#and apparently so does cobra kai

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

them playing clips of demetri and hawk and then tory and sam while bobby was officiating the wedding is actually so??? insane???

[misterbenzadrine]

gaga's mayhem album has been consuming my mind for the past few months and i'm so relieved to finally post this edit i made *checks notes*...almost THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO MY LORD

well anyway, good boy bad boy boyfriends, love love love them

scp// cksscenes

[justauthoring]

Shadow of Yourself [14/18]

Prompt: “You’ve changed, Eli. I barely even know who you are right now.”

A/N: we delve into the reader's past a little bit more the episode and eli is an absolute sweetheart about it <3

Based off of: Cobra Kai 05x05, 05x06, and 05x07 Warnings: some swear words (because tumblr apparently doesn’t like that), poorly written fight scenes (i swear, i struggle so much) Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x F!Reader

Tag List: @moonydrafts - @ashwhowrites - @traveleraroundsworld - @truly-abysmal - @likecherriesinthespring - @hollxe1 - @asonofpeter - @scarlett-verse - @musically-ambiguous - @kayda1 - @moon-zoons - @dwcode - @day-dreamsinthedark - @leilani788 - @silvermagnolias - @hawkinsavclub - @animewolflover278 - @gruffle1 - @b-tchymoon - @maggiecc - @beetea38 - @hawkinsavclub1983 - @crpytids - @embersparklz - @kimilight - @httpjiikook - @marauderssmut - @fyckcore - @multinci - @lqveabby - @oh-well-whatever-nevermind - @redskull199987 - @silvermagnolias - @shortneko - @okjaeminn - @thecyclonetragedy - @vamproq - @siriusfahey - @cobrakaigirlie - @kaylinfayezink - @oursuh - @aphroditelxver - @minl0u - @cherrywinepoison - @bath1lda - @fixalice - @fallsofserinity - @maisieibae - @ssrcsm​ - @notplutos - @kaitieskidmore1​ - @httpvomitello - @nichmeddar - @rafaelajonerr - @lazyneonrabbitt - @belleoftheball28 - @httpvomitello - @nichmeddar - @rafaeljonerr - @lazyneonrabbitt - @harrysnovia - @dopepersonacloudllama - @fluffybunnyu

THE FRIENDSHIP WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

“I made a new friend today.”

“Did you?” Your uncle Elijah calls over the sound of the water running in the sink, his hands frothy and wet from washing the dishes. This was your regular routine after dinner; he’d wash and you’d dry and when your mother was home, she’d put the dishes away. There’s a glaring pile of dishes building to your right that both of you ignore that, as of recently, has been more common. “That’s great, what’s her name?”

Biting your lip, you take the offered dish from his hands; “it’s a boy.”

That gives your uncle pause. With a teasing grin, he turns to you, quirking a brow; “oh? Is that right?” You flush at his wiggling brows, shaking your head as he flicks some soapy water at you before caving. “So, what’s his name, then?”

“Eli,” you answer, grinning from ear to ear. “Eli Moskowitz.”

“What a name,” your uncle laughs, nudging you with his elbow lightly. “He nice?”

You nod instantly, “very.”

“Good. Because no boy will be disrespecting my niece.”

You flush at your uncle’s words, rolling your eyes; “Elijah, he’s just a friend.”

Eyes distinctly focused on the pan he’s washing, your uncle hums knowingly; “mm-hmm. And how did you meet Mr. Just-A-Friend Moskowitz?”

You just snort, focusing back on your own task like your uncle and ignoring his teasing because it was nothing new. Your uncle was a funny man and he was the best at jokes, and he liked to tease you – but you didn’t really mind, because it always made you laugh in the end anyways.

“I stood up for him,” you say, with a certain air of pride and an eye on your uncle for his reaction. “From a bully.”

Setting down the pan, your uncle turns to face you; “is that right?”

You mimic his actions, nodding; “yup.”

In the next second, before you can even blink, your uncle is moving his wet, soapy hands to your sides and moving to tickle you relentlessly. A giggle bursts from your lips instantly, carrying on as you desperately swat your uncle’s torturing hands away from you, gasping as you try to catch your breath.

“Elijah!”

“That’s my girl!” Your uncle cheers, clasping you by the waist and hefting you over his shoulders as he moves to run around the dining room, your cackles the only thing that can be heard in the otherwise silent house. “My little niece, standing up to bullies just like I taught her!”

“Elijah!” You call, grinning wide, “put me down!”

He obliges, finishing one last race around the dinner table before setting you on your own two feet. A laugh bubbles from your throat as he does, breathless and quieter, before you meet his waiting gaze and watch as he moves to crouch in front of you, hands on your shoulders.

“I’m incredibly proud of you, Y/N,” your uncle smiles, all sincerity and love in his eyes. “You know that, right?”

Beaming, you hum; “of course, Elijah! You tell me all the time!”

Shaking his head, your uncle places his hand on the back of your head before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

The moment is flooded with a gentle and comfortable silence as you lean into the kiss, heart racing and belly aching from your laughing but more happy than you could ever be.

It doesn’t last long.

The next day your uncle falls over at work and is rushed to the hospital.

Two months later, he passes away.

That is the last good memory you have of him.

-

You stare at the date that glares at you from the top of your phone screen.

July 14th.

July 14th.

The anniversary of your uncle’s death.

And you’re completely alone.

You frown when you see a message pop-up, the frown deepening further when you see who it’s from.

If you need to talk today, let me know. I can try and find some time to chat.

A second later, another text pops up.

Love you, honey.

With a sigh, you let your phone fall to your bed before collapsing against your pillow yourself.

You don’t have the energy to reply to your mother. Not after all that had happened and certainly not when today is… today. 

She couldn’t even be here—

Clenching your eyes shut, you roll over to your side, staring at the wall of your bedroom and ignore the buzzes that rumble from your hip where you’d left your phone. You have no doubt it’s your mother, probably irritated or worried that you weren’t replying to her messages.

It’s early-ish, sometime mid-morning, but you haven’t gotten out of bed yet.

Classes at the dojo were a little… well, nonexistent right now because of everything and it was the summer which meant that you didn’t have school. You knew Yasmine and Moon were doing something but pretending everything was fine and smiling with them didn’t seem like the solution to the pain in your heart either. Sam was too busy ‘finding’ herself, Miguel and Robby were spending the day with Johnny last you heard and you could only imagine how that was going. Demetri was maybe with Yasmine and Moon, maybe not, though honestly, you loved the guy, but you didn’t think being with him today would help any.

Honestly, the only person you did want to see was Eli but after your fight in the waterpark parking lot, you didn’t know where either of you stood and you were too scared to find out. Eli hadn’t tried to reach out to you and neither had you, afraid that if you did, he’d officially break it off with you.

Maybe you were being dramatic but this always seemed to happen when you two started dating. You loved Eli, you knew that, and you didn’t want to just be friends but maybe Eli didn’t feel that way anymore. You had been a tad bit cruel at the waterpark and hadn’t tried to see any of it from Eli’s point of view. Cobra Kai had been traumatic for Eli and even if you stood by your opinion that the students at Cobra Kai weren’t your enemies, it still stood to truth that some of them had done horrible things and hadn’t apologized for it.

Nor did it look like they planned to.

Letting out a dejected moan, you shove your face into your pillow.

This was awful.

All you wanted to do was see Eli but you were too afraid to make the first step in case it meant you losing him, permanently this time. Realistically, you knew you couldn’t avoid him forever but for now, you figured, you could at least try.

And all of this was ten times worst because… because—it hurt too much to think.

Your father would know what to do. He would have all the right answers, you knew he would. But he wasn’t here to tell you.

A knock echoes from the front door, startling you out of your thoughts as you jump, moving to sit up as you stare in the direction of your bedroom door and the stairs you can see through it. Who could possibly be at your front door right now?

When you don’t move, another knock follows and with a slight frown, you finally push yourself off of the bed and to your feet before making your way down the stairs. You stare at your front door for a moment longer, confused, before finally moving to unlock it, glancing over the edge of the door to see who it is.

Your eyes widen when you see it’s Eli, with a bouquet of flowers.

“Eli?”

“I know we’re fighting or… something, but I didn’t think you’d want to be alone today.”

Lips parting, there’s a flutter that resonates from your heart at Eli’s words; they’re said with a certain softness of hesitation, eyes flickering from meeting your own back to his own feet as he shuffles on your front porch. You feel your heart melt then and there, all anger or doubt you’d had previously disappearing in a single second.

Eli had been the one person you’d wanted to see and here he was.

“You remembered,” you mumbled, still stunned as you reached your hand out, taking the offered flowers that Eli eagerly gives to you. There's a beam of hope that floods his gaze as you take them, pressing them to your nose where you smell the sweet and natural scent of the assorted bouquet, before glancing up at Eli with warm cheeks.

“Of course,” Eli says with ease, without hesitation. “I wasn’t sure if I should come but I knew your mom still wasn’t home and it felt wrong not to come. I’d texted you but you, uh… weren’t answering them.”

Oh, you think guiltily, so he’d been the one texting. Biting your lip, you hug the flowers; “thank you, Eli.”

He smiles; “you’re welcome.”

There’s a moment more of silence before you snap out of your own thoughts, shuffling back to make room for Eli. “Here,” you offer, “come inside.”

Eli is quick to abide, shuffling into your house as you shut the door behind him. You smile at him, a little unsure, as you descend into the kitchen to grab a vase, filling it with water before delicately setting the flowers inside and leaving them to rest on the windowsill where a bit of sun shines on them.

“They’re beautiful,” you smile softly at Eli, “seriously, thank you.”

Eli shakes his head, brushing off your continued thanks; “it’s the least I could do… you know, as your boyfriend.” Then, his gaze shifts, standing an awkward distance away from you as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his joggers and glances at you warily. “If I still am?”

He asks it with a sense of doubt, obviously not sure where you both stand in regards to your relationship. Honestly, you know it’s a little wrong, but it’s a bit of a relief to you that Eli had been having similar concerns as you in regards to your relationship. It made you feel a little less silly knowing that Eli had also been unsure of whether the two of you were still dating or not.

And even more, it made you feel better that it seemed Eli still wanted to.

Letting the first real, genuine beaming smile curl onto your lips, you quickly cross the distance over to Eli, wrapping your arms around his shoulders eagerly. “Of course you are!”

Eli stumbles back at the sudden force, his hands quickly coming to grab you by the hips as he lets out a soft ‘oof’ at your sudden embrace. Still, there’s an eased grin that curls onto his lips all the same and he’s leaning into your hug with a certain fervour of passion.

When you pull back, just enough to meet his eyes, Eli’s laughing; “i’m glad,” he assures. “I felt bad after we fought and I wanted to turn back around instantly but I saw you with Robby and I wasn’t sure…”

“Oh,” you breathe, not having realized he’d seen that. “Robby… he, um… saw me crying after our… and was just making sure I was okay. He walked me home, but that was all.”

Something pained crosses Eli’s eyes but he doesn’t speak on it and the expression is gone as quickly as it came. You watch on in concern, but then he’s squeezing your hips and shaking his head, as if getting rid of the thought, before focusing back on you. “I really am sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” you exclaim, “I shouldn’t have made that comment about you and Cobra Kai…”

“Nah,” Eli brushes off with a shrug and a light chuckle. “You were right. I was a jerk, just like they are now. It’s not fair of me to act like I wasn’t.”

That wasn’t exactly the point you’d been trying to make, but, you figure, one step at a time. Besides, you were tired of fighting with Eli and you’d desperately missed him for the few days you hadn’t been speaking. You needed and wanted Eli, especially for today, so you decide to leave it for now.

“You know,” you speak up after a moment of silence, clasping your hands behind Eli’s neck as you pull him closer. “My uncle was the first person I told when we became friends.”

Eli blinks at you, surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah,” you nod eagerly, “he was the closest thing to a father I had and at the end, it was usually just the two of us… He’d said he was proud of me.” Then, frowning, you meet Eli’s eyes. “I really wish you got to meet him.”

Eli’s face softens. “I wish I'd met him too.”

Lowering your gaze, you hesitate for a moment. “You think he’d still be proud of me?” The question comes pouring from your lips before you can stop yourself, but Eli’s always been good at bringing that vulnerable side of you out that no one else really ever saw. And, truthfully, you didn’t really mind if it was Eli. “I feel like I never know what I’m doing and so much is happening all the time. I mean, we’ll be done with high school soon and I don’t even know where I want to go for college. Not to mention this whole karate thing…”

Eli raises his hand, softly brushing a strand of hair that had fallen in your face in the midst of everything and therefore, pulls your gaze back on him. His gaze is soft, adoring as he glances down at you and there isn’t an ounce of hesitation or doubt as he says; “of course he’d be proud of you.”

Smiling, enough that your cheeks hurt from how wide, you lightly nudge Eli; “I’m glad you’re here. I didn’t want to spend his anniversary alone.”

Eli grins, ear to ear, and there’s a shared understanding between the two of you as he nods;

“I’m glad to be here too.”

-

“So… back at Miyagi-do, huh?”

Laughing, Robby shakes his head as he makes his way over to you, having just walked into the dojo. You knew that most of the people there might not be happy to see him back, at least not at first, so you figured that you’d be there to greet him so he didn’t feel so isolated and singled out.

“Yeah,” Robby breathes, coming to a stop in front of you, winking teasingly at you. “The place you’ve never left.”

You snort; “what can I say? I’m loyal.”

Robby rolls his eyes but the smile on his face is undeniable. 

“How did… uh, everything with Miguel and your dad work out?” You ask after a moment, unable to help yourself. Ever since Robby had texted you letting you know, despite everything else, it’d been on your mind. There was a lot of bad history between Robby and Miguel, and you honestly had no idea if there ever wouldn’t be.

But… Robby was back in Miyagi-do and Miguel hadn’t seemed as angry about it as you’d expected.

So you hoped it went as well as it seemed it had.

“Went okay,” Robby shrugs, “as okay as it could’ve, I guess.”

“Seems better than okay,” you offer, hopeful. “I mean, you’re here and the two of you aren’t at each other’s throats. So… that’s a good step, right?”

Robby just snorts; “yeah.” And you beam, grin turning wider, until you notice Robby’s gaze over your shoulder and he adds; “but just because Miguel and I are okay, doesn’t mean others feel the same.”

Following his gaze, you freeze when you realize Robby is talking about Eli. He’s stood with Miguel and Demetri, but there’s a particularly nasty glare on Eli’s face as he glances your and Robby’s way. When he meets your eyes, the glare softens considerably, but there’s still an edge to his expression.

“No more deadly of a glare than Tory sends me,” you try to joke, turning back to Robby nervously. Robby just raises a brow, shaking his head as he crosses his arms over his chest and you sigh. “Look, don’t worry about Eli. He’s having a harder time seeing past what happened before the All Valley… you know, with his mohawk.”

Robby just lets his hands fall by his sides. “No worse than he’s done.”

“Robby.”

Robby’s eyes snap back to you at your sharp tone, wincing slightly at the look you send him.

“Okay, okay,” he huffs, “I’ll play nice.”

“Thank you,” you sigh, somewhat relieved. “We’re all on the same side now and Eli will calm down. I promise.”

“It might also help if he realizes I’m not trying to steal his girlfriend.”

Cheeks burning, you sputter, surprised by Robby’s comment as you turn to him with wide eyes. “B-But he knows you and Tory—I mean, you guys are dating. And we're friends. Just friends.”

Robby lets out a chuckle. “You said it yourself about Tory,” Robby shrugs. “Besides, I’m not so sure Hawk does know that.”

Your face falls in concern, mortified. “Robby—”

“Line up!”

-

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER:

-

“Look at them.” 

“Hawk—”

“—When did they get so friendly!”

“Who?” Demetri asks, looking up from the stretching he’d been doing.

Eli just huffs, meeting his friends eyes briefly before nodding in the direction of you and Robby. “Them,” he says sourly, ignoring the look Miguel sends him. It wasn’t his fault. He’d tried to ignore it but it was impossible – he knew that you’ve told him many times that you and Robby were just friends but he hadn’t known you guys were that close. Walking you home? After Eli had made you cry? He couldn’t get it out of his head, a constant numbing thought that was irritating him and making him see things in a different light than was true.

And yes, it was his fault because he’d gotten so defensive and made you upset. But Eli had turned around to apologize and make up, only to see that Robby had already swooped in before he could.

And now? The two of you? You’d left Eli’s side the second you’d seen Robby making his way in, eagerly rushing over to the boy and you were all smiles and giggles as the two of you talked.

What was that about?

“Oh,” Demetri calls, “Y/N and Robby?” He asks to which Eli sharply nods. 

“They’ve always been like that,” Demetri shrugs.

That catches Eli’s attention. His eyes finally leave you and Robby to turn and look at his friend, baffled; “what?”

Even Miguel looks a little surprised.

“Yeah,” Demetri nods, not seeing the problem. “Ever since she and I joined Miyagi-do. Or… I guess at first they hadn’t gotten along, but then suddenly, one day, something changed. I think it has to do with the whole parent thing… I know things are better between Robby and Sensei Lawrence now, but they get what it’s like to not really have a parent around.”

“Wait,” Miguel speaks up, before Eli can say anything. “Y/N lives on her own?”

Eli’s previous jealousy forgotten, he and Demetri glance at each other, unsure.

“Not completely,” Eli is the first to explain, voice hesitant with what to say and what not to say. Demetri didn’t even know everything either but Miguel even less it seemed, though Eli was sure you wouldn’t mind having Miguel know; even just a little. Like Demetri knew just a little. “Her dad… passed away when she was really young. And for a while her uncle helped raise her but then he passed away when we were in middle school. She still has her mom, but she leaves a lot for work. She’ll be gone for months at a time.”

“It was okay, you know, when her uncle was alive,” Demetri mumbles, glancing at you from across the dojo. “Because she had him. After he passed away, Y/N was home alone a lot. It’s been hard on her.”

“Oh,” Miguel mumbles, shoulders slumping. “I had no idea.”

“She doesn’t like talking about it,” Eli explains. “She doesn’t want people worrying about her.”

A somber air surrounds the three boys, neither of them sure what to say.

Demetri, as usual, is the first to break the ice. “I wouldn’t worry about Robby and Y/N, Eli.”

Eli turns to Demetri in surprise.

“They’re just friends,” he explains with a shrug, as if there was never any other explanation. “Besides, anyone who can see Y/N can see she only has eyes for you.”

Cheeks warming, Eli turns to Miguel, as if asking for his opinion; Miguel nods,

“Honestly bro,” Miguel laughs tentatively, trying to lighten the mood. “Y/N looks at you like you’re her whole world.”

Eli hesitates, doubting their words because of his own insecurity. Before he can help himself, his eyes naturally drift back towards you and Robby, only to pause when he sees you staring back at him. Eli freezes, panicking, as his eyes widen a fraction and he’s quick to soften his gaze, offering a nervous smile.

You just turn back to Robby, as if confused.

-

PRESENT TIME:

-

Jumping at Chozen’s suddenly booming voice, you don’t get to finish what he’d been about to say to Robby as Chozen calls everyone over to him. He shouts something in Japanese and you sigh, knowing that’s it, as you follow after Robby to make your way over. Eli quickly makes his way over to you, falling a stop next to you as he meets your eyes, sending a soft smile.

You’re quick to give him one in return, lightly nudging him with your elbow to assure him everything’s okay before turning your attention to Chozen.

“So,” Sam is the first to speak up, “where are my dad and Johnny?”

“Not here,” is all Chozen says in explanation. “Today, you train with me.” He follows by shouting something, again, in Japanese, that no one understands before sighing; “attention.” Instantly, everyone straightens out, your hands falling flat against your sides.

Again, he says something in Japanese and is met with confused gazes.

Huffing, Chozen shakes his head; “bow.”

Oh. Everyone quickly does.

“Cobra Kai gaining ground. We must prepare. Come.” Shuffling forward, Chozen moves to walk around the set up table with various things on it, and you meet Eli’s gaze curiously. “Now, we learn about Yanbaru Kuina.”

“What is that?” Chris asks, “like, some top-secret karate move? Like a throat rip?”

“No,” Chozen answers sharply, ignoring Chris’ poor imitation of having said throat ripped. “It is bird. In English called Okinawa rail. Endangered. Cannot fly.”

Demetri nods; “hence, endangered.”

Chozen grabs something off the ground, hidden behind a brown cloth, before peeling it away the second it’s set on the table. It’s eggs.

“So these are the real eggs?” Miguel asks, gesturing forward.

“No,” Chozen says, like it’s obvious. “Trader Joe’s. $3.29.” At the various looks he gets, Chozen just shakes his head, obviously annoyed; “take egg.”

Eli, Sam and Miguel step forward, grabbing a handful and passing them around; you smile when Eli hands you yours.

“So, what do we do with the eggs?”

“Yanbaru Kuina must protect egg,” Chozen answers. “From Kume Shima habu. Poison snake. You must do same.” He takes the hourglass off the table and turns it upside down. “Begin your preparation.”

“What are we protecting them from?” Robby asks.

“From me.”

-

You give yourself credit for lasting longer than Eli and Robby, but ultimately, your plan to protect your egg fails all the same.

You wince as Chozen cracks your egg, staring down at the broken yolk sadly before meeting his gaze. He simply just grunts at you before moving on, and with a sigh, you make your way over to the sparing deck where everyone else has lined up. You pause, however, when you notice Eli and Robby standing next to each other.

That cannot be good.

You finish making your way over with a certain hesitance, eyeing the both of them warily, before coming to a stop next to Eli. You smile at him warmly, before letting your eyes flicker from him to Robby and back.

“Everything okay?” You ask, tentatively.

Robby and Eli glance at each other, hesitating.

“These two?” Demetri calls out, answering you when neither Robby or Eli say anything. “Fighting like usual. Not focusing on the bigger picture,” he complains, “like, for example, the crazy guy taking us all out one by one!”

You ignore Demetri’s ramble, turning back to your boyfriend and friend; “oh.”

“No,” Eli is the first to speak up, sighing. “We’re fine. I guess.”

Your eyes widen, straightening out with hope.

“We’re good,” Robby assures, shrugging. Then he pauses, eyeing you and then Eli, before adding; “and just to be clear, Y/N and I are just friends. I don’t like her in that way. She’s great, of course,” he smiles at you, “but I like someone else.”

You freeze at that, eyeing Eli cautiously.

“Cool,” Eli says eventually, his voice even–cautious. “I knew that.”

Yeah, right, you think to yourself as you roll your eyes at Eli’s ‘cool-guy’ attitude, that’s why you spent the entire day glaring at Robby. It was endearing, though, and clearly nothing was meant from it.

Robby nods, holding back a chuckle; “just wanted to make sure.”

You watch as the two of them glance at each other one more time, just staring, before the corner of Robby’s lips twitch and then he’s grinning and to your surprise, Eli is mimicking his grin and suddenly all the tension just fizzles away.

“I will never understand boys,” you huff, bewildered by what had just happened.

Eli and Robby both look your way before bursting out into laughter, and your cheeks warm, slightly embarrassed, but still unable to fight the smile that curls onto your lips all the same.

“Now that that’s done, can we please focus on what’s happening?” Demetri calls, gesturing in front of himself wildly.

You blink, “who’s even left?”

- 

Frowning, you watch as Chozen cracks an egg and starts frying onto the portable heater and pan – right in front of you.

“You are not good Yanbaru Kuina.”

Dejected, you lower your gaze.

“Snakes will take you down,” Chozen sighs. “One by one. I have tried to tell you what you must do. But you do not listen. You must learn to adapt. Or soon, you will be extinct.” A little morbid, but you couldn’t argue against his point. “Take new eggs. Try again.”

Slowly, you all grab a new egg.

“Sensei Toguchi’s real cryptic, like Mr. Larusso,” Demetri thinks aloud, you and the rest circling around each other. “But aggressive like Sensei Lawrence.”

Chris nods; “it’s like the hardest part of both styles.”

“Definitely,” you huff, “it’s scary.”

Mitch just huffs, shuffling back; “can’t wait to get our asses kicked again.”

You turn too, following Eli, Robby and Miguel, before Anthony calls out, halting you; 

“Uh, no. No, um….” Curious, you glance back, watching as he tries to find the words. “G-Guys, uh, wait. He said that the snakes will take us down one by one. Right? Just like he took us down one by one, but… but what if we weren’t a bunch of ones? Like, what if we were…”

“Together,” Sam agrees.

“Exactly!” Anthony exclaims, nodding at his sister. “Like, um, a raiding party in Dungeon Lords.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Demetri calls, “even if you’re a level eighty-five, you can’t mount an attack on the grand realm alone.”

Eli nods at Demetri, “exactly. You need a team. And everybody has a special role.”

Grinning, you laugh in hurrah. “By working together!”

Anthony grins, nodding. 

“It’s the only way we win. As one.”

-

You walk home with a certain pep in your step, practically skipping.

The three boys walking with you watch with varying grins.

“This is amazing,” you gush, turning to the three of them and grinning from ear to ear. 

Miguel snorts; “you’re way too excited,” he brushes off but his words still come out fond. He meets your eyes with a gentle smile and gestures to Eli and Robby beside him. “We just became friends.”

You snort, shaking your head. Figures they wouldn’t understand.

“It’s much more than that,” you correct, “the three of you have been in some mini-war since this all began.”

At that, Miguel, Robby and Eli glance at each other.

“Miguel and I have always been friends,” Eli reminds, jutting his thumb at Miguel before pointing back at himself.

You roll your eyes. “Yeah but now Robby’s here!”

At the sudden attention pulled on him, Robby flushes, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

“I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” you explain, sending them a look. They all just laugh, shaking their heads and you fall back into place beside Eli, slipping your hand into his.  “Now all that’s left to do is make Sam and Tory be friends and everything will be good.”

There’s a pause that follows that – you’re blissfully unaware.

“Y/N,” Robby calls, somewhat hesitantly. “I feel like that might be harder to do.”

“More like impossible,��� Eli snorts, pulling your eyes on him in confusion. “Those two hate each other.”

“I feel like that’s somehow putting it lightly,” Miguel sighs, obviously distressed by his ex-girlfriend and… well, ex-girlfriends hatred for each other. “I don’t think they’ve ever been in the same room without fighting.”

Robby nods, solemnly, and Eli just shakes his head.

You stare at them.

“What?” Eli asks, confused.

“That was literally you two,” you point at Eli and Miguel, “with him,” you shift to Robby, “not a week ago. Especially you two,” you single out Miguel and Robby. “Unless you guys have forgotten,” you snort, raising a challenging brow their way. “I’m sure we can get Sam and Tory to see past their differences.”

It’s clear by the way all three of them look at each other, they’re doubtful.

“Well,” you brush their doubts away, “I'm determined to make them be friends.”

[incredipuppy]

Okay so I was originally planning to post all the notes I took at once but I realized there was a lot so I’m going to made a post for each day

Anyway, here are the notes I took during panels on the first day of the Salute to Cobra Kai convention:

Martin Kove

- “He’s not the most evil person. He’s just misunderstood” (about Kreese)

- Entire final scene between Kreese and Silver was filmed in one take

- Everything in Karate Kid 3 was originally written for John Kreese but they later came up with Terry Silver because Martin Kove was too busy to film

- There was originally an ending scene shot where there was a hand with a ring and cigar which was clearly Kreese picking up a magazine that said “What ever happened to the Business Man Terry Silver?”

- He personally believes that Kreese survived because he always manages a way to get out of things

- He never liked the scene in the parking lot with Miyagi and Kreese. He thought it was goofy and cartoonish for him to have his nose honked.

- Someone asked if Kreese killed Tory’s mom and he says he didn’t

- “I wanted to have more scenes with Amanda”

- Amanda/Courtney really slapped Martin

- He wanted to smile but the directors told him not to because it was too weird and lowkey sensual

- He joked that he killed Johnnys mom

- A kid asked “what does it feel like to act at your age” and he jokingly got up and stumbled across the stage

- “How did you survive the snake bite in the cave?” “Hollywood”. Additionally, he wishes that scene was longer so it was clearer it was a dream and he wished Kreese suffered more

- Every time Kreese would ask Hawk something in a scene, he would always come up with the right answer

- Jacob Bertrand was hitting a steak over and over in the scene where Hawk beats up Brucks

The Creators

- Cobra Kai was originally a movie idea but they realized it would work better as a show

- John Hurwitz has always been a huge fan of Billy Zabka and even made a website for him when he was younger

- They didn’t know Peyton List had the history of Disney acting and just saw her as intimidating and scary

- They said that Kreese died despite the fact that they apparently filmed a potential ending where Kreese didn’t die

- They considered having Johnny’s dad show up later in the show and see what Johnny was up to

- The house Johnny ends up buying in the end is the same house that’s in Carmen’s dream sequence

- Chozen was originally very friendly to Danny but they realized there needed to be a little rivalry between them

- Someone asked why the cops are never there and they just laughed and said it’s LA so the cops have a lot of other things to focus on

Alicia Hannah-Kim & Yuji Okumoto

- The make-out scene was fun to film

- Kim is disapproving of Chozen’s taste in reality TV taste but probably turns a blind eye because she cares about him

- Alicia took the dojo bomber jacket and Yuji took the black belt from the set

- Yuji arrived on set and Alicia ran up to him, saying “Did you read the latest script?!” and that’s how they found out about the romance arc

- Yuji joked that he wants Kumiko to ruins Danny’s marriage like she ruined Chozen

- Both of them would take Johnnys role if they had to choose any other role

- When asked which student he’d like to see Chozen bond with, he said he really liked working with Peyton, but if he chose a character, Yuji wishes he could’ve had more scenes with Hawk. He said Chozen could’ve related to Hawk’s wild side.

Ralph Macchio & Billy Zabka

- Ralph acknowledged that they brought up Miyagi so much and joked about how people would get annoyed by him constantly talking about his mentor

- If Danny had another minute with Mr. Miyagi, he would probably reiterate that that he’s the best friend Danny’s ever had

- Joked about Bert being the unsung hero and said there should be a spin off called “Bert” with him and Stingray

- Ralph said he’s Eagle Fang all the way but also Miyagi Do for life

- Billy’s favorite fight scene is the first fight scene where Johnny defends Miguel in the parking lot

- They filmed their duel in s4e5 in short increments one a really cold night (February?) and they had to go into heating vans in between takes because it was so cold

- Ralph still has the original yellow car from the original movie and whenever the car show up in the show, it’s the original car

- Ralph wishes we could’ve had Danny addressing and referencing his dad who doesn’t show up at all

One of the actresses/stunt women, Caitlin Hutson, also mentioned that underneath the platform in s6, they used a bunch of cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other to cushion their falls, and it was brought up numerous times both days that they used cardboard to soften the falls

[msfbgraves]

I live for your CK takes. So what do you think about how the show handled Robbie? Sexual harrassment aside (lets not even touch that because... yikesTM), I think his time wth/at Cobra Kai may have settled the miyagi philosophy (KK did confirm it's the right path) more than staying with Miyagi-do would have. He learned a lot and helped other people, too. Though I do wish the show had fixed the relationship he had with Daniel, it was very heartwarming and uplifting, and both learned a lot from each other. The way they handled Johnny-Robbie, on the other hand, makes me really uncomfortable, because it feels neither right nor organic to what the show was the 1st 2 seasons (good ol' times).

If I were Robby, I'd think I was somehow cursed, and would try to find a medium to get me out of the Matrix because something about his life, particularly after he wounded Miguel, must feel off kilter. No one is that unlucky. The fact that he doesn't have a relationship with Daniel anymore is strange. The way he feels compelled, by something outside of himself, must be, to return to Johnny, who he knows is a deadbeat who has long replaced him with Miguel. Apparently Johnny did Miguel's rehab like singlehandedly but he was too drunk to show up for one (1) visit in Juvie. His mom - where is his mom? It feels like she got written out of The Truman Show. Does he have an extended family of any kind? He... Can't recall. Why can't he leave? Why is he in his Dad's shitty apartment? He wants to be there for his girlfriend but there is only static in his brain. He must fight, and lose. Fight, and lose. For whom? He doesn't know. There's only fight and lose. Fight and lose...

In all seriousness, I might have just about bought Robby's detour in joining Kreese, because he does like to lash out by joining the enemy: he did the same to Johnny when he joined LaRusso auto. But his whole arc in S4 should have culminated in Robby rejoining Daniel and moving back in with him. Johnny is there all the time anyway. Enough potential for teen drama if the show needed that. But the show only takes sick pleasure in hurting him. They don't care about his dreams or his heart. That's the only reason I think him and Tory are still together, despite Tory's massive homicidal crush on Samantha. Tory is in a Saw trap, which is close enough to Robby's Gothic horror that they can still relate to each other.

[gaffney]

I get that you’re not happy about Robby losing the tournament, but what do you think about the leak that Johnny retakes Cobra Kai? It feels like it completely undercuts his growth.

i fully agree, because it does 😭 he finally broke away from all the toxicity and abuse tied to kreese and cobra kai, and now he’s just walking right back into it. like, i would’ve much rather they lose with miyagi-do and have johnny actually accept it. find some peace in realizing it’s ok to lose and that it won’t destroy his life this time, because he's got his sons by his side, a newborn baby girl, a beautiful girlfriend, his old nemesis-turned-idk-frenemy & the rest of his team and students. but nope, instead they’re pushing that storyline onto robby again (for the third time.. 🙃 it is NOT robby who needs to learn that lesson) it’s hella frustrating because the show had the perfect opportunity to tell a story about how there's power in moving on, about letting go of something that’s fucked you up for decades. but instead, they’re going with the tired old narrative that you can’t escape your past. you HAVE to go back and let it define you, because apparently, you’ll never succeed without it. even if johnny decides to close down cobra kai after the sekai taikai, it doesn’t undo the message that he needed it to win. that he couldn’t move forward without crawling back to the thing that caused him and others so much pain. it’s just such a garbage message.

[purpleheartskies]

I saw someone frustratingly say that Miguel got treated like a villain in the captaincy match. Curious, I looked into it. Apparently, there is a trope called the "Near-Villain Victory" :

"All hope looks lost. Soon the Big Bad will achieve their goal of taking over/destroying the city/world/universe, and there's nothing the heroes can do to stop them! But then WHAM — something unexpected happens, and the tide turns in the heroes' favor, allowing them to overcome the villain and win. This is what we call a Near-Villain Victory, where the bad guys look like they're going to win only to get defeated at the last moment." (from tvtropes.com)

Lmao This is exactly how Robby and Miguel's fight went for captaincy. Robby was down 0-2. Then, Tory appeared and Robby got his mojo back (as Hayden described it). Robby won it 3-2. Interestingly, Xolo said that Miguel was his most competitive while Tanner said that Robby was trying his mid.

Of course, many fans are claiming that Miguel was unbalanced, and even the writers said so, but the narrative clearly "shows" whenever Robby is unbalanced, including in this very fight, and the narrative didn't "show" this for Miguel in this fight. Balance is a major aspect of Robby's journey after all, not Miguel's (who I've mentioned doesn't seem to have an overarching journey like Robby does). Another Robby fan I know suggested that Miguel was off-balance as the match progressed because Robby suddenly came back and was able to tie it. This makes sense. Miguel had been so sure he'd win the match that he'd told Robby the day before that, whatever happens, Miguel's got no beef with him. lol After winning, Robby got to confirm, in light of Miguel's declaration the night before, that they're still good.

I've posted a lot about Miguel being the bully in their rivalry. Miguel "won" in s5, not just the fight but when it came to being Johnny's priority between the two. Robby gave in and didn't try anymore for a fair resolution for himself because of Johnny. The essay scene in s6e2 still showed Miguel being the bully and Johnny being on his side, as Miguel continued to scapegoat Robby for the school fight to prop himself up and build his own future at Robby's expense. Then, in s6e5, Miguel tried to "convince" (gaslight) Robby that Miguel needs the win more for his own future, but Robby stood up for himself and his own future and stayed firm.

I think there will continue to be tensions between the two in part 2 (which has also been alluded to in interviews for part 1). Since s1, Miguel's character has been established to not tolerate Robby being a priority or getting what Miguel has wanted. (I talk in detail about Miguel's sense of entitlement in this post.) In this case, Robby got in the way of Miguel's future goals, is the official leader for the boys, and is going to get the prestige of fighting on the world stage, live-streamed for the world to see.

Miguel got the "villain" treatment in the captaincy match because Miguel is a "villain" in Robby's story. Miguel has also always been Cobra Kai by nature. Robby is Miyagi-Do by nature. The story is now in Act 3 and has to start concluding. Robby is the Miyagi-Do kid who has to lead the battle against Cobra Kai. (Sam as well, but she's not an underdog.) Robby has been established as the main underdog and the new generation Karate Kid since s1.

[homeless-ghost-71]

So apparently I talk about aftg a lot

Because my dad and I were watching Cobra Kai and he goes “he looks like he could be from that book you talk about all the time”

And he’s kinda right?? Maybe not current Riko because I don’t think his build is quite right but maybe a younger Riko? Does anybody else see it??

[terrence-silver]

Recap:

- Johnny and Carmen get married by his pastor friend while she’s in labor (they name the baby Laura after his mom).

- Silver convinces Gunther (?) + the other senseis to put the tournament back on. Johnny realizes Silver’s dying.

- Kim kills her grandpa. Like straight up kills him. He goads her into doing it but yeah.

- She takes over but decides not to send the kids to Cobra Kai. Tory is the only fighter.

- Axel fights Robby and is told to injure his knee, so he does.

- Kreesedemption happens and he and Johnny hug and cry. Kreese lets Miguel fight for Cobra Kai.

- Tory beats Zara after Robby tells her he loves her.

- Silver on his yacht tells Dennis (who is still loyal to him) to threaten Carmen and the Jarmen baby, but before Dennis can do it he gets thrown down the stairs by Kreese and dies.

- Kreese and Silver fight, and while Silver’s choking him Kreese reaches for his cigar and causes the boat to catch on fire and explode.

- Axel is told to play dirty, but he refuses and Miguel wins. He tells off Wolf.

- Because Iron Dragons and Cobra Kai have the same amount of points it’s decided that the Senseis will fight.

- Danny starts hearing Silver and Kreese from kk1 and 3 andhallucinates AI Mr. Miyagi fighting guys in skeleton costumes for some reason. Like it’s not even a dream it’s a straight up hallucination. Perfect opportunity for Snake’s “he’s hallucinatin’” line but they didn’t use it :(((

- Danny and Chozen coach Johnny and everyone shows up in Cobra Kai gis. Johnny is losing until Danny tells him to “stop being a pussy” not joking. He wins by sweeping the leg.

- Johnny now runs Cobra Kai again, except this time it’s totally good apparently even though he keeps the ‘No Mercy’ philosophy and bullies kids in the exact same way he did in Season 1. Stingray is also there being annoying. Danny also keeps being a sensei.

- Sam goes to Okinawa for some program and Miguel goes with her before going to Stanford.

- Chozen gets rejected by Kumiko who says she loves him as a friend. He then shows up in Korea where Kim is teaching her students.

- Robby and Tory become influencers.

That’s it that’s the show. I’m so mad. The writers really said let’s nuke everyone’s characterization because we have a massive hard on for Johnny even though the entire fucking point was that the Cobra Kai philosophy led to generational trauma lmaoooo. Everyone did give their A-game acting-wise + my beef is 10000% with the writers. At least we have your terry content !!! At least someone does his character justice 🫡

You actually took the time to write all of this for me. Thank you most kindly. ❤️

How sweet. 🤗

[avatarskywalker78]

It's Six Sentence Sunday and I have been writing some stuff!!! Mostly for my Thunderbirds fic - now titled 'star fall' - after reminding myself that I do not have to write several thousand words of backstory when I just really want to get to the main rescue and what happens afterwards. This is from the first scene - in which Sheridan calls John and immediately starts complaining about the latest idiot who didn't have safeguards that made the news.

“That was a pretty bad one.” He agreed. “But I doubt he’ll be commissioned for anything else.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”  She scoffed. “It wouldn’t be so bad if this was just a one-off but there’s gonna be some other loser with some big idea and no thought of the consequences—”

“You’re still not over the Empire State Building, are you?”

“Do not get me started on that.” She warned him, and John snickered. “Ten years of planning down the drain because they didn’t do a proper ground check and for the short distance they were moving they might as well have left it where it was—”

“Maybe they should put you in charge of these things.”

“Are you kidding me? You know I have no patience for things like this – one smartass making some smarmy comment and we’d just end up arguing. Besides,” she added, raising an eyebrow, “I’ve enough paperwork in this job and that’s for a company that gives a shit. You think I’d be happy having to deal with even more when situations go haywire because of other people’s mistakes?”

Being a test pilot isn't all death defying stunts and a lot of work goes into making it safe, despite the picture the media likes to paint... so hearing about complete dumbasses having to be rescued from their own stupidity does nothing to improve Sheridan's mood - 12 episodes into TAG and it's the same in that universe too because apparently OSHA just straight up doesn't exist by the 2060s?? For some reason?? So that's gonna be fun (Sheridan likely wanting to punt whatever equivalent they have to an iPad out the window every time she sees one of these headlines)

I've also been working a little on my Elaine Barnes fic - specifically trying to write the scene where she watches her father fight Daniel LaRusso, after the footage resurfaces and Sam decides to show her first before a Cobra Kid does so because they're not gonna be as kind about it.

Karate had ruined Dad's life.

That was what he'd always said when they asked - that it had exacerbated his anger issues and led him down a dark path and ultimately ruined his life, and that if Grandpa hadn't given him a chance he didn't know where he'd be. Cobra Kai had laid him to torment someone and it had been one of the worse mistakes of his life.

And he'd had a terrible reputation during his karate career - she'd never done much research into it, but she'd known his moniker was the 'Tournament Terror' and this was why Cobra Kai had recruited him.

Elaine knew all this, she knew all this-

Seeing it was very different.

Oh Elaine, I'm so sorry 😢😢 but sometimes the story has to be angsty, and things will work out in the end.

Tagging (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @shrinkthisviolet @starstruckpurpledragon @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @ofbriarandrose

[ironstrike]

some thoughts on axel for your viewing pleasure:

So patrick is as tall as TIG, or there. the sites are all over the place but the one i see the most is that he is 6'4", so axel is a big boy.

he has no family on sight as of yet on the show and i don't think they are going to show that.

The surname kovacevic has origins as Serbian, Croatian, and Bosniak. The wikia list him as Croatian so we are going with that, this was backed by apparently an interview patrick gave.

2018 Sekai Taikai Male Champion. This is also said in an interview so he has won the tournament before.

Like he said to Sam, he has travelled around the world, mostly Europe and Asia. He does not really seem to enjoy it much, mainly because he doesn't enjoy the country, he is there to win a tournament and leave.

He has no close family and was scouted by Sensei Wolf at a young age, like Johnny with Kreese. In terms of relationship and parallels, he really is the dark mirror to all of those who were under Cobra Kai influence and further.

He seems so used to the abuse that he excuses it as the only way to get himself to win. This talks about a level of trauma resposne that he has it engraned it. It's as common as anything.

The only real moments of "rebellion" we see is going to the beach alone to do kata, which does not seem to align with whatever he is taught.

He is deprived of friendships or close relationships so much that we saw he attached to Sam like a leech the moment she showed an ounce of compassion and kindness.

He speaks more than 5 languages: Croatian, Russian, English, Spanish and Chinease, among others like Serbian, Slovakian and Italian.

I cannot stress ennough how this young man has no friends. He doesn't hang out with his teammates much outside of training and the tournament, and he and Zara work well as a team and unit but don't seem to hang much outside, though she is by his side when there are on pause.

[fucktoryantis]

I am so fucking sick of these BS anti Tory talking points!!

Muh sympathy bait this muh sympathy bait that. Apparently any fucking attempt to humanise her is muh sympathy plater bait. Fucking hate this one. Worst part is this gets brought up in the context of her family of which there is a point to be made of the lack of screen time for them. But whenever a good discussion comes up about the absence of little Brandon after s3 comes up it has to get fucking ruined by these fucking useless wankers writing Torys family off as muh sympathy bait. Can I have one fucking proper discussion about Torys family needing more screen time without it devolving into pure fuckheadery about muh sympathy bait? Also the point of Torys family was to give her incentive and stakes to be the better person, not just muh sympathy bait muh sympathy bait.

2. No/ little consequences . Such fucking bullshit. Tory gets punished heaps. I have seen some actual amoebas try to say that getting fired doesn't count as consequences for the house fight because she would have gotten fired anyway. IT DOESN'T CHAMGE THE FACT THAT THE SCENRIO WHERE SHE LOST HER FUCKING JOB WAS A RESULT OF THE FUCKING HOUSE FIGHT YOU DUMB CUNTS! It's fucking clear that these fuckers throwing this bad faith talking point just want there little Tory torture pr0n. This is how they gaslight the rest of the fandom into justifying cobra kai s5 in particular being this Tory torture festival where she becomes Sammy's chew toy. I fucking hate badwolf1013 but at least the cunt was honest about it. Worst part of this talking point is the same cunts I see throwing it around are the same bitches saying Tory deserved to break her hand and shit like that the fucking vindictive cunts and they turn around and lecture us with their shitty essays about muh forced forgiveness and crying about how everyone wants to forgive Tory and shit.

3. The writers / narrative favours Tory. Oh fuck me up the bumhole fuck this is such a bogus ass talking point. Did we even watch the same fucking show? If anything the show mostly favoured Sam and only in s6 does Tory start to even somewhat break away from being in Sam's shadow. Sam never takes a fair loss from Tory despite the latter cleary having the talent to beat her at least once, Sam has always been portrayed as the righteous one in one way or another especially in s3 while Tory was made into a boogeyman for Sam in that season, Sams isn't portrayed as perfect after s3 but still not fucking "villianized" by the writing according to brainddead twats and ofc nowhere near what the writers did with Tkry in s3 again, Torys side of the beef wasn't even fucking brought up till s6 really, they never ignored sams side and still portrayed her sympathetically when she went on the fucking offensive.Btw Sams "ptsd" doesn't get focused on later BECAUSE SHE FUCKING GOT OVER IT IN S3 DICKHEADS!! Fucking hell they never even let Tory be the one to bail Sam out in a fight it always has to be sam the hero saving Tory yet I have seen smoothbrained degenerates claim this proves the show favours Tory ahahahahhhahahah wtf. Can't fucking reason with people like that fucking hopeless. Yeah Tory needing saving from Sam proves the show favours the former wow Tory antis are either the biggest trolls or the because retards ever. Buh buh the tournaments, ok we have the all valley which was payed off so it shouldn't count and the sekai taikai which had Tory using Sams moves and don't let Tory fight Sam to get to the finals. Mutherfukkas once asked "if the show was biased to Sam wouldn't she win all the tournaments"? I could ask the same fucking thing, if the show was biased in Torys favour why write her tournament victories this way?

4. "Tory doesn't do enough for others, shes selfish, entitled and doesn't take accountability ". I'm combining these talking points into one paragraph because they interconnect and I wanna say to people who throw this shit around, Fuck off aye? I'm sorry did Tory not help end Silver era cobra kai? She apologised (and no, sam saying sorry worst doesn't fucking take away from the sincerity of Torys apology you can fuck off if you say otherwise), she gave Sam useful advice when the latter was agnst over Miguel for the 6 gorrilionth fucking time, like WHAT MORE DO YOU FUCKING WANT? And we get to her relationship with Robby, anyone saying Robby gets nothing from her can eat a bag of fucking dicks. Tory out of every fucking person in Robbys life has shown the most concern for his Kenny problems, she is the one who checked on robby when he lost the all valley yet again. She treats him better than her antis give her credit for. Oh but Kreese, yeah heaven forbid Tory would wanna help free an innocent war veteran who's been in her corner and she was in a bad space when she went back to ck for the last time. Suuuuuuuuure Tory's had moments where she was only thinking about herself but she has always tried to be there for other people that aren't her family. And what the fuck is this horseshit about Tory not taking accountability? Did she not blame herself when Daniel got fucking dookied by Silver? She blamed herself for Miguels fall too and owned up to her role in her rivalry with Sam.

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Ah yes, the apple computer is a lemon because Lyle accidentally found himself as tech support.

Johnny's first computer is a Dell laptop. I wonder though if in the 80's they had computer classes, because then he might've known a desktop, which is still a different set up then a clunky Dell laptop.

LYLE WHAT IS THAT?!

Johnny is at least moving at the right part of the computer that is the mouse. Even though the cursor isn't moving. He also manages to open up every single Microsoft program ever, which how does he have those? They're totally extra now right?

Where's the internet? Have you tried connecting to the wifi? Obviously....what's wifi?

Book 2: The Internet for Dummies

His wifi password is Strike1strike (hard one guesses?)

Hot Babes > Wet T-shirt contest > Iron Eagle > Bloodsport (Lol he stops to read a blog post about it)> Conspiracy Theories (The Actual Truth: Mind Control, Flat earth, fluride poisoning children, herbal remides for sleep, faked moon landing, and of course dinosauras built the pyramids, zac efron is elvis's son) > misc fighting video from a movie I don't know. >all american karate championship on youtube> Top 10 spin kicks (blocked by a Daniel advertisement for Miyagi-do where he purposefully shows kicking Johnny in the face as part of his ad)

Daniel, darling, dearest, my boy, you were pissed when Cole made a targeted ad, you're literally putting kicking Johnny in the face on the worst night of his life (one of) as your ad for your dojo. You even say "Don't be a snake in the grass. Be a champion."

And then Daniel's once again undercutting Johnny's finances by making sure all the sessions are free. Which I get is because his lessons with Mr. Miyagi were free but still.

You know I do like that they didn't actually show google, and just made their own random generic internet search

New movie rec: Bloodsport

Whose making the cobra kai merch? a beach ball and a towel?

Demetri claiming the wins of Cobra Kai as his own is...something.

First mention of Johnny's rap sheet, I like how Eli's parents actually did their research on the guy teaching their kids.

Valley fest mention (did they only do valley fist in this one instance in the whole series?)

Amanda is a CEO.

Daniel spent half the Q3 (third quarter) marketing budget for LaRusso Auto on his dojo advertisement. That seems...uh...financially very bad. I don't know legal laws for corporations but...bad.

Like he excuses it because the dealership will get publicity at the Valley fest, but still to take corporate funds to use for personal I feel like is an actual white collar crime.

Jessica Bluestein is I guess one of Amanda's friends or coworkers/staff whose husband started a ska band and then hooked up with a palates instructor half his age.

Amanda misses the simple days of dicks on billboards. Which fair, it's going to get a million times worse Amanda, so be prepared.

Anoush got transferred from Encino to North Hollywood. Which I guess is a downgrade

Sam's hair when it's braided or in these little three buns is very cute.

Robby's hot water was also turned off.

Jacuzzi confirmed at the LaRusso's. It must be that thing by the fire place. Also apparently a possum died in it.

There's also a cobra kai phone case. Seriously? Johnny did you have all this made or did the students have it all made?

Poor bonsai, also did you go out and buy these to hurt the bonsai? Also poor kid holding the bonsai that was dirt and ceramic and tree that hit him in the face.

What Johnny says is pretty much exactly how Tom Cole did his targeted ad against Johnny.

Hashbrown and send it to the internet.

His students doing his whole internet marketing team is very sweet, but also he needs to compensate them for all that free tech labor.

I don't think I'd fully realized that he'd bought more space from Zarkarian. I guess he just had this room locked for Zarkarian to have storage previously?

I get why the kids automatically assumed that because of Robby being Johnny's son that's why Johnny got mad at them for the tournament. But in reality his rules he tried to instill after the tournament was don't cheat and don't be unsportsmanlike. And that should apply to everyone even Robby. And maybe he should've reminded them of that rather than just shutting down the conversation and telling them to clean mats because they got into his business and it's not their business.

Especially since Kreese is going to use that to drive a wedge between them all.

I get why Amanda is getting frustrated, Daniel said that he used part of the budget to get eyes on his dojo, and it's fine because they have valley fest for the dealership. But then he goes after the dealership spot too.

I don't think she has a name yet and I don't remember it, but I like that she gives Johnny the 411 on free food. He's got kind of a community in the area. Lyle his tech person, the Mini Mart guy (sorry I forgot his name) and the homeless lady.

Did Kreese not know previously that Robby was Johnny's? Or that Johnny had a kid? Because it feels like not only does he have his eyes on a way to drive a wedge but also a target.

Johnny says he'll never get a chance to train Robby.

Kreese dumping a lot of paranoia and random fears on Johnny, like Daniel stealing away Miguel too.

Ah the correction, Johnny's learning and paying attention.

They changed it, Miguel and the Diaz's are in apartment 1.

Johnny kidnapping Miguel: 2? 1? I feel like generally he has the kids meet him somewhere rather than driving them somewhere.

Sal and the delicious chopped onion burgers. So Johnny knows the name of the chef at this diner and it's not Smitty's.

Robby's birthday Monday February 4, 2002 after 17 hours of labor.

Johnny was coming off a 3 day bender.

He gets chocked up when he says he failed Robby on his first day in the world and every day since.

Mr. Miyagi never taught Daniel how to use a weapon during the first 3 films, so sometime later he must've taught him some, at least a bo staff.

Stingray is out here talking about the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Donatello is his favorite.

The initial shots make it look like they're up much higher then they actually are.

Look how proud he looks to have that thing and his ice blocks. It is really cool.

Okay so it always comes off as if Johnny like snuck in and struck, but the fact someone dropped the logo over valleyfest makes me think someone on the valley fest prep team knew about it.

Yup I went back, it's right there rolled up above the Valley fest logo

Plus all the lighting people knew exactly where to direct the lighting and the music to play. So they knew that Daniel would get interrupted and didn't tell him.

The smoke, the lighting, the fireworks, Daniel someone did not give you an updated memo on this and the Valley Fest was more than happy to put this on without telling you. Also the amount of work these kids put in to perform on even less notice then Sam and Robby?!

Like sure Kreese is standing in the back talking to a tech person but still, they had to have gotten permission and people had to have agreed otherwise security would've taken them off the stage. Someone on the Valley Fest committee loved this idea.

This crowd craves violence.

Omg there's even custom logo lights being shown on the backwall.

I do love that Aisha got her own solo where she was blindfolded and kicked and broke a bunch of boards. She looks so happy and proud.

Like yes, them upsurping Daniel sucks, but also this is such a great celebration for his students. And also again Aisha! (add to it disproving one of Silvers goals of blinding your opponent and making them unable to do anything, here Aisha is proving you can still kick ass and not see, which you would think Daniel and Sam would be proud of her)

Hawk's jump kick is also really cool.

For a festival it also makes sense, they're throwing out merch and what not. It's fun for the crowd.

Daniel's thing would've been super cool, and two stages can go at the same time, the fact they completely stopped to watch Cobra Kai is a bit of a bummer, because they could've continued. Our local fest had a big main stage performance and then a small stage performance like super close but the noise pollution wasn't bad enough to disturb either. But because the crowd left and Daniel was so stunned they just seemed to have given up, when that didn't have to be the case, he could've show cased his own thing at the same time and gotten a different audience because Cobra Kai isn't going to be for everyone.

Johnny and his five cement bricks on fire. I wonder if those are from Cutter. (Daniel btw has 6 blocks of ice)

Kreese looks ecstatic in the back with the tech and sound people.

The melting ice makes me so sad every time.

So do you think Johnny and Daniel both had similar ideas of breaking bricks without Johnny knowing that Daniel had that planned? Because Daniel's plan was a secret, they just both thought it'd look cool? Daniel's of course is from TKK2 but did Kreese teach Johnny that? Johnny told Kreese that he had a few moves Kreese didn't teach him, and if that's the case where'd he pick those up?

Robby looks mad. That's probably one of the biggest one step forward another step back is that not only did Johnny upstage Daniel but he also upstaged his own son.

[desolateice]

@macchiatosdumptruck​ thank you for the ask. (hopefully you don’t mind that I moved this over to my fic blog)

How does one do this? Like a car salesman? Let’s see. We all know I love RBF&GT so I’m not going to hype that one this time. Besides cookie already did that for me and people already gave it awards so we’re going to kiss it’s forehead and tuck it into bed and hype up it’s siblings instead. Slaps the roof of a car, can I interest you in monster meet-cutes? 🤣 (apparently my theme)

Konpeitō    

romantic sci-fi Lawrusso comedy. (the karate kid era)

Daniel and his mother move to earth after the destruction of their planet. Love is an important part of their culture and his mother hopes that Daniel can find some earthling to fall in love with, dumping him out of the space ship to essentially hitchhike. He befriends a beetle, dog,  earthling named Johnny and tries to understand what earth is like and untangle the mess of language that is English while occasionally something tries to talk to him through radio frequencies.

California Roll  

paranormal romance Lawrusso (comedy) (the karate kid era but prior to)

Daniel’s walking his bike home through a Newark January along the river when he spots a body on the shore. He runs down to go help whoever it is only to think it’s a dead body and then to see that from the waist down is a tail. He realizes the blonde mermaid is alive and goes through the tedious process of taking him home. He and his mother end up nursing the broken hearted merman back to health, who really just wants to cuddle him for warmth and sleep in the cold until he’s too numb to feel. (If you like the idea of Johnny being partial monster but want something somewhat darker (more horror-esq) I also wrote Snake Whisky where Johnny after TKK turns into a snake and finds out about Terry and Kreese’s plans to hurt Daniel and then slithers off to try and warn him but kind of forgets how to be human)

Semifreddo 

paranormal romance Lawrusso (the karate kid era but prior to)

Sid sends Johnny to Long Island for the summer to clean up an extended family members home after the owner passes, and while there the house seems to have a mind of it’s own and seems to be haunted by a rather curious and friendly seeming ghost who may not actually be fully a ghost. It’s actually really sweet.

Cherry Cordial

romance fantasy (magic) Lawrusso (the karate kid era)

Based off a couple drabbles I did. After the first tournament Daniel can’t sleep and ends up at a shop during a storm where a man gives him a book of magic spells. He uses one to try and ensure Johnny leaves him alone by making a potion and spiking his drink with it. Instead he realizes he might’ve given Johnny a love potion because the guy is opening doors for him and being much nicer than before.

Johnny on the other hand, is a witch whose been ignoring his calling and after the tournament he goes home to the mansion that oozes evil because Sid is a literal demon and decides to use magic to determine what he should do with the rest of his life only to find out he’s a love witch.

I do have more paranormal meet-cutes Umibudo (Chozen/Johnny where Chozen is a merman who runs into Johnny and takes him home because mermaids fall in love easily) and Devil's Food (Cake) where Daniel is a crossroads demon that Johnny visits throughout his life. I also have alternative routes to RBF&GT. But outside of all that there’s two others and I can’t decide which one to go for because they’re both gifts that I adore. So apologies I might do both.

Wisteria Sherbert 

a/b/o Lawrusso with omega Johnny and alpha Daniel (Cobra Kai era)

Johnny gets a new job as a handyman and much to his disappointment nanny for a rich house in the hills, only to learn that it’s Daniel’s home. After some hiccups he settles in, getting along with the kids and Daniel, but he’s hiding the fact he’s an omega. He’s taken a ton of medicine to ensure no one finds out because he’s deep deep in debt to Terry Silver and the only thing keeping him from being mistreated is the fact he doesn’t give off a scent or hasn’t “presented”. But who knows how long that will last.

A Feast for Fools      

romantic drama (comedy?) with Johnny and Terry Silver (Cobra Kai era)

Terry Silver finds out about Johnny’s dojo almost immediately after it opens and his staff recommend he go under cover to figure out why and who brought Cobra Kai back from the dead. Terry poses as a yoga instructor and teaches classes at the dojo and gets to know Johnny and his students. The two end up being good influences on one another and helping each of them heal from the damage left by John Kreese.

[msfbgraves]

Cobra Kai 6 so far is dead to me. It’s just so awful. Kreese is ridiculous, Johnny has hit whatever follows rock bottom (he hit rock bottom in 3), the teens are all annoying, and they’ve lowkey made me dislike CHOZEN of all people. Omg. Only Daniel and Shawn were likable. I need Terry to come back and kill everyone in the valley and then himself.

I think we completely agree on S6 but Nonnie, if I may, I'd like to focus on Terry here because come to think about it...

As dangerous as Terry is he seems very, very reluctant to kill. He talks a great game about killing, but he doesn't finish Chozen off while having every chance, he implies he wants Johnny dead but does nothing about it, and I know that's all about giving our heroes a chance of escape but as a character trait I think it's fascinating. Terry is a killing machine that will do anything but. And of course he has a lot to lose by killing, but contrast that to Daniel and Johnny, who would have ended Kreese in S3, not to mention Kreese himself, Terry always goes for the pain and never the kill. He'll make you wish you were dead, but he hates taking life. Terry is all about the pain where a dark Daniel is about the kill. Daniel, at his very best, still needs to be conditioned out of killing, where you apparently can't condition Terry into it at his very worst. Interesting, isn't it? I adore Daniel and the fact that he so heroically will control that impulse, but that is his dark side. Miyagi has done everything in his power to contain that capacity for evil in this angel of a boy (teaching him to fight with a bo but never with a sai, sword or spear, definitely not teaching him the pressure point technique) but in the mangled dark soul of a man named Terry Silver, that one impulse is nowhere to be found!

[valleykarate]

“you shouldn’t have seen that” johnny

GIVEN THE DRAMATIC REVEAL OF ETHAN'S ELDRITCH NATURE, JOHNNY WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT HE’S COMPLETELY CHILL WITH WHATEVER HIS SON-IN-LAW GETS UP TO, or the odd things that happen around him, because of him. ...except for he isn’t fully used to everything yet. he’s only human, after all. because of ethan's... outlandish quirkiness, johnny's started anticipating more & more weird shit to just start happening whenever it feels like happening. power outages, for one. it's why he's stocked up on those battery-powered camping lantern things in his apartment, & extra batteries. his fridge has an extra two gallons of drinkable water. but it's fine, because the power doesn't go out for long enough to have to resort any of that. (the reveal also explains the seemingly endless, pretty scary storms that continually rolled over the valley while robby was a member of cobra kai.) ethan's just a chaotic kid, & now that his 'locks' have been broken, the floodgates of ethan's genuine chaotic nature have well & truly been unleashed out into the world.

unlike larusso & his big freak out when the news of ethan's nonhuman nature broke, johnny's learned to accept it, support him, & roll with the punches, because johnny's life has been full of oddities. let's see... his best dude friend was dating his other best dude friend & best chick friend when they were growing up... & he had no idea until their wedding.

number two: his son figure, his biological son, & his daughter figures are engaged to a nonhuman entity - their rings were made by him with his powers. they double as silent eldritch panic alarms. number three: ethan's parents are badass karate fighters in this life, but also wade is apparently from a comic book on some alternate life & is deadpool, & vanessa, wade's wife, is the woman he loves in that same film, but they were all brought over here because of ethan. (ethan's very tight-lipped as to explaining why they decided to come to the valley, though, that little shit. he knows that, because he's asked miguel & tory repeatedly if he's said anything. according to tory, ethan won't even tell them why, so it must be super private, super important information.) lastly, but not least... ethan's earplugs? those are so he doesn't have to hear sounds that only his eldritch hearing can pick up on. so he doesn't destroy the universe.

...jesus christ. if he didn't feel bad about making fun of ethan's earplugs when he first met the kid with robby at his side, he sure as hell does now. potential destruction of the universe by a then '16'-year-old kid is too existentially terrifying for johnny to handle.

despite that, johnny can handle his son's fiancé being the third ever thing (ethan's words, not his) in existence. it's just another oddity added to the list. he's semi-processed that information. he's done his best to adapt to the weirdness of it all. he's trying to move on. it's no biggie.

yesterday morning, ethan dropped off a pretty neat present at johnny's front doorstep, without needing to even be there. it's what ethan proudly calls 'a shiny', something he'd mentioned to johnny while he was visiting ethan's apartment. ethan'd explained the gist while flapping his arms, sitting on robby's lap. & by that, he'd only said it was a good thing. nothing to be alarmed about. the 'shiny' at johnny's doorstep was a small, ankle-high animated, carved wooden stick figure of johnny dressed in an eagle fang gi fighting someone - silver, based on the silver ponytail, angry-looking chin & black cobra kai gai - repeatedly. no two animations were the same. every punch 'silver' threw, 'johnny' blocked or countered using a mix of miyagi-do, cobra kai & eagle fang techniques. it was honestly super impressive. johnny had been confused, but took the gift inside. & yes, it was made out of actual, high-quality grade wood... oak or some shit. he'd immediately dialed wade to ask what the fuck it meant.

wade'd laughed & likened it to a cat with a dead rodent walking up to its owner & putting its fresh kill at their feet. it's a symbol of trust for ethan, to gift these 'shinies', & a desire to show appreciation to him. it means ethan likes him even more than he did before, & that he's grateful that he didn't shun him.

score, lawrence.

hawk whistled once he saw the animations in a video johnny'd sent him, calling the animations fluid & something out of a marvel movie. the stick figure gift stops moving if johnny doesn't think about it, & it changes into whatever johnny wants it to. right now, it's a (real) photograph of carmen & miguel smiling at the camera. it's currently sitting on the island in his apartment's kitchen.

unfortunately, while johnny's used to the oddities of ethan, he's not too used to the whole body horror aspect of the boy's eldritch side yet. namely, the fact that the veins in his hands, arms & his eyes can glow different colors. the veins underneath & around his eyes can, too. he's also not used to the three sets of ink-black wings that sprout from his back whenever he feels like making them appear. & ethan's not a small kid, he's 6'6, so the wings aren't small either. the bones cracking, the glowing eyes & veins, the tar-black feathers just appearing out from nowhere… he’s not used to it yet.

it’s what johnny, sam, robby, miguel & tory are currently looking at right now. ethan’d gotten spooked by the fire alarm going off in the building next to his apartment & reacted defensively. (as opposed to offensively, thank god.) he’d sprung up from miguel’s lap, his hands immediately clasping over his ears, his wings sprouting, eyes glowing ink black. he snarls something in a non-human language johnny can’t even begin to understand. it just comes out of ethan’s human mouth as a series of oddly pitched hisses & clicks/pops. the lights in ethan’s apartment flicker a few times violently.

the action of ethan going from looking entirely human to suddenly not in an instant makes johnny take a single step back from him in surprise. that causes ethan to freeze up in pure panic. the wounds of almost everyone else’s recent rejection of his true nature still a traumatic, scary event for the eldritch. those wounds haven’t healed over, & johnny secretly doubts they ever will.

all of the non-human features melt away immediately, except for his ink-black eyes. ethan looks like he’s on the verge of either a panic attack or losing his shit… neither are preferable in this situation. tory & miguel are instantly pulling ethan by his hands away from everyone else, moving down the hall to calm the distressed boy down. the door to their bedroom slams closed with a sudden, powerful gust of wind that makes johnny’s hair blow back, even from where he is in the living room. he winces, then quickly glances over at his son with wide eyes. shit. he’d fucked up again. he didn’t mean to do that - it was just human instinct. his pulse is still hammering in his neck, & he struggles to speak for a few tense seconds.

@taughtpain breaks the silence. ❝ you shouldn’t have seen that. ❞

guilt hits johnny like a truck all at once. he wonders how many times that’s happened for tory & miguel to immediately know to calm him down. johnny quickly avoids eye contact with his son while running a hand through his hair. he looks back towards the front door of the apartment. ❝ shit. i didn’t mean to do that. i probably shouldn’t be here anymore. ❞ the man quickly blurts out. ❝ i-i’m gonna go, tell your fiancé i’m sorry. ❞