#he knows Kreese is in his own reality and does love him. but he realized his worth to an extent

[zappedbyzabka]

Sacrificial lamb and all that

#baby baby baby #He said :( #and #he said ☹️ #The way Kreese stared at him and hovered like a hungry wolf ready to pounce the whole time #the way Johnny tried not to cry and sweat and went straight into the arms of his predator like he has for YEARS #because he’d been literally in Kreese’s hands. Given to him and left with him. for YEARS. #And the way he stared up at him so desperate and melted into his grasp #let him swipe his hurting nose and obeyed when he made him do something he didn’t want to #because who else does he have. And his mom wasn’t there. and he had to go home with bruises all over him and no one #to Sid. to be mocked and laughed at some more. to cry all alone in his bed thinking about how the man he trusted and loved hurt him #And I think Kreese was more jealous. murderously so. that Johnny clearly wanted to be on good terms with LaRusso rather than so mad he lost #and by the time he realized he went too far and he lost his little champion—whom he ‘loves most besides CK’—he decided to get revenge on #Miyagi and Daniel. because it’s THEIR fault he did that to johnny in the first place. he hates them both with a passion. HE was humiliated #in front of his boy and the rest of the cobras by Miyagi. and Daniel…he changed Johnny. he practically took him away from Kreese. #Man is delusional cause that’s 10000% how he sees things #and GOD the way he begs Johnny to come back in ck. and then hurt him more because ‘thats what was best for him’ #and Johnny moves away from his touch and stares at him like an abused animal but still lets him stay #because he still loves him despite everything #he knows Kreese is in his own reality and does love him. but he realized his worth to an extent #realized its not okay for Kreese to have done all those things to him #and brainwashed him #and he was being victim blamed the whole time Kreese came back to cobra kai #I cant. #I’m SCREAMING. everything was taken from him but it was his fault because he ‘shouldnt have let Kreese come back’ #Only unobservant idiots ignore the fact that he was abused his whole life just so they can hate on him constantly. #johnny lawrence #cobra kai #karate kid #Still love Kreese though

[wh0re-behavi0r]

Fear and how it motivates the characters of Cobra Kai

Daniel: fear of loss of control

Daniel has been such a hard character for me to decipher because, unlike the other characters, a lot of his behaviors are more internal (meaning he acts in a way that he claims doesn't involve others but they obviously do so his motives are more unclear). S4 in combination with the others gave me a clearer view.

S1, Daniel has this picture-perfect life, very much acting in a role he's supposed to. That's not to say he isn't happy, he loves his wife and kids, but I think there's still a lot of supression in order to maintain control and keeping a routine helps him to upkeep his image.

He fears the loss of that control in his life when Cobra Kai comes back. It's understandable since he was put through a lot of trauma as a kid, but he uses his class to try to get back at Johnny, not realizing the rivalry no longer just involves him and Johnny but many others. He becomes short-sighted very easily because he becomes focused on the end goal and thinks only he can achieve it. (I don't think Daniel truly 100% believes that he always knows best but rather if he is the one executing the idea he has the most control over things.)

When it's revealed that Robby is Johnny's son, it's more like a betrayal than the loss of control, that fear in regards to Sam comes out more in S2 and S4. But also being unaware of the truth can cause you to feel like you aren't in control, this is usually when Daniel is his angriest, most impulsive, and most irrational.

When he reopens Myagi-Do, I think it's for two reasons. It's a way to connect with his pseudo-father and it's for the protection of the kids.

(In S2, you can see how much he missed karate, how much he values teaching and letting Mr.Miyagi's legacy live on. He tries to promote Miyagi-Do as the safer option throughout the Valley without much success. In the end, Johnny being rude to the kids causes him to gain more students. He isn't able to successfully gain control of the situation especially now that Kreese is back. )

S2 showcases his loss of control with parenting and also his work-life balance. The teachings of Mr.Miyagi are all about balance and he isn't able to successfully do that, endangering his marriage. Daniel does not get angry to an irrational level until Sam doesn't come home after getting drunk at a party.

Sam goes to Johnny, giving off the appearance that Daniel doesn't have things under control, which he does not like. He fights Johnny and kicks Robby out of his house. His response was disproportionate given that he knows Robby is trustworthy and he would've gotten to see Sam without the reaction.

S3, Robby goes to jail and Sam is traumatized. His loss of control this season is muted. It's more about the children and his job. He gets to go back to Japan and learn more about Mr.Miyagi and connect that way.

S4..... he's very controlling with Sam. He doesn't want to let go of Mr.Miyagi's teaching because he doesn't want to lose his connection to him. He tells Johnny that using Miyagi-Do is the only way to beat SIlver and Kreese. He doesn't admit it, but it's also about fear. When he was in Cobra Kai, he did not have his anger under control. He prides himself on controlling his anger, he even thinks he's better than Johnny because of it, but in reality, all of Daniel's angry reactions are usually too much because he doesn't know how to express his anger in a healthy way.

It's mainly because he believes he can do everything on his own or pretends to because he thinks it helps maintain balance. He doesn't really have a guide, he goes to Amanda and she always calls him out but he struggles alone for the most part.

His rigidity towards Cobra Kai teachings stems from the fact that it was always bred unnecessary violence but also reminds him of the time he lost control.

Here's Hawks

#again i might be wrong about some of this #but this is my intrepretation #if you have any other thoughts or examples feel free to tell me #cobra kai #also this is a lot messier because I just be rambling and I forget my point #very sorry about that hopefully you can still foloow #follow* #daniel larusso #cobra kai meta

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

So I was thinking about the parallels between Cobra Kai and Fight Club--mainly that macho dudebros who idolize Tyler Durden and/or the entirety of the “Hawk” persona are entirely missing the point and the general commentary that toxic masculinity is like...bad--and before I knew it, my mind wandered to an Elimetri Fight Club AU and I realized it’d be like...beyond perfect??? I’m shitting myself with excitement so y’all get to hear about it, buckle up!

BIG BOI SPOILERS FOR FIGHT CLUB BELOW, DON’T KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET AND YOU WANT TO

Anyways just imagine Eli as the protagonist, “Hawk” as Tyler Durden, and Demetri as Marla (genderbent, obviously lol). Like maybe Eli stays in Cobra Kai under Kreese’s influence and as a result, his mental health just COMPLETELY tanks to the point where his grip on reality itself starts slipping (which isn’t really THAT far-fetched, considering that not a single goddamn person has tried SENDING THIS POOR KID TO THERAPY and every adult in his life is FUCKIN USELESS) and he’s in a bad enough place a few years down the line to actually start seeing Hawk as a completely separate person. Of course, before this happens, he eventually feels like he has to “grow up” and give up the “Hawk” persona--he stops taking karate, he goes to college, he gets a “normal,” well-paying, respectable job. But even escaping from Kreese, even assimilating into what seems to be a peaceful and stable life, it doesn’t make him happy--he figures all his bridges are too far burned to mend, and his old friends who he alienated now probably hate him too much to ever want anything to do with him again, after all the shit he pulled while in Cobra Kai. Never having the best social skills, Eli is certainly no natural at making new friends either---he’s decently friendly with some of his coworkers, but that’s about all he has in the way of a social life. He’s lonely, he’s frustrated with his repetitive, empty life, he’s bored with his job, and perhaps worst of all--the remnants of his Hawk personality never really left. That aggressive streak, that thirst for violence, that burn for a fight--it’s still there, no matter how deep he’s pushed it. Then one day, on the way back from another dull business trip, he meets a guy about his age who wears his hair just like Eli wore it back in high school. He even goes by the same old nickname Johnny Lawrence once gave to Eli--how about that? Hawk encourages Eli to get back into karate to get out some of that pent-up aggression, but isn’t interested in doing it with all the “suffocating constraints” of a normal adult martial arts class. Before Eli knows it, he and Hawk have started an underground “Karate Club” where basically, anything goes.

Demetri, meanwhile, has gone off the deep end arguably just as much as Eli--his grief at losing his friendship with Eli sent him spiraling into a deep depression, and he ended up feeling so numb and unmotivated that he dropped out of school, turning to drugs and alcohol to cope and to just be able to feel something again. His new self-destructive tendencies and crushing depression have completely exhausted and driven most of his old friends away--Miguel, Sam, Chris, Nate. Now, scraping by working at a dingy convenience store, Demetri is nearly as alone as Eli. He starts going to random support groups just to have someone to talk to--imagine his surprise when he runs into his old friend Eli Moskowitz, infiltrating support groups for exactly the same reason. He’s ecstatic when Eli reaches out, wanting to reconnect and try being friends again after all these years. However, with as much as both their minds have already spiraled, it’s hardly going to be rainbows and butterflies for Demetri just because Eli is back in his life. And the same Hawk who once snapped his arm in half is not nearly as gone as Demetri thinks...

As relieved as Eli is to have Demetri back, his new friend Hawk...complicates things. Hawk treats Demetri with open scorn and contempt, chastising him for being a “weak pussy” whose relative maturity and logical senses (which, Eli can’t help but notice, have seemed to increased back to what he remembers from high school since Demetri started spending time with Eli--almost like the self-destructive habits and drug and alcohol abuse stopped as soon as Demetri had something to live for) are “suppressing” the violent, primal urges Hawk so much revels in. And yet, somewhat unexpectedly, Hawk lusts for Demetri like Eli never expected. Before Eli knows it, Hawk and Demetri are regularly fucking like the world is on fire and they’ll never get the chance again. And Eli doesn’t know what to think--he can’t imagine why Demetri would want to sleep with someone who treats him like utter filth the rest of the time. And Eli doesn’t much like the way Hawk treats Demetri, either--to the point where he questions if he really wants to be around his cool new friend as much as he thinks. And of course, there’s the fucking awful icing on the cake to top everything off--Eli is falling in love with Demetri, and he knows it’ll end terribly.

Demetri is...concerned, to say the least. It’s starting to baffle him, how Eli is flipping back and forth seemingly at random between the timid, meek best friend he had for years and the hyper-masculine asshole with spiked hair who made his life hell in high school. But he vows he’s going to get Eli through...whatever this is, and he’s not going to let Eli lose his mind. Demetri refuses to lose him again, no matter what it takes. But that might be harder than Demetri thinks, given the fact that the karate club Eli’s started with “Hawk” is already getting WAY out of hand...

But Demetri can’t say anything about that, can he? After all, the first rule of Karate Club is you don’t TALK about Karate Club. Well...unless you’re talking to yourself about it where you think Demetri can’t hear, anyways. Things are just getting more insane by the day.

~~~

Legit SO HYPED about this, like I can’t stop thinking about how similar the Eli/Hawk and Narrator/Tyler dichotomies are??? Like we’ve got this meek, timid, rule-following guy who just does what other people want him to for the most part and tries not to stand out, and then we have the side of him that has all this explosive, repressed anger at the world and the society he’s forced to live in (even if it’s just the “society” of high school lol) and this destructive hypermasculine energy and it’s lowkey FASCINATING to me??? And Tyler even has flashy, flamboyant clothing the same way Hawk has flashy, flamboyant hair!!! And of course Demetri tries to be the “Marla” in that he’s the Voice of Reason who’s the only one who really tries to help this guy battling his own head. And some of Marla’s dialogue to the narrator/Tyler sounds EXACTLY like the kind of thing Demetri would say when Eli is flipping back and forth between “Hawk” and “Eli,” it’s PERFECT. Like I am SO DOWN for this AU, if someone writes this I will sell you every limb on my body. It’d be dark as shit and probably can’t really work without both Eli and Demetri being a LITTLE insane, but ohhhh baby, that’s what I love about it <3 THE ANGST! THE DRAMA! THE PAIN! I live for it!!!</p>

Anyways Fight Club AU with the Binary Boyfriends 2021 please and thank you

#hawk x demetri #demetri x eli #binary boyfriends #hawkmeat #eli x demetri #demetri x hawk #elimetri #demetri cobra kai #eli moskowitz #hawk #cobra kai #alternate universe #cobra kai au #fight club #fight club au #my textpost

[pigtailedgirl]

Cobra Kai LOVE

So I finally got to watch all of Cobra Kai after loving the first two free episodes on Youtube but not affording it or having access til Netflix.

Dad and I nostalgia tripped it together and it's so good and it was also a great little family thing to do for us, since we always watched the movies as a family and are missing Mom, and I cried (there were some moments in season 2 especially hard) and laughed and we both loved it and I can't wait for season 3.

What can you say about a show that picks up 30 years after a properties heyday and kills as a tie-in! That honours the themes, and even better the cheese and feelings of the originals. Be it kick-ass karate, 80s style and music, the over the top plotting, and the profound kinda searching for inner life peace mixed with silly karate moves or metaphors and longing for Dad guidance.

I absolutely adore Johnny, who is by no means a perfect person. He's a stunted functional alcoholic who reopens his best part of his life, he tragically peaked in high-school (Christ!), for the best intentioned reasons, not realizing until committing the same mistakes how toxic it was the first go round.

Daniel. Oh you sweet fucking it up-ward man. Every movie was Miyagi having to help you pull your hot head out of your own ass because you were desperate to earn inner acceptance through outer validation and he's not around to do it anymore and you sweet pea think you've got it figured out, that you can give it to kids or protect them from the bullying toxicity of the way that high-school and a loss of place moving to California and Cobra Kai did you in, but you just keep jumping from victim to projecting and anticipating victim-hood and responding against Miyagi's first lesson, learn karate so you don't have to use it to fight.

It's sad and beautiful that these two are twinned and stuck in their pasts. Man-children in their 50s still trying to grow up (And figure out technology in Johnny's case LOL) hurting their future generation.

The teen themes are great.

Teen Breakdown of S1 & S2

The beginning popular crowd being easy and simple bullies. Morphing in Season 2 as both Cobra Kai and Demetri, Robbie and Sam trade off with Hawk and Tory on are we the bullied or the bullies all at once. Free for all high-school fight!

Aisha and Miguel represent the honesty of strength of self and confidence in finding themselves and their voice in Cobra Kai.

Hawk and Demitri, of using a newfound self to bully or staying safe to play victim.

Robbie as the growth from getting respect and guidance from Miyagi karate and Daniel, being the truest student, to the heartbreaking reality it doesn't mean you still don't crave wanting to be declared ultimate right or winner and fuck yourself over with your past issues.

As Miguel does the twin tango with him in having innate respectability and good moral guidance, even passing it to Johnny, but slipping into loss at the karate finals, mentally giving into loss of morality being violent to show his strength and losing himself and his GF, and physically when he's hurt (please be just hurt) defending the good guidance of mercy and stopping fighting.

But yeah, I could do essays on all the teens.

Then there's Sam, Daniel 's daughter. Robbie's mirror student and Aisha should be her foil but I fear based on a rumour and the way of season 2, they went with the easier and show attractive rival GF Tory.  Samantha Larusso is a problem. She is marked good, to be going the way of Robbie to being the child of the former protagonist that leads into a creation of harmony among the two karate's and teachers/families/philosophies. Instead despite the show sympathizing and trying to identify with her as that role, she's straight up a cause of strife and exhibits neither the good traits of Miyagi karate, or a inner self confident bravado of Cobra Kai. She's almost the bizzaro evil version of a teen Ali, and that guy from the third movie. She thinks she's both victim and bad ass and she's just someone who needs a good dose of someone sitting her down to tell her she's owed or earned either status. And Aisha, the friend she wasted for faux status as a popular pretty girl, as well as her adult parents letting her currently skate responsibilities of teenage dramas and violence, and her suitors, whom she waffles unhealthy betwixt so that they all suffer, are the ones to do it. She doesn't need her ass kicked by Tory, who is a one note character, she needs her mindset toggled by realizing her self-wants aren't priority. Basically grow up, and outta the me mentality.

What's fabulous is the show honoring it's roots in teen drama and life so it's not like the drama is too over the top. How their world revolves around them and their perception of the importance of their wants. Romance. Party. Popularity. Identity.

Leading to the teenage version of power posturing. Bullying. (Which even the adults haven't mastered escape from.)

The high-school pettiness and importance of structure and status and coolness. The different norms of today versus the 80's that are still about wealth, the right looks (cultural or physical), and violence being the forever enforcer. Of course kids will break down along the lines of Cobra Kai and Miyagi karate. Brute correctness or passive acceptance?

Seeking strength and refusing to accept weakness of self builds confidence. Using that strength to physically fight in anything but defense brings a cycle of conflict and violence.

Neither the past nor the present generation ignore the other big life influence of the age. There you have the Daddy or parental abandonment angles.

Johnny's step dad failed him in absentee. Kreese used his position as teacher to abuse him. Johnny failed his kid in absentee. Johnny tries to uses his teacher position with Miguel to fix all these errors. Meanwhile Daniel is over there in the opposite corner with lost his father figure, and then Miyagi taught him respect and guidance and Daniel regained one and clung, and now Daniel is a lost or losing father figure to his own son and daughter, the family unit does not respect him or seek his guide. So he entwines his then teaching Sam and Robbie as a fix.

But does karate fix this shit?

So all these kids they drag in are confounded by the lessons because a step would be stop you yokels and talk or acknowledge what really happened in high-school and with All Valley and Ali and Kreese and Miyagi. And move on.

You won 30 years ago Daniel. Miyagi was a great old man and your teacher and like a Dad but you never had to be the best or have the girl to earn him. You got bullied by Kreese & co, were devalued because you weren't rich or popular in high-school. Some people were dicks. Or worse. Tell the world. You don't have to beat them now and forever to hold to knowing that. Be a happy car salesman and focus on your own kids.

Johnny, 30 years have passed my dude. You were okay with defeat when you gave Daniel that trophy and said he was all right. Cling to that guy, not the jerk with a shitty teacher/Dad, pining for a girl you were in conflict with. And stop reliving the mindset you were the loser in those things ending. You missed out on living with your losses and celebrating the moments between and after. Find a GF. Reconcile with your biological son. Admire and mentor your students of now. Take a lesson from your Miguel and be like the young man you clearly are learning from. You will never be a loser to this kid, you will always be the bad ass who defended him.

Also also, I hilariously crack-ship Daniel/Johnny as a love hate bromance. HEAD GAMES vid it!!

Also, Daniel's wife is a treasure with her snark on the childishness of this karate feud. She the MVP.

And I legit cried with my Dad and the Miyagi grave visit. At the Tommy scenes. At the Miguel voicemail. At the Mrs. Larusso Dad on my shoulder scene.

And you can't not laugh at dick billboard.

#cobra kai #season 1 & 2 spoilers #new show to love