what's most obvious (also notice how basically the same colors are used for this, Eli's scar is almost red in contrast with his skin tone while his mohawk is bright red in contrast with his natural hair color).

In closeups and scenes with bright lighting, it's still obviously there, I think because they're moments where he's talking and it's important to remind the audience that the scar is still there, but it's not at the forefront of your mind because of the action or conversation taking place. This is important because after the forced shave, his scar is used to bully him once again. The contrast comes back as Eli's confidence plummets.

I'm not a film studies student, so maybe I'm reading too much into this. Also I know this had almost nothing to do with anything you said Venus but lol this has been on my mind since day one and I saw my moment to talk about it.

And I know that this had to be intentional because all the way back in S1 for the halloween dance, they still put the scar makeup on Jacob even though he was going to be wearing the mask to hide it the whole time! Whether this was just leftover from filming a previous scene, it still feels very intentional!

All this to say, yes, getting bullied for a scar is stupid and it didn't have to be that for Eli to get bullied. Kids and teenagers, however, can be very cruel. I know; as early as 2nd grade I was bullied for being fat - how original. I was tubby and kids always poked me and laughed at me because I was the only fat kid in class (as well as the new kid). Being different from everyone else is unfortunately one of the big things that gets kids bullied.

Bullies suck, bottom line.

And I agree, that scar is so hot. Honestly anything about the lip area of the face that is different is immediately attractive to me, even just a smile can be so attractive to me. This is probably why the only part of myself I like is my lips because I actually have a freckle on my upper lip, not that anyone else has cared to notice.

Idk what the point of this was. I'm not a film studies student, but I am getting my AA degree 🤷‍♀️ so whatever that counts for ig. Did any of this even make sense? jfc I could write a book about all the ways I could pick apart this show and how much it's actually affected my life in the best way possible.

Starting with sexy lip scars!

[livvyofthelake]

was any recent era of mine worse than early 2022. remembering that january and february and just thinking wow that was truly the trenches i should stop complaining about my life right now huh. imagine for a moment you’re coming off your bleakest semester ever. and that’s including the one where you almost killed yourself and the ones where there was a global pandemic. fall 21 was hell for me i felt like a monster from a fairy tale or perhaps the cheese from diary of a wimpy kid the whole time. and then there was winter break and i was happy being at home. and then there was cobra kai season four, my third obsessive cobra kai era and also my last. all three were utterly horrific i was never well at any point during any of those three eras. (the september/october 2020 one when i saw seasons 1 and 2, the january 2021 one when 3 dropped were the other two) anyway and THEN the mere thought of going back to college made me want to vomit profusely and perhaps shoot myself in the head so then we had my loser ass gap semester where i took one gened class because i was worried that if i took the whole semester off i’d never go back so i just did one easy peasy class and started working retail. and the whole time remember i was still in and coming down from aforementioned cobra kai era. and then march came. i don’t mean to be dramatic but that march saved my life. changed everything. helena you have no idea the role you played in me not killing myself fr wow. context: this was around the time i started talking to helena, who was watching shadowhunters, and wanting to read the books. and because of that i remembered how much EYE liked those books and i got back into THAT obsession. now for those of you that haven’t been around long it may seem like i’ve always been weird about tsc but from like 2019 to that march i was like fully not even thinking about anything related to that franchise at all ever. which is crazy to think about like maybe that’s why i was so depressed that whole time damn. anyway so that was when i got back into tsc. and sincerely i think that actually saved me for real and seriously. and of course. in a rube goldberg like chain reaction THAT led to the horrors which were terrible but really in hindsight the horrors were not that bad because tee and i went through them together and formed an unbreakable bond <3 but wow those early months of 2022…. it’s never been more bleak than it was then

[lithugraph]

So I had no idea that you watched Cobra Kai! Whose your favorite character?

The pawn shop guy lol!

No, but seriously….when I first started watching, I liked Johnny. He was probably my favorite for the first three seasons. But then….idk what happened. Like towards the end of season 3, and definitely in seasons 4 and 5, it’s like the writers just didn’t know what to do with him anymore. I felt like we got a good character study of him (and Daniel) during the early seasons. And ofc Kreese coming back and how that affected them all, but especially Johnny with his daddy/mentor issues was ::chefs kiss::. But yeah….with the later seasons and the extended cast, I feel like the show isn’t going for as much of a deep dive into character as it did when it first started. Which is sad because I would LOVE for them to go more into depth with Terry Silver. Like when Kreese got him out of retirement, as it were, and Terry initially seemed skeptical or like he didn’t want to — almost like he was afraid of that part of himself waking back up….ough OOUUGH!

I am glad in season 5 we got to see more of Kreese and Terry when they were younger/post Viet Nam war. I love their dynamic. Also casting Martin Kove’s son to play younger Kreese was again ::chefs kiss::. I really hope they continue the origin of Cobra Kai and we get to see more young Terry and Kreese in the upcoming season. I think the Miyago Do/Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai kids need a break lol!

[shrinkthisviolet]

I know this ask game was a while back but I would love love LOVE to know the thought process behind the 'stay gold' series please!!!!!

Ahhh ofc, I’d love to! Don't ever feel bad for asking me to answer an old ask game, I’m always down (as long as you give me enough details to figure out which one 😅)...and this goes for everyone else too! If there are any other fics you want the backstory for, feel free to send an ask my way, I’d be delighted.

So, I’ve made no secret of the fact that Sam is my favorite Cobra Kai character, and I adore her dearly. I was also shocked at the lack of time travel fics for KK/CK—there are a few, but they center on Daniel and Johnny more than anyone else. Like…guys, Daniel’s kids are right there, why not have one of them time travel?? And why aren’t there more fics with this premise in general??

So I figured out pretty early that I wanted to write a time travel fic starring Sam (given how much I love Daniel & Sam, it was a given). Then I had to figure out who would be part of it…and what event would spark it. I knew it had to be a trio to avoid getting overcrowded (I considered 4, but 4’s a crowd), and I debated Sam + Miguel + Robby for a while…but then I realized this was my chance to fix Sam & Tory’s friendship and write it the way I wanted to see it, so Tory had to be one of the people in that party. With Tory included, I nixed the idea of having them time travel post-s2, because I knew the premise of the fic wouldn’t allow me to write Sam’s PTSD as well as it deserved. So…2x04 was my launching point.

From there, I decided instead of having any of the guys time travel, I’d stick Aisha in the party instead. I wanted to keep Miguel for sweet Samguel moments, and Robby for Johnny-related drama…but again, 4’s a crowd, and I could accomplish both of those in different ways (Samguel sweetness with Sam talking about him in the past, plus they’ll have plenty of moments in the CK-era fics + Johnny-related drama with Sam taking Johnny to task for his poor parenting—she’s done that a bit already, but there’s more to come!). With the new launch point being 2x04, I didn’t want to exclude Aisha, considering how instrumental she was in Sam and Tory’s first impressions of each other—plus, she remembers what it was like to have Sam as a friend…and what it was like to lose her, and she takes no shit, so she’s not afraid to hold Sam to account for befriending Yasmine at Aisha (+ Demetri + Eli)’s expense. Also...she was written off too soon man, I just wanted to feature her more than the show was clearly interested in doing.

Oh yeah, that’s the other thing: in that time, I developed a headcanon of Sam, Aisha, Demetri, and Eli all being childhood friends. This is more relevant in the backstory fic, though it’ll be relevant again when Sam gets back to her proper time. But anyway…

Choosing the time travel party reminded me how pissed I am about how the female characters on this show are written. I wanted better for them. I also got very attached to Daniel & Sam’s relationship (that was a big reason for why I picked Sam as the main character in the first place), and the themes of legacy, making your own legacy, etc—themes that the show explored well in its early seasons and dropped the ball on post-s3 (Daniel & Sam’s s4 angst explored this…decently, but even then, it still felt reductive). So, I then decided that another big part of this AU, which would define it going forward, was Sam taking Daniel’s place at the AVT, to protect him—in a sense, creating her own legacy, though ofc that’s not what she’s thinking of. She sees her now-teenage dad in danger and knows she can help, she’s not thinking much further than that. But I am!

It’s funny because I got a comment months ago that was super pissed off about this 😂 somehow convinced that now Sam would never be born, as though Amanda and Daniel would never have gotten together if not for that tournament. Which like…I feel the need to remind y’all, this is a high school tournament. It’s not the Sekai Taikai. The show treats it as The Most Important Thing Ever (and so do the movies, albeit for different reasons), but that’s for drama. There’s more than enough evidence throughout the show that Amanda did not marry Daniel just for winning a high school karate tournament.

Ofc after finishing the KK1 fic, I had the idea to go back and write a prequel! Mostly to focus on Sam & Johnny, and make them friends before Sam time travels…but it also turned into a bit of a fix-it for post-s1 Samguel, with Sam calling Miguel out for fighting dirty at the tournament and them breaking up amicably. I also closed the door on any potential Sam/Robby, since that’s not the angle I’m going with for this AU…and I got to further explore Sam + Aisha + Demetri + Eli as childhood friends! Not a lot, but enough to establish it as canon to this AU, and it’ll be touched on more in later installments.

Currently the AU’s on a bit of a hiatus, because while I am writing the next fic, I’m fixated on the Morgan AU more than anything 😅 but rest assured, it will be finished! I just can’t make any promises about when

[crimsonblackrose]

.

omg the sort of dark western-ish music is just similar ish to Kreese's theme. It's not his theme but it's like a cousin to it.

I do love Kim Da-Eun.

See this is when we move back into like cartoon villain territory. One of the new hench dude villains has an eye patch.

It's interesting that they all carry their bags and get off the plane then wait for her.

"You asked me to bring the best sensei's my dojang had to offer."

And one of them is a pirate. (There seems to be 6 of them)

She also immediately is like oh, it's you. Where's Kreese? Like Silver, you told Daniel you have a lot of friends. And you seem to, but are the only friends you have in the world of karate....Kreese's friends?

Terry trying to share 50% of Cobra Kai since TKK3 and no one ever seems to take him up on it.

He flew them in a private jet, which honestly for 7 people isn't as bad as how some rich people fly only one person around all the time. It was also apparently super last minute but they still came when called, probably because Kim Da-Eun really wanted to see Kreese.

Which is hilarious. The only player in the game actually paying attention to Silver is Daniel. And possibly Stingray. Everyone else is not impressed. Dare I say, poor Silver?

Okay so the last couple episodes took like a few days, so maybe we're 3 weeks into summer, 2 weeks into Carmen's pregnancy. (ish)

I think that furniture in the background was the furniture in Amanda and Daniel's bedroom when Chozen was trying on too small suit jackets.

Also Daniel, do you have enough oils???? I thought it was booze at first and I was like damn, but then I realized it's like all oils.

CHOZEN'S BLUE FIN TUNA FISH SHIRT

Johnny why are you here? | Figuring out a way to make Silver pay for what he did to you.

If it's been a week has Johnny stayed the whole time or just come back every single day for a week? And did Amanda call him or after he fixed the Miguel and Robby situation did he just call and then go over?

Daniel's been wearing just his pj's for a week.

2 tea pots are on the table but it kinda looks like both Chozen and Johnny are drinking milk.

Daniel's not quite listening. Amanda tells him he doesn't have to stop fighting, they're with him. And he's like no I do, I'm just making everyone's life worse.

Johnny: What are you talking about you did help kids?

Daniel says he finally understand why Mr. Miyagi would walk away from a fight. "It's not our job to fight the monsters of the world."

THE GLASSES

TKK1 reference.

to visit Kreese, Tory told them he's his granddaughter. Kreese looks pretty happy that one student he taught adopted him. He's been trying to very poorly adopt Johnny for like 4 seasons.

Tory tells Kreese that Mr. LaRusso got really badly hurt because of their sting opperation, and Kreese just sort of chuckles and says that's one enemy gone. I don't think he realizes that despite Tory's beef with Sam, she doesn't hate Mr. and Mrs. LaRusso.

Tory has a good point. If Mr. LaRusso was just a means to an end does Kreese view her that way too? Tory doesn't want to stay at the dojo any longer either.

Which sucks for Tory, it essentially means she's been staying not because she wants to but to help Kreese. Which means Robby broke up with her over this.

Kreese says he has a plan to get out. Which means he had that plan from really early on to escape and fake his own death. For the...third time?

Topanga karate is also in a strip mall.

Devon: Please I didn't kick you that hard.

The way the Topanga sensei (sensei Rosenthal) is actually happy to see Silver. Even though he shows up with all his new senseis who block the exit.

Devon looks around like a what the fuck?

Silver bought out Topanga karate, and will lower the dues

The bleach blonde sensei's name is Hyan-woo

Terry went to Rosenthal during Shabbat service to make the deal and apparently had told Rosenthal he could stay on that they'd just be 'part of' cobra kai, not taken over.

Even if they quit they get a gift

This is eyepatch sensei's name:

All the students pick the gi and to join cobra kai.

Terry tries to take Nichols with him. But Kim says she stays to help test the fighters of the new dojo.

Topanga karate has a bunch of flags up, including the flag of India.

That walking oil spill got into Daniel's head in a way I didn't think was possible. -Amanda

Yeah, and what sucks is he's been there since 1985.

Sam being on her phone catching Terry's live take over of Topanga karate.

Johnny: Perfect, then I'm going down there to beat his pony-tail ass.

Amanda's legit panic at that:

She's seen what happened to her husband who is a badass at karate when he went unsuspecting into a trap. Not realizing, Johnny also has done the same thing.

"The hell I can't, the guys whole MO is hiding out in the dark,

Right now we know exactly where he is and he's not on his home turf.

Amanda: Chozen please stop him.

Chozen: Amanda-san is right. One man army,not good.

Amanda: Thank you Chozen: I come with you

Amanda: That is not what I meant.

Amanda, you have two strike first fighters in your house, Daniel got hurt, they're not going to just sit.

Also no one realizes that Johnny is speaking from literal experience from fighting Silver.

Of course Johnny doesn't know anything about Chozen. "You know this isn't some kata competition right?" Aka we might have to strike first. Don't you worry Johnny, Chozen isn't a strike second dude. He strikes first too. After all, unlike yourself, he fully tried to murder Daniel, unprompted.

Hai | Is that a yes?

Listen I know you're frustrated Chozen, but, he will pick it up. I mean he understands Rosa now. He just has to learn.

I can't believe this younger dude wolf whistled Kreese. I mean, shoot your shot I guess. Even a flirty Hey sensei, ah but then they make fun of him for his age. Boo.

Kreese: I make friends pretty easily

That might explain why Silver is trying to use his contacts and they all just want to see you. (But also from this serious, no real proof in that since he fought with his roommate, fought with Silver, fought with Johnny, fought with...pretty much anyone who had to deal with him beyond a basic level)

Kreese is so good at lying through his teeth.

Devon didn't put on the Cobra gi. Everyone was told to pair up so she picks a dummy to do what Kim told them to do. But Tory shows up. Tory corrects how she's hitting.

Devon points out that the ref was blind and gave Tory a point when Devon was out of bounds. Devon's mother is gone, from cancer.

She used to say "The only way you really lose is by giving up."

Johnny: I've got this you didn't have to come. Chozen: Not likely, Silver very dangerous. Johnny: Yeah I know.

Literally he keeps hinting that he got his ass beat by Silver and no one clues in on that.

I would like to once again point out it's supposed to be summer in LA:

Like even the excuse of Chozen is from a tropical island so maybe LA is cold for him doesn't work because it's a similar temperature in the summer for both.

The subtitles fail this moment. Johnny says "I"m ready for him this time. I can be dangerous too." (I've complained to netflix a few times about how their subtitles on this are inaccurate, because surprisingly especially for the newer seasons, lots of mistakes)

Chozen laughs and says "Daniel-san told me how dangerous you can be." Essentially you are not dangerous even though Daniel sometimes exaggerates as if you are.

"Did he tell you how I kicked his ass in high school?" | "I robbed him while he was on date" | "Oh yeah, I pushed him down a cliff" | "I fight him to death" | "Oh yeah? What are you a ghost or something ?" | "No, Daniel-san showed me mercy" | "Sounds like LaRusso. Man he was such a twerp back then." | "Real pain in ass. But he always fight for what he believe in" | "Never backed down from a fiight, even when he should've" | "A few months ago I saw him take on a whole hockey team." | "I saw him save young girl from typhoon." | "He took a man down with a single strike to his pressure point" | "Who do you think teach him that?"

I love that whole exchange so much, including Chozen's strike a pose for pressure point fighting. Becaue it's teh quickest get to know you catch up ever. Essentially ensuring each other is prepared for a potential fight. It's also a bit of the pissing contents that Daniel and Johnny had at the restaurant but much chiller. This is the awful stuff I did to Daniel. Daniel was such an annoying twerp. We agree on that. But he's also a badass, and here's examples.

It also is a very quick way of telling Johnny that he doesn't necessarily have to protect Chozen in this fight which is what he's been worrying about. Like Johnny has gone up against Silver, but doesn't know that Chozen is legit a karate master or any of his history, but to learn that the badass moves Daniel used against Kreese that impressed Johnny were taught to him by the man beside him means that he's got back up, not someone he's got to protect.

Holy shit Terry how fast do you move? This is how rich guys with money just throw their money around huh? Literally less than an hour ago that said Topanga karate. Did you do this before you went in and made the announcement or after?

Johnny instantly seeing Devon, still in her blue gi from Topanga and the way Johnny's whole demeanor changes, from relaxed studying the competition to realizing one of his kids is in there.

Devon? What the hell? Oi! What are you doing? Stops Johnny from going in.

Poor Chozen, he's like what is with these American men and their desire to rush in without thinking and going suddenly off script? He already had to do this sort of babysitting with Daniel, he probably wasn't expecting to have to do it with Johnny too. Someone make a joke meme image of Chozen with two kids on those leash backpacks and one's Johnny and one's Daniel and Chozen looks tired, but then secretly the one most tired behind them all is Amanda.

Not here for student. Here for Silver. Must wait for right time. Run into den of lions, you will get eaten.

At least everyone listens to Chozen.

What is with the eyeing each other like that? What are you two doing?

Kreese got a letter with an official looking letterhead in a brown envelope that he crumples. He petitioned for early release and the doc recommended against it. So Kreese starts scheming another way out.

Sigh subtitles it's not Chiri-san, it's Jirisan. No dash. No 'ch'. You're treating it like a Japanese honorific, which is not the case here, it's a different language.

Kim's students would climb the mountain (talles on mainland, it's to the south, the tallest in all of Korea is on Jeju island) with nothing but packs of water and then would train at the peak.

I do really like Devon's blue and black topanga karate gi. It's a pretty blue.

Kim trained with them wearing two heavy packs. Tory and Devon's test is to have Devon pick up a stick from a table between them and for Tory to stop her.

Devon getting the stick and being excited, used to people cheering her on, looking confused and realizing how dangerous the situation is when Kim grabs teh stick from her hand and whirls on Tory and lectures her.

She tells Tory to strike Devon harder, and then even though she hurts Devon (Stomps on her hand and kicks her in the face) Kim smacks her with a stick on the back of the leg.

Devon runs out the door in tears. Technically Johnny and Chozen should be right there but they never show us Devon running into them or that interaction.

I appreciate the doc chewing Kreese out. "I thought you were a sensei." "I am a sensei." "Then act like one."

He considered Betty the love of his life.

I do like having Kreese confront his past via them actually being there.

Doctor as Silver: Do you feel angry John? At who?

"None of it is my fault." What happened to Stingray isn't, but I feel like this is who Kreese is. He believes nothing at all is his fault.

Tory shows up in her cobra kai gi: So you don't feel any regret?

What exactly am I supposed to feel regret for. Cue baby Johnny

I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I was trying to make my students tough. (By choking Johnny...uh huh. This is probably what Kreese really believes even though he's not going to get through to Johnny with that)

Baby Johnny: You wanted them all to be like you

No, I wanted them all to be better than me.

Current Johnny shows up and doesn't say a thing.

Which might be a realization that Johnny did grow up to become better than Kreese. Maybe.

Baby Kreese: You just have to find the better you locked inside of yourself.

It's kind of interesting that for a show where pretty much everyone needs therapy the only one to get it is Kreese and Silver and Silver reverts and Kreese...well

Silver officially teaching adult classes. Those classes are on Wednesdays.

Johnny and Chozen came in after the students left, which means, truly, Johnny and Chozen saw Devon run out crying.

Johnny needs to learn how to fight against this style, because they always go for his throat and he always gets knocked out because of it.

lol they both kick him at the same time. And look at that back to back!

Sensei Kim: Chozen Toguchi, far from his 'pathetic little island' and surprised to see Daniel LaRusso healed from his injuries so quickly.

The way Johnny looks around like what the fuck? Where's Daniel? When did he sneak in? Not realizing at first that she thinks Johnny is Daniel.

To Chozen when he says "Silver must pay for what he's done." "You bark like your blonde dog."

Chozen's eyes narrow but Johnny says; I do more than bark, trust me. Like bud, I get that when people diss you you don't fall for that bait, but sometimes not correcting people means you end up sounding like you accept the things they say.

Johnny like okay sure I'll fight six sensei's and sensei Kim. Chozen holy shit we barely took down 1, grabbing Johnny's arm and like nope not here not now, too much advantage. We escape.

"We won't let you take over the valley" "We already did" "you think you did."

LOL. So Kim hasn't a clue who Johnny is. Girl, you want bait or someone to talk to about Kreese, Johnny's the only one here other than Tory and potentially Robby that Kreese likes.

SILVER OMG YOU ARE SO EXTRA WHAT ARE THOSE?!!!!!!!!!!

Silver is making and branding his own Cobra Kai snacks. "They're called Snakebites" and Kyler loves them. According to Kenny they're pure protein you're only supposed to eat one or two, meanwhile Kyler is like inhaling them by the bag full.

Devon returning: I only loose if I give up.

The receptionist lets the students sign up with a pass in case they want to train after hours. Does that mean that the kids can get in when the dojo is closed and work out on their own? What about safety Silver????

Devon called to ask if she could join the flagship so she could learn more from Tory. Silver's super proud. It makes me wonder if Johnny and Chozen and Devon made a plan after she ran out. Pretty sure they don't ever say that's what happened but there's no way she got past them.

Chozen points out he took out a bunch of valley sensei's by himself but it took both Johnny and himself to take out one.

Johnny says they still could've won "Give me a pair of nunchucks and it's lights out baby."

"No offense Johnny but strategy isn't really your forte. You're more of a blunt instrument."

"Thank you."

Johnny, once again, not a compliment. But you're probably so unused to even getting sincere compliments that you're like close enough.

"Daniel might not have Mr. Miyagi to rely on any more. But he has us."

He's needed that.

Kreese is in cell-block C

I love that they swapped out our Kreese for younger Kreese for this fight.

Daniel doesn't ever go in Mr. Miyagi's room.

Kudos on the set design team for the layer of dust on the floor and on the books

Like again, check out that dust.

the door wasn't even locked, so I'm surprised Daniel didn't come in here or have Sam come in here to check that Hawk didn't steal or trash anything.

Daniel I can't believe you left a bonsai in here by itself for at least 10 years.

Daniel's bonsai death count: 4

Though this one is totally understandable due to the grief. Mr. Miyagi was like losing his father again.

Daniel voice full of emotion holding the paint house paper: It's like a time capsule in here.

the night before they got married amanda saw Mr. Miyagi here. They had tea and sake. He told Amanda "Amanda-san in life, always easier to hide head in sand."

Mr. Miyagi said Daniel would always fight for what he believed in and nothing he believed in more then his family and friends.

Amanda: The right thing to do is stand up to Terry Silver, for you, for our family...sorry it took so long to realize that.

(Amanda he never filled you in on the details, you didn't know)

But he does need to hear, multiple times, that people hear him and have his back.

Sam and Johnny caught Robby up so he could be here for this not quite intervention intervention.

"you didn't fail me."

I beg to differ Robby, but I think you are get how dangerous Silver is and having some sort of clue of how bad it is probably allowed you to re-contextualize Daniel's previous actions and forgive them.

Trying to mentor Kenny truly was an eye opening experience for Robby.

I dunno man the, everyone coming together in the 11th hour vibe is my weakness. I know this isn't the 11th hour, but for Daniel and how it feels it is. He's got Johnny, he's got Chozen, he's got Robby back, the Eagle Fang kids and his own Miyagi-do, Anthony. Everyone is there to be like yo, this one we get. silver is messed up and we've got your back.

And in TKK3 no one believed him about Silver. And that might be one of the reasons he never has told anyone how bad it was. The trauma was too bad, and without Mr. Miyagi there the grief was too bad. But now he has 12 teens and three adults who have his back.

The fact even Amanda bows to him. Like this is really all she's been asking for is to be on the same page, to be looped in, because when she's part of the team and given warning she's always all in when it really matters.

We got some random new background students again.

[terrence-silver]

So we all know Kreese had a huge bond with Johnny (this is a understatement by far) but what do you think his feelings where towards the other og cobra gang?

I always think back to the fact that he didn’t just lose Johnny after the fight, but the whole cobra gang. (I mean I could be wrong but I would think that after they witnessed Kreese chocking out Johnny that they all left/quite the dojo at the same time.)

Yeah, except, exploring the fact that Kreese might've validly had a relationship with all the other OG students in his first dojo and that their departure, or the way he'd see it, betrayal of him, would require the show writers to have Johnny Lawrence not be the focus for maybe five seconds flat, and we can't have that. He is now the end all,be all, focal point of John Kreese's whole existence to the point he refused to be bankrolled for the Sekai Tekai as early back as the 80's by Terry Silver purely to train this one kid he treated really coldly in the films. Don't even get me started how the John Kreese of the flashbacks and the John Kreese of the movies could be entirely two different individuals. There's a disconnect if I ever saw one. I choose to believe it is merely John being an unreliable narrator and he truly views himself in this aspirational light because it is my only comfort for the bad writing.

But, I digress.

I would've been super cool if the OG Cobras had a scene of confrontation with John Kreese after so many years or that their own subsequent, individual ties to him got a bit more substantially explored. I think it would've been relevant. I think it would've been nice. I think they could've done so many interesting things with those storylines seasons and seasons ago, all while acknowledging Kreese would've had a grudge, a sore spot and history with all of them individually and that them all quitting Cobra Kai led to him losing his business and kickstarting his whole spiral which led to the storyline of the series we're seeing today, all neatly intervowen. I think it would be fitting because they were all majorly affected by him, and it wasn't just Johnny Lawrence he influenced (or acted abusive towards), but as always, another opportunity was sorely missed. Do we know how many such opportunities the show missed? Countless.

Fanfics be blessed.

[indecisive-behaviors]

Originally I was just going to add this as a reblog to my previous post about the parking lot scene in KK2 but it’s almost 2k words so now it’s getting it’s own post. Be forewarned- this is fucking long.

TW for discussion of PTSD, child abuse, neglect, injury, and death, in relation to topics surrounding the show, under the cut-

Obviously, Cobra Kai is a show based around the premise of “what happened to that Lawrence kid after he got kicked in the face?”, which is honestly a pretty cool idea for a show. Johnny’s story is never explained past sitting on the sidewalk with his head in his hands at the tournament, and there are no real context clue’s to figure out what may or may not have happened.

In the show we get to learn early on that Johnny’s life spiraled after the tournament, going from bad to worse to “holy shit how are you still alive”-dropping out/never going to college, working jobs he seems to hate, becoming an alcoholic, presumably many dead end relationships, and not being there for his kid. And yeah, obviously, this would be a hard pill to swallow for anyone watching the show if Johnny had just lost the tournament. If we never got the scene in KK2, he would have just been some kid who lost a tournament- we see at the end of the first movie that(through tears holy shit Billy) that Johnny is the one who gives the trophy to Daniel with his famous line, “You’re alright, LaRusso.” There’s a level of grudging respect in that moment that isn’t lost on anyone who sees that movie- that Johnny, who throughout the movie only sees Daniel as some whimpy kid, gets proven wrong and respects that. If we didn’t have that scene, there’s reason to believe Johnny would have apologized, tried to make amends, Something, even if it was just being less of a dick at school.

But then, we get the parking lot. We get a far off shot, intended to distance you from the scene, framed over Daniel’s shoulder. This makes sense, Daniel is the main character, the protagonist, the underdog hero- why wouldn’t it be framed in his perspective? But the scene is about Johnny. We get the shouting match, the back and forth- “No, you’re the loser man.”- and again it’s fairly obvious how Johnny sees this situation. This is a man who we assume(and is later confirmed) to be a surrogate father figure, who set his friend up for failure, and then basically forced him to do the same by targeting an injured opponent, and forcing him to fight without honor. This same man presumably follows a teenager out to the parking lot, to harass him, to tell him he’s off the team, to tell him he’s a loser, that he’s nothing.

But at that point, Johnny knows the truth, even if subconsciously. At the end of the day Johnny knows that Daniel LaRusso was a worthy opponent, and that regardless of the cheating and manipulation, Daniel could have won anyway, and did win, despite of it.

And then Kreese grabs him, too fast to react to, Johnny too surprised even knowing that Kreese is the bad guy here, not believing that he would ever willingly hurt him- and Johnny isn’t strong enough to fight him off, none of the boys are, so Johnny is forced to suffocate for almost a full 30 seconds(which I double checked for the record- also as a reference, 30 seconds is about the average time it takes for a person voluntarily holding their breath to pass out- this does not account for the oxygen lost during a struggle, and the lack of preparation from both surprise and panic. The only silver lining here is the fact that Kreese was most likely compressing his windpipe, not his jugular, which would have made him pass out in about 5-10 seconds, and would have caused permanent brain damage or death in about 15).

Now, PTSD is a complex thing. I’m not a psychiatrist, and what small amount of information we have is all we have to work off of, but I feel fairly comfortable in saying Johnny mostly likely developed it after the incident. This not an uncommon take in the fandom as far as I’m aware either. But, if we assume this, we also have to assume that after the fact nothing would have been done about this. Not just in the sense that we still don’t really know everything that happened right after the tournament, but that in the early 80s, PTSD wasn’t really a thing yet.

Sure it was absolutely a condition that existed, but Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wasn’t even added to the DSM-III until 1980- and for a long time afterward, was only seen as a condition that affected primarily war vets. Even after an event as traumatic as having a man you considered a father trying to kill you, in public, without remorse, would not have been seen as something to warrant the diagnoses, let alone treatment.

Johnny Lawrence was 17 when Kreese tried to kill him, and this boy would have been offered no resources beyond filing charges with the police. And as we see in KK3, either this didn’t happen either, or someone(presumably Silver) got the charges dropped. So on top of almost being murdered, Johnny had to live with the fact that the man who did that to him was still out there, and to top it off, still ran a dojo at least for a few months after the event. The only relief he could have gotten is after Kreese faked his death.

And sure, Mr Miyagi may have gotten Kreese to let go eventually, but as several people have pointed out in comments and tags, left him and the other boys alone with Kreese still standing there in the parking lot and just... drove off. Kreese has already been established to be a psycho with no problem hurting children, a little bit of glass might not have prevented him from trying again.

So why did I talk about all of that? Because it all contributes to why Daniel LaRusso works as a credible antagonist in season 1 of Cobra Kai.

Think about this- Johnny blames losing everything on Daniel in season 1, but we specifically get a shot in KK1 and later KK2(”You’re alright, LaRusso” and “I did my best” come to mind) where he seems to be at least mostly accepting of the fact that he lost(with what was actually an illegal kick but that’s a rant for another time). So why does he blame him for everything 30 years later?

Because 30 years later, Johnny is forced to go outside, go to work, and pretend like he doesn’t see what feels like every street corner(including right outside his apartment mind you), a literal billboard sized reminder of what happened to him.

The rest of this is mostly speculation but it makes sense in my head so bear with me.

When we get introduced to Robby, it’s made pretty clear that Johnny has not been in his life for a bit. In season 2 we get Johnny’s heart to heart with Miguel, where he divulges that he missed the birth, because he spiraled after his mom’s death. This however doesn’t suggest that he stayed gone, especially knowing that it wasn’t long enough for Robby to not consider seeking out his dad. Because tacked up to the fridge, is a picture of Robby in his soccer uniform as a kid. It’s an early detail you can see in previous episodes, and says a lot about how Robby grew up. To be fair, this could have been given to him by Shannon, and not taken himself, but it’s the sport Robby’s playing that makes me question this. KK1 dedicates an entire scene to Johnny being on the soccer team in high school. Soccer, while maybe not as important to him as karate, is still part of his character. Robby does not know karate in season 1, Johnny obviously didn’t share it with him, but that doesn’t mean Johnny didn’t share anything with him.

So Johnny’s back in his kids life, maybe doing better for himself, maybe cutting back on the drinking. LaRusso Auto is already established to exist at this point but it’s in Encino, a place Johnny has no reason to go to, and probably doesn’t want to. He’s trying again and things are okay. But Robby knows enough about Daniel to know that going to him will piss off his dad. So Johnny had to have talked about him at some point. The billboards here are what’s important- they’re in the first episode, the first scene montage, Johnny draws a dick on one of them as some petty revenge.

The first billboard goes up in the late 2000s to mid 2010s. Johnny sees it, maybe he has Robby with him at the time, maybe he goes home and says something there, but he says something in a way that sticks with even a child as being important. More billboards go up. Dealerships starting popping up more and more. Daniel’s face, and by extension, the memories, the flashbacks, become inescapable. Johnny, for a third time, spirals again. Before he even knows what’s happening, he’s lost his relationship with his son. And it’s all Daniel’s fault. Of course Daniel doesn’t do it deliberately, but the constant reminders are enough to send him back into a tailspin and Johnny blames him for it.

Because it’s Daniel who is a constant reminder of his failures- it’s Daniel who caused him to lose the tournament and almost get killed, Daniel who put up the billboards that trigger his flashbacks, it’s always Daniel Daniel Daniel.

And then Johnny gets it in his head that he wants to be better. He opens a dojo, teaches Miguel and the other kids, wants to try again- and he almost succeeds.

Johnny up to this point has not deliberately antagonized Daniel in any way. Sure he named the dojo Cobra Kai, but Cobra Kai is all he knows. Besides Johnny doesn’t blame karate for his failures, his best memories are Cobra Kai and he’s trying to be better than Kreese. So what’s the harm in this really? His building is in Reseda, there’s no reason for Daniel to ever be there, he doesn’t do it out of spite, it’s because he lives there and rent is cheap. He doesn’t know about KK3, doesn’t know about Daniel’s own trauma. This isn’t an attack. Johnny sincerely just doesn’t know.

Enter Daniel, stage left. Daniel makes no attempt to talk to him- he simply makes demands and accusations, before he starts making active attempts to put him out of business.

Sure, we as the audience know Daniel has good reasons to not want Cobra Kai back. But Johnny doesn’t. All Johnny knows is that the kid he picked on in high school- who won, who got everything Johnny wanted, who grew up to be successful, has a wonderful wife, two kids who love him, a thriving business- is doing everything he can to make his life hell 30 years after the fact.

And this could only have happened because in 1986 John G. Avildsen decided to add in a scene meant for the original movie into the sequel, for absolutely no fucking reason.

[cades-outsider]

Miguel Diaz X Reader

warnings? Fighting! Sam being pretty mean! FLUFF FLUFF

Defense Not Offense

School had been stressful for you, I top of maintaining a healthy relationship with your beautiful boyfriend Miguel Diaz. Though that wasn’t one of the hard parts, you guys relationship was strong and you both were the independent people you needed in you guys lives.

You met Miguel the same night you met Johnny, well not really. You and Johnny had lived together in the same complex building but you never bothered him, seeing as you noticed most days he just looked like he wanted to be left alone.

But anyways you and Miguel met the night Kyler decided to beat Miguel and pour pepto on his head. You stood up for him when Kyler started snapping at you and threw Miguel into his red classic firebird. Alarming Johnny to which he immediately did something about, oh and he also pulled old school karate. One of your favorite sports shall we say.

Once Miguel had thanked both of you, the next day you were all three coming out of your building and met once again. You were happy to say the least, you had grown comfortable around Miguel even though it was just the second day of meeting.

Once Miguel had asked if it was kongfu both you and Johnny intervened "it’s old school karate". Johnny was shocked to say the least, especially from someone around your age in this time knowing what old school karate was.

But none the less he was impressed, quickly you and Miguel teamed up in trying to get Johnny to get his own dojo. At first Johnny refused, but soon he agreed and started up his own dojo. 'Cobra Kai'.

Which brings you to today; Cobra Kai had its ups and downs yes. But it also had a pretty good sensei that was trying his best for his students.

One of the downs being that there was a new DoJo in town which was called Miyagi do. They only fought for defense not offense, it’s not like Johnny was teaching you to only fight on offense. He was teaching you guys to only fight defense and offense when needed.

Throughout the whole journey you and Miguel had grown more together, physically and relationship wise. Your relationship only grew stronger and you guys were pretty much the perfect duo.

You were walking from home to the dojo, getting ready just to practice and or learn new moves. The walk was peaceful, almost to peaceful.... the sun was out, it was the perfect temperature, season, and the birds were chirping cheerfully which almost rarely happens.

Well that only lasted for a couple minutes until you walked in the parking lot, Sam LaRussos car parked in-front of you. Very much confused you decided to stop, maybe she needed something.

"Sam?" You ask confused as she walks up to you.

"Y/n, I hear you’re apart of Cobra Kai" she says bluntly.

"Uh-I yeah..." you say still confused at seeing Sam LaRusso in front of you.

"Well than this is for you" Sam says as she leans a punch right on your face catching you by surprise.

"Sam! What was that for?! Are you really going to stoop to that level? Really?!" You yell out.

"Yeah, you messed with my family and took Mr. Miyagi's metal of honor from my father which you did not earn the right for" She clarifies landing a kick as you block it with your hand, striking a left hook.

"Sam I don’t know what you’re talking about!" You yell as she right kicks you in the face.

"Yes you do!" Sam yells pushing you back to which slide your leg under hers kicking her to the ground pinning her down.

"Sam, I do not have any idea what you’re talking about" You sincerely say before she knees your side kicking you under her.

"Of course you don’t! All you Cobra Kai's are the same!" She yells punching you punch after punch.

Though you hold your hand in a shield protecting yourself "Sam stop! I’m not going to fight you anymore" You say as she gets up, kicking you in the side one last time.

"Of course you won’t" She scoffs walking back to her car driving off.

You groan stomping your leg on the concrete behind you hissing when you hit a sore spot.

  "Metal of honor? I swear whenever I find out who took that thing I'm inflicting more pain" You mumble getting up, walking down the last block until you reach Cobra Kai.

  "I'm here" you say 'cheerfully' causing Miguel's happiness to spark as the bell rings as he hears your beautiful voice.

  Both you and Miguel always get here a couple hours early, wanting to spend more time either together, practicing, or with Johnny.

  "Hey, baby!" Miguel says excitedly as he runs out of the office he was in with Johnny.

  His smile drops once he sees your state you were in "well don't be to happy to see me" you say sarcastically smiling.

  "Baby..... what happened?" He asks as he runs over to you placing his hands over your cuts and brushes.

  You sigh "Sam said someone stole Mr. Miyagi's metal and she though I knew or had something to do with it" You reply as you rub your temples.

  "Here let me clean you up, and I can't believe Sam did.... that" Miguel says leading you to Johnny's office where some supplies sit.

  Johnny looks up ready to great you "holy mother of god, what happened to you?" He questions as he stands up.

  "Sam happened" you mumble, knowing he doesn't particularly like the LaRusso subject.

  "She said someone stole Mr. Miyagi's metal of honor and it was from here but I don't know who or nor was I in it" you say innocently as you explain everything.

  "That girl can be a bi-" Johnny starts before both you and Miguel cut him off.

  "Woah, heyyy okay we get it. But seriously who do you think did it, sensei?" Miguel asks politely.

  Johnny pinches the bridge of his nose clenching his eyes "I don't know, but if I find out someone here did it oh they don't want to know" he says.

  "Just take care of her okay?" Johnny says to Miguel.

  "Of course always Sensei" he smiles.

  "Good" Johnny nods his head while Miguel grabs the first aid and brings you into the bathroom.

  Miguel puts his hands around your waist "jump baby" he says sweetly as you jump and he helps sit you down on the sink.

He turns to the first aid bag and pulls out a couple things needed for your wounds and sits them neatly beside you on the side of the sink.

He pours some peroxide on a cotton pad and gently hovers over the wound on your cheek "this may sting" he says as he gently presses it against the wound, your eye twitches as he continues gently pressing the pad against your cheek.

You bite your lip as he moves on to a more deeper cut on your cheek, sensing your discomfort Miguel gently places his lips on your distracting you from the pain, which worked.

His hand finds its way to your thigh, holding himself up as he applies pressure to the deeper wound.

Pulling his lips away from yours he smiles gently as he grabs two small bandaids and applies them to stop them from bleeding.

"Let me see your hand?" Miguel asks as he gently grabs your left hand and adds some cream and a bandage on it, doing the same to the other.

"Anywhere else?" He smiles as he starts putting up the supplies.

"I’m all good Dr. Diaz, some slight bruising but I think i can handle it" You tease playfully nudging his shoulder.

"Well my lady I think we’ll need a check up how about you?" He wraps his hands around your waist chuckling as you pretend to think.

"I think we do indeed" you finally say as you wrap your arms around his neck intertwining your two hands together.

"Protection kids! Under sink!" Johnny yells just as you two were about to kiss.

Miguel’s cheeks flush red as you furrow your eyebrows "why under the sink?" You yell back only to be met with silence causing you to giggle.

"I love you Migi" You say smitten wrote on your features.

"I love you more"

_______________________________________________

Thank you @fxngsfxgothy thank you for requesting I hope you enjoyed!

[breckstonevailskier]

Rewriting Cobra Kai Season 2 to eliminate the love triangles

There's a lot to love about Cobra Kai. But I have to admit season 2 is a bit of a weak season. And one of the areas that I view as a weak point is with the teen romance and love triangles.

Love triangles are one of the cheapest sources of conflict, given that you're either pitting two girls against each other in a competition for a guy's love, or two guys against each other for a girl's love. We see both of those in season 2 with Robby/Sam/Miguel and Sam/Miguel/Tory.

Obviously, the pairings for the season of Sam/Robby and Miguel/Tory were rebounds because it's typical in a show like this to break up an endgame couple early, then have them get back together later. Thing is, the rivalries of Sam and Tory, and Miguel and Robby, already have a lot of meat for them that doesn't hinge on the relationships.

With Sam and Tory, it's kinda ridiculous that the whole rivalry is basically over Miguel's heart when it could've been about so much more. It could've been built more upon the wrong perceptions that they had of each other from their first encounter at the beach club in 2x04: Sam viewing Tory as a thief, and Tory viewing Sam as a privileged rival who's never had to deal with hardship.

With Robby and Miguel, the show focuses a lot on how Miguel views Robby as a rival in their affections for Sam, but not really about another source to their rivalry: Johnny. It would've been interesting if the rivalry was built around Robby's resentment towards Miguel for getting Johnny's attention and affection, and in turn for Miguel to feel conflicted about his anger towards Robby because he's aware about Robby being Johnny's son.

There's also the fact that I don't think Sam/Robby and Miguel/Tory really have chemistry compared to Sam/Miguel and Robby/Tory. Sam and Robby have more sibling vibes than romantic ones. In the case of Miguel and Tory, Tory pursued Miguel and he went along with it because she was offering herself as a rebound girl, and the whole thing felt like a temporary relationship to tide him over before he got back together with Sam (and he was a pretty bad boyfriend to her in turn).

So my solution to the mess is to, well...to fix the problem, you have to go back into season 1 and not have Sam break up with Miguel at the tournament. Keep Sam and Miguel in a relationship for the duration of season 2, while having Tory get together with Robby in season 2. Here's how that would go.

SEASON 1

Episode 9:

In this episode, Sam returned home, planning to come clean to her dad about Miguel (and prepared to take the risk of him not approving of the relationship because Miguel is in Cobra Kai), only for her mom to confront her about the hit and run and ground her. Because her phone was confiscated, she can't reach out to Miguel, who is becoming paranoid in light of Johnny's biased stories to him about Daniel and seeing Sam being friendly with Robby. He gets drunk, and tries to take a swing at Robby when he brings Sam over so she can explain the situation, accidentally hitting Sam. Subsequently, they break up after he refuses to apologize for resorting to violence on Robby, and she leaves the tournament early, unable to bear what Miguel's turned into under the Cobra Kai teachings, while Miguel fights dirty against Robby in the finals and wins.

The change:

Sam returns home, planning to come clean to her dad about Miguel. Her mom confronts her about the hit-and-run...but she isn't quick to ground Sam. First, Amanda asks Sam for her side of the story about the hit-and-run. This, I think, is a very necessary change because, in the canon episode, Amanda's a bit of a hypocrite here. She's rushing to judgment based solely on Johnny's word without hearing Sam's side of the events or considering the possibility that Johnny's being biased, something that she had chided Daniel for doing earlier (regarding Johnny bringing to his attention what Kyler and his gang had been doing to Miguel).

So Sam explains what happened: Yasmine was texting while driving and they collided with a car that was parked illegally in the street outside the All-Valley Sports Arena. They were prepared to get out and leave contact information when a drunk Johnny began banging on the backseat window, making them drive off out of fear for their safety.

While Sam has told her side of things, she's still grounded for not coming clean sooner. But before Amanda can confiscate Sam's phone, Sam brings up that she has plans to see Miguel that night and he'll be worried sick if he can't contact her. She comes clean to her mom about how, "You know about that viral video of the kid who beat up Kyler and his crew in the cafeteria a few months back? Well, I've been dating that kid for the last few months." And she explains everything: his name is Miguel Diaz, and he's a student at Cobra Kai, and she was planning on telling Daniel about all this.

Of course, Amanda is aware Daniel will probably not take the news that their daughter is dating a Cobra Kai well, given Daniel's personal beef with Cobra Kai (what with getting Armand Zakarian to jack up the rent on the strip mall, and Louie hiring his biker buddies to destroy Johnny's car as retaliation for the billboard penis), and how he's not above intruding on his daughter's social life (given what happened with Kyler). But Sam insists Miguel's a good person, and that if Amanda gets to know Miguel through and through, then she can help Sam stand up to Daniel when Daniel inevitably blows up. More importantly, her best friend Aisha's in Cobra Kai, and can also vouch for Miguel's character. Amanda agrees to Sam's idea, and lets her call Miguel to invite him over.

So Miguel abandons the Cobra Kais' party and comes over to the LaRussos' house. He's already feeling jealous and insecure, because he knows Sam is hiding their relationship from Daniel, and the previous day, he went to her house uninvited and saw her laughing and talking to Robby. This was right after he'd heard Johnny's biased story about Daniel "stealing" Ali from him. So when Amanda lets Miguel in, he's a bit on edge, but Amanda mistakes it as him just being nervous at him coming over to his girlfriend's fancy house. Nonetheless, she's quickly won over by Miguel's personality, and when she asks him about "Why did you take up karate?" determines that he's the real deal, especially when he mentions how he took up karate to defend himself from bullies (much like Daniel did).

But things change when Robby arrives at the house for a training session with Daniel. Robby and Miguel recognize each other, and immediately Miguel's insecurities come to his head. He tries to attack Robby, but Sam steps between them, calms Miguel down, and explains that whatever Miguel saw, it's not what it looks like. Robby's just a friend and a teen working for the LaRussos' dealership who is also being trained by Daniel in the art of Miyagi-Do. Miguel listens to her, accepts what she's saying, and relaxes, no longer seeing Robby as a threat to his affections for Sam. However, Sam also notices the disdainful look Robby showed the moment he saw Miguel, but can't figure out why as she nor her parents are aware that Robby is Johnny's son.

When Johnny and Daniel return home from their day out, they agree to a "Rocky III-style" match in Daniel's dojo, but find Robby there waiting, and also find Sam with Miguel and Amanda. Things get heated, the altercation where Daniel's trophy gets broken happens, and ultimately everyone blows up at each other:

Daniel is mad over the fact that his daughter is dating a Cobra Kai boy and about the whole fact that Robby is Johnny's son.

Johnny's mad at Daniel because Daniel is training his son. He is also offended by the fact that Daniel is mad about Miguel being in Cobra Kai, causing him to get defensive of Miguel.

In Johnny's rush to defend Miguel, he only succeeds in angering Robby, who's now mad at him for showing his favoritism for Miguel. Robby is also mad at Miguel for the fact that Sam is already taken.

Miguel is mad at Daniel for not approving of him, and mad at Johnny for escalating the situation.

Sam is mad at her dad for not reacting well to Miguel, and mad at Miguel and Robby for letting there be bad blood between them.

Amanda is mad at Johnny for terrorizing Sam, and also mad at Daniel for flipping out at Miguel.

So the whole thing ends with Johnny driving away angrily with Miguel, Daniel banishing Robby from the house and the dealership, Sam storming off to her bedroom in tears, and Daniel also being banished to the couch by Amanda.

Episode 10:

At the LaRusso house, everyone broods over the events of the previous night. Amanda puts Daniel in his place and calls him out on his behavior towards Robby and Miguel, with her saying "You really want Sam to shut you out again?" He apologizes to Sam and Amanda for losing it, and reluctantly agrees to sit down and get to know Miguel after the tournament.

Everything at the tournament is the same up until the conversation Sam has with Miguel right before the finals. She apologizes for her dad's behavior, and tells him that her dad wants to get to know him. Miguel accepts her apology, thanks her, and agrees that they'll talk after the tournament.

Subsequently, Sam stays for the finals rather than go home early. Miguel doesn't threaten to hurt Robby, and wanting to make the best impression for Daniel, he chooses to fight cleanly rather than exploit Robby's injury, an act that baffles Miguel's fellow Cobra Kai students. Even though the match ties at 2-2, Robby's injury puts him at too much of a disadvantage, and Miguel earns the winning point not by attacking Robby's shoulder, but by using the Crane Kick (to which he subsequently gives Daniel a bow of respect).

Subsequently, Sam is among those who run over to him, gives him an approving hug, and then goes over to check on Robby and Johnny. Meanwhile, Sam goes with Miguel to the victory celebration at Applebee's. And afterwards, he goes with her to her house for a sparring session of their own.

On the drive home, Robby is sullen about his second place finish, but Daniel assures him that he is as much of a winner as Miguel. Robby expresses concern that Cobra Kai is going to become the premier dojo in the Valley, but Daniel--bitter over Johnny's behavior towards his daughter, and Hawk's behavior in the semi-finals--replies, "Over my dead body", taking Robby to Mr. Miyagi's old house which he plans to convert into a full on dojo for Miyagi-Do.

The next day, Miguel comes over to the LaRussos' for dinner. He is hesitant, since besides what he's seen of Daniel, the only other things he knows about Daniel are from the biased narrative that Johnny gave him about what happened in 1984, and the way Daniel flipped out at seeing him. Daniel apologizes for his behavior the other day, but explains that the name Cobra Kai just brings up lots of bad memories with him. So we get the car scene from season 3 episode 9 where Daniel fills in the gaps about what Johnny didn't tell Miguel, and to further clarify why he doesn't trust Cobra Kai and Johnny, also brings up what happened when he was manipulated by Terry Silver and Mike Barnes. At the end of it, Daniel decides that he's okay with Miguel dating Sam, but this hasn't done anything to cool the blood between him and Johnny because of Hawk injuring Robby and Johnny's own actions with the hit-and-run.

SEASON 2:

Episodes 1 and 2:

So for season 2, Miguel's arc is about him being torn between Cobra Kai and his loyalty to Johnny, and his relationship with Sam and the new respect Daniel has for him. Sam and Miguel are still dating. Robby still doesn't like that Sam is with Miguel, and still dislikes Miguel because of Johnny's favoritism for him, but decides to stay friends with Sam after she convinces Daniel to take Robby in. Robby also tries to be civil to Miguel for Daniel's and Sam's sake. But with Miguel spending so much time with Sam and being practically a fixture at the LaRusso house, it's hard for Robby not to grow envious of him given all that other baggage.

Episode 3:

The season is mostly the same, up until episode 3 at Valley Fest. In canon, Daniel is having a hard time finding new students, who are put off by his chore-based training methods. To help get exposure, Daniel decides to hold a solemn karate demonstration with Sam and Robby at the upcoming Valley Fest fair. In canon, when Johnny hears about this, Cobra Kai interrupt them with a much more flashy demonstration of their own set to "Back in the Game" by Airbourne, winning over the crowd and stealing the spotlight from Miyagi-Do as Daniel and his students look on with contempt.

In this timeline, however, Valley Fest puts Miguel's loyalties to question. If nothing changes, and Cobra Kai hijacks the demo as happens in canon, Sam is mad at Miguel for raining on Miyagi-Do's parade and not telling her about it in advance. So Miguel, not wanting to jeopardize his relationship with Sam, or at the minimum interested in softening the blow, either gives Sam an advance tip-off and preemptive apology, or better yet, convinces Johnny to wait until Miyagi-Do has finished before they do their show (risking being called a pussy by Johnny). Sam still has some bitter feelings towards Cobra Kai for putting on a demo that overshadowed Miyagi-Do's, though accepts Miguel's apology about the matter, as happens in canon when she argues with Aisha about this at the beach club and they decide it's not worth fighting over.

Episode 4:

Episode 4 is where Sam's rivalry with Tory begins in canon. Daniel takes Robby and Sam to a beach club, where his attempts to promote Miyagi-Do to local parents are overshadowed by Cobra Kai's display at Valley Fest, with Aisha's mother praising the difference that Cobra Kai has made in her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Sam tries to make up with Aisha, who is upset about the slight against Cobra Kai in Daniel’s ad, but ends up in a quarrel with Tory, whom she accuses of stealing her mother's wallet (having witnessed Tory stealing liquor at the club beforehand). Tory responds by pushing Sam into a dessert table and walking away with Aisha.

Not much about this would change, especially where the rivalry between Sam and Tory is concerned, because it's important for me to note that in canon this inciting incident for the rivalry was before Tory hooked up with Miguel. That wasn't until the next episode.

Meanwhile, through circumstances, Tory also runs into Robby, befriends him, and enters into a relationship with him. In season 3, we see them form a connection after Robby joins Cobra Kai over how they're the ones who bore the blunt of the punishment for the school brawl, and their troubled home lives. So we see that here, with Tory also using elements of the playbook she used in the actual timeline to seduce Miguel, which in this case means convincing Robby that he needs to pretend that he's over Sam. Kreese finds out about the relationship between Robby and Tory, and since he's wanted to snag Robby this whole time, he decides to use Tory as a pawn to influence Robby, in hopes of both eventually getting Robby to join Cobra Kai while also getting revenge on Daniel for humiliating him and Terry Silver back in 1985.

Episode 5:

In episode 5, the mall fight still happens, but with Miguel taking Robby's place. It would work nicely since Miguel is Demetri's friend too. (Robby's on a date with Tory, which is why he's not here)

In this version of events, Sam and Miguel go to the mall with Demetri. Demetri is confronted and attacked by Hawk and several other Cobra Kai students as a reprisal for his Yelp review. Demetri flees into the food court, where Sam and Miguel come to his aid. Despite being outnumbered, they utilize the "wheel technique" to soundly defeat their opponents (Miguel knows it because Daniel, at Sam's request, agreed to give Miguel a private one-on-one lesson with him and Sam in the LaRussos' home dojo). Proud of his students, Daniel resolves to continue training Demetri at a slower pace, and also convinces Miguel to consider joining Miyagi-Do, saying that Miguel could use some new fighting moves for when he defends his title at the next All-Valley Tournament. Sam and Miguel have an intimate moment afterwards (either a passionate makeout session, or they make love in Sam's bedroom).

Hawk is infuriated by Moon breaking up with him AND the fact that Miguel is consorting with the enemy by aiding Sam (in fact, he's noticed Miguel growing distant from him and the rest of Cobra Kai ever since the tournament, having spent more time with Sam than with his friends from the dojo). So when Kreese notices Hawk blowing off steam, he encourages him to continue the fight. That night, Hawk and his Cobra Kai followers trash the Miyagi-Do dojo and steal Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor.

Enraged, Daniel confronts Johnny in front of the students at the Cobra Kai dojo. Although Johnny honestly denies any knowledge of the incident, the two nearly come to blows until Miguel steps in and forces them to stand down, getting Daniel to remember his promise not to alienate Miguel from him. While Daniel predictably fails to get any restitution out of Johnny, he nonetheless succeeds in convincing a number of Cobra Kai students to walk out and join Miyagi-Do instead...including Miguel. There's a small smirk on Kreese's face as Miguel leaves, since Miguel's no longer around to oppose him, and he hopes the friction between Robby and Miguel will get Robby to leave Miyagi-Do and come over to Cobra Kai.

Episode 6:

So for the next two episodes, Miguel is now at Miyagi-Do. Although Robby does not trust Miguel (thanks to Kreese using Tory to indirectly manipulate him), Daniel reveals that he himself used to be Cobra Kai before seeing the error of his ways, and tells the class that it doesn't matter who they were before — as of now, they are all Miyagi-Do. They work together to raise a heavy stone slab that Hawk's gang knocked over.

At the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny punishes the students with strenuous exercises, seeking to root out who was responsible for trashing the Miyagi-Do dojo while also trying to reach out to Miguel, trying to get him to come back (with no success). He then receives a call which brings him to the hospital to visit his old friend Tommy, who is suffering from a terminal illness. Along with Bobby and Jimmy, the former Cobras resolve to treat Tommy to one last day of fun. His departure allows Kreese to corrupt the other Cobra Kais, moreso than in canon where Miguel was around to raise objections. The OG Cobra Kais, besides taking issue with Johnny for letting Kreese back in the picture, don't exactly help Johnny when they suggest that maybe it's for the best that Miguel is on the side of the LaRussos for now, as they've come to develop a lot of respect for Daniel and Mr. Miyagi since the tournament in 1984.

Episode 7:

I'd divide up the training sessions of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do to happen on separate days. Miguel participates with Sam in the meat locker training scene, taking Robby's place in the canon scene, while pairing Robby up with Demetri or Chris. Meanwhile, Hawk acts as Tory's partner in Coyote Creek instead of Miguel.

Meanwhile, Miguel suspects that Hawk was behind the trashing of Miyagi-Do and it was as payback for the mall fight. Finding out somehow that Cobra Kai are training the following day at Coyote Creek (because someone, maybe Stingray, was foolish enough to post it on social media), he decides to bring Sam and some of the other Miyagi-Dos to ambush the Cobra Kais. Miguel does the ambush on and beatdown of Hawk and takes back the medal of honor, while Sam attacks Tory and gives her a beating, even though Tory wasn't a participant in the vandalism of Miyagi-Do. Daniel's not happy with Sam or Miguel, but Sam counters that they have to show they won't stand for being picked on.

When Tory tells Robby about what happened, Robby is understandably torn on his loyalties. On the one hand, he's got to be loyal to Miyagi-Do, but Tory is his girlfriend, and his resentments towards Miguel begin to resurface. Tory is furious, recalls the same thing Kreese said to get Hawk to trash Miyagi-Do in the first place, and swears revenge on Sam. And for that matter, the Cobra Kais also want revenge on Miyagi-Do.

Episode 8:

Johnny gets Miguel to come back to Cobra Kai, now that Kreese has been expelled and isn't around to teach them in his old ways. Daniel is sad to see Miguel go, but tells Miguel that he's always welcome at their place for private sessions with Daniel and Sam. While Hawk is glad to see Miguel back, Miguel keeps him at arm's length in light of the vandalism and what happened at the mall, and Tory puts on a poker face to hide her hatred of him (which is another reason why she's targeting Sam: to hurt him by proxy).

80's night at the roller rink in canon is the first time Sam and Tory have crossed paths since episode 4.

In canon it goes like this: Tory invites Miguel to the roller rink, and Tory trips Sam for talking to Miguel, getting Sam and Robby ejected from the rink.

In the alternate timeline, it goes like this: Tory invites Robby to the roller rink, and she kisses Robby in front of Sam, something Sam doesn't react well to because she sees Tory as dragging Robby down and potentially undoing the hard work Robby has put into turning his life around ever since he entered the LaRussos' lives. Miguel tries to smooth things over with Tory for Coyote Creek, with little success because he doesn't realize just how deep Tory's hatred for him and Sam is. He starts to realize this when Tory trips Sam moments later, leading Sam to retaliate with a leg sweep, and Miguel also retaliates by getting in Tory's face. As a result, both Sam and Miguel are kicked out of the rink.

Episode 9:

Moon's party goes down a bit differently when it comes to Sam, Miguel, Robby, and Tory's actions.

In the show, while Miguel is by the pool kissing Sam, Robby's inside getting food for a very drunk Sam. However, he gets distracted as the summer-long tension between Hawk and Demetri escalates, and he has to step in and defend Demetri.

Here, due to circumstances, the roles are reversed and Miguel is the one inside defending Demetri from Hawk, while it's Robby who's outside by the pool with Sam, just making sure she's all right (after all, he's the son of two alcoholics). There's no drunk kiss, and instead, Robby and Sam are being friendly, talking, and Sam is raising her concerns about Tory being a bad influence on him. They're seen by Tory, and like when Miguel approached Sam at the roller rink in the actual timeline (or in canon when Miguel saw Sam being friendly with Robby at the LaRussos'), she misinterprets the whole thing in a way that fuels her hatred for Sam that has been festering ever since Sam beat her up at Coyote Creek.

When the police break up the party, Robby hastily decides to take Sam back to Johnny's apartment like in the show. Tory happens to see him getting Sam into his car, and decides that Robby isn't entirely over his feelings for Sam. Giving her another excuse for the school brawl.

Miguel isn't anywhere near them, so he reaches out to Johnny. Johnny calls back when he gets to his apartment and finds Robby and Sam there, or Miguel finds them together there. In either case, there's a short fight between Robby and Miguel (due to Miguel, who has been fully aware this whole time that Robby had a crush on Sam, fearing Robby was taking advantage of her) that Johnny quickly breaks up, with Johnny placating Miguel enough to get him to back down. Miguel takes a few deep breaths, focuses, goes over to his apartment to get his mother, and she quickly whips up a hangover cure for Sam. Carmen also sees fit to call Sam's parents to let them know that she's all right, and they can come pick her up in the morning.

Episode 10:

The Sunday morning after Moon's party, Daniel comes by to pick Sam up. Meanwhile, Robby begins to reconcile with his father. He is thankful for Johnny's help, and when Daniel shows up to take Sam home, Robby is willing to accept the blame to prevent further tension between the two men.

When Daniel arrives, there is no "rematch" between him and Johnny, and nothing of him disowning Robby (it's actually a bit redundant seeing as Robby's going to provide Daniel with a reason to hate him later). Johnny just hands Sam over to Daniel, Daniel takes her home. He's not happy that she seemingly turned to Johnny instead of him in her hour of need, but accepts that that's an issue for another day.

Over that Sunday, Robby and Johnny reconcile at Johnny's apartment, while Miguel goes over to the LaRussos' house and talks things over with Daniel, Amanda and Sam. He apologizes for not being more attentive to Sam, as he was busy trying to defend Demetri.

That Monday, Johnny takes Robby to school. Even as Johnny's attempts to be fatherly to him on his first day of school are awkward, Robby appreciates that he is trying, and encourages his father to make peace with Daniel, believing that the two of them could learn some things from each other.

Shortly into the morning announcements, Tory assaults the teacher and seizes control of the intercom to announce an ass-beating of Sam. Like in the show, the two girls circle each other in the hallway, with Robby and Miguel frantically racing to reach them. Miguel gets there first and manages to briefly separate them, only for Robby to arrive and — believing that Miguel is attacking Tory — start his own fight with him. With Miguel also giving his all, still pissed at Robby for (seemingly) trying to take advantage of Sam.

The brawl thus plays out the same. And the outcome of the Sam vs. Tory and Miguel vs. Robby fights are the same. In the girls' fight, Tory shifts her spiked bracelet to her knuckles, slashing Sam's arm before threatening to slice her face with it. Sam regains the upper hand and knocks her down a staircase. Meanwhile, Miguel pins Robby to the floor, but, remembering what Johnny said about the difference between having no mercy and no honor, shows mercy and apologizes. However, Robby’s anger at Miguel over having everything Robby doesn't have--the tournament trophy, the romance with Sam, Johnny's preferential treatment, Daniel's approval-- boils over and he seizes the opening to attack Miguel, inadvertently kicking him over the stairway balcony and paralyzing him.

In the aftermath, Daniel is furious that both his daughter and her boyfriend, who he's come to like ever since the tournament, are both in the hospital with injuries. He also blames Tory for corrupting Robby once he learns from Sam that Robby had been dating Tory.

Season 3:

Season 3 has some differences in the details, but otherwise stays mostly the same.

-----

At the end of the day, the rivalries amongst Sam, Miguel, Robby and Tory are made a bit stronger by cutting out the love triangles. With Sam vs. Tory, that rivalry is balanced out a bit by having Sam be a contributor to the increasing tensions between them, not just Tory doing everything. While Robby vs. Miguel is a bit stronger rivalry due to the fact that Robby has to interact with Miguel a lot more, all while having to bottle up his resentments of Miguel so he doesn't lose the LaRussos' hospitality.

[asphodel-storm]

So. If Cobra Kai were DC.

First off, the man who is the source of most problems, John Kreese:

Kreese’s mentor was an agent of the League of Shadows/Assassins planted within the military. Kreese was invited to take his place after his death. He trained with Ra’s al Ghul after the war and then left to found Cobra Kai as a covert recruitment operation for the League (not every Cobra alum became an assassin, only the ones Kreese saw that potential in). Johnny was on the path to recruitment and it was the loss against Daniel and resulting fallout that changed that. Kreese has been on League business every time he’s been ‘dead’. 

Mr. Miyagi:

Mr. Miyagi was a Green Lantern. The ring chose him a while after he received his medal of honor and he was protecting the universe secretly during the Karate Kid movies. When Daniel overcomes his fear in TKK 3, Miyagi retires and the ring chooses Daniel.

Daniel LaRusso:

Daniel was a Green Lantern for years (a secret from everyone except Amanda and Miyagi), but the lantern’s power never replaced karate for him because karate is part of the balance that allows him to use the ring in the first place. The ring started to reject him during the period where his resentment of Johnny was overpowering his will (season 1-ish). It chose him again when he got a handle on that, but by then he had already turned his attention to teaching and empowering young people. He gave it up and it chose his daughter after she overcame her own fear at the end of season 3.

Samantha LaRusso

Samantha LaRusso was chosen by a Green Lantern ring after overcoming her fear and facing Tory at the end of season 3. She enters season 4 as a newly minted super hero. 

Tory Nichols 

Tory witnesses Sam as a Green Lantern early on. She has a lot of anger inside of her and seeing her rival - the girl who in her opinion was handed everything in life - chosen by cosmic power pushes her over the edge. Kreese encourages and feeds this anger, of course, though he does it with the intention of making Tory a better assassin. When a Red Lantern power ring chooses her that’s honestly a bonus. 

Johnny Lawrence 

Johnny was nearly recruited to the League of Assassins as a teenager - he would have been shipped off to official league training after highschool if he hadn’t lost to Daniel (and, likely, if Kreese hadn’t impulsively burned that bridge before remembering the larger plan). Instead, he was approached by the representative of an anonymous east coast billionaire after high school and paid to use his connection to the ‘late’ John Kreese  - and pre-assassin training - to infiltrate and sabotage some activities the League of Shadows had going in the Valley. He never learned the full extent of what the League was or his or Kreese’s connections to it during this time (like, he probably could have if he’d tried, but he’s Johnny). He was inconsistent at best in his vigilantism after that, putting on a mask and patrolling more when he needed an outlet than based on the needs of the community. He was briefly the ‘Batman of the Valley’ when Batman first franchised out into Batman Inc. He’d given that up for years by the time he met Miguel, but dusts off his cape when he learns of new League operations in the Valley in season 4 (likely being run by Terry Silver). 

His ‘cape’ is actually a red leather bodysuit. He definitely calls himself something like DeathFist or DeathFang or whatever in the long tradition of people in red bodysuits being called stuff like that (DeadShot, DeathStroke, etc.). 

Miguel Diaz

Miguel will hit the streets patrolling with his mentor, but the transition to vigilantism also hits him at a time when he’s realized he probably shouldn’t have Johnny on such a pedestal so he’ll also use the opportunity to strike out alone or with friends. The transition also comes at a time when Miguel has noticed certain changes about himself he can’t explain - like how he destroyed Demetri’s tv with lasers that shot out of his eyes when he got a bit too competitive about Mario Cart.

Yeah, the bad man Carmen moved them to escape was not connected to organized crime. He wasn’t Terry Silver. He was General freaking Zod. Why does General Zod live in Ecuador? He’s building up forces there. Anyways, Miguel is half Kryptonian and just awakening to his powers since his body has been healing from the school fight. The injury was a kind of catalyst and as he heals he’s also becoming invulnerable. So much for his rivalry with Robby, right? Nope, that’s still on. 

Robby Keene

Kreese thinks a mistake he made with Johnny was not bringing him into the fold sooner and getting him excited about the prospect of the League of Shadows. He knows very well that Robby will march out of Cobra Kai forever if he mentions anything about assassins before he’s ‘ready’, but he does start letting him know about the secret society of warriors and introduce him to some alumni who are with the league now. Maybe show off some missions where they actually intervened for good. Essentially, he makes him feel like he could be part of something - something that feels like family - which is bigger than himself (which is already an established part of his schtick). 

As part of this pre-assassin buttering up, Kreese procures something special for Robby - gloves laced with kryptonite. He told him it would only level the playing field between him and Miguel, but it is enough to weaken Miguel enough to be killed. The plan is for Robby to go in thinking ‘Miguel is pretty much indestructible even with these gloves’ so he goes all out and kills him and then while he’s dealing with the trauma of having killed him Kreese can pull him fully into the League. While the plan won’t work, the path to it will see Robby getting a lot more weapons/assassin-specific training than Johnny did.

He will eventually take over Johnny’s suit and code name.

Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz

Kreese’s plan for Robby is a more elaborate and thought out version of his original plan for Hawk. Hawk was never really a top priority for Kreese, but he spiraled so nicely that it seemed he could be plucked off into assassin-dom early. He saw Tory and Robby as better prospects than Hawk for long term use in the valley in part because he expected to have Hawk shipped off to train under Lady Shiva by now. He just had to rip the murder bandaid, and the plan was to push him until he killed Demetri. 

Because Hawk was on the fast track, and because he was so good at convincing himself he didn’t care what he’d done to Demetri’s arm, Kreese actually already let him in on the true nature of Cobra Kai. He didn’t know for long before leaving and its not like he had any strategically vital info, but he knows enough to make him a loose end. Kreese sends the Cobras (minus Robby, but possibly including a Tory who isn’t quite used to her new power yet) after him. Hawk is murdered. And isn’t that a waste? 

Kreese set it up, but when the likes of Tory and Robby almost leave over it he pins it on Kyler ‘going overboard’ and says it’s fine, they can save him. Hawk gets thrown in a Lazarus Pit and rises confused and angry. Under the grips of Pit Madness he temporarily forgets a lot (like leaving Cobra Kai and reconciling with Demetri and Miguel, but also things like his parents. Kid is a very angry blank slate.) and since most people think he’s dead its pretty easy to send him to the League. He’ll turn up again a few months later, when the League sends a squad to secure their interests in the valley. He breaks off when he can’t quite kill Demetri in a fight, but he doesn’t remember why and roams around the valley causing trouble or helping out as he sees fit until Demetri can get through to him (Demetri’s eternal struggle). 

He doesn’t call himself Red Hood, but you get the gist. Hawk is already a code name. 

Demetri [Insert Surname]

Got Eli back only to lose him for good. He thought. Until Not-Red Hood shows up and causes problems. But the slippery assassin keeps getting away before he can really talk to him! Miguel is steadily developing Super Powers and wants to help, but things are also heating up over in the Main Conflict and Demetri is left chasing Hawk alone a lot of the time. 

Maybe it’s that determination that causes his latent metagene to activate. 

Demetri only ever thought super speed was the second best superpower, but he rethinks that after he has it. In hindsight, his smart ass does fit the speedster profile and Eli definitely can’t get away now! 

His lightning when he runs is blue.

And yep, that’s all for now. I’ll never write a fic for this ‘verse it’s just fun to think about. More so about how after the San Fernando branch of the League of Shadows is destroyed the kids can all make up and form a cool super team. Also, if I were to write fic, it would be Demeli. As I'm sure anyone I've interacted with in this fandom knows.

[kyotakumrau]

2020.12.21 The World You Live In at Zepp Tokyo, 2nd event report

Fujieda again started with greetings, introduced himself and Takabayashi and then asked for applause for the band members.

And we got quite a surprise!

Kaoru and Toshiya came on stage!

Thus making Tokyo the only place where band members changed for each slot/session. As much as I'd love to see Kyo again I was happy as my friend only went to Tokyo and she's Toshiya's fan😊

F: please introduce yourself.

Kaoru: you already did lol. I'm Kaoru.

T: I'm Toshiya.

F: the last video you just watched was different from other sessions. The trailer for the concert film screenings that will start from February. It's something only you know right now. As you can imagine from the title it will be something similar to this, with the band members coming for the talk after.

K talked a bit about the situation as well.

T: it's still difficult to hold concerts, but this is something we can do. So I hope you will look forward to it.

Next F started the 'merch items introduction corner', he passed the items to the members.

K: I was watching the 1st slot and we talked about them in Osaka, too. (he talked more about the items and what members said)

F: yes, everything can fit in the pouch so it's a very useful item. You can buy all merch items and put then in the pouch and take home like that. Let's look at Toshiya's big pick key chains (he pronunced that very carefully😂)

They talked about members signs and company logos when suddenly K requested to have to lights in the venue set brighter so he could see everyone.

After that F announced they wil start with questions from the fans, passed the part of papers to others, but K gave his to F saying it's better if he chooses.

T: ok, I have a good one! 'It was Die's birthday yesterday, did you send him a birthday message? And are there any memorable presents you've received in the past?'

T: I got a bicycle. I was really happy at first, but then it was stolen from the parking area.

F: when was it?

T (I didn't catch it but from the context it must have been quite early on in their career)

F: during the tour?

T: yeah, we were always giving each other something for our birthdays, every year, but as years passed it got more difficult to choose something good and we then just stopped.

F: how about you, K?

K: I got a Mickey Mouse, about this size (he showed us with his hand, about 1m tall).

F: 'how do you deal with feeling tired?'

K: I go for a massage.

F: only during the tour?

K: anytime.

F: when the most? When writing songs?

K (laughing): but we're always writing songs

T: for me it's sauna.

F: do you often go when just staying at home?

T: for example after the gym

Ta: 'what did you eat most often during the stay at home period?'

K: ...what did I eat, what about you, Tooru?

Ta: sausages.

The whole venue kinda rotfled 🤣🤣🤣

F: that's cute😆

Ta: it's something I can usually only eat at home.

K: ...something I was really into...(still thinking)....(thinking)

F: for me it was Jiro-ken ramen.

T: at home?! So you weren't really staying at home?

F: I gained some weight after the overseas tour. I started to diet then, and one day a week, a cheat day, I could eat whatever I wanted. My cheat choice was Jiro, either at the restaurants or to take away.

K: ...what was it for me...

F: maybe nabe you talked about before? (in Osaka)

K wasn't impressed 😆

T: canned mackerel for me.

F: for when you drink etc? No, just like that?

They all laughed here a bit.

Suddenly K jumped in with a new topic.

K: in Osaka you talked about the theme behind Kyo's outfit, you said it was pink but he pointed his green hair as the main point.

F: that was difficult.

K: tbh I also thought the main idea was pink (he also talked about Kyo's use of Kansai dialect)

T: 'what were you able to do after becoming an adult?'

F: there's a lot of food people start eating when they grow up.

T: food topic again? 😆

F: for example for me it was raisins.

T: as I get older I can drink more. When we just debuted I couldn't drink at all.

F: drinking wine?

T: おっさんだから・'cause I'm an old guy.

K started talking about the food he couldn't handle when he was small but the next question kinda made me forget it 😅

' 'wet cat food is actually quite good, have you ever tried?'

F: I have a cat and sometimes when I give my cat wet food some will get on my fingers. I'd just lick it. You know some of it, the mackerel or tuna, it looks so good.

T: please send me a video when you eat cat food next time.

😂

(but to be fair most of canned cat food in Japan is 100% fish🤷‍♀️)

K: 'when you can tour again what local specialities do you want to eat?'

F: motsunabe in Fukuoka

T: miso type?

F: of course (if not Shinya would kill him)

K: what did you eat in Sendai?

F: bento

K: in Nagoya?

F: nothing special

T: we had normal bento, but it was miso katsu (Nagoya's style cutlet)

F: but if it's not in a restaurant it's not the same. Anything you want to eat, T?

T: Beki soba from Niigata.

F: have you tried it before?

T: when we went there on a tour, I really like soba.

They talked but more about food, tare katsu, okonomiyaki from Hiro and Jiro again.

T: is Jiro really that good?

F: 😍

K: I've tried it before, but it's (just) okay.

F: it's all about how the noodles taste (type of flour etc)

(more food talk, choosing between salt and tare options)

K: 'what's your favorite onigiri (rice ball)?'

F: how about you, K?

K: I don't eat onigiri.

T: Me also, but if I have to choose it's sujiko/salted salmon roe.

K (about not eating onigiri much): right, you only eat soba.

T then told us the story how much he loved salmon roe even as a child. When he was quite small he went shopping to the local supermarket with his grandmother. When he saw salmon roe in the shop he just started eating it directly from the shelf/container. Of course when his grandmother and supermarket staff found out it got very noisy, but because he was so young it was forgiven.

(back to onigiri topic)

Ta: salmon for me.

F: oh that is nice, I love the most tamago-kake-gohan rice ball (TKG is a very simple, traditional Japanese breakfast dish - just rice with a raw egg eaten with soy sauce, sometimes other toppings), the Newdays chain is selling them

K: the chain operates only in this area, no?

F explained that there are Newdays in other places too, fe Sendai. He also really got into explaining all pros incl the tasty gooey filling inside of the rice ball.

K (imitating F) oh that's nice 😂

F: 'it got so cold recently, what's your favourite season?'

T: spring or fall, I don't hate winter but I definitely don't like summer.

K: fall. (he said as this year wasn't too cold he could go out a bit during breaks)

F: so 2~3 weeks ago was your fav time.

K: here in Tokyo at least.

F: 'as we're staying home much more now do you have a recommended tv series or a channel?' (not just a movie)

K: Cobra kai.

F: ah, you tweeted about it.

K: it will be on Netflix next month, the 3rd season.

K talked about The Karate Kid (Japanese title 'Best Kid').

F: I don't know it.

Ta: me too.

K (shocked): you're serious???

T: I know, of course.

F: 'Best Kid'? 'Best Fit?'

T: just stop it🙃

F: how about your recommendation, T?

T: The BOYS on Prime.

K: I haven't seen it, but it seems interesting.

T: it is! I also like BOSCH. I'm just watching like after work and so on.

After that K talked about how cinema with the capacity reduced by half was nice because you could put your bag on the seat next to you etc, but recently came back to the full house (Demon Slayer did that...)

F: 'how do you feel being in front of people first time in a while?'

T: I'm sorry it has to be done this way

F: don't say that😆

(missed K's reply)

T: it's tiring to be in front of people.

F: but we do it in an interesting way.

T: yeah.

T: 'what's your favourite game? Even including older ones like famicon?'

K: games?

T: Spelunker on Amicon😆

T/K in agreement: where you die so quickly

K: PS5 is so popular, I didn't win.

F: it seems Kyo won once but the information he submitted had a mistake.

K: I applied for Sony's lottery and Big Camera's.

F: you don't want PS5, T?

T: recently I don't play.

K: what about the... what was it Tsushima?

They all reacted with 'ah'

F: what kind of game is it?

K: don't ask me😅 but it looks interesting.

T: it seems to be very popular abroad.

F: 'what's your favourite way to eat ozoni?'

(A new year soup with rice cakes)

Ta: the soy sauce based soup, with grilled mochi.

F: but what ingredients do you add?

K: isn't that way too detailed??

Ta (tries): spring onion etc

K listed grilled mochi, spinach, carrot etc. Then he told us about his family tradition to properly make rice cakes for New year, pounding was so loud even if you wanted to watch tv, you couldn't. But then they had enough for a month.

T: soy sauce style.

F: with miso or?

T: I said soy sauce.

F: what ingredients?

T: rice cakes, spinach, and what is that... (he started to make circles with his hand) ...?

F: naruto?

T (yeah that/nods)

F: in my family we do soy sauce, rice cakes, carrot, fish cakes etc.

K (ignoring F comment that they should finish now, in a teasing way): what about osechi, which dishes do you like?

F: konbu maki or kurikinton.

K: how about you, T?

T: that egg dish that is kinda like this (he gestured the shape again)?

Ta: tatemaki?

F: datemaki!

T: I think it's datemaki.

K: I like that beef roll with carrot and green beans inside (its 牛肉の八幡巻き)

F (making very dreamy face): Aaaaaaah that😍 green beans are so good.

F: ok, thank you all.

K: what about Tooru (Ta)?

F: it's time, sorry.

Last comments.

Toshiya: thank you all for gathering here despite the COVID situation. It's difficult to do concerts now so we tried doing film screenings. In difficult times like this it's not only about the band members, there's our staff and also the venues. I'd love to play concerts again, please wait for us.

Kaoru: it is a difficult situation to share my personal opinion... if we can't do the concerts in a way everyone can enjoy... enjoy, it will affect our relationship of mutual trust. I think this (COVID) situation will continue for some time still, so I think it's better to go with the film screening events. But we will keep checking the situation. Please stay healthy and I hope all of you will come to watch it.

[pinktintedmonocle]

Dedicated Followers of Fashion - A Cobra Kai Lawrusso Fanfic - Chapter 1

Daniel raised an eyebrow.  “That jacket is certainly something.  Where did you even get that?”

Johnny shrugged.  “Can’t remember.  Had it since the nineties.”

“Oh yeah?  Thought you didn’t own any clothes bought after 1989?”

When Johnny wears his sleeveless denim jacket to sparring practice, long buried feelings begin to emerge between him and Daniel.  As they try to deal with their emotions, a few iconic outfits from their past make a reappearance.

Set post season 3, so beware spoilers if you haven’t finished it yet.

1992

“John Lawrence, here for the modelling gig.”

The receptionist looked at Johnny over the top of her wire rimmed glasses, pursing her lips in disapproval.

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, I know.  I ran outta juice half a mile from the nearest gas station and me and my friend Bobby had to push my Firebird – ”

“Just sign here”, said the woman, pushing a clipboard towards Johnny.  “Then take a left down there to get to costume and make-up.”

She pointed towards a corridor with a blood red nail and Johnny squiggled his signature then set off, walking briskly.  He knocked on the door and it was quickly opened by a harassed looking man in a brightly patterned shirt.

“Are you the model? You’re very late you know, we were expecting you almost an hour ago.”

“Yeah, I know”, said Johnny. “But my car -”

“I don’t care, just get in here”, said the man, dragging Johnny into the room and starting to unbutton his shirt.

“Right, we need to get your clothes off and the baby oil on. Miranda!”

A small woman with a measuring tape around her neck materialised out of seemingly nowhere, brandishing a bottle of oil.  Together, Miranda and the man prepared Johnny for the shoot, styling his hair and oiling him up.  They gave him a pair of low rise designer jeans to change into; he quickly took off his own very much not-designer jeans and pulled them on.

“Right!” said the man, clapping his hands together and surveying his handiwork.  “I think you’re all good to go!  Oh – apart from one thing -”

He handed Johnny a sleeveless denim jacket and Johnny shrugged it on over his bare chest before the man pushed him out of the room and Miranda led him to the set.

After the shoot, Johnny walked up to the photographer.

“Hey, look I was just wondering if there are any more jobs like this going.  It’s just I could really use the money and -”

“Oh, there are plenty of jobs like this going.  For people who show up on time”, said the photographer, glaring at Johnny before walking off.

Back in the dressing room, Johnny scrubbed the baby oil angrily off his chest.  He tugged his own jeans and shirt back on before his eyes fell on the denim jacket, now draped over the back of a chair.  He slung it over one arm and left the building, more than ready for a beer with Bobby.

 2019

“Maybe our new logo could be an eagle eating a snake”, suggested Johnny, picking up a pencil and beginning a crude sketch.

“Needs to have a bonsai in it”, said Daniel, not looking up from his phone.

“Alright.  How about an eagle sitting in a bonsai eating a snake?”

Daniel tutted.  “An eagle can’t sit in a bonsai, Johnny. It’s too big, the bonsai would just topple over.”

Johnny dropped the pencil and huffed, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, well, why don’t you try and come up with some ideas, LaRusso, rather than just staring at crap on your phone?  What are you looking at, anyway?”

“Your Facebook page”, Daniel answered without missing a beat.  “And you’re right, it is crap.  Why is there a photo of you pouting while standing in front of a mural of some angel wings?”

“Oh shit, thought I’d got rid of that one”, said Johnny, pulling a face.  “Can you delete it for me while you’re there?”

Daniel sighed.  “No, Johnny, I can’t delete it for you, that’s not how it works.”  He was for silent for a moment, still scrolling, then smiled.

“This one of you and Miguel is nice, though.  You at a concert or something?”

“Yeah, Dee Snider, the most badass rocker ever.” Johnny stuck his tongue out and raised his hand to his mouth, two middle fingers held down, mimicking the pose in the photo.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “That jacket is certainly something. Where did you even get that?”

Johnny shrugged. “Can’t remember.  Had it since the nineties.”

“Oh yeah?  Thought you didn’t own any clothes bought after 1989?”

Johnny threw the pencil at Daniel across the office they had set up in Miyagi-Do.  The smaller man caught it easily and scowled, but Johnny just grinned.

“Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso”, he said with a wink.

“Lucky me”, Daniel muttered, looking back down at his phone.

Johnny wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of the light, but it almost looked like there was a faint blush on Daniel’s cheeks.

**********************************************************************************

Johnny could tell before he even got out of bed that it was going to be a swelteringly hot day.  He woke in the early hours of the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, the sheets sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

Eventually he got up and munched on cereal while aimlessly scrolling through Facebook on his laptop. (He had recently learnt that the box which asked him ‘What’s on your mind?’ was not a space for private thought, and that anything written in there could be seen by anyone else on Facebook. He discovered this after typing ‘How to take down Kreese and also what is cotton candy made of’ and Daniel had replied thirty seconds later with ‘You’re an idiot, Johnny’.)

As the heat continued to build Johnny took a cold shower before selecting an outfit for the day’s training.  He threw on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt and was just about to walk out of the bedroom when the denim jacket caught his eye, crumpled up on the floor of his closet.

Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.

Johnny picked it up, and before he could change his mind he shoved it into his gym bag and headed out of his apartment.

**********************************************************************************

“Good work today everyone”, said Daniel, nodding approvingly as the students filtered out of Miyagi-Do, wiping sweat off their foreheads and glugging from water bottles.

“Yeah, getting badass”, agreed Johnny.  “Barely any pussies among you now.  Well, apart from maybe you.”  He pointed at Demetri.

The pale boy looked offended.  “Hey, what’s wrong with me?  I thought I did pretty well today!”

“You did, Demetri”, Daniel said reassuringly, patting him on the back as he left and frowning at Johnny.

Johnny just smirked and glanced towards the house, thinking longingly of the ice cold Coors Banquet waiting for him in the newly installed refrigerator.

“Hey Sensei!”

Johnny turned to see Miguel standing in front of him.

“You wanna come over to mine for dinner tonight?  My mom says you’re welcome to join us if you don’t have any other plans.”

“Not tonight, kid. I’m gonna stay here for a bit, work on some new moves with LaRusso.  But another time, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course”, said Miguel with a smile.  “See you later, Sensei.”  He started to walk out of the dojo, waving goodbye to Daniel as he went before looping an arm around Sam’s shoulders.

When the kids had left, Daniel turned to Johnny.

“You hungry?”

Johnny shrugged.  “I could eat.”

He followed Daniel into the house, allowing his eyes to trail down the other man’s petite form.  It had been a while since Johnny had seen Daniel train in anything that wasn’t a tracksuit or a gi, but due to the temperature Daniel was dressed similarly to Johnny in shorts and a sleeveless workout top.  Johnny watched as Daniel’s long legs carried him out of the yard and inside, a slight sheen of sweat glinting on the tanned skin.  Johnny bit his lip and fetched his longed for beer from the refrigerator, taking a swig.

“You want a cold one, LaRusso?” he asked.

“Do you have any beer, or in fact any form of alcohol, that isn’t a Coors Banquet?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll stick with water”, Daniel said dryly.  He turned around to start preparing the dinner and Johnny held up his middle finger behind his back.

As Daniel busied himself Johnny opened his gym bag, reaching inside and pulling out a towel to wipe the sweat off his brow.  He paused when he saw the jacket, scrunched up in the corner of the bag along with a can of deodorant and a packet of corn nuts.

Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.

Lucky me.

He took it out of the bag and pulled it on, feeling the rough denim scratch against his skin, before strutting back into the yard and sitting on the deck.  He sipped his beer as the early evening sun beat down, trying and failing to think of something that wasn’t Daniel LaRusso’s legs.

Daniel soon emerged from the house and strode over with two plates of food.  When he caught sight of Johnny he stopped mid-stride, mouth opening and closing a few times before he settled on just shaking his head.

Johnny grinned. “What?  Told you I’d wear it for you sometime, LaRusso.”

“You’re ridiculous, you know that Johnny?” said Daniel, joining Johnny on the deck and handing him a plate and cutlery.

“I’m ridiculous?  You’re the one who has a dojo in an ornamental garden.”

“What, as opposed to a more sensible location for teaching children karate, like a public park or a seedy strip mall with faulty wiring?”

Johnny ignored the jibe and poked at his dinner with a fork, wrinkling his nose in distaste.  “A salad?”  He put the bowl down.  “Think I’ll go and grab a burger.”

“Really, Johnny?  You want something hot in this heat?”

“Maybe I do”, Johnny replied, making eye contact with the smaller man.

This time the blush that bloomed on Daniel’s cheeks was definitely not a trick of the light.

After a moment Daniel coughed and looked away.  “Come on Johnny, eat your salad.  It’s good, I swear.”

Johnny pulled a face again but still speared a carrot and a lettuce leaf with his fork and popped them in his mouth, munching nosily.  As green stuff went it actually wasn’t too bad.  Not that he would ever tell Daniel that.

**********************************************************************************  

After dinner they discussed potential new moves they could teach their students for the tournament, Daniel diligently writing them all down while Johnny lounged on the deck, nursing another Coors Banquet.  (“Why don’t you just teach them that move you used on Kreese, the one that made his arms go limp?  Then we’d win no problem.” asked Johnny.  Daniel had rolled his eyes.  “Funnily enough, temporarily paralysing your opponent is considered an illegal move in a karate tournament for children.”  “But you can at least teach me, LaRusso.”  “I’m not doing that, Johnny.  You’d use it on anybody who annoyed you, which would mean practically everyone in the valley would have numb limbs.”)

Eventually Daniel put the pen down and stood up, offering a hand out to Johnny.  

“You wanna try putting some of these moves into action?”

Johnny nodded and clasped Daniel’s hand, letting the smaller man pull him up.  As he did, Johnny let his thumb rub gently over the back of Daniel’s hand for just a moment, noting with interest the slight but noticeable hitch in Daniel’s breathing as he did so.  He thought of the blush from earlier, the way the pink tinge had spread prettily across Daniel’s olive skin, and swallowed thickly.  The sensible thing would be to ignore these feelings, to push them back into the distant corner of his mind where they had been dwelling for the past three decades.  

But Johnny Lawrence was not good at doing the sensible thing.

Daniel started to warm up while Johnny did a few half-hearted stretches of his own.  Then they got into position in the middle of the yard.

“You gonna be able to move properly in that, Johnny?” asked Daniel, eyes flicking up and down Johnny’s denim clad torso.

“I can move in anything, LaRusso.  Don’t think you’ve got an advantage over me just because you’re wearing some fancy-ass designer workout gear and $300 sneakers.”

“Whatever, Johnny. You wanna start with the new set of kicks?”

They trained for about forty minutes, moving from the kicks to a new punching technique and then into some blocks (“Can’t we just keep punching?” Johnny had asked.  “’Cause you know, the best type of defence is just more offence.”  Daniel raised an eyebrow.  “That’s the winning attitude that got us into this mess to begin with.  Come on Johnny, let’s just try it my way, OK?”)  

The sun was low in the sky but it was still baking hot, and Johnny could feel the sweat running down his chest, exacerbated by the heavyweight denim.  It was worth it though.  Johnny hadn’t really planned what would happen once he’d put the jacket on, but the first time Daniel’s bare skin had come into contact with the fabric he had let out a breathy little gasp.  Johnny had then deliberately started to make sure his jacket touched Daniel whenever possible, and by the time they had worked through most of the new moves Daniel was looking dishevelled, hair unruly and falling into his eyes, skin slick with sweat, breath ragged.  He lashed out with a front kick and Johnny blocked as planned, but rather than backing off he spun Daniel around and pulled him into an embrace so the smaller man’s back was flush against his chest before dragging his jacket slowly over Daniel’s damp skin.  Daniel shuddered and let out a small whimper.  He went to move away but Johnny grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in so that they were face to face.  Johnny let go of Daniel’s wrist, moving his hand instead to the other man’s waist, letting his fingers rub over the slight swell of softness at Daniel’s middle.  

“Johnny”, Daniel breathed, voice breaking, eyes wide, leaning in just ever so slightly.

Johnny gulped.  This was dangerous territory; flirting was one thing, but they were now on the verge of something else entirely.  An image of Carmen and Miguel flashed into his mind, happily chatting away at their family meal, and he felt a sudden rush of guilt. Daniel was still staring at him with those big doe eyes, and he suspected that if he went in for a kiss the smaller man wouldn’t resist him.

Instead he stepped back, arms dropping to his sides, almost tripping over a rock as he put some distance between him and Daniel (who designs a dojo with freaking great lumps of stone in it, anyway?  And Daniel had the nerve to criticise him for being unsafe).

“Uh”, he said, throat dry, voice coming out low and scratchy.  “That was good.  I mean, good – uh – session.  With the new moves.”

Daniel just stared at him for a moment before he seemed to come to his senses.

“Uh, yeah”, he said, clearing his throat.  “Good, uh, good work Johnny.”

“Uh, yeah.  You too”, said Johnny, gesturing vaguely in Daniel’s direction.  They were both silent for a second and then they both spoke at once.

“It’s getting late, I should –”

“So I need to get back –”

They smiled tightly at each other.

“See you tomorrow, LaRusso”, Johnny said awkwardly.

“Yeah.  Tomorrow.”

Johnny fetched his stuff from the house and left by the front door, slinging his bag into the back seat of his car.  He pulled out of the driveway, glancing for a second in the rear view mirror.  Daniel stood in the doorway, watching him, an unreadable expression on his face.

At home, Johnny peeled off the denim jacket and threw it back into the closet.  He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and drank it in one before cracking open another and sitting down in front of the TV.  He let a mindless action film wash over him until he felt his eyelids start to droop and he drifted off on the couch to dreams of long legs and big eyes and a soft New Jersey accent that just whispered Johnny, Johnny, Johnny over and over again.