#well written i think it would be fascinating to explore the way they're all trapped in each other's orbit

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surprise! against all odds, creation continues

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Hi!

So Daniel and Tory, how would that go? What does Tory think of Daniel since she barely interacted with him? And on the other hand, would Daniel have to navigate some discomfort over knowing how much trauma she inflicted on Sam? (I think he has a better grasp on that than Amanda)

Would they ever have a sensei/student relationship? I'd like to see that explored to some degree in the show. (I say to some degree because I'm banking on Chozen to fill that role)

They obviously have very similar backgrounds, but how would Tory learn about it? From him? From Robby or Miguel? FrOm SaM?? Anyway, sorry for the rant and the million questions, feel free to cherry pick. :)

hi anon! thank you so much for all your questions and no i will absolutely not cherry pick them because they're all absolute gold! let's get into it:

how would i think a daniel and tory conversation go? funny thing is that i've written a chapter of two steps on the water (that hasn't been published yet) where i kind of answer that exact question.

i think daniel would be very on edge with tory at first. there is obviously a lot of history between tory and sam and i think daniel would never be able to entirely forgive tory for what she has done to sam, or at least not in a near future. i see daniel maybe forgiving her, let's say, ten years in the future when he's at the samtory wedding.... okay no let me get serious.

i think, like you said, daniel has a better understanding of the whole debacle between sam and tory than amanda but i also think daniel can sometimes be very blindsided by his own experiences and emotions and i feel like he would project a lot of himself into sam's situation, which would make sense since she's his daughter and she was the one attacked, only to get fucking kicked in the head with the realization that he understands tory very well.

i've talked about this with another person before and we both fully believe that in the concept of samtory is lawrusso 2.0, sam is johnny and tory is daniel in many ways. obviously the characters do not perfectly fit in each other's shoes but the similarities between them are obvious enough.

sam is a privileged young woman with a lot of ambition who finds herself trapped in her role as heir to her father's expectations and dreams. she's full of anger and other complicated feelings that she doesn't know how to express. she has had the chance of growing with her parents who are involved in her life, love her and want what is best for her and with a sensei/father who would NEVER harness her anger as a weapon. but sam wants to be a winner, she wants to be a fighter, she finds true meaning in leading the fight and that is something daniel doesn't understand because even if he'd shown an interest in karate back in jersey and before what happened with johnny, his desire was never to win competitions or be the best (around lol), he wanted to protect himself and learn a new skill because daniel is somehow who is fascinated by knowledge. meanwhile, johnny understands sam's need to prove herself and he understands her desire to fight and win. he gets that. we had a glimpse of that particular relationship in season 4 and im really sad we didn't get more of it.

as for tory, she does share a lot of similarities with johnny in terms of her relationship with kreese for example but there is an edge to her that is so very daniel. like i said in another post, i fully believe tory is raw and whole and honest to the point where it gets her into trouble which is something daniel shares. she is a fighter because of necessity but i don't think she finds the same joy in it sam does. not to say that i don't think tory likes karate or isn't good at it, but i think she would find a lot more of herself in miyagi-do philosophy than in cobra kai. she needs that balance, she needs to be able to fall back on someone and trust others and also herself and miyagi-do (an daniel) fill that category.

there is also a really interesting parallel to make between tory, daniel and their relationship with silver. both daniel and tory place a certain amount of trust in silver only to have that trust spit back into their faces. worse than that, silver twists the meaning of that trust, twists the meaning of tory and daniel's struggle into something ugly and dishonest. he manipulates them both into becoming and doing things they are intrinsically against in a way that is a lot more cruel than whatever kreese could have done to them both. (the cruelty of kreese is... much more apparent with johnny and with robby but that is anooooother discussion and if i start talking about the cobra fatherhood cycle again im gonna scream). i don't know if i really need to explain how tory and daniel's financial situation and how they both dealt with it is at the core of the matter here but just to kind of put it out there: daniel would totally understand tory's struggles and tory would hate his guts for it but she would probably accept his help and support more than amanda's.

i think, if daniel managed to make tory open up enough to him, either because she joined miyagi-fang and/or because she needed someone's help and she was directed to daniel, there would be a lot of self-discovery for the both of them because they are really really similar and i think daniel would probably be a little shaken by it but tory would be sooooo mad. she would be so angry that this dude who lives in the hills and drives an audi actually understands her because he's the father of the karate princess and that would! piss her off! so bad! but she would be understood by an adult maybe for the first time in her life and there would be a certain comfort in that.

i don't know that daniel would be tory's sensei, not that i think he wouldn't do a fine job of it but i think maybe that would make sam lose her mind. even post-season 5, i think the peace between sam and tory is fragile and if sam saw her father teach tory any sort of karate she would bite through her hand. but! kind of in the same way that even now i think daniel CANNOT witness johnny really teach sam karate because there is just something in that particular concept that triggers in him a fight or flight response (which for daniel is always fight). chozen would be the perfect sensei for tory because i think he would understand her on some level to and know how to channel her emotions in a positive and safe way.

as for the kids. i think robby and tory could totally bond over the fact that hey, actually we kind of dig that guy he kinda gets it meanwhile miguel and sam are throwing tornado kicks with johnny and don't really need to expand on the subject because they like johnny for really different reasons. sam and tory? god, i think sam would be relieved that tory is working through her things with her dad but she would also be extremely jealous and tory would tease her about it. like i said, their peace is fragile but i believe in them <33

i don't know if this was in any way what you were expecting when you send me this anon but i hope i somehow answered your questions and that i made sense!

thank you again!!