#karate kid background character my love

[hideousvampire]

save me karate kid background character.... karate kid backdroudh character save me..... karatekid backrgourd charac........

#the karate kid #tkk #karate kid background character my love #my friend named him ronnie king #he got a whole ass last name!!!!!!! #sighh #act like this never happened

[rubykgrant]

Because of REASONS, I remembered my Scooby-Doo character designs from a few years ago. I decided to touch-up the picture a bit and fix a few things. So, here they are again! If I were to totally make my own “dream version” of Scooby-Doo, this isn’t exactly the “style” I’d prefer them in (something a little closer to the classic), this is just a cute and simple style I use when I want to get an idea for basic body-types, hair, and outfits. As for the story, I’d toss together all my favorite things from every previous version, but the basic plot would go like this; the kids all originally met when they were very little, trick-or-treating on Halloween, and solving the mystery of some mean older kids who were stealing candy. During middle school, they wound up moving away from each other for various reasons... but all reunited in high school! They had a fairly normal time, solving mundane mysteries and such. After graduation, they decide to take a road trip together, and THAT is when they truly become Mystery Inc. A mixture of the old-school plots, some new adventures, and yes- sometimes the spooky things ARE real! I’d honestly aim for it to be PG-13, it doesn’t need to be turbo-edgey and grim-dark, but they can say swears. There would one F-bomb in the whole show, and Freddy gets to say it~

(some character notes below)

I drew Velma first because I’ve always wanted to update her outfit as sort of a sleeveless sweater-dress kind of thing. I gave her red shorts instead of a skirt, and I think it somehow made her look more sporty but still cute. Some orange high-tops sort of bring it together. I wanted her hair to have something like a flapper-girl style, and I kept classic style square glasses because she works them (and still can’t see without them). Velma is easily the most adorable. She’s still the “smart one”, but she doesn’t know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING; history, science and chemistry, literature, and math are what she excels at. She also has a near photographic memory, and although she understands a lot about technology (in terms of software/programming/coding), she isn’t too great with machines. Some background for her; Velma is mixed Japanese/Mexican and Jewish. She’s also trans and a lesbian~

I knew I wanted Daphne to look really fashionable, but also in something simple and comfortable. I gave her a purple halter top/skirt with a leg-cut on one side, and loose lavender jeans. She almost never has pants in her main outfit, but I think it gives her a fun nostalgic look of the 60s and 70s. I moved her green scarf up to her hair, and gave her matching green earrings. I like the idea that because she’s a little clumsy (Danger-Prone-Daphne) she’s taken lots of athletic lessons to try and make up for it; she’s done ballet, gymnastics, Karate, boxing, archery, played different sports like soccer/basketball/baseball/tennis, swimming lessons, and equestrian classes. Basically, when she’s in “alert-mode”, she could probably handle just about anything… but when she’s not paying attention she tends to trip (though, she’s kinda of backwards-lucky by stumbling into clues this way). Daphne can speak several languages fluently, she’s got perfect pitch, is super sensitive to textures so she can recognize any material, and has a gift for being very charming and intuitive. Some background for her; her dad is Iranian, and her mom is Scottish. She’s also bi~

I always wanted to give Fred a blue jacket. I just think it suits him. He’s also got light-blue jeans, and a white long-sleeve shirt (with a red collar to replace the ascot haha). He’s got a little bit of a farm-boy vibe (hence the belt and work boots). He’s all about cars and other machines, a real  Mr. Fix-It, and he loves taking stuff apart to see how it works. As a result he’s pretty good at his other hobby besides mechanics… TRAPS. Fred also practices being an escape artist, so if he ever gets caught he’ll be able to get out of almost anything. Although he’s certainly not “stupid”, he has a tendency to be a bit oblivious and a little too headstrong. He’s got a heart if gold though, and everybody who knows him would agree that he’s endlessly kind. Some background for him; Fred’s parents went missing around when he younger, and so he’s had a few different foster families. He doesn’t get reunited with his folks until much later (learning more about his family, he finds out he’s mixed Italian/Norwegian). He’s also bi~

Shaggy doesn’t need much changing (if I altered too much, he just wouldn’t look like Shaggy anymore). I have him a white long-sleeved shirt under his classic green one, changed his brown pants into cargoes (all loose fitting, Shaggy likes it baggy), and gave him some black sneakers. He’s naturally still got long hair and a scruffy chin (plus some sideburns). Even though he’s a well known scardey-cat, Shaggy has a deep love for horror movies and fictional spooky stuff doesn’t seem to bother him. His various fears and phobias have actually made him a safety expert; not only does he usually carry a back-pack with a fully stocked first aid kit, he knows how rescue somebody who is drowning, all the safety procedures for different vehicles/aircraft, CPR, and survival tactics (he actually knows more medical facts than Velma). Despite being so thin and lanky, he is almost always eating, sometimes thinking with his stomach rather than his head. He’s always happy to share though, and he even cooks great meals for his friends (mindful of allergies and what-not). Some background for him; he’s Canadian First Nations and Jewish on his mother’s side. He’s also trans, bi and ace~

Scooby was maybe the most difficult to draw… he’s so iconic, and I wasn’t sure how to draw him in this style but still make him look like Scooby. I’m not sure if I succeeded, but I think the result isn’t too bad. Shaggy found Scoob as a pup, and they have been best friends ever since. Like Shaggy, Scooby loves to eat and hates to be afraid, but he’s only a coward when something threatens him; if a monster or villain is going to hurt one of his friends, Scooby always comes to their defense. People forget that he’s actually a very big strong dog because he’s usually so gentle and silly. Scoob knows all sorts of trick from the typical “sit/roll-over/shake” to more impressive stunts. Although he loves attention and praise, the best way to get him to do anything is to bribe him with a Scooby Snack! He’s a very smart animal, and the fact that he can communicate when he smells or hears something suspicious that people might miss is a real asset for solving mysteries. Like any good dog, Scooby is loyal and lovable~

#scooby-doo

[nerves-nebula]

Idk about your intentions, and feel free to ignore me if I’m wrong, but Mikey sounds like a maladaptive daydreamer lol.

Just some background, maladaptive daydreamers use these huge fictional worlds called paracosms to escape reality. Some people do it because of anxiety or stress, but some do it as like a coping mechanism (which is how I’d see Mikey doing it based on your dissociation post) People with maladaptive daydreaming can stim while doing it, like rocking back and forth, pacing, etc, but some can master the art of being able to sit still and just daydream whenever. There’s almost an addictive aspect to it, and a lot of daydreamers have to take adhd or anxiety meds to shake it

Would Mikey stim at first but learn to stay still after Splinter lectured him too many times? Would his paracosm be the book that he’s writing about killing splinter? Idk feel free to look at this like I’m crazy but this subject is very close to my heart as I’m a daydreamer myself.

OK SO like. I don't know. and I don't know if Mikey has maladaptive daydreaming for a specific reason.

That being that I'm basing him on myself. I spent a lot (AND I DO MEAN A LOT) of my time in my head as a kid. I don't really know what a paracosm is so I'm not sure if I was exploring within them. but there are huge chunks of my childhood i really only remember via the emotional exploration I was doing inside these fictional worlds. Like most of puberty for me was just imagining gay fictional gods and forbidden love and abuse and violence and at all that. and it's hard for me to tell if that was a bad thing because it's linked to a very integral part of my personality- that being the desire to tell and experience stories.

I was always dragging around paper and pencils to draw these imagined worlds. But i was also often just sitting with my eyes closed (or sometimes opened, but closed if I wanted to really focus)

if I was painfully bored, or very anxious (which happened often, basically any time i was outside the house or not watching tv or playing a game) I would do this. If I was stuck in a car or a room while my siblings were fighting violently, I would force myself to try to only think about my characters. If the talk radio host was getting on my nerves I would try to drown him out by thinking about my characters going through their worlds and getting in fights and having sex and all that stuff.

this got even better (or worse, considering how you think of it) once I got earbuds/headphones and access to my cousins old ipod. I was finally able to fully block out the world and only, ONLY ever think of my stories. just how I'd always wanted.

and sure, I was always kind of spacey, but even when I wasn't thinking of stories and art I was bad at paying attention the way adults liked. I think adults liked me more when I was just sitting there thinking anyway, instead of being hyper and then having an emotional breakdown when i realize they thought I was annoying.

There was a particularly vibrant time for daydreaming around puberty where i had dozens if not around a hundred different intricate stories that I started to overlap, just because. And I'd go through them over and over, adding or changing little things, making up reasons that the characters would all end up living in the same bunker or fighting the same enemy. making up reasons for the god of war and his little lamb prince to be torn apart. making up reasons for them to attack each other. then forcing them back together through all the trauma.

and recalling these spaces makes me kind of shiver because they're almost like real memories to me. I remember thinking of these scenarios more than I remember my real life around 11-12 years old. And i think that's largely because after I got my blackbelt at around 11 years old, my parents let me quit karate, and didn't force me to do any more sports or anything. So for the most part I legit never left the house. My entire life was in these stories and in my art.

I really only stopped doing this once I got sent off to high school at around 13-14 and was basically FORCED to participate in the real world more.

but I did that all on purpose. i was bored, and i hated other kids because they never clicked with me. and it never seemed to interrupt my life in a way that my parents noticed or cared about. in fact it was the only thing that kept me from being actively suicidal for a while there!

so like. i don't know man. i don't know.

#nnstuff #ask #tmnt mikey #maladaptive daydreaming #i havent thought about those worlds in years #its surprising how few of them i still maintain considering they were all i had for years #personal

[dream-beyond-the-fantasy]

4, 13, 21, 24, 25, 33, 42, 57, 63, 70 and 71 for the fic writer ask game!

Thank you for the questions! Okay, this took some time and thought. And some of my answers are long. It will be under a "read more" out of convenience and respect for my mutuals and followers.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I really want to write a background and sidestory for a one-off character from George Lopez that Tony O'Dell played. I don't think I've written it yet for a few reasons:

a) I don't know if his character is named Blaine (dialogue and closed captions) or Patrick (credits on IMDb and from the end of the episode).

b) I kinda want to ask Tony about that episode and role.

c) I haven't had time or haven't sat down and focused on it enough to start writing it.

No, I don't experience existential dread over it.

13. talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

This isn't going to take long. But in writing my first fic, Is This Love?, I learned that I can write sexy things. This is the opposite of the "write what you know" advice. I have done research and will continue to do more. I've talked with others who have written smut. And I have had some friends read over what little I have written. As I tend to write out of sequence, I haven't published the smut and I'm still a bit anxious about it, but I decided to do this to prove to myself that I could. I wouldn't be upset if Is This Love? is the only fic that I write that contains smut, but proud of myself.

21. pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

A fellow fanfic writer? Hmm, I would say @curiousdamage @missviolethunter @cecexwrites @rynnie-rynn @themaradwrites @avatarskywalker78 and/or @the-time-lord-oracle.

With Curious, MissV, Rynn, and/or AvatarSkywalker78, I would write something for The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai because that is the main fandom that we have in common. The first three were with me when I created my OCs and I honestly would trust them to write Julie or Alyssa. But all of them have strengths writing other characters in that fandom that I'm not sure I can do justice or write with the nuance they deserve.

Curious, MissV, and I could finally write that spinoff/revival-type fanfic for The Equalizer with Scott McCall and his OC daughter as the central characters. Or Curious and I could write a Cagney & Lacey story.

With Cece, it would probably be a story set in the Wizarding World with supporting and minor canon characters.

Obviously, a Doctor Who story with The_Time_Lord_Oracle.

And were I to write an original story, it would be with Rynn or Mara.

All of these writers are ones that I greatly admire, consider friends, have created some of the best original characters (I wish they all were canon and I would protect them to the end), and have written many of my favorite stories.

If you are asking about published/professional authors, I'm not sure. Maybe Rick Riordan, Richelle Mead, David McIntee, Timothy Zahn, Jude Watson, or Cassandra Clare (yes, I know some of the allegations against her, but she is still one of my favorite YA writers).

24. on average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

It really depends on it's a workday vs. weekend, how much time I've had to write, and how inspired I was. If I write at least 500 words, I consider it a productive day.

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

I edit as I write, which makes the writing process longer, I'm sure. Then I send it to my beta. After I hear their thoughts and suggestions, I take into account if those serve the story and make appropriate edits. Then I will post it on AO3.

33. do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Honestly, a very rough plot idea. The characters are my main focus and I spend more time thinking about how to develop them and how they will react to the plot.

42. describe the aesthetic of a story in 5 words.

Let me preface this with "I'm not sure that I'm doing this right."

Family. Friendship. Discovery. Magic. Adventure.

57. what is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were reading it?

Okay, these might not be the actual last things, but they are the best that I can remember: Camille Coduri's natural hair color and Billie Piper's eye color.

63. what’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

I've read so many fics that I honestly don't know. I'm sorry.

70. are you very critical of your own writing? how much do you find yourself editing (either during the writing or after the fact)?

Yeah, I think I am. I second-guess myself a lot. I edit as I write, so I might spend hours on the same damn paragraph because I didn't like the original word choice, felt it was too similar to something I had previously written, or numerous other reasons. I once nearly trashed everything I wrote for Is This Love? and lay on my bed crying because I thought I was being too harsh on Jimmy and my OC Julie.

71. how do you balance writing and life? do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing you have to do?

Hahaha. Balance? What's that? Ironic isn't it, considering that I write for The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai? Yes, I constantly feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing that I have to do. I want to be able to post two chapters for three of my WIPs by the end of 2024. I haven't worked on two of them at all yet. I haven't done any writing since early or mid-February. Sometimes, I feel like a failure because I started writing Is This Love? in 2018 and I haven't even started writing the scenes concurrent with the plot of The Karate Kid, while I've got friends and mutuals who can write, finish, and post a few multichapter fics within a few months.

#fanfic writer ask game #replies #goldheartedchaoticdisaster #writing #my fics #is this love? #the molly yates chronicles #karate kid fanfic #the karate kid #cobra kai #doctor who fanfic #favorite writers #tony o'dell #never knew

[ltwharfy]

Talk to us about Arnlee! How did they become friends? What do they bond over? When does each realize that they have feelings for the other? Were they afraid to tell each other how they felt or were they confident? Would they date early in life or later?

So, I'm not sure how long it's been since I got this ask! I think a couple of weeks? But I want to start by saying how much I appreciate it. Most of the asks I get are in response to ask games or are questions that are sent to lots of members of the "Bob's Burgers" fandom- and I love being included in those! But it was really nice to get an ask related to one of my fics, and particularly about Arnold/Kaylee, the rare pair that I wrote the first fic for!!

That said, one of the reasons I didn't respond sooner (in addition to being busy and forgetting about it for a while) is that I'm still sort of figuring where I want to go next with Arnlee. I literally just noticed them dancing together in "Ancient Misbehavin'" one night and wrote a little background story for it the next day- I didn't really think about where I would go from there! And since there is less to go off about them in canon, that makes it harder for me to come up with ideas for them- I like having a clear canon starting point for my stories (several of my fics are episode tags or prologues or missing scenes- including the Arnlee story!)

But here's my current line of thought for your questions:

I really do like the idea that I came up with in "The Life of the Symposium (aka Party)" for sort of being the beginning of their friendship. I see Kaylee post-"Prank You for Being A Friend" trying to be more social and still finding it difficult, but then happening to strike up a conversation with Arnold and making a connection. I think that Arnold and Kaylee are both kind of nerdy outsiders- and I think Kaylee would like Arnold because he is more comfortable in embracing his nerdy outsiderness. He's the youngest and smallest kid in his grade, he wears his karate gi to school almost everyday- but he seems remarkably confident and comfortable in his own skin. And I think Kaylee- the girl who wants to wear her wizard cape everyday- would like that. (And I think the ability to embrace being an outsider makes them a bit different from Louise and Rudy who- if they don't actually aspire to be considered cool or popular- at the very least both seem to care too damn much about what Chloe Barbash thinks of them.)

And I guess that's sort of the dynamic I imagine for them as friends- and eventually more- is as these dorky outsiders who are just kind of happy to be themselves together. I could see them inviting the other to check out their interests- Arnold inviting Kaylee to his dojo; Kaylee getting Arnold involved with the Thinkgineers. I can see them sharing nerdy creative hobbies and interests- like RPGs, maybe even LARPing.

In terms of realizing that they have feelings for each other and dating- I see that as happening when they are at the end of their Wagstaff time/entering high school (which, yeah, is also kind of what I tend to write for Louise/Rudy. I'm a sucker for childhood friends to lovers and that time just sort of seems like a logical point for that transition. Also, it's possible that I'm a little burnt out with being a single middle-aged adult and would prefer my beloved fictional characters avoid that fate...) For Arnold and Kaylee, I think it is particularly interesting because Arnold skipped a grade so he's a year or two younger than her- which means nothing when you're an adult but can mean a lot in adolescence.

I imagine Kaylee developing feelings first and being uncomfortable with and it denial of it. Even if she managed to overcome her shyness/social anxiety to connect with Arnold and others as friends- I think that the idea of trying to make a romantic connection would still be very daunting to her. As I noted during the WIP ask game, the song "Young In Love" by Sweet Nobody gives me these series "Kaylee Morganstern with a crush" vibes, and someday I hope to write a fic on that concept using lyrics from this song as a title.

Especially with Arnold being younger, I imagine him as basically being oblivious to her feelings to him. But when she eventually tells him her feelings he's totally blown away- like he hadn't even been thinking about the possibility but as soon as he finds out she's been feeling that way he's just so happy about it!

Those are my current thoughts about them- they might change at some point between now and whenever I write another fic about them! But I truly do appreciate the opportunity to think and talk some more about my beloved nerds!

Thank you so much for the ask!!

#arnold evans #kaylee morganstern #arnlee #bob's burgers #rare pair #arnold x kaylee #headcanons #thanks for the ask! #thanks pom #theangrypomeranian

[tomcat-tapes]

Movie ranting with Tomcat

One thing about me I LOVE Real Genius it’s a great movie and I recommend it!!

But If i had a nickel for any Real Genius actor being in the karate kid franchise i would have 2 nickels which isnt alot but its weird it happened twice.

Yuji Okumoto was one (Fenton being a background character in Real Genius, and later main anti hero of Karate Kid part 2 as Chozen)

BUT I JUST REALIZED THAT GABRIEL JARRET AKA MITCH TAYLOR WAS ALSO IN FHE KARATE KID FRANCHISE!! Very minor role but he was in Karate Kid part 3 as a dude named Rudy that Daniel punched while at a Club.

Absolutely wild right?? But oh wait there’s moreeee Michelle Meyrink aka Jordan in Real Genius, was casted in The Outsiders as Marcia (A Soc girl that went to the movies with Cherry)

And who else was The Outsiders?? None other than Ralph Macchio who is our main character Daniel Larusso in the Karte Kid franchise!!

And even better, along with Ralph Macchio there was also another notable actor in The Outsiders, the one and only Tom Cruise (playing Steve) who goes on to Star with Val Kilmer our other main character in Real Genius in of the most iconic films of the 80s Top Gun.

What is this all mean??

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just that all of my favorite 80s films feature the same actors. I just thought it was neat!

#real genius #karate kid #karate kid 2 #karate kid 3 #the outsiders #movie crossovers #80s films #little rant #I love movie lore #tomcat rant over #like and/or reblog! #okay now bye

[cookietastic]

Hi Cookie!

I have been really into ygo again lately and then a memory of your yugi kaiba parent au slapped me in the face XD

I know you've moved on to other fandoms and I love to see all the progress you've made with your art!

I hope you're doing well <3

Hey Dan :D!! YGO is still my baby you don't watch a bunch of series from YGO and pretend to act normal about it the rest of your life lmao! It's wild to remember like you've seen my art from like 5-6 years ago

Right now my mind is being focused on A Danny (DP) and a Daniel (TKK) lmao thought I think Karate Kid did something to my brain

"I went from like 2-3 characters max a drawing and maybe a background too

"WE SHOULD PUT A CAR!! I WANNA DRAW 9 OF THEM! "I went from like 2-3 characters max a drawing and maybe a background too "WE SHOULD PUT A CAR-NO 2 CARS!! I WANNA DRAW 9 OF THEM!

[secretsandwritings-blog]

Welcome to my blog, readers!

✦﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍about me

name┇Kailler Gideon

prnn┇He/Him/They/Them

age┇19 years young

ext blog┇@kukos-satellite

✦﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍fandoms

A - E┇Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, Cobra Kai, Criminal Minds, DC Animated Universe

F - L┇Hannibal, The Hunger Games, Lab Rats, Lab Rats: Elite Force

M - S┇Mighty Med, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Once Upon A Time, Shadow and Bone, Six of Crows, Supergirl, Supernatural

T - Z┇Teen Wolf, The Flash, The Karate Kid (movies), The Walking Dead, The Ones Who Live, Voltron: Legendary Defender

✦﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍colour codes

BACKGROUND┇#3c2522

ACCENT┇#916945

TEXT┇#8f5e3f

TITLE┇#8f5e3f

✦﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍links & more

FANFICTIONS I’VE CREATED

- Our Love’s Redemption [18/02/2024]

- Till The Clock Turns Six [22/03/2024] - 1/3

- Campus Latte, Wait No, Americano [15/04/2024] - 2/3

HEADCANONS I’VE CREATED

- Lab Rats Characters (A,B,C, and L)

- Adam Davenport HC’s

- LaRusso Siblings

- The LaRusso Parents

IN PREPARATION/PROGRESSION

- It’s All Coming Back [Undetermined date] - 3/3

- Do We Have ‘Chemistry’? [Undetermined date]

- Bree Davenport HC’s

- Chase Davenport HC’s

- Human!Marcus Davenport HC’s

- Leo Dooley HC’s

- Couples HC’s [Suggest a couple for this]

✦﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍my blog rules

(click to read the rules and scroll away from the blog if you disagree)

01 - This blog has been made for all the fandoms I’ve mentioned above, so if you don’t see a fandom, you are in you can simply scroll away



02 - If I have not done your request it could either be because I got super busy with real life, or I did not see it. You can always double check with via dm!

03 - I don’t work well under pressure since there will start to be spelling errors and other grammatical errors, so don’t rush me when I’m writing out your request

04 - I do not write nsfw content for underage characters, like sex scenes. It’s just weird and leaves a bad taste in my mouth but if they’re aged up (by request) then I might debate on it.

05 - I don’t write “x reader” fics, because that’s what easier for me, so please don’t suggest me to write any “x reader”’s since I’m sure there are some talented individuals on here who will write your “x reader” fic for you!

06 - This blog is solely for fanfiction and entertainment purposes!! Nothing that happens in them is real and if it is, it’ll state that it is in the fic’s summary.

07 - Any work that has been translated or reposted anywhere else has to have been notified to me and approved by me 

08 - I won’t write anything that has the themes of incest (sibling x sibling; parent x child; etc), pedophilia, sexual assault or abuse, drug abuse since those are considered sensitive topics for me and they make me extremely uncomfortable.

09 - Minors are welcomed in, but they are warned before entering content that could include or even suggest any +18 themes which might include sex, alcohol, smoking, and drugs.

[QPSA: These rules may change]

[requests are opening on Sun, April 28]

#secretsandwritingg’s work #about the blogger #about the blog #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #arrow cw #cobra kai #criminal minds #dc animated universe #hannibal #the hunger games #lab rats #lab rats elite force #marvel cinematic universe #mighty med #once upon a time #shadow and bone #six of crows #supergirl #supernatural #teen wolf #the karate kid #the karate kid 2 #the karate kid 3 #the walking dead #the ones who live #voltron legendary defender #CO: secretsandwritings on AO3

[redheadedbrunette]

Cool so I reread the series and I noticed a lot more than I did the first two times I read it which is fun. The relationship between Ben and Erica is more explored than I remembered which is good and I can definitely see her character arc a lot clearer.

X is still my least favorite book and there’s absolutely a corner that Gibbs wrote himself into on that one unless he’s entirely giving up on the idea of having Ben and co. be secret agents.

Ben’s a lot more of a competent spy than I remember too, which is refreshing.

I also completely forgot that all 10 of these books happen in the span of like a year and a half which is hilarious.

Oh and the age gap seems like something that would be a lot more of an issue if there weren’t only like 300 people in the world they could have contact with. Even Erica and Josh had a bit of a gap since she had to have been 14/15 or so while he was 17/18. A gap of 2.5 years would be problematic for normal kids but I think different rules would apply.

I'm so glad it was clearer on a second go around! Honestly, I didn't even really see it all that clearly until I reread the series a couple years ago (SSAS came out my first week of college) and had a lot more experience with how stories work on a fundamental idea. Erica's development is very much in the background, but when you're looking for it (excluding SSPX, but that's a different rant) it's so clear and interesting and I love it.

SSPX bothers me for SO MANY REASONS the biggest of which is that Mr. Gibbs puts the message before the overarching plot of everything, and then! It's not even a relevant message! Like, what twelve year old is hardcore believing QAnon (it's pretty obviously meant to be that or something similar). I feel like something could have been achieved and a message about privacy, like Murray makes getting a video of Ben part of some TikTok knockoff challenge, because that seems like a much more likely thing kids would do, but gotta make fun of people who remember what the news said two years ago and comparing it to what they say now! Can't have people with good memories! But yeah, it does shoot the series in the foot kind of, and I understand the reasoning behind why things were done the way they were! I just don't agree with it most of the time.

It's even funnier when you realize that it's not a year and a half evenly spread out, it's one mission his first year with five months before summer, one that summer, and seven his second year. Eight if you want to count SSGS and SSBI as different missions (I go back and forth as to whether or not I do). It's so funny. Please give poor Ben a break.

And yes! Ben is actually so much more competent than people seem to give him credit for sometimes. It's just that his skill set tends to be less flashy and useful in battle scenes, but he's very much the chess master of the group. He's the one planning and strategizing, and all the karate moves in the world aren't going to do you any good if you can't actually foil the plans.

My reasoning for why I'm okay with the age gap is because the narrative treats them as equals who are more or less in the same place in life. Like, yes she's two classes ahead of him, but for all intents and purposes, they're teamed up together constantly with others in Ben's class and I think Erica is the only one we really know about in her class (can't remember Chip's age, but he might be? idk, doesn't really matter). It's never dwelt on, and it bothers me when people try to make a deal about it! Like, they're not going to be in the same place in their lives forever. It's high school. Almost no one marries the person they dated in high school. I've long held that they'd break up sometimes after Erica graduates and starts her adult life while Ben is still in school (or something similar depending on how Mr. Gibbs decides to do things moving forward).

#anyway my own personal conspiracy theory #is that between SSAS and SSPX the CIA contacted mr. gibbs #and told him to stop writing stories where the government was covering things up #and also to make conspiracy theorists seem crazy #because whether or not you believe in actual conspiracy theories #you *cannot* deny that in the context of the Spy School universe #they are correct that the government is lying to them #because that's the only reason i could come up with why someone who's invested so much time writing a series #would mess it up so royally #and there's an out of universe reason why the school got blown up #(it's because it's hard to market a middle grade series where the characters are in high school) #(and don't say Harry Potter middle grade didn't exist as a marketing demographic back then so JK had more freedom in a lot of regards) #so i don't see why there couldn't be an out of universe explanation for the other stuff #especially because several authors *have* gotten contacted by the government when they guessed something a little too close to the truth #but anyway #enough of my crazy #it's how i cope with the book being *so bad* #and that's the stuff i can explain away #unlike Erica's characterization in that book #spy school #ginger answers #erica hale #ben ripley #anyway if you want to send me more asks i would absolutely love that #i've been missing talking about it and the tag has been *so dead* and hardly anyone comments on my ao3 stuff

[redrikki]

Pride Month Masterpost

Happy pride month, everyone! Here’s a list of my fic featuring queer characters and relationships.

Agent Carter

Because Girls Love Girls (The Soulmate City Remix) - There’s something in the water and the next thing Angie knows, she’s waking up with the name Margaret Carter wrapped around her wrist. (Angie Martinelli/Peggy Carter)

One Last Kiss (The Final Storm Remix) - You never forget your first kiss with your nemesis. Dottie won’t forget her last either. At Howard Stark’s funeral, she puts a few things in the ground. (Peggy Carter/Dottie Underwood)

Avatar: Legend of Korra

Girl, Gotten (The Heroine After Remix) - As long as Asami’s the hero, Korra’s okay being the love interest. (Korra/Asami Sato)

Leaves on the Wind - Korra, Asami, and the next Avatar (past Korra/Asami Sato)

Ten-Thousand Words (Which Once See the Light of Day) -  A series of short stories about the ladies of Legend of Korra. (bisexual Asami Sato/Mako, various het pairings)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Playing with Fire (The Dubiously Consensual Remix) - People didn’t tell Azula no. (Azula/Ty Lee)

Battlestar Galactica

Persephone on New Caprica - It’s winter on New Caprica and they’re all Persephone here.  A collection of short stories. (bisexual Felix Gaeta/Eight, various het pairings) Trigger warning: non-con/dub con

Batwoman (TV)

Trapped in the Closet - Kate was never afraid to come out to her father, but she is now. Episode tag to the season 1 finale. (lesbian Kate Kane)

Pride - A small army of Batwomen marched at Pride. Ryan should be marching with them. (lesbian Ryan Wilder)

Black Lightning (TV)

Comic Book Life - Comic book Thunder’s boyfriend knew what his woman did, so why couldn’t Anissa tell her girlfriend? (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi)

Truth Will Out - Anissa’s in the closet about her superhero life. Three times she thought about telling Grace and one time she actually did. (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi)

Maybe Baby - “Ever think about what kind of power’s you and Grace’s kids would have?“ Jen asked, raising possibilities Anissa had never considered before. (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi, Jennifer Pierce)

Sleeping Beauty - Grace had been in coma for over a month now, but Anissa still couldn’t help thinking each visit that this would be the one where she woke up. Maybe today it would be. (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi)

Cat Lover - When your wife was a deadly jungle cat, it paid to be cautious. (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Short and to the Mr. Pointy - Collection of drabbles set across all 7 seasons. (Willow Rosenberg/Tara McClay, Willow Rosenberg/Kennedy, Willow Rosenberg/Oz, Larry/Xander Harris, various het pairings)

Cobra Kai

Queer Eye for the Karate Guy - “Our hero this week is Sensei Johnny Lawrence,” Karamo read off the pad. “He’s a 53-year-old, 6-foot-tall master of karaté.” (Johnny Lawrence plus actual queer people Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Bobby Berk, Antoni Porowski)

Make a Wish - Tommy has a different confession in episode 2.06 "Take a Right." (Johnny Lawrence/Tommy)

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

The Beast You Made of Me - The Waverider’s resident shapeshifters compare notes. (Mona Wu, Genderfluid Charile)

Neither Should You (The Real People Remix) - Rescuing her clones was the right thing to do. They deserved the right to live their lives and make their own choices. Ava just wished they’d stop sleeping with Gary. (Ava Sharpe/Sara Lance, Ava Clones/Gary Green, implied Gary Green/John Constantine)

Army of One - Sara Lance was dead. Sara Lance was a clone. Sara Lance was going to need a minute to process. Tag to “Bishop’s Gambit,” episode 6.06. (background Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe)

Downton Abbey

The Hedgehog’s Dilemma - Thomas Barrow’s daemon is a hedgehog. Five warnings, four relationships, and one revelation. (Thomas Barrow/Duke of Crowborrough, Thomas Barrow/Edward Courtney, Thomas Barrow/Jimmy Kent)

Snakes and Lions - Hogwarts AU. In Thomas, Jimmy finds that courage isn’t exclusive to Gryffindors.  Now if only he could find some himself. (Thomas Barrow/Jimmy Kent)

Genius Loci - Downton Abbey consumes people and it won’t let Thomas go. (gay Thomas Barrow) Trigger warning: referenced canon suicide attempt

When the Wolf Comes Home - A Companion to Wolves Fusion. Buggery is legal in the army, required even, for wolf-brothers. Bates, Lord Grantham, and their wolves have a certain history. Thomas can't help thinking about it. (gay Thomas Barrow, past Robert Crawley/John Bates)

Kipo and the Age of Wonerbeasts

Dream Girls - On the surface, Mulholland had given Wolf everything she had thought she wanted: her and Kipo, the two of them buff and tough and together. Her guilt had kept her from really enjoying it, but it hadn’t been why she fought back. (Wolf/Kipo)

The Hero Was You - Benson likes Troy and Troy likes Benson. Great! Now all Benson has to do is figure out what to do about it. (Benson/Troy)

A Post Post-Apocalyptic Romance - It was kind of wild when he thought about it. Benson and Troy had fallen for each other super fast, but, between the rescue and the other rescue and all the running around with HMUFA, they’d never really gotten to know each other. Luckily, without Scarlemagne and Dr. Emilia trying to capture and/or kill them, they finally had the time to get to know each other as Benson introduced Troy to the city. (Benson/Troy)

The Old Guard

Take What the Water Gave Me - Quynh drowns and wakes and in between are Booker and Andromache. She would take his life if she could. So she does. (Quynh/Andy)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

She-Ra (Modesty) Shorts - Three very short Catra/Adora stories. (Catra/Adora)

Parting Strands - Looking out for each other had been their thing, but Adora’s starting to suspect that’s over. Her thoughts during that scene in “Promise.” (Catra/Adora)

Another First Kiss - Five times Catra thought about kissing Adora and one time Adora kissed her. (Catra/Adora)

Sick Leave - Back when they were kids in the Horde, they used to hide when they got sick. It’s a hard habit to break, but things are different now and Catra really should be in bed. (Catra/Adora)

Spider-man (Ultimates verse)

Queen of Lower Chelsea - Jessica Drew may not be a real girl, but she’s trying to build a real life. (gender-queer Jessica Drew)

Fingertips That Might Ignite - Peter is straight like a straight thing.  Jessica isn’t sure what she is. (Jessica Drew/Johnny Storm, Jessica Drew/OFC)

We Were Orphans Before - The first time Jessica ran into Peter after the Wave she grabbed him into a hug. (gender-queer Jessica Drew, Peter Parker)

Gonna Share My Tin Man Heart - Kitty moves in and Kitty moves out. Jessica falls in love somewhere along the way. (Jessica Drew/Kitty Pride)

Star Wars

For Amidala - Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn’t know if she had the strength to let one go. (Padmé/Her Handmaidens)

Dateline Felucia - Embedded with the troops on Felucia, a reporter from HoloNet News paints an intimate portrait of the men of the 212th Attack Battalion. (Obi-Wan/Cody, Waxer/Boil)

Tag - Sabine and Ketsu, bounty hunters extraordinaire, argue about how to sign their work. (Sabine Wren/Ketsu Onyo)

When I Was Your Age - Kanan, Ezra, and the fruits of a misspent youth. (Pansexual Kanan Jarrus)

Stranger Things

Date Night - Everyone and her mother seems to think they’re together and Robin’s getting pretty sick of it. (lesbian Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington)

Umbrella Academy (TV)

Iconic - When Vanya learns Klaus is gay from a magazine, she’s angry for more than just one reason. (queer Vanya & Klaus Hargreeves)

White Collar

Eyes on the Target (The Solid Ground Remix) - Peter asked Diana to keep an eye on Neal for him while he’s stuck in jail. It could be going better. (lesbian Diana Barrigan, Neal Caffrey)

#my fic #fic masterpost #agent carter #avatar: legend of korra #avatar: the last airbender #black lightning #battlestar galactica #stranger things #cobra kai #white collar #batwoman #dc's legends of tomorrow #star wars #spider man #she ra and the princesses of power #downton abbey #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

[cursedcomics]

Dream Job writing the Legion of Super Heroes pt. 9

Lets talk race.

I wrote a lot about it and then realized the last thing people want to actively talk about today is race, even if what I had written was kind of celebratory of the history of the legion. (Did you realize that if DC editorial hadn’t stopped Jim Shooter from making Ferro Lad black, he would have appeared the same month as Marvel’s ground breaking Black Panther?  Did you know Tyroc was a full member of the Legion a year before Black Lightning made it to the stands -- a character pushed for the JLA and denied full membership in the 1970′s by DC editorial?)

As a mixed guy who spent my youth being studied by adults trying to figure out my racial background to determine my trustworthiness, who saw others look disapprovingly at my white father and black mother, I always had an appreciation for the fact the the legion’s only mixed racial character, Val Armorr, the Karate Kid, was competent bordering on being kind of a badass on the team.  No one ever questioned whether he belonged and his race was never an issue. 

In a future where humanity had moved towards being their best selves, a mixed marriage was... just a two people in love.  

And a mixed character was ... just a character.  

It was a soothing thing about the Legion that I truly appreciate and I think a lot of fans did as well.  I think that plays a roll in why Legion fans are frankly quite socially progressive.

But that’s still a lot about race so let me sum it up and move on.

Every Legion fan I have ever heard from wants more racial representation involved in the Legion.

Brian Bendis gave them more racial representation.

And the fans hated it because it cost them their favorites who were replaced with cyphers.  

Simple as that.

What I am offering as a new timeline would not cost you your favorites.

Minority legionnaires Computo, Kid Quantum I, and Dragonwing would be merged into this timeline at earlier intervals. XS and Kid Quantum II from the reboot timeline would be merged in as well.  (I’ve opted out of including some other non-white Legionnaires from other timelines like Catspaw because, frankly, I find her bland and uninspired as is and I very much like the “distinct power” guideline in general. I’d rather include her as a random character in the Legion Universe. More on this later.)

I would also mix in a few new Legionnaires in inobtrusive ways to give a more racially balanced Legion to the next writer.

But race in the 31st century should not be depicted as we experience race today.  With things like the eras of Kamandi and OMAC happening, there should not only be more “actual” race representation, there should also be representatives of other earth species on the legion.

“MightyGodKing”  thinks there should be a descendent of Gorilla City on the team.  I agree. I’d love to collaborate and introduce his creation. 

And DC’s earth is not just home to gorillas.  Both Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel comics in the 1940′s were filled with lost civilizations and animal men living on earth.  As fans of both of those titles in those eras, I also have plans for a walrus man Legionnaire and would love to introduce a recurring crocodile man character. 

Being “an earthling” should be a pretty wide range of biology in the 31st Century and that should allow some interesting stories that allow writers if so inclined to tackle the issue of race on earth without being painfully preachy.

Opening that can of worms opens the door to all kinds of ideas....

If you are a racist like Earthman who hates Superman for being a closet alien, how do you feel about smart gorillas, tiger men,  or Walrus Men?  

Are they OK as earthlings because they are larger groups in society so it is in your best interests to include them with the majorities as you demagog against foreign born aliens?  

How racist are THOSE groups against space aliens?

[dramaturgical-sense]

succession s1 episodes ranked

my unofficial official ranking of all the episodes in s1 of succession. mainly posting this for my own reference but feel free to argue w me in the notes. 

10. celebration: this episode does a good job of introducing the characters and setting up the background for later episodes. but since it is such an early episode, it naturally pales a little in comparison to the later episodes. a strong episode, but not a standout. favourite line: “Like this hitchhiker kid that I picked up this morning, like earlier this morning. 'Cause it was raining and I didn't want... I didn't want him to get sexually assaulted?”

9. shit show at the fuck factory- amazing episode title. again this episode does a great job at setting up the siblings dynamics, both with each other and with logan. this episode does a great job at highlighting the uncertainty of kendall’s position as CEO and setting up the debt issue plotline. again a strong episode, but not necessarily a standout. favourite line: “What I think he meant to say was that he wished that Mom gave birth to a can opener because at least then it would be useful.”

8. i went to market- again, the job of this episode is mainly to background the upcoming conflict between kendall and logan. it does this well, but for me personally i find it a little less engaging than some of the other episodes. there is some fantastic tomgreg and tomshiv moments this episode. tom is especially good, going from uncertain and hesitant around shiv, to coercive and bullying around greg. favourite line: “Well, Kim Jong Pop, because that's not how things work in this country.”

7. prague- i do enjoy this episode, but i personally feel like it relies on the premise of “bachelor party at a sex club” too much for the humour and the jokes. however, there are so many great moments that i couldn’t put this episode any lower. tom is FANTASTIC in this episode, desperately overcompensating in the funniest ways possible. the dogpound conversation is excellent, and sets up a recurring theme in succession- the fallibility of memory and the way the three siblings can perceive the same event in vastly different ways. favourite line: “She kisses me and puts it back in my mouth, and I swallow.” “Which, the cum?”

6. lifeboats- this is a really fun episode. we get to see kendall and roman in action, and they are all too ready to embarass themselves. this episode really solidifies the fact that while kendall can bluster and put on a good show, at the end of the day he is still desperate to impress logan. its a funny episode, the pacing is great, and we get our first tomshiv domestic breakfast scene, which i love. favourite line: “It's not like they pre-poop them or something, like, it's not like... They're just bags, really. It's just a mental barrier.”

5. sad sack wasp trap- this is a stellar episode. we get the cruises plotline, connor’s mental breakdown, the further fracturing of kendall and logan’s relationship, and we start to see the cracks in tom and shiv’s relationship. this episode is intriguing, clever and funny. one of my favourites to re-watch. favourite line: “Tom, it's tough to have to tell you like this, but I'm in a sexual relationship with your mother. She talks in her sleep.”

4. which side are you on- the past five episodes have been building up the tension between logan and kendall, and it culminates in a very satisfying way. the ending shot of logan with ‘which side are you on’ playing in the background gives me chills everytime. the show opened with logan pissing on the floor and having a brain hemorrhage, yet he manages to be a terrifying figure throughout the show, with no other character able to stand up to him. every single second of the boardroom scene is great, and i particularly love roman’s body language throughout. absolutely fantastic. favourite line: “Drink the gold, my friend. And then later you and I can have a 24-karat piss.”

3. nobody is ever missing- okay look, this is a phenomenal episode, there is no denying that. the only reason it isn’t number one on this list is because i feel like this episode is less impactful on a rewatch, than it was the first time i saw it. but the scenes of kendall dancing with his family and his conversation with logan at the end of the episode still hit so hard. it’s a very kendall-centric episode but the other characters still get their moments to shine. shiv and tom’s wedding conversation and roman’s rocket launch catastrophe are highlights in a great ep. love love love. favourite line: “Bad news about my hymen. It's gone.”

2. austerlitz- this is the episode that made me completely obsessed with succession when i first watched it. this episode flipped a switch in my brain and i realised succession had everything i could possibly want in a tv show. i especially love the portrayal of kendall’s relapse- it’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy with everyone around him believing he’s already relapsed. this episode is such a perfect depiction of the cycles of abuse, as we see logan repeat patterns from his own dysfunctional childhood when he manipulates and terrorises his own children. kendall’s confrontation with logan + the shot of kendall doing cocaine on that giant rock at the end + the shot of logan’s scars rewire my brain everytime i watch the episode. so good. favourite line: I don't know how to say this, except to say that love is a strange and peculiar affliction. It's like a virus. So could you please just stay here for a while... and maybe you'll catch it.

1. pre-nuptial- going into this rewatch, i expected that austerlitz would take the number one spot. but like all great romances, my love for episode 9 snuck up on me unexpectedly. this is definitely an episode that does better upon a rewatch. there isn’t one major iconic moment in this episode, and it definitely does a lot of setting up for the finale, but this is a very revealing episode in terms of the characters’ motivations and relationships. every single character is in fine form: at their most neurotic and dysfunctional. all the interactions between characters are layered and nuanced, and i particularly enjoyed watching the siblings engage with caroline. special mention for the tomshiv conversation this episode, which will forever live in my heart. i could write a whole separate post about that one scene itself. favourite line: “Well, these hands aren't gonna fuck themselves.”

#succession #succession s1 rewatch

[rosesradio]

just talking about my theatre au even though i still have 6 chapters of ctp to write, whatever it’s fine:

i just love the idea of johnny hating theatre until ali gets him into it

some of the other cobras join in to (because they don’t do karate in this au, i think it’d be funny to make kreese the director of the shows until he gets fired for, i dunno, making the kids too aggressive or dramatic? lol)

silver comes in to direct as daniel comes to school

he and johnny have conflict not because daniel’s trying to steal his girl (in this au, johnny and ali broke up because ali realized she was a lesbian and is in love with susan). 

johnny and daniel have conflict because daniel is a new stage manager and keeps disciplining johnny, even though Johnny’s basically Drama Club King and daniel’s just new. and small. (and pretty)

they’d be putting on sweeney todd, in which (as previously stated) johnny plays anthony the sailor and ali plays joannah. bobby would play sweeney and susan would play mrs. lovett (just because i think they’d both be good at acting completely different than their characters). jessica would probably play lucy so we get some background bobby/jess (my favorite token straight ship <3)

i think it’d be neat (just hear me out guys) if we get some underlying silverrusso. like it’s lawrusso in the end but the idea of johnny annoying daniel and silver is the only one who will listen, but he’s slowly sucking the joy from daniel and making him into this stressed, bitter person, and johnny can see that? inch resting

also the idea of silver saying and doing “completely innocent” things to daniel and daniel being really into it but feeling horrible about it is just. tearing me apart. but it’s just perplexing

i don’t think this au would be quite as sexual as ctp but there’d still be some...stuff and things 👀 every now and then

did i mention i love sweeney todd?

sweeney todd my beloved

that’s all i can think of for now without giving it all away (or perhaps i did give it all away lol) but feel free to offer any opinions in the notes or my inbox, that’d be cool✌️

#wow rose that was a lot :-) #what if i just didn't write this lol #genuinely curious as to who people ship bobby with (besides johnny) #lawrusso #rose's tkk rambles #daniel larusso #johnny lawrence #silverrusso #terry silver #bobby brown #jessica andrews #ali mills #alisusan #hm hm perhaps that's enough

[ao3feed-johnnylawrence]

A Beautiful Face Shining Back On Me

by Daisiess

Now in my heart I see clearly, a beautiful face shining back on me, stained with love.

Words: 1661, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Karate Kid (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Ali Mills (Karate Kid), Jessica Andrews, Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence, Susan (Karate Kid)

Relationships: Jessica Andrews/Ali Mills, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence

Additional Tags: Lesbians, Sapphic, Sapphic Ali has my heart, Jessica Andrews is pretty, Background Lawrusso, Karate kid movies ate, Implied aroace susan, implied lawrusso, Still love lawrusso, Cheerleaders, When your a cheerleader but ur acc sapphic and it unfortunate, The author has a writers block, Mentioned Sappho (fl. 600 BCE)

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/41361375

#lawrusso #johnny lawrence #cobra kai #karate kid #ao3feed

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Season 4, Episode 8: An Extremely Chaotic and Incoherent Review

EEEEUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH this was by FAR my least favorite episode so don't expect me to have many kind things to say about it D:<

The Good (what little there was of it):

Robby and Tory were like...the ONLY redeeming quality of this episode

They fucken CARRIED the damn thing, honestly--I don't know if I could have stomached it without them

"Did you just ask me to prom?" "Strictly a tactical move" Okay only Tory and Robby would flirt like this and god is it ADORABLE

While I am cranky that they wasted screen time bringing back Stingray of all people, "You were never a part of this team. You're a buffoon. A joker. An embarrassment." is my new go-to insult and I will now be using it regularly

Lol somehow I forgot that Daniel has other New Jersey cousins who can cause shenanigans. I am always eager for shenanigans

Sam's prom dress is almost the exact shade of pink mine was and thus I am obligated to compliment her fashion sense and color preferences

Also CALLED that her dress would be pink or purple!!! And does she ever SLAY in pink, go get it girl <3

AWWWWW I JUST NOW REALIZED MIGUEL MATCHED HIS BOWTIE WITH HER DRESS

DORKS

Okay I know everything's gonna go to shit later but I'm happy these two get a few minutes of cuteness at least ;__;

Damn...the fact that Shannon was able to pick out red flags with Terry Silver immediately is making her grow on me. Like she's definitely not been the best mom, but the woman has good instincts and I have to respect that. "If there's one type of guy I know, it's a rich guy who wants something" indeed

Shannon might be smarter than I've been giving her credit for honestly

Miguel picking up Sam and spinning her ;_;

GODDDDD why can't they be happy for ONE NIGHT

Moon dancing with GIRLS like the sapphic queen she is!!!!

GOD if only one of them was her new girlfriend and she was off the market to one Eli Moskowitz ;___;

Man why won't they let that relationship DIE ffs

Okay okay back to good things, sorry

You know, I can take solace in the fact that Eli and Demetri did in fact go to prom as each other's date and are just too inconceivably stupid and far back in the closet to realize it

Idiots (affectionate, but frustrated)

Also, Demetri's prom suit is just as delightfully hideous as I've always dreamed it would be, and I am thrilled about that

Additionally, no straight man could ever wear a pac man suit to prom and manage to actually pull it off, hence proving further that Demetri is gay as all hell and just in very deep denial about it

AW, Dem tryna cheer up Eli when Eli’s bitch ass doesn't appreciate his very handsome and sarcastic date just because Dem's not a girl ;__;

At least Demetri looks apologetic when he gets dragged off by Yasmine??? That's something???

Eli's tryna be happy for Dem even though his heart is breaking in a million pieces, god bless

Okay not Yasmine seeming more excited to see Moon than Demetri, who she supposedly flew in from Sydney for

NO SERIOUSLY it's like:

Yasmine, upon seeing Demetri: Ah hey :) What's up, you :) Yasmine, upon seeing Moon: *excited sapphic screeching*

Also not Moon breaking into a huge smile and letting out this elated little "I can't believe you're here! <3 <3 <3" and then breaking into lovesick giggles

And, what? You think I'm NOT going to ship them??? Eat my ENTIRE ass actually

Okay, you know what??? MAD respect for Tory and Robby walking in in an ABSOLUTE power stance

Saw some people throwing shade at Tory's dress, but those people are wrong and leopard print fucks actually

Okay I mean I do appreciate Johnny trying to protect his kid from Terry Sleazer but like...Johnny you IDIOT, this absolutely has the vibes of him taking you to a secluded place to murder you??? Then again, it's very in-character for Johnny to just go anyway

Johnny Lawrence is only the most tragic of idiots

Aw, the WAY Sam looks at Miguel when they start slow dancing

She's so happy ;__;

I'll admit they DO have a few pretty great moments in this episode

Oh my GOD Tory and Robby are so fucking petty and EXTRA and it's absolutely glorious

Look at them, carrying this entire fucking episode on their backs

I can't believe they're just the actual embodiment of the Fake Dating fanfiction trope

Like they legit said "let's go to prom together to piss off our exes and make them jealous" and then actually started liking each other??? Classic fanfic move

Yeah okay the Anthony subplot is mildly amusing, I forget how sassy and hot-tempered Amanda can be

Love that for her though!

"Now why do you think you love your daughter more than your son?" GODDAMN YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO JUST OUTRIGHT CALL THEM OUT LIKE THAT

Okay she got them good with that notepad, I'll give it to her

Shannon was a dancer??? And she taught Robby??? THAT'S SO FRICKEN CUTE

TORY AND ROBBY MY GODDDDDD

THEY CAME FOR MY ENTIRE HEART ACTUALLY

I feel like they just really understand each other and can find a comfort and solace in each other they haven't been able to with anyone else and I think that's beautiful ;__;

AAAAHHHHHH HER HEAD'S ON HIS SHOULDER

She's showing him Soft Tory, where she doesn't feel like she has to be tough and badass ;_;

Pretty sure she was NEVER that vulnerable with Miguel so like

Keenry >>>>> Tori/guel actually

"Are they still watching?" "I don't care" *sobs*

I'll give it to you, Season 4, you got me very emotionally invested in the two dudes who were my least faves last season...that's impressive

ALSO if you look in the background during the Tory and Robby dance scenes, Moon is hanging around RIGHT BY Yas and Demetri the entire time

And I swear to GOD, I caught Moon turning and stealing a couple glances at Yas

Moon has a big fat lesbian crush on Miss Discount Regina George, send tweet

I’m betting she was hanging around Dem and Yas because she was trying to work up the courage to ask if she could “jokingly” cut in, but never could quite be brave enough :( :( :(

No I don’t CARE if I’m reaching actually, this headcanon is giving me a seratonin boost and that’s all that matters

There’s even a super brief shot of Yas and Moon dancing together, so fuck it, I’ll take my lesbian scraps

Aight that's a sick LA-city-lights-at-night shot, I'll give it to 'em

Y'know what? I predicted Eli would be third-wheeling Demetri and Yasmine and NOT Sam and Miguel, so like...I guess I won there???

He's clearly hanging around Dem like a lost puppy, so...at least we got one half of the ship being gay af

As much as you can fuckin win anything when you're getting Yasfuckingmetri shoved down your throat -__-

Alright alright alright I'll admit Stingray beating the shit out of the neighbor who’s got a stick up his ass was pretty damn funny

I GUESS he can get one last moment of glory before Terry Silver pummels him to kingdom come

I'll admit I kinda loved seeing Daniel take a page out of Johnny's book and cut the shit with Anthony, cuz like...I honestly don't think there'd be much other way to get through to him, the way he just...does whatever he wants lol

Also Daniel shouting Johnny's "QUIET!!!" was beautiful

Breaking the iPad was taking it a liiiiiittle far though

"Seems like you're always behind me in line. First Miguel, now Robby. I have a half-eaten cupcake in there if you want some!" DAMN GIRL YOU ARE A SAVAGE

I honestly have to stan, that was a sick burn

Okay, you know what? I was hoping for a karate brawl at the prom because teenagers fighting each other in formalwear is deeply hilarious to me. And this episode DELIVERED on that front. Granted, I was hoping for a larger karate fight that included Demetri and Eli pummeling the crap out of Kyler, but I'll take any prom karate fight.

And like...given Sam’s trauma with Tory and Johnny’s recent influence on her, I’m not really surprised she started shit and tried her luck with “striking first”

Like yes it led to a clusterfuck disaster but it was a neat character beat

TORY PULLING ROBBY INTO THE POOL

THEM GIGGLING

WHY ARE THEY SO ADORABLE

On the upside, I don't think my most beloathed Tori/guel and S*mR*bby are going to be getting back together anytime soon, because Tory and Robby are in fact very into each other

Giving me legitimate hope that Samiguel and Keenry will be endgame because like...I don't think Robby and Tory are going to suddenly stop being utterly smitten with each other any time soon

Look at you smooching kids!!! Happy for you!!!

I would like to personally thank Robby Keene and Tory Nichols for singlehandedly getting me through this episode

Welp, I mean. They couldn't bring back Stingray without having him get his ass handed to him by an unhinged karate grandpa, so like...I guess that's something.

The Bad:

Okay WHY did we need to bring Stingray back? Like

We're all here for the kids and the karate dads and the evil karate grandpas

And we spent a good precious 3 minutes of screentime on Stingray stuff that I don't think anyone cares about

Literally the ONE good thing about bringing the man back is that we got "You were never a part of this team. You're a buffoon. A joker. An embarrassment." but that's IT

They could've used that screentime to actually like. Develop Demetri and Yasmine's relationship a tiny bit so that we actually give half a shit when she flies back to go to the prom with him like???

Maybe have a Yasmine scene where she's in the Sydney airport feeling conflicted, texting Dem or smth. It could be an opportunity to learn more about Yas and develop her a bit outside of just being really obsessed with Demetri or whatever

Like no, this wouldn't make me ship them, but at least it would help Yasmine feel like less of a fucking prop and more of an actual like...person

Right now she's literally just a "coolness prize" and I have 0 emotional investment in her and Demetri's relationship

I also know basically fucking nothing about it, considering we went from her making out with him in the halls and being super embarrassed about it to her being all over him and having no personality outside of it

Like, what, is it supposed to be a triumphant moment when she pops up at prom??? We still barely know her and, again, have basically no reason to be invested in her character OR her and Demetri's relationship

Unless you like looking at hot girls and projecting onto Demetri I guess

Anyways

Bottom line is if the writers actually want me to root for Dem and Yas, the BARE MINIMUM is to give Yas some depth and some personality aside from "horny and occasionally mean"

Also it's real Daniel-and-Johnny-get-the-hell-over-yourselves hours

Maybe have one (1) reasonable, mature discussion instead of jumping at every opportunity to yell at and belittle each other and you wouldn't have so many issues get between your goddamn dojos

These stubborn fuckers are legit so wrapped up in their own self-righteousness that I am starting to very much want to slap them

WHY CAN'T Y'ALL JUST CHILL AND FIGURE YOUR SHIT OUT

Okay random little nitpick BUT

I'm so sorry but the little bows on Sam's straps look kind of tacky, don't kill me ^^;

Lowkey distracting D:

Other than that I like the dress tho!!!

Okay SO

MONSTER rant ahead

Literally as soon as we get to the prom everyone starts acting OOC as SHIT, it's insane

Like I shit you not, basically the only ones who aren't acting like they've been replaced by cheap imitation dopplegangers are Robby and Tory

Hence why, as previously stated, those two fuckers carried the entire episode

So for starters the No Homo'ing here is somehow even more atrocious than in Episode 5

And that was BAD

But like yeah of COURSE they have Eli complaining about him and Dem not having prom dates just to make SURE we know they're not each other's prom date -__-

Because god forbid we think they might be on a date for one goddamn second

And also every heterosexual in existence clearly spends every waking moment lamenting the lack of a romantic partner, and can never just...vibe with their friends at dances???

Like Demetri goes "dateless" to prom SOLELY with the intent of hanging out with Eli so he won't be alone, and then the writers make Eli not only appreciate it 0%, but also actively bitch about not having a girl on his arm???

Fuck OFF

It just feels so OOC, too, like...yeah, going to prom without an official date can make you self-conscious, but like...at this point in Eli's arc, I feel like he should kinda be over the need to get a gf for social status, you know?

And let's be real, high school dating (and prom dates in particular) is like 90% about social status

Like it would be one thing if the need to be in a relationship or be desired by girls was something that Eli still has to kind of overcome, but I don't get the sense that's where they're going with this??? It's just like "haha let's make the heavily queer-coded dude SUPER focused on girls so no one will ever suspect he's queer-coded!!!"

I SWEAR TO GOD

Also they deadass flew Yasmine all the way back from Australia solely to No Homo Demetri and Eli once again -___-

Like??? What was even the point of the "Yasmine goes to Australia" plotline???

Seems like they were trying to introduce conflict in Demetri's love life or something, but then they just solved it immediately

"Oh no, Demetri's girlfriend can't go to the prom with him!!!! Jk yeah she can"

Okay??? This made me feel absolutely nothing

Once again obsessed (derogatory) with the fact that the writers cannot ever let Demetri and Eli have ONE scene alone together without insistently sticking in a reminder that they're both straight

Like if they were actually just chillin straight bros you wouldn't need to TELL us they're just chillin straight bros all the time???

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure they don't do this kind of thing with like...Demetri and Miguel. Or Demetri and Chris. Because in those cases, the writers trust us to interpret their bond as purely platonic

But with Dem and Eli??? The showrunners know DAMN WELL how gay they come across, and they gotta constantly try and do "damage control" over it -__-

When will Yasmine's personality return from the war??? More at six

I'm still so upset that she went from being horrified that anyone would think she was dating Demetri to being all the fuck over him, and it happened entirely offscreen

What on earth happened to change her mind about openly dating him??? Guess we'll never fucking know

I can't believe I deadass said "maybe Yasmine and Demetri dating won't be so bad"

I really trusted the writers to portray it as the shallow fling it was set up as instead of like...the high school sweetheart romance of the century I guess

What--and I once again cannot emphasize this enough--the FUCK

Guess I am BooBoo the Fool

Here I thought these ultimately empty, shallow high school relationships would actually be shown as being

You know

Ultimately empty and shallow

Cobra Kai really tryna tell us "if you and someone in your high school find one another attractive and kiss a few times, y'all are absolute soulmates and you have found true love"

EXCUSE ME, you're telling me the SAME Demetri who put his arm around a shaved, sadboi Eli and told him he didn't care how he did his hair or what he went by or whether he was into coding or karate, he would always love him and be his best friend--

You're telling me THAT Demetri ditched Eli at the prom to go grind on his one-dimensional girlfriend, and didn't even invite Eli to go dancing with them???

Who the hell is this pac man-wearing fuck and what has he done with my boy??? This is character assassination of the highest caliber

Are you fucking SERIOUS??? They're having Eli still be hung up over Moon??? Bro you dated her for like 2 minutes, and we're literally never given any reason to think it was because of something other than just her being hot and popular. And now it's been, what? Like a year???

The writers will not let Eli move the hell on, despite the fact that Moon clearly has, and it pisses me off so much. Eli needs to let Moon go, and the narrative really should not reward him for being hell-bent on rekindling a romance that seemed to be based on literally nothing except physical attraction anyways

See but I KNOW it's going to and that angers me on a deep and profound level

Like my dude high school relationships end all the TIME and that's FINE! Teenagers are just getting used to an onslaught of hormones and experimenting with romantic relationships, and people in high school are constantly growing and changing so much that it's difficult to really build a lasting romantic relationship. When hormones and attraction are that intense, it's not uncommon at all for there to be a very strong spark for a little bit and then it completely burns out. With Hawk and Moon, we were never shown any deeper connection between them to build a lasting relationship off of. The fact that we're just supposed to take the writer's word for it that it was a deep and profound relationship with these puberty-riddled high schoolers is just ridiculous.

On that note, Eli thinking his first high school girlfriend is his soulmate or smth is also ridiculous. Although Eli is chaotic, intensely emotional, and sometimes kind of impulsive, we're shown he's overall an intelligent dude--he should really be smarter than this :/

Also ALSO in Episode 5, he showed basically NO signs of still being into Moon (aside from "oh when did she and Piper break up?"). Like he literally was completely focused on Demetri and Yasmine until Moon talked to him directly! And when Dem asked him about it, he seemed to have accepted the fact that Moon had a girlfriend and was legitimately ready to move on.

And now all the sudden he's being a piney sadboi for her again??? Because...she's available, and he's not allowed to move on for some reason??? Fuck OFF

I'm telling you, character assassination all AROUND in this episode

"We have to show Eli continuing to be obsessed with his first girlfriend instead of defining himself outside having a gf and trying to heal the friendships he drove a stake into last season, which are really more important to his overall character arc"

Like what a weird and vaguely gross writing choice

Moon really deserves better than to be endlessly pined for by a clingy ex who just will not let sleeping dogs lie I guess

Like I don't think I need to say it but your ex from a two-month relationship still being hung up on you like a year later proooooobably shouldn't be portrayed as a good thing. Or romantic. Or flattering in really any way. Especially when you've shown literally 0 signs of having any lingering feelings for him at all.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I'm just really angry about fucking H*wkM**n being pushed on us in such an insanely poorly-done way

I mean I wouldn't like it being pushed on us regardless but the way they do it is especially Cringe

Anyways I'm being reminded that as much as I've come to despise Yas/metri, I'll always despise H*wkM**n more

At LEAST Yasmine and Demetri had wedgies to bond over

WHAT do Hawk and Moon have in common?

The answer is ??????????????????????????????????????????

ANYWAYS

I guess eventually I'll have to stop ranting about this and start ranting about everything else I hated in this episode

So remember how I said everyone is acting egregiously OOC this episode??? I sure as hell didn't just mean my boys Demetri and Eli

Do not even get me STARTED on Miguel

Actually no, I WILL get started on Miguel, whether you like it or not

So Tory and Robby walk in and Sam and Miguel are Big Mad, right

Understandable, have a nice day. BUT

Both Sam and Miguel have heavy trauma centered around Tory and Robby. Robby paralyzed and nearly killed Miguel, and Tory severely assaulted Sam with seemingly-murderous intent twice

Naturally you would think one or both of them would have, perhaps, a goddamn panic attack--or at LEAST want to get as far away from their former aggressors as possible, instead of just standing around and shooting glares at them

With Miguel it's especially egregious because like. Your girlfriend showed you the scars she got from Tory in the hospital, and you know she's been badly hurt by this girl. And you can't be bothered to check up on her and make sure she's okay when she starts acting tense, upset, and anxious around her former attacker???

It's outrageous, like...Miguel has been shown to care SO MUCH for Sam, and to an extent he's never had eyes for anyone but her (if you consider Tory a rebound, which...she kinda was tbh). Why the hell isn't he more worried about her assaulter being nearby???

Like the Miguel Diaz I know would have pulled Sam aside like "Hey, are you okay with them being here? If you're uncomfortable we can go home and watch octopus documentaries"

Or at the very least I feel he would have opted to, you know, not DANCE RIGHT NEXT TO THESE PEOPLE WHO TRAUMATIZED HIM AND HIS GF

Like why even??? Just go to the other side of the dance floor, where you don't have to worry as much about like...getting severe PTSD flashbacks

On that topic, literally WHY is Miguel suddenly still into Tory??? He has not been shown to have ANY lingering feelings for her like ALL SEASON

Also this is still the chick who assaulted his current gf, who he has always, sorry to say it, liked better than Tory anyhow

As if he'd EVER pine for Tory when he's with the girl he's liked from DAY FUCKING ONE

I buy these lingering Tory feelings 0% actually

Also bro WHY is Miguel annoyed at Sam for shooting glances at Robby and Tory, like??? Again, this was the girl who BRUTALLY ASSAULTED HER together with Sam’s possibly vindictive ex, of COURSE she's tense and wants to keep an eye on them

To make sure, you know, SHE AND MIGUEL DON'T GET ATTACKED

Which, given these four's history, is not completely out of the question, dojo "truces" aside

Bottom line is Miguel is highkey being a dick and uncharacteristically unconcerned about his girlfriend's legitimate PTSD, and this is NOT the Miguel Diaz I know and love

"I guess Moon's not coming" "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Yo, where are the Cobra Kai writers at? I swear, I just wanna talk

As if Demetri WOULDN'T be checking in on Eli constantly. Ffs that's just what Demetri DOES.

Like Demetri went to the prom solely to keep Eli company, as established before, and now he suddenly doesn't give a shit about sidelining Eli and making him feel super awkward???

And of COURSE the showrunners can't pass up an opportunity to remind us that Eli is totally straight and still obsessing over the ex he had no chemistry whatsoever with -___-

This H*wkM**n shit is gonna make me do a homicide I swear

ARE YOU SERIOUS ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS DEMETRI IS LEAVING ELI ALL ALONE ON THE DAMN COUCH TO RUN AROUND THE HOUSE WITH YASMINE??? THEY'RE BOTH JUST FUCKING OPENLY DITCHING HIM???

No way this fucker is really my boy Demetri, they've replaced him with an awful, awful clone

The REAL Demetri and Eli decided not to go to prom and are at Eli's house playing video games this entire episode actually

Because LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO MY BOYS

WHERE is management, I am going to throw some hands

Can I throw this entire episode into an incinerator

Except for Robby and Tory, y'all are angels and you can stay

Aight so while I do appreciate Daniel giving Anthony the harsh call-out he deserves, like I said before, breaking the iPad was a LITTLE much

Seems not great to scare your kids into compliance but okay

"You think I broke your heart? You broke mine too" girl what

Sam has literally never been shown to still have feelings for Robby since the breaking-Miguel's-back incident, what the FUCK

Damn, this is really the "try to convince everyone Sam and Miguel still have feelings for their exes and utterly fail at it" episode huh

Like even when Sam talked to Robby at the skate park, she entirely seemed to miss his friendship???

I want to emphasize once again that this is the first we've seen or heard ALL SEASON of Sam and Miguel still carrying ANY kind of torch for Robby and Tory

Even for a silly karate soap opera this shit is just insanely whack

"Tonight was supposed to be for you and me and you ruined it" BRUH

Like your girlfriend is understandably on edge because her previous assaulter shows up, you show 0 concern or empathy about this, and then you get all up her ass for doing exactly what both y'all's mentor has always taught you about striking first and not taking shit???

I mean yes, starting shit with Tory was not the wisest thing to do, but given Sam's trauma and constant concern about Tory coming after her, it's absolutely understandable

Sam lost her temper and lashed out, yes, but it's worth noting that from her perspective she was preemptively striking to get the upper hand in the case that Tory tried to attack her

Which, given Tory's 2 cases of assault against her, isn't a terribly unreasonable assumption--promise to Amanda not to attack Sam or no

Anyways so like...now Miguel is getting mad at SAM and accusing her of RUINING THE NIGHT because she was understandably upset and uncomfortable with her, you know, ASSAULTER being nearby???

Fuck OFF

It's Peak Douche and the most egregiously OOC shit I've ever seen

Like suddenly he doesn't care about Sam's trauma or try to factor it in when she's behaving out of sorts??? Eat my ENTIRE ass

NOT MY BOY

Where the hell is the real Miguel Diaz??? Did someone kidnap him??? Is he playing video games with the real Demetri and Eli???

Sam was more in character than Miguel for sure BUT

She should be much more pissed at Robby for, you know, BREAKING HER BOYFRIEND'S BACK and then looking like he might attack said boyfriend again???

Like it's a little more in-character for Sam to get wrapped up in her rage enough that she doesn't stop to think about how Robby's presence could be affecting Miguel

But she still should have checked in with him somewhat

They BOTH should have checked in with each other when the people who traumatized them walked in, wtf

Like how do you butcher Samiguel so bad in what should probably be the most romantic episode

"You're doing just fine. I love you." "I love you too, Robby" EXCUSE ME

You have the audacity to come here, on the DAY of my Samiguel character butchering, and butcher Johnny Lawrence's character too???

I'm going to light something on fire

Look I hate to be That Guy but lowkey Johnny has been shown to love Miguel more than Robby

Like I don't think either Miguel or Johnny are really in the wrong for that, because like...you can't help that you're just going to form deeper connections and vibe more with some people than others, y'know? And you can't fully help who you love, and how much you love them

Like it's nice that Johnny wants to reconcile with Robby but like

I just CAN'T see him choosing Robby over Miguel tbh

Nor can I see Robby being more on his mind than Miguel while he's in a drunken stupor :/

Damn, first Demetri and Eli, then Sam and Miguel, now Johnny and Miguel...is this episode TRYING to do every single relationship in this show that I like dirty????

And now they're making me watch Miguel cry and ripping my heart in half, as if I wasn't already upset ENOUGH god damn it

In summary AYVKUZDTGWCIYKTDETKCTW (derogatory)

Why

WHY

This episode burned not just my house down but my entire neighborhood down

Look what you've done, Cobra Kai, now I'm homeless

Hol up I need to lie on my couch and cry (derogatory) for a while

Someone PLEASE give me the strength to get through the last two episodes, I'm going to need it :/

#robby keene #tory nichols #keenry #stingray cobra kai #daniel larusso #samantha larusso #sam larusso #miguel diaz #samiguel #shannon keene #terry silver #eli moskowitz #hawk #demetri alexopoulos #demetri cobra kai #yasmine cobra kai #moon cobra kai #yasmoon #yasmine x moon #moon x yasmine #binary boyfriends #hawkmeat #elimetri #johnny lawrence #anti hawkmoon #anti yasmetri #anti-yasmetri #anti-hawkmoon #cobra kai #cobra kai season 4

[ltwharfy]

“So, what is this Karate Code you keep talking about?”, she asked.

“Well, it’s very long and complicated but, the gist of it is to always use your skills to help others in need,” he said.

“Oooh, I like that!” Kaylee exclaimed. It sounded noble, like the missions of some of the heroic characters in the fantasy novels she loved to read. “So, you’re kind of like a knight?”

Arnold looked to the side briefly, like he was a little embarrassed, but he recovered quickly. “Kind of, but instead of all that dorky armor, we wear cool clothes like this.” He gestured to the gi again.

“Yeah, but the armor helps protect them. Your gi doesn’t offer any protection, does it?”

“I don’t need my clothes to protect me because I got…”, he struck what Kaylee assumed was some sort of karate posture, “My skills!”

-The Life of the Symposium (aka Party)

Thanks, Babs! I love the fact that my first "DVD Commentary" ask is about my least-read story- maybe this will lead more folks to checking it out!

So, the point of this scene, and the whole story is just establishing why it makes sense that Arnold and Kaylee would make a connection. They are minor characters, who aren't seen interacting with each other until "Ancient Misbehavin'"- they are briefly seen talking to each other walking into the classroom earlier in the episode (in addition to their dancing at the party that inspired the fic) but we don't hear their conversation. So just establishing the basis for the relationship is a challenge that doesn't exist when writing about one of the Belcher kids and one of their more common shipmates or even writing about a pair of minor characters with a canon relationship like Henry/Susmita.

But when I thought about Arnold and Kaylee, I thought that they had enough in common for a connection between them to make sense- it worked as more than just a weird background gag. They are both smart, they are both kind of outsiders (there is a whole episode about Kaylee feeling like she doesn't fit in; Arnold is the youngest kid in his class and wears his karate gi every day), they both have this mix of being serious and silly, and I think that their established interests- Arnold's in karate and Kaylee's in fantasy have some commonalities. And that's what this bit really emphasizes.

As I note at the end of the story, my Google research did not find an actual official Karate Code, so I imagine it is either something he or his teacher made up. Based on what he said in "Yes Without My Zeke", it sounds like helping other was a big part of the code, and I felt like that would likely mirror the codes that some of the heroes in Kaylee's fantasy books might have, since themes of good vs. evil and heroes who follow codes are pretty common in that genre, especially when marketed towards younger readers.

So, I thought it made sense that the Karate Code (as presented by Arnold) would appeal to Kaylee. And then I made him act a little embarrassed at being compared to a knight just because even though he likes to see/present himself as heroic, I think he might still feel a little awkward hearing that from someone else, especially an older girl. Then the bit about him saying that he thinks the gi is cooler than a knight's armor just really seems like something an 8 year old boy would think up on the spur of the moment if they had to explain why its cooler to do karate than be a knight.

Ending by having Arnold strike a pose and talk about "my skills" is just because I thought it was really funny the way he said "my skills" in "Yes Without My Zeke" and it was just fun to imagine him doing that and Kaylee being amused by it (as "Prank You For Being A Friend" establishes her as having a dorky sense of humor).

So, this bit allowed me to show commonalities between them in both being kind of serious (they are 4th graders who think about living by ethical codes) and kind of silly (because they are still an 8 year old and a 9 year old).

And Kaylee laughing at the "my skills" bit, as well as Arnold's brief embarrassment at the knight comparison, also allows me to put a lit bit of potential 4th grade-level crushing in the story. As I'm pretty clear in the notes to the story, I think it could be read as just the beginning of a friendship or the beginning of a crush, and honestly, I'm not quite sure how that will play out if a write more about them. I'm currently leaning towards the idea that Kaylee gets a crush on Arnold at some point and he's kind of oblivious (which might make sense as he is younger); but I could make it the other way around; or that they have mutual crushes or don't develop crushes until they are older. As you can tell, I do not have any sort of plan about how I am writing this pair, just the idea that I'd like to do another story about them at some point!

Thanks for asking, hope this was an interesting read!

#bob's burgers #kaylee morganstern #arnold evans #arnlee #thanks for asking! #ask game #fic dvd commentary game