#everything is about samtory actually

[whitechocolateanti]

core FOUR 💜

[zappedbyzabka]

Some of my general thoughts on CK season 6 part 3

Ralph and Billy's tearful scenes with 'Miyagi' and Kreese were phenomenal. They're such great actors 10/10.

I have a lot to say about Johnny's scene with Kreese but just to keep things short, I'll talk about that another time. But wow wow wow. Dominique Swain applauds.

Daniel's nonstop anxiety about his family getting hurt :/ least he had fun getting tipsy with his wife. Amanda looked gorgeous with that new hair (though she always does.) He really tapped into offense side this season. Looove how he knew exactly what to say to make Silver blank-face and leave lmao.

I'm SOOOO never getting over 'You're alright, Lawrence!' and lawrusso recreating the nose swipe scene with Daniel acting as Kreese for Johnny to inspire him. Johnny was MUCH enjoying that.

Daniel basically buying Johnny his building back?😭 AGHHHH. 'I believe in you'....

Tory being dressed in the same gi as young Johnny, and Robby being dressed in the Miyagi Do gi with a hurt leg—paralleling Daniel—in combination with those scenes being where they get back together makes me insane. Like, lawrusso in another universe.

I feel Robby could have gotten a more smoothed out and rewarding end but at the same time, I'm glad he's happy and taken care of now. Angel.

Sam and Tory's scenes together were so heartwarming. Especially the scene of Tory getting emotional over the LaRusso's kindness and generosity to her. Finally getting some one on one with Daniel and Johnny.

When Sam brought up having something to tell Daniel but being worried he'd be disappointed in her, my mind instantly went to a coming out scene tbh.

The montage of binary boyfriends and samtory as Bobby's reading the vows? What are you trying to say???

Bobby and Johnny meeting up again <333 Bobby still gives him that special 'I would actually do for you' stare (whether platonic or not) and I squeal about it. I love that Ron got some time to shine<333 I thought Jimmy would appear, but he sadly did not.

I also thought Anoush was gay but I was obviously mistaken since he was kissing Ralph's daughter (Julia's performance was hilarious.)

Silver speeding away with Johnny in that car was crazyyy. Billy had yet another Scott (not the werewolf) Mccall moment except he didn't get locked in a tower this time. You would've thought the employees would have seen Silver in the papers months ago and called the cops.

His envy over Daniel and Johnny having things to live for and people that actually love them was sad—especially with him being ill. If you think about it, Kreese was all he had besides the money, and when he didn't have Kreese the only way he had anyone around him was pretending to be someone else.

His jealousy over Kreese's love for Johnny really shined through as well with that 'I don't know why you messed up what I was doing with Kreese' (paraphrasing) and the way he called Kreese pathetic for groveling to Johnny no matter how many times he rejected him. Silver felt that he himself was pathetic for having always crawled back to Kreese no matter the rejection he faced.

Also the fucking grenade boat explosion scene??? INSANE???? Literally died in each other's arms. I know many people have problems with it but I don't see what else they really could have done for the two villains with endless crimes (which I love about them alright) that wouldn't be worse.

Think about how Silver probably thought he'd die alone, but didn't. When I realized Kreese was set on offing himself and taking Silver with him the whole time, and that was the reason he spent most of his scenes apologizing to the last few people he loved...

Would like to know more about what happened to Wolf. His bitchiness almost rivaled Johnny's, and damn did he eat up every scene he was in. Just a great character.

Johnny with the tailor? There's my prissy brat.

Considering everything wrong with the baby plot, I at least liked how they did end up choosing to show it. Johnny going full girl dad and being so sweet and coddling to the baby + Miguel and Robby made my heart SOAR. He's always been tender with them but the writers never really did let him to just relax and love. He deserves to be happy, like every imperfect victim irl and in fiction who gets bashed for not meeting people's standards does.

Carmen is a baddie. Just chilling truly

[seeker-of-stories19]

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 Notes

(Enjoy my nonsense notes taken while watching the new episodes for the first time)

- Robby and Miguel showing up together 🥰

- Miguel cheering him on

- Omg Miguel is being such an adorable dork with the training stuff

- Miguel is Robby’s biggest supporter and I am so here for it, he finally has someone who will be there for every pep talk

- Kiaz moment during the fucking wedding speech is actually killing me (not to mention SamTory and binary boyfriends)

- I CALLED THE BABY’S NAME!!!! (As much as I don’t like this plot line I’m still proud of my prediction skills)

- So sad though that Robby didn’t get even a single moment to have actual human emotions about any of the baby/wedding stuff

- Ahhhhhh Miguel’s arm around Robby!!!

- FUCK ZARA 🤬

- Robby and Miguel are literally so cute, they can’t stand being apart for five seconds

- Robby is kicking ass at the tournament, thinking of all his training with Miguel

- I feel so bad for Axel, he’s being forced into this and it’s obvious he’s scared of what Wolf will do to him if he doesn’t get the results they want

- I am so happy about Daniel’s speech, Robby has obviously been struggling and I’m glad he has people on his side even if it’s lacking some complexity

- “You turned your rival into your best friend” I’m dying… they’re soulmates, not to mention the look on Robby’s face when Daniel says this as he looks at Miguel

- Also fuck Wolf

- Miguel cheering for him so enthusiastically right before he gets hurt

- These notes are written in order as I watch and I’m so so sad right now because of what’s coming, I want Robby to win so badly and he deserves it so badly and they have no other storylines lined up for him and there’s no more seasons and I’m really freaking out 😭

- Okay I’m crying now, he deserved so much better

- Miguel’s reaction though, I’m literally having so many feelings

- He looks like he wants to kill Axel

- This is why Kiaz works so well, they just fit in every way. Miguel is everything Robby’s been waiting for his whole life and Robby is the perfect balance to Miguel’s character and all the things he wants in a relationship

- I love how protective Tory is over Robby too, they have one of my favorite relationships in the show

- Seeing Robby trying so hard to be strong and mature is something I relate too so much and he’s one of the most important characters to me in the world so watching this was really hard, he deserves so much more than being fucked over again

- Robby deserves to have complex emotions about this and not just have to focus on what he’s ‘grateful’ for, even though it’s consistent with his trauma it’s heartbreaking

- This is the hardest I’ve cried at anything in the whole show

- The way Robby holds onto the back of Johnnys gi like he doesn’t want to let go is killing me

- I was so not ready for Johnny kissing him

- Just wondering how long Robby’s waited for Johnny to say he loved him and was proud of him

- Really sad we didn’t get a scene of Miguel comforting him, even if the vengeance is good too

- I’m so sad Sam isn’t going to fight, I wanted her and Robby to win together since neither of them have won a tournament yet! (Although Robby is the only one I felt really strongly about)

- I am really happy about Johnny’s moment with Kreese, he needed that closure so much but I still hate how much of his trauma has ruined Robby’s life

- Not important but Miguel’s hair looks so pretty, Robby would be obsessed

- I’m really sad we didn’t get a scene with Robby and Miguel after he got hurt or any scenes of him in the hospital

- I still like Axel so much, I hope he gets out of the environment he’s in by the end of the show, the level of abuse he’s going through is horrifying

- Miguel is clearly struggling with the fact that he couldn’t protect Robby and he wants payback so bad, if nothing else I’m glad we get him being crazy protective, Robby needs that energy

- Okay why did they have to include that “being your sensei is the best thing I’ve ever done” line, that sucked. Slightly different phrasing could’ve made it okay but no

- Eli and Demetri are going to college together!!!! Another win for binary boyfriends

- I’m getting more annoyed by the second that Robby and Miguel haven’t had another scene together given everything that’s going on

- Me choosing to ignore the kiss and appreciate Robby’s platonic confession of love to one of his best friends

- Finally Zara got what was coming to her

- I do kind of love Cobra Kai rebuilding purely as a Robby protection squad, they’re ready to take down anyone who hurts him

- Oh no not Miguel’s card, now I’m worried again but hoping if he gets his heart broken Robby can help him pick up the pieces

- Yes Daniel finally got some maturity and stopped being such a hothead

- Robby is so proud of Miguel even with all the things he’s dealing with

- Also the way they talk about Axel like he’s not even a human is horrible, I want him to stand up to Wolf before the end

- Yes he stood up to him!!!

- The way Robby smiles at Miguel when he’s stepping onto the mat for his final round with Axel is incredible

- Another Kiaz hug 🥰

- Don’t have a lot to say about the tournament ending, it wasn’t what I was hoping for and it would’ve been cool to see Robby and Miguel hold up the trophy together

- Okay not a fan of the senseis fighting thing, that’s so silly to me

- Did Kreese actually just take silver out? This show is crazy

- What is this dinner with all the LaRussos, Johnny, Miguel, and Carmen that Robby Isn’t at, if they don’t explicitly show him having plans with someone else I’m going to be very unhappy

- Omg Robby got an offer I cannot believe this but I am so unbelievably happy, while I still wish he’d won this is a better ending for him than I thought he was going to get to be honest

- Daniel going full Cobra Kai is hilarious in the best way

- Someone should get Robby a chair, he’s just stuck standing the whole time with his crutches c’mon

- Johnny and Daniel hosting the trophy together is very symbolic but they need to get the kids in there it’s still their tournament

- I’m so sad we didn’t get a final scene with Miguel and Robby after Miguel freaked out at his injury, I just feel like that was so important and we missed it

- I am overall way happier with the ending then I thought I’d be but I am sad the last two episodes were so focused on Johnny and Daniel we barely got any scenes with the main four or any goodbyes

- Laughing a little at the fact that they still didn’t make Miguel and Sam break up though despite highlighting again that they want different things from life (like they have since the first season you know?) Just let them be friends!!!!

- Why did they have to add one last scene of Johnny bullying children

- Overall though some of the Kiaz scenes we got this season as well as some of the Robby scenes mean so much to me and all things considered I’m mostly okay with how things ended even if I’m freaking out a little about the show being over.

[astridthevalkyrie]

Okay where do we start with cobra kai part 2 now that you’ve finished watching it

i'm SO glad you asked! here's my thoughts (prone to change since i just finished it last night), spoilers under the cut:

the bad:

oh my god we GET it. miguel should've been the captain. making everyone else get their ass kicked so easily just to hype him up was lame. once, sure. the "watch how it's done" scene was cool. but like three four different times? come on.

there was just so much repetitiveness in general. robby's distracted by tory. kwon is an asshole because he is. daniel and johnny argue over the same things they always argue about. zara is a mean influencer because she's a mean influencer. we get it we get it oh my god.

not specific to season 6 part 2 and far be it from me to be a superfan of miguel and johnny but oh my god johnny is so shitty to him. why the fuck are you bothering him on the place leave him ALONE. we've lost the heartfelt moments with miguel and johnny, and we've lost the plot with daniel and robby (which was one of the best relationships in the show).

sensei wolf was hot but useless, silver might as well have just been the iron dragons' "anonymous sensei" that they reveal later on. was silver waiting for daniel to find out before making himself public? like why was he hiding if he was just gonna come out and be there anyways.

they kinda have hit a snag with silver. he was a really good villain, the actor has a really good screen presence, and so they didn't wanna write him out of the show, but his arc was over. bringing him back now, again, becomes repetitive, and adds very little to the plot, even if it does make the iron dragons kinda relevant instead of just being super strong side characters.

what the actual fuck did they do to demetri. why were they trying so hard to make him unlikeable. i was rooting for him in part 1. he's hurt and lashing out at hawk, he's clearly still traumatized from his best friend breaking his arm and imo a shitty apology afterwards, but now? consistently talking about MIT, not trying hard, cheating on his girlfriend? it sucks how much he shouldn't have been part of the competition. more s6p1's fault for the dumb as fuck way they chose the team, but demetri was never a super strong fighter. so if you send him to sekai taikai, my god, at least give him a moment or two to show he's there for a good reason. character assassination at its finest. also very clearly done to make hawk look better in comparison.

carmen's appearance in this season was just another disgusting hammer in the nail of everything they've done with her this far.

stop making johnny a right wing conspiracy theorist i'm begging, stop sacrificing his character that should be mature af by now to make him say haha woke mob jokes.

while i love how mature sam has been the entire season, she has no goals right now. i don't know what it should've been, but they should have given her some stakes in the sekai taikai. her arc in season 4 and 5 also kind of concluded, without her ever beating tory and without tory ever honestly beating her. my samtory heart says i don't want them to fight, i love them fighting for each other and protecting each other (for once want tory protecting sam instead of the other way around), but my samantha larusso heart wants her to have a solid win against tory on the mat.

she was also ooc. i think she was right to call out johnny, but s4 sam would not say this!! s4 sam was johnny's student too! come on now. sam is not just miyagi do. sam has mastered both elements as much as the boys have. them deciding to switch up sam and amanda every season.

didn't want drama between miguel and sam but was hoping for a moment. ig if they're not broken up we're not supposed to care about them.

hawk's hair is tacky. hate it.

the cgi/ai mr miyagi thing was incredibly awful. why the hell did they do that it was so disrespectful.

WE SHOULD'VE HAD MORE SAM ROBBY SCENES. GIVE ME THE LEGACY KIDS GODDAMMIT.

the big thing. kwon's death (if he is dead that is). it's hmmmm. idk how i feel about it. on one hand, yes, good for everyone to finally realize this has gone way too far. absolutely fucking ADORE daniel trying to reach him and stop him. daniel lasrusso my beloved the only one who acknowledges these are kids. on the other hand, and i don't mean in this in a super mean way, who cares. right now the only thing that makes this sad is kwon's age. otherwise, his teammates didn't like him, his competitors didn't like him, the senseis didn't care about him aside from his skills. maybe this would be different if he was kim's favorite instead of yoon or if him and kreese had a relationship like tory and kreese did. or if he had a SINGLE humanizing moment. or a friend. they just did his character dirty tbh. also made him seem like a hotshot with nothing to back it up when part 1 showed him as very formidable. brandon lee is mega hot and his acting was fire he should've had more to work with it.

i also think the way it happened with him stabbing himself is dumb af. at this point it might've been better if he just stabbed axel.

and what's gonna happen now? if they continue the competition that's insane. if they don't then it's disappointing. we hyped all this up only to not have a winner? my god that sucks.

the whole brawl was just. meh. it's nothing like the high school fight they didn't even come close.

the good:

sam and axel were so fucking adorable. i really wish they hadn't gone down the he likes her and tries to kiss her route. would've been so much better if they were just friends, and kinda wanted to see a brawl of the two of them versus kwon and yoon.

KENNNYYYYYYYY. dumb as fuck that hawk and demetri didn't trust him for such dumb reasons, but oh my god they like my baby finally have a win. loved his middle finger to silver. wish there was a robby kenny scene.

sensei kim's hair down oh my gooooooood. she's so gorgeous.

i didn't wanna put kim/chozen in the bad, idk if i should put it in the good, it's just. there. lol.

tory and sam for the most part. no rivalry. just two traumatized girls knowing they need to fight each other and grimly resigning themselves to it. poor babies.

johnny's divorced wife ass voicemail. "the kids need you, i need you." the middle aged gay men have once again gotten me. silver called him a pretty boy this show is OBSESSED with calling johnny a pretty boy what the fuck.

silver also put daniel in a dog cage. no explanation as to what would've happened if daniel didn't use jesus (?) to escape. jumin han ass plan.

fight choreography was insanely good. personal fav is kenny's little flip when he's tapped in.

liked anthony and kenny's resolution.

training montage in the last or second last episode was super cute.

ADORABLE scene in the locker rooms with the whole "who are we? miyago do!" call me cringe. i loved it. i'm glad they realized this is it, they're not gonna be fighting as a team forever and they need to savor it.

miguel's maturity after he comes back to the competition was so refreshing. finally.

i know i already said brandon lee is hot but brandon lee is hot. the way they did his hair, his smirk, the way he talks, ohhhh my god.

carrying from season 4 part 1, whoever is doing peyton list's makeup makes it look like tory is constantly crying. at first it was jarring, but it really adds to the scenes and makes you feel bad for her.

hopefully in part 3 we'll get core 4 stuff. i want miguel sam robby tory hanging out. not on awkward double dates, but as friends who all like and love each other. the characters are all in a good place with each other right now. please please please.

there was probably more good? but i can't think of it right now lol. anyway watch cobra kai as a comedy and it's insanely good. take it seriously and you'll suffer. i have done both and will continue to.

[m1guelsgf]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERSSSSS

the show definitely ended!

as a certified miguel girl, i always knew the show would end in a win for miguel. i mean, he's the lead and parallels daniel in tkk the most between himself and robby (argue with the fucking wall). that doesn't mean i didn't want to see robby win either.

i actually wanted a win for robby more than anything. there was a lot of build up to it, especially with the scene of him training before his fight with miguel and he's repeating "second place" in his head and remembering that he's always come in second. i feel like we should have at least seen him winning a tournament after being healed in the quick ending montage, or maybe even a timeskip showing him with his collection of first place trophies and still with tory. i know there wasn't a lot of time to wrap EVERYTHING up but i feel like robby deserved more than an influencer happy ending. yeah he got his own personal win against kwon but robby deserved a WIN and it wouldn't have been that hard to throw it in there.

but maybe that's just my robby soft spot talking.

i also feel like the way miguel won was kind of cheap and hollow. maybe bc i saw leaks before it came out (mostly predictions) but him going back to cobra kai after kwon died? don't get me wrong, i really enjoyed seeing miguel back in his #primemiguel mentality and his fight against axel was incredible but did kwon have to die and robby have to get injured for that to happen? was there no other way to advance the plot? get me in that fuckin writers room.

i will say that i envisioned miguels fight scene with the flashbacks to be a lot more... more. idk i would have chosen different clips to include in the flashbacks. also wish we would have seen more reaction about the kid that fucking died??? i'm probably just being picky though.

the show was always kinda cringe but it was never as dissatisfying as this.

i did enjoy how they did not ruin sam's character by making her cheat or anything and how miguel and sam at the tournament mirrors season 1 in so many ways. they could have given us a really good samtory fight scene where they go from fighting to just playing around with each other because they don't need to fight each other anymore and then the ref is like "come on guys" and thats when sam drops out. again, get me in the writers room.

also enjoyed axel not continuing the cycle and accepting his defeat as a contrasting mirror to johnny and kreese. i am a firm believer that axel didn't let miguel win, he just didn't fight dirty. sam's kindness was definitely a factor in that. she helped him find the kindness in himself and her stepping down from the tournament probably inspired him to not fight for anyone but himself. he didn't know miguel had been injured before and if wolf hadn't put it in his head, he would have never gone for an unnecessary injury like that.

anyways, the show is over. i will probably start writing some stuff soon because i need to create worlds in my head where my favs get what they deserve.

honorable mentions:

miyagi dream sequence, both macchio and zabka amazing performances confronting their mentors, demitri not going to MIT, daniel in the cobra kai gi, karate mom amanda being embarrassing, johnny moving how he did in 1984, kreese blowing himself and silver up, chozen and kim da eun

[msfbgraves]

Sam and Miguel as a couple are so uninteresting and bland. Sam and Tory have far more chemistry, but the writers are cowards so that’s never happening, even though it would be fascinating to watch. Robby and Tory have more chemistry than the first couple, but don’t hold my interest, and I don’t feel like they would last (same with Sam and Miguel). Yasmine and Demitri are Wish Fulfillment and silly, and feel incredibly forced and stupid. Weirdly enough, the couple that I actually like are Moon and Eli. They’re a good girl/bad boy couple actually done well for their limited screen time. Moon is super sweet and affectionate if dumb, and brainy Hawk is at his best when he finds balance between quiet, nerdy Eli and Alpha Hawk. They compliment each other well.

I know tv writing is very technical and they had to put in teen couples for the target audience. The problem is that they're writing fanfic with no interest in character and that's like being a vet who dislikes being around animals. However technically skilled you are, the animals are not going to do well under your care. They needed conflict in their couples and the foundations were solid if they had actually cared about these characters as people. What does it mean for Sam to fall for an immigrant boy from Reseda who is trained by her Dad's former bully? Does he make her ask questions about what privilege means, how brittle hers is? Does she learn something about her parents? Does Miguel feel dwarfed? Torn between his sensei and his girl? Or is this about Johnny being drawn back to Daniel's world? That's okay, this is a karate kid spinoff! But they only skim the surface of that. And so it is with all the couples. The building blocks are there, if you wanted to write interesting conflicts but you'd have to want to look beyond the tropes, the archetypes. Robby and Tory bonding over living hard knock lives could be interesting too! Except what the writers are interested in is LawRusso 2.0, which is SamTory which is why that sizzles with life.

Yasmine and Demetri would NEVER happen. Maybe when Yasmine saw Demetri do well at the tournament but never before. Hot and rich Yasmine falling for a nerd without money. The only reason that would be a possibility is if Yasmine is actually studious but doesn't dare admit it and she and Demetri geek out together. But that's not the point! They need the hot girl to fall for the average guy, just as women need to see the hot guy fall for a plain girl. Because it doesn't really happen at that age, or only with enormous conflict. Yasmine would be ostracised when publicly dating Demetri. But she must because she's hot and he's a nerd. And male nerds want to fantasise about having the hot girl.

Moon/Eli could be interesting too but the writers don't care. Moon is hot and then she dates another hot girl (Cue wet dream). But it doesn't go any further and the actors don't get enough room to breathe. Maybe it's enough for regular viewers, and you don't have to show everything. But in the first film Susan barely got any screentime and you still knew she was smart and she'd cut a bitch for Ali. She was a person and the CK kids - other than SamTory - often feel like ideas.

[shrinkthisviolet]

What changes in season 5 if Tory came clean right away about seeing Silver pay off the referee?

Well as I’ve discussed here, I think Sam initially lashing out at Tory when she does hear this (late in the game) is understandable and would happen regardless of when she’s told post-s4. So we start off with that. People might say Sam wouldn’t lash out if she wasn’t emotionally fraught, but like…she is, especially in the first episode of s5. So she’d probably try to attack Tory initially, and I get why.

After that, though, when she has time to truly sit with it, I think she’d be keen to set up a rematch—she wants a fair win (or a fair loss, but she’s not letting herself think about a potential loss). She’d also come to respect the fact that Tory came clean about it herself, especially after a talk with Miguel, as discussed here. And I think that would result in Samtory being as close as they are in s6, just a season early.

As for how it would affect everything else…well it would shoot CK’s credibility and get them kicked out of the Sekai Taikai 😂 assuming the rematch actually happens. If it doesn’t…well, then not much would change aside from the two dojos merging firmly in s5 and being laser-focused on taking CK down. Which…they were anyway 🤷‍♀️

[dykesynthezoid]

Ok bc my brain tortures me with Thoughts and Ideas… Here is how I think the general narrative layout of a Arthurian-esque Samtory story would go (this is by nature of course partially inspired by @leohttt ‘s samtory Robin Hood AU bc. Medieval folklore and all that):

- Kreese was the previous King of Camelot, and with no direct heir or relation he decided to form an elite coalition of knights (it’s the Cobras. Obviously) and whoever he judged the most worthy he would make his legal heir. This ends up being Johnny.

- Daniel, main-character-syndrome-haver that he is, does have some Arthur-esque elements to him but specifically in a more sword-in-the-stone way. Aka, he’s not of noble birth (not even secretly, in this instance), he’s just some scrappy kid who meets a really cool but often cryptic old guy which leads him on a whole adventure to change Camelot forever.

- Aka this kid moves to Camelot, manages to immediately piss off its most elite knights, and gets so invested in this conflict that he’s like hey this King sucks. We should get rid of him

- Guy who like, just got here leads rebellion to depose Kreese bc why not

- This entire conflict still leads to Kreese trying to kill Johnny bc of course it does!

- Johnny and the Cobras are unable to stop Daniel and his uprising from ousting Kreese; but, after Kreese tried to kill Johnny, and now that he’s gone, Daniel, of course, shows mercy. He and Johnny end up coming to an agreement that the legal line of succession is still valid and Johnny takes the throne, although with diminished executive power, which he’s fine with bc he’s actually majorly insecure and terrified of fucking up.

- Daniel becomes one of his most prominent advisors and they’re like. Obviously pretty close.

- Johnny is still, uh. Pretty fucked up in the head from everything though. As they get older his drinking worsens, plague and famine and other disasters exacerbate his already fragile self-worth as ruler, and his insecurities grow deeper.

- Eventually he ends up having an affair with a commoner that leads to her becoming pregnant, and at this point he just. Can’t do it anymore. So he literally skips town and leaves Daniel in charge.

- Daniel, newly thrust into a role as regent, does his best to figure out what the fuck to do about all of this. He finds out about Johnny’s affair, and realizing Johnny may have an heir, starts the task of looking for where this commoner might have gone and where her kid is.

- (By this time he’s married Amanda and had Sam already ofc).

- It takes years for the new circle of knights to find Robby and Shannon, and when they do Robby 100% tries to rob them first.

- He’s still a kid at this point; and the adjustment from peasant to royal life is difficult, to say the least.

- He and Sam grow very close, though, practically seeing each other as siblings.

- Sam’s role is… complicated, by all of this. She’s the first-born of the man actually ruling the kingdom; but she’s not the heir. Robby is, and once he’s old enough he’ll take the throne.

- She becomes a knight, along with Hawk and Miguel and Aisha. She wants to be useful; wants there to be a reason for her to hold the nebulous station she does.

- She also definitely has prophetic dreams and visions, but she keeps that quiet because having magic isn’t something you’re really supposed to admit to.

- Yes we are employing the Merlin-style “magic is outlawed” trope, for flavor. The harsher punishments and most extreme conditions were under Kreese, but even after, the ban was not completely lifted. Both Johnny and Daniel’s positions as rulers have been complicated and often fragile; neither of them had the absolute power to really change something like that, especially when so much of the nobility still views magic as destructive and evil.

- Finally, Robby’s about to ascend the throne. In the meantime he’s been betrothed to a noble’s daughter from a fief they’ve been trying to build an alliance with for some time.

- On the very day his betrothed is set to arrive, Robby stumbles upon the information that Daniel has actually known exactly where Johnny is hiding out for the last ~20 years, and is uh. Understandably upset and feels betrayed.

- Overwhelmed with anger and hurt, he storms out of the castle and disappears into the wood, declaring if Daniel won’t tell him exactly where to find his father, he’ll go find him himself.

- Cue Tory arriving in Camelot, already not exactly happy but trying to make the best of things, being married off to a future king and all that, but he’s Not Even Fucking There.

- His surrogate sister is, though, and she’s annoying as fuck.

- And totally not super hot or anything.

- Oh, and also Terry is a witch-king and warlord with an army of mercenaries living a couple kingdoms over.

- Also when I said Daniel ousted Kreese, did you think he was gonna not still be alive? Bc of course he is. Hanging with his evil sorcerer king bestie.

- “Didn’t Kreese outlaw magic?” Yeah. What about it.

- Kreese: Magic is evil and treacherous and disgusting

Everyone else: Isn’t your boyfriend literally a sorcerer?

Kreese: I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Kill yourself

- Oh and Demetri is Hawk’s squire and manservant who is like. A beginner wizard who is really fucking bad at hiding the fact that he’s magical but Hawk is too dense to notice.

- There’d be a whole plot line where Moon gets accused of witchcraft and Hawk, indoctrinated by anti-magic beliefs, fails to defend her and agrees to carry out the order to exile her, saying she’s just lucky the punishment wasn’t harsher. And Demetri has to watch that from the background going “UH OH. HMM. UH OH”

- (Moon lady of the lake storyline mayhaps???)

- Piper is the leader of a group of bandits. Bc I said so.

- Aisha is a knight but also a scholar with an interest in alchemy, which puts her in a complicated position as far as the whole no-magic thing

- Carmen, as a healer, is also inevitably accused of witchcraft (even though she’s not actually magic)

- This is extremely difficult for Miguel and furthers the rift forming between the more tolerant knights (himself, Sam, eventually Aisha, and a couple others) and the more militant, “bring back the old days when we put sorcerers to death” knights (many of the show’s Cobra Kais, including Hawk; at least, for a while, I assume he gets his head out of his ass eventually)

- As soon as news gets out that Robby is missing tensions skyrocket

- Amid all of this though Sam and Tory are just. Having an insane amount of sexual tension, even though that’s like really NOT helping the whole “dangerous state of political unrest” thing that’s going on

- Sam and some of the other knights decide to set out to track Robby down and bring him home; Tory argues her way onto the expedition by requesting they drop her off at her estate to visit her mother and brother on the way

- On the way there, though, they’re attacked by mercenaries, and Sam realizes with growing horror and rage that Tory sold them out.

- Listen. Tory’s mom is sick, and the state of her fiefdom is fragile. Everyone wants their resources, and if they knew the lady of the land was ill, that it was unprotected, they would all immediately swoop in and carve it to pieces. Tory can’t let this happen. The problem is there is someone who knows about her mother’s condition, and that’s Silver.

- So she’s stuck with him. But he promises that if she plays along, he’ll help her find a healer to save her mother. He installs his mercenaries on her land to “guard” it and her manor, but she knows it’s also a threat.

- Tory decides she doesn’t have a choice. She does what she has to.

- It was Silver who devised the plan to set up the betrothal, although no one in Camelot knew of his involvement.

- Sam and her knights are taken into custody by Silver’s men and brought back to his lair. Sam does not stop glaring at the back of Tory’s head the entire time.

- Once there, Sam is surprised to find Robby is there as well, and not entirely unwillingly. (He truly. Left Camelot and fell into their clutches almost immediately). He tells her Kreese is the only person who’s ever been willing to talk openly with him about his dad. He wants to hear them out, wants to play it cool.

- So Sam is having a tough time. Understandably.

- Does she 100% sneak into Tory’s bedroom, telling herself it’s so she can get even or get answers and definitely has nothing to do with the fact that looking at Tory makes her feel like her insides are melting into very hot, very gay slime? Of course she does!

- When Sam and her knights make their escape, Sam manages to drag Tory back with her, but Robby refuses to come with them, overwhelmed and scared and desperate for stability.

- As Silver’s armies muster and Camelot is torn into civil war, Sam has to make the decision to defy both her father and her future king, and what does that make her? What does that mean for a knight? What if the only way to keep Camelot safe is to accept the burden of leading it?

- Also she might’ve stolen said future king’s future bride. So. That’s happening too.

[wantedtourist]

s5 first thoughts

SILVERUSSO NATION WE WERE FED we finally feasted like we deserved uggshshhh so much to say about them it should be it’s own post

CHOZEN. no words. absolute golden. s-tier.

I’m proud to announce that I single-handedly manifested Chozen/Kumiko aka Choziko NO CUZ ITS REALLY CANON NOW AND I WAS RIGHT ON THE MONEY WITH MY HEADCANON MONTHS AGO re: Chozen’s feelings of guilt and about not being good enough for her???? not in a million years did I actually think it would happen I’m so!!!!

MIKE BARNES. no cuz Mike hijacking the limo and the ensuing roadside hijinks is the funniest and most entertaining thing Cobra Kai has ever done. everything they did with Mike this season was A++++ and they need to bring him back or I riot

JESSICA ANDREWS MY LOVE. am devastated she did not have a scene with Daniel (or Mike!) but I know she’ll be back now that she and Daniel are canonically family and oh my god I can’t believe that’s a sentence I just said about a thing that is true, ditto choziko, scream/

ROBBY AND DANIEL. I cried in ONE (1) scene and one scene only, Robby and Daniel talking in Miyagi’s room. and by cry I mean I straight up bawled. I waited for this for so long and I wish we got more Daniel/Robby moments but I’ll treasure this one forever.

MY KIDS. did I think the writers did Robby dirty with that half-assed reconciliation arc? yes. but listen, my joy at seeing Robby finally being happy and seeing Robby and Miguel as friends outweighs my contempt at the writing for how it all got to that point so what I can say. on the flip side, not enough Sam and Tory. but I love what we did get of them together. also this means (or should mean) that they will have their arc next season, and it’ll get proper focus since the Miguel and Robby arc has been resolved and is out of the way. anyway, looking forward to Robby and Miguel clumsily trying to get them to get along next season. should ensure a lot of Miguel/Robby and samtory content :’). ANTHONY. love that lil twerp, always have! I finally got Sam/Anthony content. PROTECT THE EGG. or was it “protect the bird”??? um whatever it was adorable!! both times! bye feeling emo about Anthony being the baby/baby brother of all of Miyagi do, ugh, it’s just too cute

LOUIE. I have unapologetically and unironically loved this idiot since s1. please continue to give us all the Anouie content

overall! plenty of things I didn’t care for or didn’t like (die, Mexico arc and Mexico yellow filter, die), as always, but for once the stuff I enjoyed outweighed the stuff I didn’t enjoy

and I mean listen as a Daniel fan I’m feeling pretty satisfied right now. finally this show put some respect on his name. finally we return to the roots of the Karate Kid universe. I’ve been saying it all along, the problem with Cobra Kai until this season has been that it has forgotten or ignored that the whole POINT of this universe is that all big strong karate men want Daniel Larusso in one way or another. but it has finally arrived at that central truth by surrounding Daniel with all his former karate nemeses and demonstrating that he still has the effortless eternal karate twink powers to overturn or change their lives just by being himself and to drive them to obsession with him and thats what I call cinema

[youandthemountains]

so @jerottblyth @underture @crimsonblackrose @macchiatosdumptruck & @mysticalsadgirl progressively tagged me in this bc I kept putting off doing it, thank you for thinking of me guys

3 ships:

1. Danzen to literally no one's surprise

2. Damanda

3. Fenris/Anders. Yes one of these is not like the others, but they're the only ship I'm actively reading. First two don't really have much fic. Saboteur's Choice just had an incredible update that I've been thinking of all week.

4. (Cheating, but I'm currently writing Daniel/Kumiko/Chozen so that should be on here)

1st ever ship:

Who actually remembers this? The first time I remembered being obsessed with the dynamics and dreaming up other stories (including some hurt/comfort for sure before I knew that was a thing lol) was Anya/Dmitri as like. A small child. Pre-internet access.

You know the scene where Dmitri gets knocked out and a disheveled exhausted Anya suddenly starts destroying the phylactery to murder Rasputin, biting out "This is for Dmitri, this is for my family, and this is for me, do svidaniya!"? very hot, very formative. Yes I know how inaccurate it is.

But the first ship I actually read fic for was probably bandom honestly - most likely The Libertines 😐 listen, the fic was really good, I swear to god bandom was inescapable at the time, it was like you start out looking for their music, some deep cuts, and end up finding an au so good, you're questioning everything and thinking about the righteousness of self-worth over obeying faceless edicts.

Last song:

well, Soul Sloshing - Venus Hum. If anyone can tell me if it was in a movie or a show or an ad or something pls do, I'm dying to know why I have the lyrics memorized.

Currently reading:

picked up Pushkin's The Queen of Spades at that bookstore we went to, bal. Love some good cold slavic stories. Fic wise, I mentioned Saboteur's Choice earlier. @leohttt's samtory Robin Hood au (like a lily in a flood) is also just incredible. also always enjoy @an-sceal 's Trouble Child 'verse. Read @johnnylawrence84's Dear Clarence today, that's been a fun ride.

Last movie:

The Menu for the 2nd time, with you sooj 🎇

Currently consuming:

A mug of "Paris" tea (it's fruity black tea and bergamot but somehow not earl grey? idk) & a mug of horrible cold office coffee. desperately need to consume some water.

Currently watching:

Not a thing really. Hot MASH Spring. @twobrokenwyngs and I made plans to watch something didn't we? I think TV tires me out right now tbh.

Currently craving:

Mmm certainty?

tagging @an-sceal @leohttt @firstaudrina @morethanonepage @deputychairman @freetobegrace @squireofgeekdom @chwheeler @stripesysheaven @dykesynthezoid @bobakick @ohnoitsthebat @iamtheremin & whoever wants to

[landslided]

omg kinda honored that you've been thinking about my silly fic!

actually, this is one of the many things im focusing on in the fic because, like you said, mother-and-daughter relationships are very different from father-daughter relationships and sam's relationship with danielle is not an exception!

i think in the show sam and amanda's relationship is a pretty healthy one (if we don't nitpick some stuff done for comedy like the fact that amanda breaches sam's privacy by logging onto her computer and stuff like that) in the sense that amanda is always on sam's side and she's raising sam in the best way she can with the tools she has. sometimes she's a little lost when it comes to the literal karate war her kid is involved in but there's a lot of care and love poured into their bond (also i think the show doesn't focus enough on women to really write anything else than a seemingly functional relationship between the two)

sam and daniel's relationship in the show is more complicated because he puts a LOT of pressure onto her shoulders (larusso 2.0 and the comment about her taking the larusso auto business come to mind) but sam is also always trying to do better, to do more and you can't always tell if she's doing it because she wants to or because she feels like she has to.

in the fic, sam was raised by two moms who wanted her very badly and have always let her known that and there is this sense of "i have to be a good daughter because my moms have sacrificed a LOT to have me" which is just such a terrible feeling to carry with you. there's also a very strange feeling sam has to live with which is that robby was her brother in everything but blood until she was nine and he disappeared from her life because johnny and danielle were no longer talking and she can't talk about it with danielle (because johnny's name is like a curse around the house) nor amanda (because amanda is only mildly aware of how close robby and sam were). that plus the fact that kids are not nice to other kids who are different and no amount of money would buy sam a childhood where she would not be faced with casual homophobia is just a great mix when you add it with the more common (and canon) issues sam has (wanting to fit in, getting slutshamed by kyler, etc). so yeah, sam is having a great time.

(i also have a bit of a samtory subplot which... within sam and danielle's relationship raises other problems but i won't talk about it here because some things should be left to mystery!)

I've been think about landslided's lesbian lawrusso au but also just how Daniel being a woman would affect his relationship with Sam.

Because like, mother-daughter relationships as that one Tumblr post that's like you are all I have been and you are all I might be.

Sam is all Danielle could have been and Danielle is all Sam might be.

Like I don't know, I keep think that there's probably this pressure tenfold to be the perfect karate student and the perfect daughter. To not repeat the cycle of karate war bullshit and it's already happening, isn't it?

Like I don't know, it'd just be such an interesting dynamic to explore.

[liebgirl]

pleaseeeee talk about karate teens prom!!!

first of all if there’s not an insane samtory dykey fight scene at prom they can keep it. i know tory was expelled but i’m just assuming that she’d make kyler take her or something

mainly though i literally don’t trust the costume designers of this show to give the girls prom dresses that make sense. like if they put yasmine in some overly puffy ballgown or insane skintight double leg slit strapless monstrosity i will simply turn it off. literally i know her better than everyone involved with production of this show. yasmine should wear something like these:

and i should say right now that i never actually went to prom so i am not an expert, but i do know that those match yasmine better <3 and like, this show has burned her before so you can understand why i’m concerned!!

anyway as for sam and tory, obviously they shouldn’t wear anything super fancy or restrictive because karate <3 i’m literally serious if this show wants to make me watch a prom episode i won’t accept it unless there’s a fight. anyway here’s what i’m thinking for them, and yes i did spend a lot of time on pinterest today. don’t know why i randomly decided to think about karate show prom today but here i am i guess. anyway concepts for sam and tory:

sam’s should be simple but still sweet, and tory’s should be more severe but still pretty. and obviously in contrasting colors because Balance is Everything. these aren’t the best examples but you know how homogeneous pinterest can be and how hard it is to actually find something not “on trend” etc etc

and moon should fully be allowed to wear some hot girl off the shoulder leg slit rhinestones ballgown shit. think fairy princess energy:

as for the boys, i don’t remotely expect even one of them to bring any unique style game, however, if miguel and sam do not serve matching colors i will have to permanently unstan <3

as for what else should happen at prom, it is so important that we all remember that season 4 will be taking place in winter/spring 2019 and if their music choices do not reflect that i will be VERY disappointed. if they just play 80s music and background instrumentals it’s wrong and i’m going to get twitter so i can bully the men who run this show. yes i AM insinuating that they need to play high hopes, it’s not authentic spring 2019 if i don’t hear that song

[youandthemountains]

Karate Kid/Cobra Kai survey

No one tagged me but i wanted to do it bc i wanna talk cobra kai and nothing is true, everything is permitted, know yourself & follow no one etc. etc.

It's the year 2021 and you're obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?:  it's cringe as hell but you know what!!! in @deputychairman's fine words, the cringe is the point!! i am so thankful i finally watched the karate kid trilogy, has been a net positive in my life!! love an earnest weirdo who tries and won't be bullied into submission!!! love making an effort to understand why people are the way they are!! also esp after watching the macchio torture porn movie with the oddly comforting 90s commercials, i do get why you get stuck on a past that made more sense to you even as it makes you progressively more incapable of engaging with the world as it is now.

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?:  I had heard of it, and heard of Miyagi-isms but had never watched it bc honestly I associate 80s movies with my brother and his girlfriend insisting I watch a ~classic~ and being bored out of my mind. But I wish I had watched this one then!

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:  Lol well, I think this comes as a surprise to no one, but Daniel, Mr. Miyagi, and Kumiko

Favorite ship:  Lawrusso! Although I've enjoyed reading well-written version of Daniel/anyone, it all depends on the writer. I feel weird about ~shipping the youths but I think Samtory & Sam/Aisha & Aisha/Tory are all delightful. Also Daniel/Johnny/Amanda has got some of the best writers in the fandom writing for them.

Underrated character: OH where to start - Kumiko my beloved, Chozen (sorry I'm a stubborn Chozen stan I have no idea when and how this happened I just think there's so much unused potential there), Miguel (I feel like he gets lost in all the other characters storylines, like he's a vehicle for everyone else's stories while his own storylines just kind of sputter out), Chris (he switched sides and is one of the only characters who was never comfortable with the instinctual aggression at Cobra Kai and pretty immediately apologized but he gets like no story? classic), depending on which fandom we're talking about, Aisha, Sam and Tory (but honestly they're great characters and people really and truly find any excuse to hate a teen girl. Yasmine and Moon I get because they're really non-entities as characters, they literally just exist to be the Mean Girls and then wrestled into submission as the Hot Girlfriends.) Shannon - I feel like she gets constantly dunked on or written as this evil party girl, but I think she's interesting! Robby clearly loves and trusts her despite how tumultuous it was growing up with her and she did absolutely mistreat him through neglect, but when help was offered to her via rehab she took it and made an active effort to engage and try and apologized for her mistakes and embraced change. I think that's really hard to do and really admirable, and I love that she still kept her feistiness and sense of humor throughout.

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  Underrated ships are my raison d'etre! Some of my favorite non-lawrusso Daniel ships:

Daniel/Chozen - my white whale, I know he had sexual relations with that man. I just know it.

Daniel/Kumiko - not super underrated but they're the most tender star-crossed missed connection, I really think they're the kind of love where you're comforted just knowing that there exists someone in the world that really knows you

Danielle/Ali - thanks to @iamtheremin's fics, I'm eternally craving the lesbian karate kid. god. icon.

Daniel/Jimmy - fully thanks to @klovenhooves writing it beautifully, the concept of them as tennis partners progressively drawn to each other lives in my head rent-free

Johnny/Daniel/Shannon - also thanks to @idontknowkaratebutiknowcrazy's great writing and WHAT a threesome. Gives you an absolutlely delightful peek at what Johnny/Shannon were like and they combine the full force of their Party Blondes on an unsuspecting Daniel. incredible.

Daniel/Ruben - thanks to @ted-imgoingmad's fascinating new fic, just unbearably heartbreakingly gentle with a Daniel that's trapped in a different toxic relationship

Samtory - thanks to lesbianbean's incredible series!!! Honestly I had not thought of it before but then she went all galaxy brain on us and woof. and then of course @cobra-sigh just made it better and better

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?:  sweep the leg just because I'm stronger with my legs than my arms.

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?:  he's a fashion icon, how's a girl supposed to pick just one. the powder blue ruffled prom suit is just, absolute king shit. the black tank top & hachimaki with the shirt tied around his waist? butch icon. the soft comfy sweatpants from KK3? it's what he deserves.

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver: Mostly everyone's come back already haven't they? so, Jessica and Mike Barnes. oooh Freddy Fernandez - I'm curious about the only guy who was kinda friends with Daniel.

Scene that lives in your head rent-free: from Cobra Kai? bloody unhinged Daniel shooting Johnny a wide-eyed look just before murdering his abuser and the little nod he gives Daniel back, and also the way Daniel's soften and when Johnny joins forces with him against Kreese.

From TKK - Daniel sitting next to Mr. Miyagi and comforting him after Mr. Miyagi's father died and giving him the most upset, sympathetic, and loving look in the whole series while Mr. Miyagi silently tears up. I love them so much

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?:  Lmfao I fully think the writers have completely forgotten he exists. Did they cast a different actor for him in s3 or did he just grow and look totally different?

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?:  No gang wars! I join Topanga and the love and peace kid. We've already learned the gang wars never actually solve anything, just kick the can down the road!!

What’s your training montage song?:  I cannot think of any hype songs at all right now

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?:

uhh Leverage because that's what I've been watching. They're tipped off about the corrupt DA in Encino and eventually find out about this gang war funded by DynaTox and join forces. Let's go steal a high school karate tournament!

Tagging: @firstaudrina @keybladeofsteel @issa-wasteland @deputychairman @miyagifangdo @leohtebewunden @jknip2 @bobakick @childishzombiejellyfish @mindlessbehavior2011 @likethegardensofbabylonn @banzai-larusso @jenpsaki @anicety @shewritesdirty @dancinbutterfly @padraigendragon

[gothicheroinedaniellarusso]

My biggest problem that I have with Edmond/Haydee romantically is there was no build up. I buy Haydee’s feelings for the Count, just not the other way round lmao. He cares about her but, like, he thinks of her as a daughter until she threatens to kill herself if he leaves her/dies (the turnaround is literally less than a paragraph! (c90 p990)). I probably could get behind established toxic waste dump garbage fire co-dependent romantic Haydee/Edmond but in general I prefer a familial dynamic for them (once again Gankutsuou is S tier in that regard) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[I didn’t think about these.] I was shipping Eugenie and Haydee from Eugenie’s first appearance! I agree that their personalities probably would mesh better, along with having a shared interest in music and art. I hadn’t really considered Valentine/Haydee until the very last chapter and I thought they had more chemistry in their 3 pages of interaction than with their respective actual love interests XD

I’m not surprised Gankutsuou passed you by, it’s pretty obscure! I don’t actually remember how I found out about it but I was lucky enough to find a dvd soon after I first saw it when I was 16 when my first TCOMC hyperfixation started. I got into TCOMC via the musical and then went into a rabbit hole. I did try reading the book then but the audiobook I had’s narrator was terrible so I kept falling asleep and I missed a lot and eventually gave up XD So last year was technically the first time I read it properly in full too! (I too have a Penguin Classics edition! I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Bill Homewood)

[that’s so evil] I have provided clues regarding what I am planning >:3c And I will talk if someone figures it out~

[same feeling… first encounter with Albert] Definitely, but also I also think it’s a bit simpler than that. Killing their son just adds another layer of suffering to both Fernand and Mercedes (even tho she kinda did nothing wrong)

[Mercedes + Villefort interactions] Okay so, chapter 11 page 85 is where Mercedes goes to find out information about Edmond from Villefort. I wasn’t misremembering, which is a scene I’m probably gonna have to include in my Dancedes fic (so long as I can work out what I’m doing). Later I think the only (very loose definition of) interaction is the ball I mentioned in my previous post.

[Villefort plot] I’m not planning on going too in depth with it in my Dancedes fic, maybe a little bit if I go for the SamTory route with Andrea!Zara for the Albert!Sam interlude chapter. I’m not sure. But I’m planning on being a bit more in depth with the Albert!Daniel fic because I’m thinking I have space to go a bit more in depth. I don’t know how in depth, I think the poisoning plot will still be there (simplified) and I already am thinking of Wolf for Andrea so that plotline’s still there. I have some ideas but they are also Gankutsuou specific spoilers so I’ll hold off on them for now.

[power outages] yeah, we get at least a week without power practically every summer, but that was pretty bad. I think there was something like 100 powerlines down in my town?

[other fandoms] the dead fandom I was writing that fic for was The Tribe, a post-apocalyptic teen soap opera from New Zealand from the late 90s/early 00s. But other fandoms I’m in are Doctor Who, Warrior Cats, Crimson Peak and Pokemon. I’m sporadically in others but those are probably my evergreen main ones (mind you with WC almost everything I do is OCs, tho I did design a tiny Scourge plush the other day (mostly for a con I’m planning on tabling at with a friend)).

[don’t be too hard on yourself] thanks <3

To distract myself from the cyclone I'm gonna work on a fanfic but before the power goes out I would like to ask an opinion:

Context: This is just going to be a fairly short fic (5 chapters max), and is not my primary silverusso Count of Monte Cristo au that I've mentioned before (ie Karate Kid era, Daniel is Albert). This AU is an omegaverse, and Daniel is Mercedes and Terry is Edmond. Also whomever is Fernand doesn't have to have been friends with Terry prior, I'm using the book's vaguely hostile acquaintance dynamic there. (also Kreese can't be Fernand because Kreese is Danglars)