#poor robby

[nyx-knacks-writes]

Why Beth Crowley's "I Didn't Ask For This" is Very Fitting for Robby Keene

I heard this song again recently, and given my present obsession with Mr. Keene, well... Yeah, it fits. Anyway. On with the show!

Strike first

Make it hurt

When everyone assumes the worst

I never have to say I'm sorry

Okay, so "Strike first." That's our clue that this is specifically for S4 Robby. He's joined up with Cobra Kai. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy. Then we have "Make it hurt." In S4, Robby was absolutely trying to make people hurt. Think of the prom, just off the top of my head. The whole reason he encouraged Tory to go to it was to "crash You-Know-Who's big night." He wanted to get back at Sam. Same goes with teaching Miyagi-Do to the Cobras. It was about winning the tournament, sure, but he also *knew* that it would hurt Daniel. Then there was the mohawk. Need I say more? Finally, those last two lines. This is probably the time in his life when Robby is feeling the most abandoned, at least by every trustworthy adult in his life. He's committed a horrible crime and ended up in juvie for it. No one listened to his side of the story, all of his old friends think he kicked Miguel over the balcony on purpose (that's what I imagine he'd believe, at least, though we can't see into anyone's head), his girlfriend's gone and gotten with another guy in his absence, even though they never officially broke up, and he's been left to sleep on a hard dojo floor by every adult that claimed to care about him. No one stepped up and said "you're not staying at Cobra Kai and I will drag you out kicking and screaming if I have to." He can't trust Kreese, he probably can't fully trust most of the other students in the dojo, and he sure as hell can't trust Kreese or Silver, when he comes into the picture. Robby is all alone.

Spiteful

Ruinous

I'm all things you feared I was

Another villain in your story

This would be him speaking to Daniel. Now that Daniel's betrayed him by turning him in to the authorities at the first available opportunity, Robby wants nothing to do with him. I would say he's probably still hardcore wrestling with the consequences of the school fight, even after juvie, and he likely feels guilty on at least some subconscious level for disappointing his mentor. He's probably feeling like he brings ruin everywhere he goes, which ties in with that view that Daniel had of him A) when Robby was revealed to be Johnny's son and B) when Robby brought Sam to Johnny's apartment when she was drunk after the party. If he can't be on the good side, he'll make a hell of a riot on the bad. Another villian in the story because he's too damaged to be good. The poison runs in his blood and he can't be purified.

You think that I'm a spitfire?

You should

Afraid you're on my bad side?

That's good

If I wanted to end you

I could

I could

This is the image Robby wants to present to the world. He's dangerous, he's badass, he can *mess you up*. He's a menace to society—or at least to the karate world. He's gone to the dark side.

I'm sinking down

If you only knew how hard it is

For me to climb out

I'm kicking and screaming

But no one can hear me

So what happens now?

The shadows are creeping in

I didn't ask for

I didn't ask for this

And this is how he's feeling on the inside. He's sinking deeper and deeper into the Cobra Kai fold, into that ruthless, merciless mindset. Deep down, he knows it's not good for him, not good for anyone. I truly believe that on some level, he got that. Even if he pushed that thought down, I believe that he had to have known in his heart of hearts that joining up with Cobra Kai was only making things worse. He may have said that he knew what he was doing and acted all tough about it, but at the end of the day, he was still a scared, inexperienced kid who was just trying to find somewhere to belong. And of course, y'know, he didn't ask for this. He didn't ask to be Johnny Lawrence's son. He didn't ask to have a deadbeat alcoholic dad and an addict mom. He didn't ask for the school fight to start or ask for Miguel to go over the balcony and wind up as injured as he did. Robby didn't ask for any of it.

Cold rage

Hides the shame

Of images I can't escape

Scars that live under the surface

Once again, school fight. That 'cold rage' would be referring both to the end of the fight as well as the anger at Daniel for turning him in. The shame is that he actually did let the rage take control and cause what it did. Images he can't escape? Think about the flashbacks in S5 during the fight with Miguel. Think about every time the show has ever flashed back to Tory's scream as Miguel went over. Think about Robby running up and staring over the balcony, of Sam screaming to ask what he'd done. You think any of those images are going away for Robby? Not a chance. He's stuck with those for life. And do you think he got any therapy in juvie for the trauma that that fight would have left behind? I'd say chances are nil. Robby's scars run deep. And that includes those from before the events of the show, too, because you just know this poor boy had a shit childhood.

It's strange

What I became

When part of me was ripped away

And replaced with something worthless

Okay, this makes me think of the moment in the AVT when Robby locked eyes with Kenny just before he could score the point on Hawk. Like he said at the end of the episode to Johnny, it was like looking in a mirror. He saw himself in what he'd helped to mold Kenny into, and he didn't like what he saw. All the peace and goodness of Miyagi-Do had been temporarily removed and replaced with the sharp spikiness of the Cobra Kai mentality that would ultimately only make things worse.

You think that I'm a spitfire?

You should

Afraid you're on my bad side?

That's good

If I wanted to end you

I could

I could

Okay, I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but I like the uncertainty of the repeated "I could." It feels, in this context, like Robby reassuring himself. He's in Cobra Kai now. He's strong. He's powerful. No one can hurt him anymore because he'll hurt them first to keep them away.

I'm sinking down

If you only knew how hard it is

For me to climb out

I'm kicking and screaming

But no one can hear me

So what happens now?

The shadows are creeping in

I didn't ask for

I didn't ask for this

This is the chorus again, and I don't have anything extra to say right now, though I may update it later. Thanks for reading this far! Onward!

Take what's left

Of my fractured heart

Bloodstained 'cause

The pieces are so sharp

Take what's left

Of my fractured heart

Bloodstained 'cause

The pieces are so sharp

And this is the conversation with Johnny in S4E10. This is Robby finally realizing and admitting to himself that what he's been doing is wrong. He's offering his dad one more shot at doing right by him, giving up all of the anger. His heart's been broken and bloodied so many times, and he's offering the pieces to Johnny in hopes of finally feeling better and getting his life back on track.

I'm sinking down

If you only knew how hard it is

For me to climb out

I'm kicking and screaming

But no one can hear me

So what happens now?

The shadows are creeping in

I didn't ask for

I didn't ask for this

Again, nothing much to say. Woo final chorus!

Never forget

I didn't ask for this

Then we have this final little addition. A final plea for mercy in returning to the light. He didn't ask for any of it to happen. He was just trying to take care of himself and protect himself from more pain.

Wow, if you're still here, thank you so much for reading this long-ass post. It's been rolling around in my head for a while now, and I just had to get it out of my brain. I'll probably come back and edit it later for clarity and conciseness, but for now, it's coming at you raw. Have a cookie for making it to the end, and have a wonderful day/night/whatever! 🍪🍪

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Johnny to Robby: it WILL be father son bonding between you and me in Mexico. I just gotta take care of something first. Namely, finding my karate son who I love more than you and who I KNOW you have insecurities about me loving more. I just gotta find him first. And bond with him more. You can wait in the car.

[asmuchasidliketo]

#bullying your husband on the worst day of his life... sickening tag by @toofarovertherainbow 🤣

THE PITT 1.15 • 9:00 P.M.

[starfall-xo]

2024 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees as VHS tapes by @ShawnMansfield

[judahlux]

I need to understand why Miguel, A FUCKING TEENAGER, is standing in front of Daniel and Johnny, TWO FUCKING OLD MEN IF YOU CARE, in the middle of a beach as if he were an angry latin mother scolding her two children

[yellenabelova]

Barbie (2023) // Poor Things (2023)

[captainkirkk]

I'm on episode 7 of the Pitt and it's a TRIP after watching House MD for so long

I've been trying to imagine Robby and House in the same room and it's so hard. They would either be mortal enemies OR would shit talk each other while quietly having a deep respect for the other and their very different forms of medicine

[millythegoat]

I love how he handles him like a kitten

[rosie-tyler]

That's what happened right

[zwoftt]

weekly dorym moments and other stuff in no particular order !!!

dorian casting foresight. liam fanboying.

liam sneezing and then robbie’s little “bless youuu” was so cute for no reason

robbie’s facial expressions this fight… he was so scared

orym being the only one dodging the big predathos fist, the excited cheer of robbie and the rest of the table.

“shadow-walk underneath me baby”. WAS A CRAZY LINE FROM IMOGEN HELPPPP IM SCREAMING

TRAVIS SAYING “if orym dies it’s robbie’s fault” IS SO FUNNY TO ME LIKE GOODBYEEEEE THE WAY THE WHOLE CAST IS DORYM LOVERS

awwwh robbie and liam making faces at each other the entire fight like cmon bro. when orym gets hit by predathos’s maw the first time, robbie shakes his head and laughs when liam looks over to him after saying “don’t worry guys! my potion- nope i take all of that damage.”

WHEN ORYM GETS EATEN BY PREDATHOS THE CONCERNED FACE ROBBIE DOES OMG

laudna getting that crit is INSANE BTW (with the beau dice))

crown of stars on dorian storm… what a beautiful sight tbh omg omg omg… the whole table fangirling and fanboying over it. “only son of the silken squall” MADE ME CRY SO HARD

“i have a wood chisel!” - chetney

oh my god orym pulling dorian in with seedling, healing him with a potion desperately, “we need you… i- i need you! can you get up? we need you!”. is cutting into my heart

THE FIRST THING DORIAN SEES IS ORYM GETTING KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS. TRAUMATIC ASF.

the mass cure wounds coming out once again in clutch holy shit- the image of everyone coming back to life with dorian flying into the air, casting healing on everyone but himself…

“i can hold my breath, *forever*.” says dorian. orym with a brow raise, “tell me more…” STOPPP OMG THEY DESERVE TO BE HORNY BUT THIS IS INSANE

witches be bitches. witches be bitches.

the relentless rage was so badass from ashton damnnnnnnnn meowww

okay next episode they boutta talk to the gods and i better see a bitter dorian throwing up a middle finger at lolth.

[robbyykeene]

“She wasn’t forcing him in any way” YOU chose to show Robby so drunk he couldn’t talk and could barely stand. YOU chose to show Robby come out of that room and say he couldn’t remember what happened. YOU chose to show him stand there like a zombie unresponsive while she kissed him and then stumble away like he didn’t know what planet he was on. YOU chose to depict a situation where one party so obviously could not consent, and the other was acutely aware of that fact. Stop playing fucking dumb and admit you’re a pathetic rape apologist and move the fuck on.

[riotpanther]

When you think about it 9/11 is Sam's fault too 😍

[livwritesstuff]

wanted to give steve's take on how his and eddie’s kids take after them. very different vibe tho hope that’s okay with everyone

eddie’s version

If Steve was asked which parts of fatherhood he enjoyed the most, he would say that it was when he got to catch glimpses of himself and Eddie in the people his children are becoming.

Especially when it’s Eddie – like how Hazel has a penchant for collecting things and Robbie has all sorts of opinions about music and Moe is a trivia wizard and somehow knows at least a little bit about practically everything.

Robbie in particular is...well, she’s Eddie. She’d been Eddie since the moment she started becoming a real person and, for a while, Steve loved it. How could he not? He loves Eddie and all his wild ways and his loud intricacies and the way he’s himself without a care in the world for whatever anybody else might think, so when Robbie started turning out just like him, Steve couldn’t be more thrilled.

But then Robbie started high school and it started to become a problem.

Steve sometimes wonders if parents of boys have it easier – not that being a parent is easy by any stretch of the imagination, but without any sons, he can never know the difference (if there's even a difference to be known).

Steve knows that his and Eddie’s daughters are perfectly capable people. They’re tough and they’re smart – Moe is independent to a borderline-scary extent, and Robbie hasn’t taken shit from anyone since the moment she was born, and Hazel…well, Hazel is the baby, and the one Steve is gonna have the hardest time letting go of, but she can take care of herself just as well as her sisters.

He knows this.

Still, there’s a part of Steve that just wants to keep them all in a little glass box and never let the world touch them.

He’d never had that feeling about anything before.

Steve surprised himself by becoming particularly protective over Robbie – his Amelia Robin, his tough as nails middle kid – because she plays her music just this side of too loud and she gets in trouble for arguing with her teachers and once she was caught giving out stick-and-poke tattoos in the locker room and she rants and raves about all the problems with today’s society to any available audience.

Because Steve had seen Eddie do all those things, and he’d seen how it put a target on his back, and then he’d seen him nearly dead because of it.

He hadn't handled that well and he hadn't even been in love with him yet.

Steve knows that he’s tough on Robbie in a way he isn’t with her sisters, and he knows that goes directly against the promise he’d made to himself to treat the three of them as close to the exact same as he possibly could, but his traitorous brain (which might have never been on his side to begin with) can also twist the image of Eddie bleeding out in the Upside Down into one daughter more than it can the other two.

And Steve knows it's not really even possible to be a perfect parent anyways, so if this is where he's losing some points –

Whatever.

Sue him.

[ednygmasbowlerhat]

i'm sorry but in what universe is having an emotional reaction to a truly awful, grief-inducing, traumatizing event in any way similar to stealing drugs from the hospital. langdon when I catch you istg.

[dykesynthezoid]

Robby becoming an influencer is so. I hate you middle-and-upper class Hollywood idiots who wrote this. Like oh so a kid whose only other experience has been w poverty and scarcity having to rely on his own likability to make a living, in a city known for entertainment and rife with corruption, immediately post a series of big, life-changing traumas, in an industry where he’ll be especially vulnerable to further exploitation and abuse. Like that’s a horror movie. You just set up a horror movie

[bunnybonesstudio]