#miguel looks in later and while he feels bad this is the canon of her world

[berry-potchy]

I went through my drafts and found this. I typed this during a moment of weakness for cliche chick flicks and fuckboy Miguel:

This is not edited and messy but I just wanted to share that I'm thinking about a very typical and silly high school coming of age romance setting with the popular broody bad boy x wallflower good girl except that Miguel is already so down bad for (obsessed with) good girl who btw is chubby and cute.

What's on my mind rn is kid Miguel and kid reader were childhood best friends/sweethearts. You were neighbors and your families were close. One day, for some reason you had to move away. This was maybe when you and Miguel were like 7. You were inconsolable during moving day and Miguel's poor little heart broke at the sight. He confessed to you then and asked you to be his girlfriend and you said yes and you kissed him on the cheek and you guys hugged until your parents had to pry you off each other so you can leave. Your parents felt really bad that they had to separate you from your best friend and what they thought was pretend boyfriend but the move was a canon event.

You weren't able to keep in touch, you weren't able to make many friends in your new place either. Like you had friends but they kinda have their own separate friend groups that you're not a part of. You were kinda just there, mourning your loneliness. Growing up you always had that ugly feeling of missing out and the "what if I didn't move back then?" in the back of your head. But one day, you're already like what? Last year in high school? You get a notif on your IG that a Miguel liked a photo you posted from a few months prior (it's a rare photo of you wearing something that shows off of your curves and feeling it). It's odd. You've posted a lot more photos since then. You check the profile and it's your Miguel... but he grew up HOT. Tall, wide, jacked, but it's the same Miguel with the pretty brown eyes and dark loose curls that he now styles slicked back. You follow him thinking he won't notice because of all the pretty girls who comment on his pics but never get replied to. But he followed you back immediately and sent you a 'hey' on DM. You didn't know what to say at all so you just stared at it until he replied ':/' followed by 'see you soon. you better have something to say to me by then.'

Later that day your parents drop the bomb that you're moving back to your childhood home. Next to Miguel.

Not to get into too much plot I just really wanna think about Miguel welcoming back his girlfriend and wanting to make up for lost time which gets you super flustered by his advances and shamelessness. You can't quite tell if he's just teasing you about the girlfriend part but the flirting definitely feels for real.

Your parents telling you to keep the door open when he goes up your room to hang out and you get embarrassed, stuttering that you're not planning on doing anything sexual. Miguel however shrugs and goes "I wouldn't trust me in a room with you either. I would eat you up"

And during lunch at school you cant find a seat, you try to look for Miguel but the scary popular kids are flocking around him. He looks like he's so bored but perks up when he sees you walk by and grabs your wrist to make you sit with them. Some random girl mockingly goes "oh sorry there's no space for you here" and you feel humiliated. Miguel shuts her up with a glare and makes you sit on his lap. No one dares to speak up as he tries to feed you with the snacks from his tray. He's squeezing your thighs enjoying the feel of you on his lap while he goes "I remember you liking this (insert snack or boxed drink here) so I got you an extra one, chula"

There's really nothing else to this I just thought it was cute and had to share.

#miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x reader #potchy-thoughts #miguel o’hara fanfiction #miguel o’hara x you #potchy-writes #spiderman 2099 x reader #miguel o'hara headcanons #miguel o'hara x female reader #miguel x reader #miguel o'hara x chubby reader

[thelovelylolly]

Hobie x reader where she gets her period on a mission and starts cramping realll bad and the monster just so happens to know when someone is hurting in any way and Hobie isn't there but later gets notified his girl got hurt and the rest is just like him comforting her wounds. And she's on so much pain she forgets she even got her period and so she gets up and Hobie is just like "uh.. Bae.."

Not forcing only do it if your comfortable 🫡🫶🩷

Bleeding

Summary: Your time of the month comes in the middle of a fight, but you're too busy fighting to notice. Warnings: afab reader, mentions of periods, blood and wounds, canon-typical violence (let me know if i missed anything!) Notes: not my cramps starting the day i got this request-

You knew it was coming, but you would never guess that it would come in the middle of a fight. You were trying to catch a Venom variant to send back to HQ when you felt it, followed by a sharp cramp. But you ignored it, you had a job to do.

Venom was a slippery guy to catch, no thanks to him being an actual symbiote that could shift into any shape he wanted. You started to get tired of chasing him up and down the blocks of New York in whatever universe you ended up in. Finally, Venom slowed down just enough for you to shoot some webs and drag him towards you. He roared and tried to escape, but you shot more webs and planted your heels in the ground.

He slashed around, cutting your webs off of him before charging at you. He threw you threw the front windows of a nearby shop, scaring the civilians around you. You hit the ground with a grunt and got back up a bit slower than usual. You could feel cuts from the glass on your back and arms, but you jumped right back into action.

You swung yourself up and kicked Venom in the head, stunning him for just a second. You webbed his hands and pulled them back behind his back, making sure he couldn't claw himself out of it. Then, he kicked you in the stomach since his legs were still free. You stumbled back as the air was knocked out of you.

Venom started to run but you quickly webbed up his legs, causing him to trip. You wrapped his legs up just like his hands and dragged him towards you as you caught your breath. Venom kept yelling at you until you shot a web at his mouth, shutting him up.

You sighed and lifted your watch, making a portal back to HQ before LYLA popped up next to you.

"What do you want, LYLA?" You asked as you threw Venom into the portal for Margo to deal with.

"You were off during your little fight. Slower, maybe?" The AI answered, glitching around you.

"Did you pop up to analyze my fight or something? Because I didn't ask you to do that, and if Miguel did-"

"It's not that. I'm just here to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, just tired. And sore."

LYLA looked you up and down, noticing the cuts in your suit. You sighed and rolled your eyes.

"Please don't contact Hobie-"

"Already did," she chirped back. "He's on his way to HQ right now."

You opened another portal. "Alright, thanks LYLA."

"Anytime," she said before disappearing. You walked through the portal to HQ, ready to collapse into your boyfriend's arms and take a long nap.

----

"Okay, love, how 'bout you take a shower while I get you some clothes and stuff? Then I'll take care of your cuts," Hobie said, leading you to his bathroom. After he found you at HQ, he immediately took you back home to take care of you. Thankfully, you had started to leave some of your things at his place for times like this.

You were too tired to give any real reply, instead nodding as you walked into the bathroom. You started the shower and got out of your suit. You stepped into the shower and washed your body off, careful not to irritate your cuts and bruises. You heard Hobie come in and set clothes down on the counter, then left you to finish up and change.

You switched the water off and got out, bundling up in a towel and carefully patting your hair dry. You changed into what Hobie brought you. One of your tank tops and a pair of gym shorts you had left here. You opened the door to let Hobie know you were ready and tiredly sat down on the toilet.

Hobie came in with a small first aid kit and set it on the counter.

"Let's see what we're working with..." He said, prompting you to show where you got his the worse. There were a bunch of scratches and cuts on your back and the back of your arms.

Hobie carefully took care of them, cleaning them to make sure they wouldn't get infected. For any deeper cuts, he put a bandaid over it. It was quiet, but most of your days together after a mission were and you two wouldn't have it any other way.

"There, all better," he hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before packing up the first aid kit. "Do you need anything else, babe?"

Right as he asked, a painful cramp shot through you, causing you to groan. Hobie immediately knelt in front of you, concern and confusion written all over his face. For a second, you were confused, too, but you quickly remembered that you had started your period in the middle of your fight.

"I got my period..." You grumbled, leaning your forehead against his.

"Oh, I'm sorry love. What can I do to help?"

"Pain meds...and a heating pad..."

"Got it," he replied before quickly getting up and leaving to get you your things.

You closed the door and found some period products you left there last month. You grabbed a pad and took care of your business, then slowly made your way to the living room. Hobie had a heating pad warming up on the edge of the couch and he handed you a glass of water and some pain medicine. You popped the two pills in your mouth, swallowed them down with some water, and let Hobie guide you to sit down on the couch.

He let you sit down first before situating himself behind you, wrapping his arms around you and letting you lean back on him. He grabbed the heating pad and pressed it against your lower stomach, then grabbed one of the throw blankets you had gotten him and covered the two of you with it.

You smiled and hummed contently. "Thank you, Hobie."

"Of course, love."

You quickly dozed off his arms and a few minutes later, he dozed off, too.

#hobie brown x reader #hobie brown x you #hobie brown fanfiction #hobie brown fanfic #spider punk x reader #spider punk x you #spider punk fanfiction #spider punk fanfic

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Is Love in the air? Or it is just Gwen fuming?

Continuing with Mumbattan, the falling bit will go in another post (that will also be more about the movie than shipping since I don't have a lot to say in that regard,) let's go where we left of with: Gwen is MAD.

There is multiple reasons for her to not be in the mood, and sadly, Miles coming to help isn't exactly making that list smaller, for Miles disappointment.

Sorry Miles, part of being spiderman is helping people that actually don't want you help, you'll get use to it.

In here comes Pav, an amazing ray of sunshine who is great and deserves all the love he gets. Wish I knew enough about Desi culture and the Kerala region to make him justice, I hope someone who does makes an analysis.

Moving on, Pav is great, he saves them with ease as well as giving an extra punch to the bad guy, all while no time to pick up what's going on.

I adore how Gwen barely explains the situation to him and he already knows what's up. To be fair he isn't wrong, Miles may feel guilty about this spot mess and definitely wants to help out because is the right thing, but let's face it he also didn't want to never see Gwen again and probably aside of wanting to help he wanted to help her.

Everyone has seen this scene because it was part of the trailers so you would think there is not much I can say that someone hasn't said, but while looking at this scene I picked up onto something I never realized in my previous viewings and had be cackling.

But before we get to that, what's Gwen and Miles' reaction?

Miles? Immediately denies it, which is to be expected. If you had ever been in Miles position 99% of the chances is that you would do the same. He likes Gwen, a lot, but he and Gwen aren't officially anything and having the guy you just met talking about your private feelings isn't ideal.

Gwen? Well, her dialogue doesn't give me to much to work on, she sounds like she is trying to downplay the situation a bit, not outright denied it(probably because she knows Miles definitely has feelings for her,) but c'mon, he is not that down bad for her right?

Her hand gestures were interesting, honestly this part goes on so fast I didn't truly get what she was doing until I was watching it half speed.

This accompanied with the dialogue really has me thinking she is trying to act that no, nothing is happening, but is a very weak and I think what I love most about this part is that no one is buying it (Not Pavitr, not the audience, and probably not themselves,) yet they still try.

Now this part? Oh this is precious.

Here is the thing, the second line comes from Gwen, which she says very quickly after he says this.

But Gwen isn't the one who's feelings are being put on the grill now, so why exactly Gwen is trying to convince Miles than Pavitr isn't good at reading people?

The next part comes with speculation, but hear me out.

Pavitr is part of the organization, right? I doubt he knows about the canon events part, but he knows that there are anomalies crashing in another dimensions and the other spiders are suppose to come to catch them so they don't do a mess. He probably knows how strict is Miguel about this too.

So if Pavitr said that Miles must be in love with Gwen for following her uninvited, what do you think he would say if he knew that Gwen literally slacked on a mission because she was spending all her time with Miles?

Yeah and later why people wonder why Gwen is leading the poll on who is crushing the hardest.

Let's move on.

Small addendum but when Miles is asking how Pavitr already has a watch at six months, Gwen is unsure what to say when she gets caught up.

The tower scene deserves multiple post (for multiple reasons too) but let's just remember that Gwen was trying to let down Miles easy about the association since she knew Miguel wouldn't allow Miles in.

While I do think part of her reaction is by being caught on a lie in which she still doesn't know how to tell the truth, it doesn't escape me that a big reason why she said that lie in the first place was that she didn't want Miles to be hurt about being an anomaly.

She never had a chance to say what she really thinks about this (which is kind of her fault, she could at least attempted to explain some parts before getting to Miguel; I am still angry how everyone let Miles think this was a good thing until the very end.) I wonder if part of the reason is that she may had a speech similar to Peter B's and maybe the creators wanted to reserve it for the next movie.

Yep, she is still mad.

I don't have much to say here, I like this joke; they are spidey people and Miles is already getting up so Gwen know is not serious anyways.

Oh Pav, you don't know half of it.

I love how even when they aren't being corny he still smells the tension, because let's face it, I wouldn't had this much material to analyze if there wasn't a constant influx of little gestures back and forth from these two showing always how important they are to each other.

I remember when I first saw this scene I thought Pav doesn't have enough information to know this, and now I just think the guy is smarter than me.

Me the next few months because I swear I need to have some resolution with these two or I would lose it.

Miles quickly gets to Gwen to talk about the plan, which shipping aside, makes sense. He doesn't know Pavitr and their initial exchange wasn't ideal, not to mention that he may feel he would ask him about Gwen if he gets to her.

I don't think they realized what Pavitr was saying, which honestly that just highlights how focused they are on each other. They are in Pavitr's dimension, trying to catch this guy, and instead of asking him if he knows anything that could help them, or just include him in this conversation considering the three of them are on this now; they just zeroed on each other almost without thinking.

Which is funny considering they don't have that much experience working together for this to just be second nature, maybe the second nature is just stop listening to other things around each other.

I guess this is why Pavitr wasn't bothered about not being included, he has the best seat for this.

Sorry to just ad another joke, but this is literally me, while these two are talking about how to catch The Spot, he is just looking INTENSIVELY at them to see if he can spot another thing.

Okay, is finishing each other's phrases kind of a romantic trope? Yes.

Do Gwen has plausible deniability, since they are just seeing the Spot got towards Alchemax, and she knew before hand that the Spot was going for universes that has one? Yes.

Do I think the filmakers, who had put so much effort in this movie, from the way things are said to the colors, didn't do this on purpose? Oh absolutely not.

The thing that I found funny about all of this is that this is Gwen's entire dilemma with Miles, she convinced it can't work and is better to try to pretend those feelings aren't there, except neither him or her can't help it, those moments and the connection they have just keep happening.

Short answer Pav: They don't.

Okay! With this we finish their tour around Mumbattan, the immediate next part has been technically covered, so will probably talk about what happens after Hobie's presentation.

This part was a lot more fun that I expected, I was a bit nervous to go about this since I didn't think there was much I could talk about, but just like always, I just keep loving this movie more and more.

#ghostflower #gwiles #miles morales #gwen stacy #pavitr prabhakar #atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse spoilers #atsv #acros the spiderverse #ghostflower files

[dapper-zappa]

Spider Outta The Bag | Miguel O'Hara

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x Spider-Woman!Reader

Summary: Miguel is fed up with LYLA pestering him about his crush on you… only for him to accidentally confess the feelings in front of you.

Word count: ~1,3K

Warnings: Fluff, banter, possibly OOC Miguel?, TSSM series ending spoilers, LYLA being a sassy ahh mf, accidental confession, oblivious Y/N,

A/N: First Miguel fic woop woop, and if there's any inaccurate Spanish, please tell me! Also, I think it'd be nice to use the Peter from The Spectacular Spider-Man, who appeared on ATSV briefly as Y/N's mission partner in this fic instead of someone like Miles, Hobie, Jess Drew, or Ben. TSSM!Peter's world is canonically Earth-26496 in the Marvel wiki so that's why I wrote it that way.

Also, based after this prompt !

For the upteenth time, LYLA sighed at Miguel, who only did nothing but sit down and think. “Wow, Miguel, I swear you’re way more shy than a high schooler crushing on someone.” the AI groaned, shifting her form so she’s now sitting on top of her boss’s shoulder as she filed her nails. “Since she’s gonna go for a mission later thanks to an anomaly in Earth-26496 with the Peter from that world, why can’t you just tell her when you call her here for the mission briefing? That’ll save you way more time instead of wasting your time waiting for her to confess instead!”

His growing feelings towards you (and how he constantly tried to deny it) were often challenged if someone else teased him about it. While it’s usually 

his AI assistant that pestered him about his silly schoolboy crush, Dr. O’Hara also had got a fair amount of spider people who teased him to try to make him ask you out. From Jess, the Peter with a 5 o'clock shadow who almost always had baby Mayday on his side, Hobie, while not close with him, tends to make little jabs on how Miguel “was always buzzin’ to see Y/N”, even the melodramatic hunk Ben Reilly joined in at times. 

Yet at the same time, deep down he always yearned for you to return his feelings. 

“For the last time, LYLA. I’m not in love with Y/N L/N.” Miguel grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

LYLA’s projection shifted again so she’s now in front of his face, arms crossed as she popped a bubble of bubblegum as pink as her heart shaped shades.

“My goodness, you’re doing it again.” 

“What thing? I didn’t say anything bad before.” Miguel gestured with his hands to try to prove LYLA’s only joking or making some sort of false accusations to toy with him. 

“That thing! Where you’re so in love with someone yet pretend you’re not in love with them!” The AI bursted into laughter at how bad he is at pretending he’s not being lovestruck. “Every day you whine about how you don’t love Y/N yet whenever someone says it in front of your handsome face, you often look at her like a lost puppy whenever she’s in the room or whenever you two go on missions together. I’d say you’re one of the funniest in terms of the spider people being in love.” she chortled. 

Miguel shot LYLA a glare, shutting her mouth up once she was faced with a pair of angry scarlet orbs. The AI tried to open her mouth again but she was cut off by him.

“Then what am I supposed to say? Hey Y/N, I’m so deeply in love with you that you’re all I think about all the time-”

“-what?”

Before he knew it, he was interrupted by two familiar voices exclaiming at the same time. His jaw dropped agape, the scarlet hues in his now widened eyes dimmed down at the sheer shock that crept through him when one of the people who just walked into his office was Y/N L/N out of everyone else. 

“…LYLA?” 

“Yes?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me Y/N is coming?” he scolded, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

“I was trying to tell you that but you cut me off.”

On the other hand, the embarrassment also hit you, especially because you still couldn’t believe what you and the Peter from Earth-26496 - or as you’d nickname him, Spectacular Peter had just witnessed. Peter and you settled on the nickname when you praised his performance, calling him “spectacular” in a mission and you used that nickname to distinguish him from the many other Peters in the Spider Society. 

Miguel O’Hara just accidentally confessed he’s in love with you.

“Estupendo.” With his back now facing you and Peter, Miguel huffed in frustration and embarrassment. “Just make sure to tell no one about this.” 

(Great.)

“Miguel, I know I’m supposed to get the details about the mission in Earth-26496 but why didn’t you tell me from the start?” you questioned. “That way at least you wouldn’t have to hide your feelings around me, even if I ashamedly didn’t know about your little crush on me before I heard you saying it in front of me and Peter.” 

Peter, who noticeably appeared more cartoonish than most of his variants who were part of the Spider Society, could only give your shoulder a few comforting pats to attempt to relieve you from the amount of embarrassment by your own boss yet at the same time not cause any more trouble.

“At least it’s not the time when Gwen and I broke up with our partners Harry and Liz just so we can get together with each other… only for me to find out that my best friend’s dad is the Green Goblin soon after.” Peter lamented in remembrance of that very awkward moment in his love life.

Conflict grew even more - perhaps way more than it was within Miguel’s heart before he accidentally revealed his crush in front of you, someone who had no clue he liked you. His heart pounded under his ribs, waiting so hard for it to burst from how uneasy this moment was making him. His combed hair became messier the more he ran his fingers through his hair, as he tends to do it whenever he’s feeling stressed or anxious. 

This had gotta be the time where he should be all serious and make sure you and Peter got the needed information… right? After he calmed down, Miguel instead turned around to face you and your partner for today’s mission, approached you, and gently placed his large hand on your shoulder.

He briefly glanced at Peter (who’s getting really awkward from finding out his boss has a crush on his partner for today’s mission) before fixating his chestnut brown eyes on you. 

“I’m sorry for embarrassing you. I wasn't careful about my words before and I won’t do it again in front of you.” he suddenly retracted his hand after remembering that he’s supposed to give you the details of the anomaly in Earth-26496. 

LYLA projected 2 screens in front of you and Peter as Miguel began his briefing. The first screen displayed the details and a virtual model of a variant of the infamous Scorpion, but this particular version appeared to be a tall and muscular woman donning the Scorpion armor, complete to the venom infused in her tail’s stinger. On the other hand, the second screen displayed the Scorpion variant rampaging in that world’s city center. Police cars surrounded all over her, but to no avail as she started attacking the police officers and citizens began scurrying away from the now dangerous area. 

“Oh, I forgot. A Scorpion variant is rampaging in Earth-26496 and all you two have to do is to take down this anomaly, capture her, then bring her to the HQ so that the Go-Home Machine can send her back to her native dimension.”

“By the way, she looks to be quite tough because she’s armed with a venom stinger in her tail, so you both have to be careful or else you’ll suffer from hallucinations and fatigue induced by her venom.” LYLA added.

“I wish you two luck with today’s mission.” Miguel said firmly, ending the briefing for today’s mission. 

“We will, Miguel.” Peter replied. 

He immediately opened a portal to his native world for you two to go in and immediately stepped inside, but right when you were about to step inside the portal, Miguel stopped you.

“So… would you like to go to dinner tonight with me? Maybe I can take you to my favorite place in Nueva York once you and Peter are done handling the anomaly. For our first date.” you turned around at his offer. 

“I’d love to, but I have to go now. I’ll see you again!” 

“You too.” he smiled. 

With a last wave towards him, you went in the portal and it closed itself right after. Now what’s left to do is for you to help Peter capture the Scorpion variant anomaly and bring her back to the HQ, just as you were told.

#atsv fic #atsv fanfic #atsv x reader #atsv x you #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara x reader #smokey writes #atsv #spider man atsv #spider man across the spider verse #miguel x you #miguel x reader #spider man 2099 x reader #spider man 2099 x you

[artemiseamoon]

Preview: Sin pt 4

Miguel x f reader | bi! Pacho x f reader | ft (briefly) Cali Cartel *

Words: 6,297

I no longer write reader inserts, so consider this one of my last ever. 💕

Fic info /chapter key/ warnings (disclaimers there as well)

An: when I refer to Miguel ex wife it’s not Maria. Maria is a queen and i hate omitting her but I can’t do her dirty. I love her. Let’s imagine she is somewhere living her best life. This wife is someone else.

Warnings: overall canon show and content ones, sex, drinking, adultery.

📣Shout out to @thesolotomyhan, since it’s been so long, I needed to hype myself up by rereading some of her sexy head canons. It helped me weave my scattered notes for this chapter into place.

😤To those ppl who like to harass writers who use their imagination and pair Pacho with a women just out of pure imagination and make believe - if any of you are reading, leave me alone. There is zero reason to write me. Yes he is bi in my *make believe* fiction - I am no longer explaining myself after this. - signing off, a bisexual queer writer who uses her damn imagination.

Below is a preview ~ read on a03

Flashback - A few weeks ago

It was dark out when the plane landed. Everyone was exhausted and there was very little conversation. You couldn’t wait to get home and sleep in your own bed, to get away from all this tension for a little while. Miguel felt like a volcano about to burst and for the last couple of hours, you’ve had this bad feeling stirring in your gut, like something terrible was about to happen.

Amado was first to leave, you said your goodbyes and watched him drive off. After the car vanished in the distance, you turned to Miguel, Azul was up ahead waiting for him, and from the look on his face, you knew he had some bad news.

“I’m going to head home. I’ll see you later.” As you said, studying Miguels eyes.

He was distracted, understandably so. Miguel nodded with tense brows.

"Goodnight Miguel.” You gently touched his shoulder, then walked to your driver.

On the way over, you took a deep breath. Though Miguel's whole plan went to shit, you’re thankful he'll be occupied. The last thing on his mind won't be what you were up to. Maybe you can keep your Pacho secret a little longer.

.

Now, Saturday

Champagne flows freely as the guests fill the room with conversation, laughter, and general revelry. The overall vibe is upbeat and from the outside, this would look like just any rich person's party.

It was parties just like this that reunited you and Miguel all those years ago. It takes you back to that first night you kissed on the balcony, when he was a better version of himself, not yet tainted by all of this.

Before, Miguel was an old schoolmate turned bodyguard who stole your heart. Now, here you are, on his arm at a fancy political Gala. The last time he invited you to one of these as his date you told him to fuck off. You weren’t speaking to him, and in true Miguel fashion, he showed up at your door anyway.

"I told you to stay away from me. Leave me alone, Miguel!" You started to close the door.

He stopped it, "from you, yes. Not this town, not this street." He said with that air of smug confidence of his.

Now, here you are, sitting beside him at the round table with a black cloth draped across it. Gold accents on the glasses and decorations, and one of the richest meals you've ever had in your stomach.

You’re not sure why you said yes to this one, maybe it's that little part of you that feels guilty about Pacho, or the even smaller part that still wants to hold on to a piece of Miguel.

You haven’t spent a lot of time with him in the last week due to a mix of avoidance and fearing he’ll look into your eyes long enough to know your secret. Then there's the other part of you, that third part that wants him to find out. It wants to see the look in his eyes once he knows you’ve been fucking the man he hates…

Keep reading here on A03

More Narcos

No taglist. I hope to wrap this one up very soon. Subscribe to the fic on A03! Check back here and on @artemiseamoon-updates

#miguel angel felix gallardo #pacho herrera #fic: sin #bi! Pacho x f reader

[opinated-user]

I think part of why Lily dislikes Across The Spider-Verse is because Miguel O'Hara is everything Aliana could have been in the hands of a decent writer. Hypercompetent, stronger than everyone else, smarter than everyone else, haughty, respected, admired, accomplished, aggressive, hurt by things in his past, different from the other heroes, an extremist, and still sympathetic because the sheer scale of what he lost is so awful that you understand why he's snapped and become as messed up as he is. It doesn't excuse it but you can't deny that the trauma was bad enough to leave him with these control-freak tendencies and paranoia as coping mechanisms. We only have one movie with him but you feel for this man because he's clearly human and hurting despite how powerful and successful he is.

The difference is that Across The Spider-Verse is willing to write a conflict where both sides have a point. While we are later shown Miguel's theories about how the multiverse are incorrect, most of the evidence initially points to his theories being right, in which case he is a man trying to prevent massive loss of life. That he's willing to let someone the hero loves die to achieve that is horrifying, but it makes sense. Aliana's various murders always made me roll my eyes because they meant nothing and were often motivated by very little. This movie makes one possible murder feel incredibly high stakes by having even Miguel, who is resigned to letting it happen, not be enthused about it. "It has to be done, but I don't enjoy this" is a lot more compelling than "eh, why not?" as an attitude towards murder. We root for Miles but we also know that Miguel is motivated by the greater good, which is terrifying because a properly motivated Spider-Man is more or less undefeatable in most canons.

Aliana only sometimes escapes fair criticism by virtue of being a queer POC. Miguel O'Hara gets fair criticism but also a very substantial number of fans because he's well-written. Being Latino is a nice bonus, but unlike Aliana, he has more to him than just murder, power and looking cool. He's got attachments, he grieves, he reacts to trauma, he makes mistakes, and Aliana... well, she kills people, fucks Rey and kills some more until all the problems are gone.

Miguel is what a morally grey character should be: complicated, human, someone whose flaws make sense when you consider their backstory, powerful but not invincible, clearly motivated and in possession of virtues as well as flaws.

Aliana kills, tortures, assaults, is inserted into scenes more than Steven is into Steven Universe episodes, has no flaws or virtues, and has a backstory that does not impact her most of the time.

It must really suck to see someone write the same basic concept - overpowered morally grey POC with a tragic backstory who has risen to a position of power - and see them do it so well that people can't stop talking about him. Meanwhile, no one I know even finished Lily's fic because it's just so boring that it wasn't able to hold their attention and it was impossible to get attached to the characters.

i think it's also the fact that Miguel O'Hara actually lives the consequences of his own actions. that's the last thing LO ever wants for alina, because alina is meant to be her wish fulfillment fantasy and she doesn't want to suffer consequences. she just want a subservient obedient wife who will never disagree with her and let her win at pokemon.

#lily orchard

[the-storyteller-and-her-soldiers]

Spider Sona?!

Okay so remember that crush f/o... They're not a crush no more. (Stupid, stupid, STUPID man! ...Who's very smart...) And while I do love my boys just loving me as me, I have been enthralled with having my own spider-sona! I apologize to all canon nerds that'll tear this apart but I don't care! It's for fun!

So this reference is after finding out about the Arachno-Humanoid Poly-Multiverse or by the easier name of Spider-verse. (it's a WIP and here is the link to the picrew) But when she's in her own universe, Earth-9612, her look is more of a magical girl style similar to Peni's artstyle (Picrew here, I'll get an outfit ref later) and that's what all her friends/fans/and foes recognize her as!

Name: Rebecca Grace Rozenaria Alias: Arachnaria, Spider-Girl (More commonly) Height: 5" and 1/4 of an inch (Much to her own dismay) Civilian Occupation: Part-time Retail Worker, Part-time student getting a psych and child development degree. Age: 21 (She's been known as Spider-Girl since 19)

Civilian Personality: A sweet and bubbly girl who tends to get over-excited at things. But her sweetness can only go so far. She holds back her sharp wit, sharper tongue, and sarcasm and only uses it with friends OR when people back her in a corner. She's happy to do anything to make others smile but doubts her own importance in such actions.

Hero Personality: Take that sweetness and dial it up to 11, she's willing to do WHATEVER it takes to save the innocent. She'd even go as far as to sacrifice herself to do so (And she has...)

Origins: Instead of getting bit by a radioactive/mutant spider, getting injected with venom, finding a symbiote, or anything like that, she made a pact with an interdimensional arachnid demon! Honestly the whole thing was a blur. All she remembers was that she didn't want to but agreed since she wanted to save her best friends from that fate after they had been messing around with occult artifacts and summoned the demon she calls the Web Weaver. It's not all bad though, this pact has actually granted her some relief. This is because when she is Arachnaria, her condition is easier to manage.

Some details I wanna add:

Due to the mystical ways that she got her powers, her world/timeline works differently. She has seen it die/has sacrificed herself for it several times, only for her to wake up the day after in bed heavily injured but with no other collateral.

She has a complicated relationship with her demon. He gave her powers so that she could become worthy prey for him to hunt. Despite this, he converses with her like an equal and won't let her die?!

Despite her bubbly sweetness, she curses a lot when she feels she can.

She is from New Jersey!

That sharp tongue of hers has also been called venomous by others since when she feels backed into a corner in an argument and can't leave, she has a knack for getting right to a person's sensitive spots in their life. Not in a way meant to hurt them, but in a way that raises a point. She hates doing so, but many say after reconciling it makes them think.

Her best friend, @floweringforgetfulness, and her other best friend Ace (who later becomes Earth-9612's Black Cat) were there with Rebecca at the initial pact, so they can remember events too.

Her half-brother may have been the 'canon' Spider-Man of her world. He may have also died in doing so... This is what others believe is my S/I's 'canon event'. Though her life was never too great beforehand...

Despite her just wanting the best for her world and loved ones, the media can be pretty cruel to her back in her own world. They can tear down her every action, especially when her condition acts up, and even compare her to the 'missing' Spider-Man. She doesn't let it show, but it eats away at her...

It can and has come to a point where she just wanted to quit with everyone telling her so, but never has. (Very much inspired by this song! vvv)

Relationship Dynamics:

Before Miles became Miguel's biggest issue, it was Rebecca. She wasn't a spider person, just a girl with spider magic(?) (He hates that he can't wrap his head around it) He wanted to leave it at that! But, when he kept getting alerts of anomalies from Earth-9612 and being told time and time again that her world vanished/was destroyed but she brought it back... He wants to keep an eye on her.

By the time of ITSV, Rebecca and Miguel have a pretty friendly-seeming relationship. It may seem one-sided to others with Rebecca wasting her sweetness, but they never saw the late-night work conversations that would transform into a place where she encouraged Miguel to mourn and rest, if only mentally.

No one other than Lyla, Peter B, and Jessica Drew dare to suspect anything more than that.

She's very casual about her deaths, even joking about it sometimes. (How she copes) Miguel and her friends don't like it!

She is more than happy to be a listening ear and comforting shoulder to anyone in the Hub! She believes communication of one's feelings goes a long way to help people cope, heal, and just feel better. She also knows how hard it is to do so, so she won't pry but always offer, especially to those who just come from missions.

She not-so-lowkey adopts Miles as like a spider sibling since she can remember when Miguel was on her case! So as she told him "Us anomalies gotta stick together y'know?!"

The rest of Miles' group, aside from Peter B, is a bit hesitant when they know how close Rebecca is to Miguel. But through some assurance from her and Peter B who has seen when she and Miguel used to argue constantly, they warm up to her.

She loves doing graffiti with Miles and shows him her fave spot in her world.

She admires Pavitr's hair since hers is dyed to hell and back. She also asks him to give her tips for a suit redesign to incorporate her own hair into her look. She's also so happy to listen to his gushes about Gayatri and respond in kind with her own girlfriend of nearly 7 years!

With Hobie, she deeply admires his fight against corporate and government greed, not to mention his fashion sense! She's told him many a tale of her time working retail!

With Gwen, Rebecca sees her struggle with her feelings and closeness to others. So even though it very much takes baby-steps, she does her best to show Gwen it's okay to have a life outside of her duty and that being alone with the weight of the world will only crush her.

She LOVES Mayday to death! She's always trying to make the little one laugh and smile! She loves acting silly and will bend over backward for this child. Self-appointed interdimensional spoiling big sis there!

I do have more ideas but just wanna get this out there since I'm hyperfixating! Also, my ship with Miguel will be called: 'A Different Web to Weave' if you need to tag it/block it! I know how a lot of people are loving Miguel right now!

Taglist: @disneymarina @maskedanarchy-ships @singingdeepinme @goldenworldsabound @nyandereneko @canongf @hadesgoddess @violetsandmilk

#selfshipdom #selfship community #self shipping #self insert #self insert community #selfship #self indulgent stuff #fo community #self ship community #self inserts #self shipper #self ship #self shipping community #fictional other #selfshipping #ship: a different web to weave

[little-cereal-draws]

My critique on the new spiderverse movie

It was good. I enjoyed it. But I do have a few things I would have done differently.

The most impressive thing in my opinion was the art. It was gorgeous, that goes without saying. The different styles, the textures, the lighting, every single little thing. I loved Gwen’s universe especially; how they water colored/blended the background during the emotional parts and how she was always the opposite color from the environment while her dad blended in. All the beautiful little tricks they did to help develop the characters like that. And then putting her mask motif behind her or having the background run like there was real water on it was so cool. I could watch it over and over without the sound and never get bored. It’s a visual feast.

I loved the extreme wide shots too. When Miles and Gwen are looking at the skyline, when Miles and his dad are talking by the portal rubble in the beginning, etc. When in the middle of a conversation, the characters are tiny little specks, and you can stop and appreciate the setting. Movies don’t normally do that in the middle of scenes; I liked it.

Or when they paneled it like a comic so you can see what multiple characters are doing at once. I don’t think it was as successful during the fight scenes because there was so much going on that I had no idea what was happening. But it worked very well in the slower scenes and really highlighted those emotional beats. Like when Gwen is unpacking a bag on her bed while talking with her dad at the beginning. They split the screen so you could see a full body shot on her dad but get a close up on her reactions at the same time. That was genius.

The acting was also phenomenal. All the dialogue sounded so natural and conversational. The emotional scenes were emotional and the funny scenes were funny. Everybody served. I loved the little background comments characters would make during conversations; it sounded very realistic. I would love to see more animated movies like that.

The writing… was good. I felt like for the most part it was really strong but this is where I start having problems. I felt that most of the movie was good but the pacing in Miles' arc felt weird. After his mom gave him that speech about loving himself and not letting people make him feel like he doesn’t belong, I was like 'ok that’s what he’s going to learn in this story, that’s the moral.' But he seemed to instantly get it and not have any problems until way later. Like it could’ve been easy to start having him feel intimidated by all the other spider-people or doubt himself after seeing Gwen doing all these cool things without him. He would feel bad for a while but ultimately realize that he is special/important/loved when fighting Miguel on the train and have the confidence to tell his parents he’s spiderman after. Instead, he was confident through the whole thing, was mildly jealous of the other spidermen, had a very brief crisis of faith after the Miguel fight, but seemed to get over it really quickly when he talked with his mom? Like he was telling her how strong he was but I felt like it didn’t mean very much because even though we saw him beat up all these people, it never felt to me like he felt weak. He never doubted himself, he just did it.

But I can’t judge his arc in its entirety because it’s not finished yet. I wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger and I don’t really like it. I was excited to see him fight Spot and save his dad but it never came. I was hoping that he would tell his parents he’s spiderman, they wouldn’t believe him, he would save them from Spot with help from his new friends, him and Gwen would show Miguel it’s ok if not everything follows canon, and Miles' parents would accept him, the end. That’s what I was expecting. Instead, they started another plot line with evil Miles? Like… I’m not opposed to that, I think it’s a really interesting idea, but I don’t know how it ties into the main plot. Maybe this is what causes Miles to have a crisis of faith in the next movie? idk, we'll just have to wait and see.

The next thing is the villains. I loved Spot, he was the perfect counter to the spidermans' mid-battle banter. His introduction was so funny, his powers are really cool, and his design is unsettling; the perfect villian formula. But the one thing I wished they expanded on was his backstory. He explained how his whole life was ripped apart by Miles but it felt like a very typical villain backstory to me. I wish that we, and Miles, got to see it rather than just get told it. Like in the first movie, we saw Kingpins' family and how much he cared about them and it gave a clear motive to his actions. I want to actually see the repercussions of Miles' actions because just being told. It gives a reason for Spot's actions but it's super easy to forget and think he's being evil for the sake of being evil. I don't know where they would have included that in the movie though so maybe I'm being too harsh. Also why is he going after Miles? Peter B and Gwen were also there for the bagel incident. Until I see how Miles specifically screwed over his life, I feel like his backstory could be fleshed out a bit more.

Now I want to talk about Miles' fight with Miguel on the train. This is no fault of either of their characters or the writing in that scene, but I missed a lot of what they were saying. The battle was so fast (jumping on cars, swinging underground, flying, flashing colors, different art styles, etc) and there were so many different characters on screen that I was focusing so hard on what I was seeing that I missed most of what they were saying. This might just be a me thing, I asked my sister and she said she understood that whole scene perfectly, but I would have changed that sequence. Either slow down the chaos of the fight a bit or have the big emotional confrontation before or after the fight. It's not a major problem with the movie and probably my autism causing problems but that was an important story beat that I missed because it was a bit too busy.

The last thing I want to say is my reaction is probably affected by the fact that I went in with a bias/expectations. I know I'm seeing this movie way late and I've done my best to not spoil it for myself but you know how the internet is. I knew who Pavitr and Hobie were, I knew everyone was obsessed with them and Miguel, I knew there was an evil Miles, I knew Spot was the big bad, I knew that his dad being a police captain was a big deal. So I expected to walk out of that theater completely obsessed with a new character and immediately go home and reblog everything about them like everyone else was. That didn't happen. Pavitr and Hobie had way less screentime than I expected and Miguel... was ok. They were all really good characters with amazing designs but I didn't find myself particularly drawn to any of them. I think expecting my reaction to this movie to be as extreme as other people's was a mistake and contributed to my lack of enthusiasm leaving the theater.

It was still really good, and I definitely enjoyed it, it just didn't change my brain chemistry like I thought it would. I laughed (I laughed so much), I gasped, I felt scared, I loved the art and the blend of different mediums. I know for sure I'm watching it at least one more time, probably more, there are just a few things I would have done a bit differently. Amazing movie, very glad I watched it.

#this got long... whoops #idk if anyone cares what i have to say about this but here it is #spiderverse #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderverse meta #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse meta

[dull-c]

ck fic recs (lawrusso edition)

ok so! i have been promising my irl pal (and other favourite italian) @lionlikenick a fic rec list for uh, a really long time, and then getting easily distracted as I am wont to do. but right now it’s sunday night and I am putting off writing my own fanfic, so I’m DOING IT NOW things to note: *these are all daniel/johnny (or daniel/johnny/amanda) - i’ll probably do a separate one for my other ck ships and gen ck fic at some stage, but this post is gonna be long and unwieldy and incoherent enough as it is, best save it for later.

*my preference is the old men, so this rec list leans very heavily in that direction, but there are some tkk era recs in here too

*this is not at all an exhaustive list. I have read a fair chunk of fic in the last few months, but still barely scraped the surface of what’s on ao3, so if you look at this list and think ‘oh well X fic is a GLARING OMISSION’ its less likely that I thought it wasn't good enough and more likely I haven’t read it yet (so please rec me any glaring omissions in the notes. or just rec me your favs either way!)

*I have generally left off WIPs for obvious reasons, except for one rec, simply because i dig it and because even if it was never updated again I feel it would still be a satisfying read

ok, on with the actual recs! (in no particular order)

bruises fade to yellow by objectlesson ( @alienfuckeronmain )

summary: daniel’s getting impatient with johnny

this hurt my feelings so good!! OL has a way of writing fic that feels very real - very true to the characters even when it’s a little hard to read. this one made me literally a bit breathless from feelings, one of which was, honestly, slight fear for everyone’s wellbeing.

other favs from this author: eclairs (utterly, utterly filthy - yeah don't pretend you’re not into that - but somehow also deeply romantic? it’s more likely than you think!)

little extra fighter’s chance by indigostohelit

summary: daniel starts writing letters while he’s recovering from his leg injury

this is such a delightfully soft fic. simple concept, incredibly good execution. that last paragraph punched me in the heart but not in a bad way. in the way that i like to be punched in the heart

other favs from this author: with your car, with your best shot and the name of the game series. (both of these are dark - drastically tonally different to the above, though no less beautifully written or less of a heart punch, so yeah, heed the warnings aight?)

mexico city by @deputychairman

summary: johnny & daniel follow miguel & sam to mexico city 

this is the aforementioned WIP that I was unwilling to leave out because look, I am simply obsessed with this fic. DC is a master of tension and slow burn and her characterisation is bang on and I just -- ok there’s really no dignified way to say this but I had a full emotional meltdown reading some of the later chapters. like literally had to read and re-read the same sentences over and over because I was experiencing Every Emotion known to me, and possibly some previously undiscovered ones too. read it! (update: this fic is now complete!!)

other favs from this author: the high school reunion, class of 85 series (inhaled this. adored it. i wish the photo of them at the reunion was a real tangible thing that I could look at ;_;)

gravestone flowers by menocchio ( @nomercyonlytears )

summary: an alternate universe take that sticks close to the cobra kai canon but where J & D are messy exes

feels almost redundant to rec menocchio, as who among us is not aware of them and has not devoured their novel-length delicious fic en masse?? but still! just because someone is popular doesn't mean we should be complacent re: kudos, right? so! this was the first fic i read of theirs and oof i was so very invested in the silly, pining old men. it made me laugh and ache and cry a little bit and all the things that good fiction does. I’ve read it all the way through twice and still think about it sometimes when I hear a journey song

other favs from this author: signal studies (emotionally compromising - that ending jesus fucking christopher) and valley drop (short, sexy and funny)

you may have all you want baby [but I got something you need] by potrix ( @potrix-the-queerschlaeger )

summary: for some reason everyone keeps thinking daniel and johnny are together ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I dig this fic for the same reason I love the sharing food scene displayed reverently in my profile pic, because I am a sucker for the tough (lucille bluth wink dot gif) old karate men in soft married couple mode. also features one of my favourite things in ck fic, louie being subjected to daniel & johnny’s romantic machinations against his will.

wouldn’t it be nice by @trinityofone

summary: johnny and bobby go searching for daniel after he doesn't show at school

I love time travel stories, and this is a real neat take! I also love the way it’s initially from bobby’s pov, so you’re just as confused as he is about what exactly happened, and it being revealed is sort of it’s own delicious sweet, slow burn.

other favs from this author: the rules of the game (I firmly believe this is exactly the kind of dumb boy shit johnny and daniel would pull if they and amanda were a throuple)

pro (con) forma by @thereminwriting 

summary: johnny asks daniel to marry him

fake marriage trope my beloved!!! honestly, I was just ecstatic reading this, from start to finish. like all of theremin’s stories it’s so charming, so true to the characters, not flowery-- but with much heart. I just read it again right now and I will read it again very soon.

other favs from this author: come prima (i’m a sucker for them being still-in-love exes - refer to menocchio rec above - and this one was so tenderly done.)

negative analog by @ezlebe

summary: johnny and daniel find out something we all been knew

I love a good soulmate au! and this one is a beautifully crafted one. no spoilers, but there was something that daniel said in a later part of this fic that just broke me in half. so if you haven't read it I recommend you go do that and get broken in half too.

other favs from this author: super like (hot! sexy! made me ~actually blush~. features bottom!jlawz which I have a bit of a soft spot for.) 

adore you by comedia ( @comediakaidanovsky )

summary: johnny and daniel go on a date

this is a short, established relationship fic that is just sweet and charming and soft and funny, and feels just like a comforting cup of hot chocolate on a cold day <3

last night i had a dream by @shortcrust

summary: johnny and daniel over the years

i’m a simple lady with simple needs and my needs are the canon-divergent alternate universe in this fic. johnny and daniel having a life of love and family and joy. this one gets rec’d all the time and for good reason. just go read this lovely fic, and let it wrap you up in a warm, gentle hug.

quitters by goldstargrl

summary: johnny finally goes to therapy

there is a real dark incident at the core of this fic that i’m not sure ‘mental health issues’ is enough of a warning for, so tread carefully if you’re going in. that acknowledged, I found it really compelling, well written and I really liked that it went to emotional character depths that we’ll never see in canon.

other favs from this author: what you got (lawrusso romance AND a robby fix-it? you love to see it)

feather in the quiver by rumcherry

summary: daniel texts a stranger by mistake... or is it a stranger??

okay so, you have to suspend a little bit of disbelief regarding them not realising it’s each other after approx five seconds, but IF you can do that you should because this fic is a really sweet and endearing read and I was solidly entertained.

heartlines by @storyshark2005​

summary: something is happening with daniel and johnny

this is another soulmates au, with a very different tone and interpretation than the above one I rec’d, but I honestly couldn’t tell you which one I liked more. the writing in this one is moving and so evocative and the image from the last paragraph lives in my head rent free

#claire's fic recs #cobra kai fic #lawrusso

[theblackdragon-studios]

When Into the Spider-Verse came out, I made a spider-sona like a lot of people. Except…she wasn’t that good. The outfit was. The story wasn’t. I won’t go into it…but it was just lazy and…yeah. Not great.

I’d been wanting to rewrite and redesign her since Across the Spider-Verse, but I didn’t know what to do or how to make it unique. Or at least something believable.

Until now.

Introducing my redesigned Spider-Sona…who was not bit by a radioactive animal of some kind, genetically altered by science, or anything like that. Actually…she’s the symbiote (usually known as Venom) host of her world, except her actions and his past change things from usual probably.

I wasn’t going to do that at first, because I thought that seemed silly…but then decided why not? I like monsters, I like monstrous-looking heroes, and I like Venom (both together and as just the symbiote) (all versions of him, not just the one from his title movie).

I’m not an expert on Marvel comics or on Venom, though, so don’t expect absolute accuracy and smooth insertion…but I thought it would be fun.

She isn’t recruited by the Spider-Verse HQ either, either because she is also an anomaly, she was mistaken for being the Venom of her world, or they didn’t trust her to be a good hero since a parasitic monster is how she has her powers…and if she can’t control him, they can’t trust her to not cause damage. (Actually though she would say “fuck canon” and try to stop a horrible canon event like Miles did. And the symbiote would make sure she succeeds… So Miguel would probably fire her immediately. lol)

So that’s the idea…I don’t think I’ll do much with this since like I said, I don’t know a lot about the source. But if I come up with any short skits or want to draw this version of my s/i more I will.

Edit: I decided the symbiote with her is actually one I made up. They’re all more or less the same until they develop via bonding to people, so this one is an ‘OC’ in that it isn’t a canon one.

-

Bonus details on the design and some sketches under the cut.

Design Features

-The suit is the symbiote. She wears some kind of clothes under it (at least a pair of shorts and a tank top), but when changing to her Spider alter-ego he (the symbiote, or Venom if he goes by that name here) just forms as the suit around her. Settling on a design took a while…and deciding on a name took even longer. (She refused to go by the name ‘Venom’. It felt wrong and gave a bad impression of who she is.)

-When she loses control of her emotions, and later when facing a really tough opponent, the symbiote responds and becomes the more monstrous form we know him for. Meg was scared of this form for a while, since it was so much stronger and more dangerous.

-The belt was added by Meg. She used to keep a phone-holder clip there and have a pouch on the other side for headphones, which she wears to listen to music when fighting the average robber or weaker threat. It keeps her focused and calm, and keeps the symbiote from taking over completely. Later these are replaced by an enchanted pouch by a sorcerer that eventually becomes an ally. This pouch is basically a bag of holding but looks like a simple Velcro-strap pouch.

-She fought for the hood and eight-eyes look the mask has. The hood because it makes her feel less exposed and it looks cool, the eyes because spiders usually have 8 eyes. This is the only accurate thing to spiders on the design aside from the chest emblem in her usual hero form…the symbol being a tarantula. Her favorite type of spider.

The design of the mask helps to throw off her enemies. Especially when the symbiote makes the ‘eyes’ all narrow with her real eyes for effect. This has led fans and foes alike to come up with wild theories about her being a spider-human mutant thing with increasingly disturbing features under the mask. (A cryptid if you will)

-She also came up with the flying squirrel-like design element they use later. The symbiote changing the suit design to have wing arms like a flying squirrel for gliding if she can’t use webs.

-Her feet look like she has shoes on, because under the suit she does. If she is ever not wearing shoes when ‘suiting up’ her feet look more like most spider-peoples’, which is to say like slippers or barefoot under the fabric. This makes people even more confused on what the heck she even is…and there are entire blogs and magazine columns theorizing about it.

Bonus sketches

The redesign traced from the old ones I did. I drew all of these when I made the first, but I got lazy so just traced my own work here.

The more powerful and monstrous form they take when facing a much tougher opponent or when emotions run high. Meg used to hate this form…but as trust with the symbiote grew and she saw that when working together they could control the strength of it, she became more accepting.

She still does not want to run around like this, though. She wants to keep up that motto of “friendly neighborhood spider-hero” everyone else (except Miguel I’d guess) has. Only the bad guys need to see the monster.

Whether this view changes or not…who knows. But when this form was revealed people were more confused than ever on WHAT. THE. HELL. SHE. EVEN. IS???

She comes to really enjoy all the crazy cryptid theories they come up with. X’D

#marvel #spider man #Spider-Man #spiderman #spider man across the spider verse #spider sona #symbiote #venom #(I guess?) #super hero #blackdragon art #persona #oc #spider man persona

[breckstonevailskier]

Rewriting Cobra Kai Season 2 to eliminate the love triangles

There's a lot to love about Cobra Kai. But I have to admit season 2 is a bit of a weak season. And one of the areas that I view as a weak point is with the teen romance and love triangles.

Love triangles are one of the cheapest sources of conflict, given that you're either pitting two girls against each other in a competition for a guy's love, or two guys against each other for a girl's love. We see both of those in season 2 with Robby/Sam/Miguel and Sam/Miguel/Tory.

Obviously, the pairings for the season of Sam/Robby and Miguel/Tory were rebounds because it's typical in a show like this to break up an endgame couple early, then have them get back together later. Thing is, the rivalries of Sam and Tory, and Miguel and Robby, already have a lot of meat for them that doesn't hinge on the relationships.

With Sam and Tory, it's kinda ridiculous that the whole rivalry is basically over Miguel's heart when it could've been about so much more. It could've been built more upon the wrong perceptions that they had of each other from their first encounter at the beach club in 2x04: Sam viewing Tory as a thief, and Tory viewing Sam as a privileged rival who's never had to deal with hardship.

With Robby and Miguel, the show focuses a lot on how Miguel views Robby as a rival in their affections for Sam, but not really about another source to their rivalry: Johnny. It would've been interesting if the rivalry was built around Robby's resentment towards Miguel for getting Johnny's attention and affection, and in turn for Miguel to feel conflicted about his anger towards Robby because he's aware about Robby being Johnny's son.

There's also the fact that I don't think Sam/Robby and Miguel/Tory really have chemistry compared to Sam/Miguel and Robby/Tory. Sam and Robby have more sibling vibes than romantic ones. In the case of Miguel and Tory, Tory pursued Miguel and he went along with it because she was offering herself as a rebound girl, and the whole thing felt like a temporary relationship to tide him over before he got back together with Sam (and he was a pretty bad boyfriend to her in turn).

So my solution to the mess is to, well...to fix the problem, you have to go back into season 1 and not have Sam break up with Miguel at the tournament. Keep Sam and Miguel in a relationship for the duration of season 2, while having Tory get together with Robby in season 2. Here's how that would go.

SEASON 1

Episode 9:

In this episode, Sam returned home, planning to come clean to her dad about Miguel (and prepared to take the risk of him not approving of the relationship because Miguel is in Cobra Kai), only for her mom to confront her about the hit and run and ground her. Because her phone was confiscated, she can't reach out to Miguel, who is becoming paranoid in light of Johnny's biased stories to him about Daniel and seeing Sam being friendly with Robby. He gets drunk, and tries to take a swing at Robby when he brings Sam over so she can explain the situation, accidentally hitting Sam. Subsequently, they break up after he refuses to apologize for resorting to violence on Robby, and she leaves the tournament early, unable to bear what Miguel's turned into under the Cobra Kai teachings, while Miguel fights dirty against Robby in the finals and wins.

The change:

Sam returns home, planning to come clean to her dad about Miguel. Her mom confronts her about the hit-and-run...but she isn't quick to ground Sam. First, Amanda asks Sam for her side of the story about the hit-and-run. This, I think, is a very necessary change because, in the canon episode, Amanda's a bit of a hypocrite here. She's rushing to judgment based solely on Johnny's word without hearing Sam's side of the events or considering the possibility that Johnny's being biased, something that she had chided Daniel for doing earlier (regarding Johnny bringing to his attention what Kyler and his gang had been doing to Miguel).

So Sam explains what happened: Yasmine was texting while driving and they collided with a car that was parked illegally in the street outside the All-Valley Sports Arena. They were prepared to get out and leave contact information when a drunk Johnny began banging on the backseat window, making them drive off out of fear for their safety.

While Sam has told her side of things, she's still grounded for not coming clean sooner. But before Amanda can confiscate Sam's phone, Sam brings up that she has plans to see Miguel that night and he'll be worried sick if he can't contact her. She comes clean to her mom about how, "You know about that viral video of the kid who beat up Kyler and his crew in the cafeteria a few months back? Well, I've been dating that kid for the last few months." And she explains everything: his name is Miguel Diaz, and he's a student at Cobra Kai, and she was planning on telling Daniel about all this.

Of course, Amanda is aware Daniel will probably not take the news that their daughter is dating a Cobra Kai well, given Daniel's personal beef with Cobra Kai (what with getting Armand Zakarian to jack up the rent on the strip mall, and Louie hiring his biker buddies to destroy Johnny's car as retaliation for the billboard penis), and how he's not above intruding on his daughter's social life (given what happened with Kyler). But Sam insists Miguel's a good person, and that if Amanda gets to know Miguel through and through, then she can help Sam stand up to Daniel when Daniel inevitably blows up. More importantly, her best friend Aisha's in Cobra Kai, and can also vouch for Miguel's character. Amanda agrees to Sam's idea, and lets her call Miguel to invite him over.

So Miguel abandons the Cobra Kais' party and comes over to the LaRussos' house. He's already feeling jealous and insecure, because he knows Sam is hiding their relationship from Daniel, and the previous day, he went to her house uninvited and saw her laughing and talking to Robby. This was right after he'd heard Johnny's biased story about Daniel "stealing" Ali from him. So when Amanda lets Miguel in, he's a bit on edge, but Amanda mistakes it as him just being nervous at him coming over to his girlfriend's fancy house. Nonetheless, she's quickly won over by Miguel's personality, and when she asks him about "Why did you take up karate?" determines that he's the real deal, especially when he mentions how he took up karate to defend himself from bullies (much like Daniel did).

But things change when Robby arrives at the house for a training session with Daniel. Robby and Miguel recognize each other, and immediately Miguel's insecurities come to his head. He tries to attack Robby, but Sam steps between them, calms Miguel down, and explains that whatever Miguel saw, it's not what it looks like. Robby's just a friend and a teen working for the LaRussos' dealership who is also being trained by Daniel in the art of Miyagi-Do. Miguel listens to her, accepts what she's saying, and relaxes, no longer seeing Robby as a threat to his affections for Sam. However, Sam also notices the disdainful look Robby showed the moment he saw Miguel, but can't figure out why as she nor her parents are aware that Robby is Johnny's son.

When Johnny and Daniel return home from their day out, they agree to a "Rocky III-style" match in Daniel's dojo, but find Robby there waiting, and also find Sam with Miguel and Amanda. Things get heated, the altercation where Daniel's trophy gets broken happens, and ultimately everyone blows up at each other:

Daniel is mad over the fact that his daughter is dating a Cobra Kai boy and about the whole fact that Robby is Johnny's son.

Johnny's mad at Daniel because Daniel is training his son. He is also offended by the fact that Daniel is mad about Miguel being in Cobra Kai, causing him to get defensive of Miguel.

In Johnny's rush to defend Miguel, he only succeeds in angering Robby, who's now mad at him for showing his favoritism for Miguel. Robby is also mad at Miguel for the fact that Sam is already taken.

Miguel is mad at Daniel for not approving of him, and mad at Johnny for escalating the situation.

Sam is mad at her dad for not reacting well to Miguel, and mad at Miguel and Robby for letting there be bad blood between them.

Amanda is mad at Johnny for terrorizing Sam, and also mad at Daniel for flipping out at Miguel.

So the whole thing ends with Johnny driving away angrily with Miguel, Daniel banishing Robby from the house and the dealership, Sam storming off to her bedroom in tears, and Daniel also being banished to the couch by Amanda.

Episode 10:

At the LaRusso house, everyone broods over the events of the previous night. Amanda puts Daniel in his place and calls him out on his behavior towards Robby and Miguel, with her saying "You really want Sam to shut you out again?" He apologizes to Sam and Amanda for losing it, and reluctantly agrees to sit down and get to know Miguel after the tournament.

Everything at the tournament is the same up until the conversation Sam has with Miguel right before the finals. She apologizes for her dad's behavior, and tells him that her dad wants to get to know him. Miguel accepts her apology, thanks her, and agrees that they'll talk after the tournament.

Subsequently, Sam stays for the finals rather than go home early. Miguel doesn't threaten to hurt Robby, and wanting to make the best impression for Daniel, he chooses to fight cleanly rather than exploit Robby's injury, an act that baffles Miguel's fellow Cobra Kai students. Even though the match ties at 2-2, Robby's injury puts him at too much of a disadvantage, and Miguel earns the winning point not by attacking Robby's shoulder, but by using the Crane Kick (to which he subsequently gives Daniel a bow of respect).

Subsequently, Sam is among those who run over to him, gives him an approving hug, and then goes over to check on Robby and Johnny. Meanwhile, Sam goes with Miguel to the victory celebration at Applebee's. And afterwards, he goes with her to her house for a sparring session of their own.

On the drive home, Robby is sullen about his second place finish, but Daniel assures him that he is as much of a winner as Miguel. Robby expresses concern that Cobra Kai is going to become the premier dojo in the Valley, but Daniel--bitter over Johnny's behavior towards his daughter, and Hawk's behavior in the semi-finals--replies, "Over my dead body", taking Robby to Mr. Miyagi's old house which he plans to convert into a full on dojo for Miyagi-Do.

The next day, Miguel comes over to the LaRussos' for dinner. He is hesitant, since besides what he's seen of Daniel, the only other things he knows about Daniel are from the biased narrative that Johnny gave him about what happened in 1984, and the way Daniel flipped out at seeing him. Daniel apologizes for his behavior the other day, but explains that the name Cobra Kai just brings up lots of bad memories with him. So we get the car scene from season 3 episode 9 where Daniel fills in the gaps about what Johnny didn't tell Miguel, and to further clarify why he doesn't trust Cobra Kai and Johnny, also brings up what happened when he was manipulated by Terry Silver and Mike Barnes. At the end of it, Daniel decides that he's okay with Miguel dating Sam, but this hasn't done anything to cool the blood between him and Johnny because of Hawk injuring Robby and Johnny's own actions with the hit-and-run.

SEASON 2:

Episodes 1 and 2:

So for season 2, Miguel's arc is about him being torn between Cobra Kai and his loyalty to Johnny, and his relationship with Sam and the new respect Daniel has for him. Sam and Miguel are still dating. Robby still doesn't like that Sam is with Miguel, and still dislikes Miguel because of Johnny's favoritism for him, but decides to stay friends with Sam after she convinces Daniel to take Robby in. Robby also tries to be civil to Miguel for Daniel's and Sam's sake. But with Miguel spending so much time with Sam and being practically a fixture at the LaRusso house, it's hard for Robby not to grow envious of him given all that other baggage.

Episode 3:

The season is mostly the same, up until episode 3 at Valley Fest. In canon, Daniel is having a hard time finding new students, who are put off by his chore-based training methods. To help get exposure, Daniel decides to hold a solemn karate demonstration with Sam and Robby at the upcoming Valley Fest fair. In canon, when Johnny hears about this, Cobra Kai interrupt them with a much more flashy demonstration of their own set to "Back in the Game" by Airbourne, winning over the crowd and stealing the spotlight from Miyagi-Do as Daniel and his students look on with contempt.

In this timeline, however, Valley Fest puts Miguel's loyalties to question. If nothing changes, and Cobra Kai hijacks the demo as happens in canon, Sam is mad at Miguel for raining on Miyagi-Do's parade and not telling her about it in advance. So Miguel, not wanting to jeopardize his relationship with Sam, or at the minimum interested in softening the blow, either gives Sam an advance tip-off and preemptive apology, or better yet, convinces Johnny to wait until Miyagi-Do has finished before they do their show (risking being called a pussy by Johnny). Sam still has some bitter feelings towards Cobra Kai for putting on a demo that overshadowed Miyagi-Do's, though accepts Miguel's apology about the matter, as happens in canon when she argues with Aisha about this at the beach club and they decide it's not worth fighting over.

Episode 4:

Episode 4 is where Sam's rivalry with Tory begins in canon. Daniel takes Robby and Sam to a beach club, where his attempts to promote Miyagi-Do to local parents are overshadowed by Cobra Kai's display at Valley Fest, with Aisha's mother praising the difference that Cobra Kai has made in her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Sam tries to make up with Aisha, who is upset about the slight against Cobra Kai in Daniel’s ad, but ends up in a quarrel with Tory, whom she accuses of stealing her mother's wallet (having witnessed Tory stealing liquor at the club beforehand). Tory responds by pushing Sam into a dessert table and walking away with Aisha.

Not much about this would change, especially where the rivalry between Sam and Tory is concerned, because it's important for me to note that in canon this inciting incident for the rivalry was before Tory hooked up with Miguel. That wasn't until the next episode.

Meanwhile, through circumstances, Tory also runs into Robby, befriends him, and enters into a relationship with him. In season 3, we see them form a connection after Robby joins Cobra Kai over how they're the ones who bore the blunt of the punishment for the school brawl, and their troubled home lives. So we see that here, with Tory also using elements of the playbook she used in the actual timeline to seduce Miguel, which in this case means convincing Robby that he needs to pretend that he's over Sam. Kreese finds out about the relationship between Robby and Tory, and since he's wanted to snag Robby this whole time, he decides to use Tory as a pawn to influence Robby, in hopes of both eventually getting Robby to join Cobra Kai while also getting revenge on Daniel for humiliating him and Terry Silver back in 1985.

Episode 5:

In episode 5, the mall fight still happens, but with Miguel taking Robby's place. It would work nicely since Miguel is Demetri's friend too. (Robby's on a date with Tory, which is why he's not here)

In this version of events, Sam and Miguel go to the mall with Demetri. Demetri is confronted and attacked by Hawk and several other Cobra Kai students as a reprisal for his Yelp review. Demetri flees into the food court, where Sam and Miguel come to his aid. Despite being outnumbered, they utilize the "wheel technique" to soundly defeat their opponents (Miguel knows it because Daniel, at Sam's request, agreed to give Miguel a private one-on-one lesson with him and Sam in the LaRussos' home dojo). Proud of his students, Daniel resolves to continue training Demetri at a slower pace, and also convinces Miguel to consider joining Miyagi-Do, saying that Miguel could use some new fighting moves for when he defends his title at the next All-Valley Tournament. Sam and Miguel have an intimate moment afterwards (either a passionate makeout session, or they make love in Sam's bedroom).

Hawk is infuriated by Moon breaking up with him AND the fact that Miguel is consorting with the enemy by aiding Sam (in fact, he's noticed Miguel growing distant from him and the rest of Cobra Kai ever since the tournament, having spent more time with Sam than with his friends from the dojo). So when Kreese notices Hawk blowing off steam, he encourages him to continue the fight. That night, Hawk and his Cobra Kai followers trash the Miyagi-Do dojo and steal Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor.

Enraged, Daniel confronts Johnny in front of the students at the Cobra Kai dojo. Although Johnny honestly denies any knowledge of the incident, the two nearly come to blows until Miguel steps in and forces them to stand down, getting Daniel to remember his promise not to alienate Miguel from him. While Daniel predictably fails to get any restitution out of Johnny, he nonetheless succeeds in convincing a number of Cobra Kai students to walk out and join Miyagi-Do instead...including Miguel. There's a small smirk on Kreese's face as Miguel leaves, since Miguel's no longer around to oppose him, and he hopes the friction between Robby and Miguel will get Robby to leave Miyagi-Do and come over to Cobra Kai.

Episode 6:

So for the next two episodes, Miguel is now at Miyagi-Do. Although Robby does not trust Miguel (thanks to Kreese using Tory to indirectly manipulate him), Daniel reveals that he himself used to be Cobra Kai before seeing the error of his ways, and tells the class that it doesn't matter who they were before — as of now, they are all Miyagi-Do. They work together to raise a heavy stone slab that Hawk's gang knocked over.

At the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny punishes the students with strenuous exercises, seeking to root out who was responsible for trashing the Miyagi-Do dojo while also trying to reach out to Miguel, trying to get him to come back (with no success). He then receives a call which brings him to the hospital to visit his old friend Tommy, who is suffering from a terminal illness. Along with Bobby and Jimmy, the former Cobras resolve to treat Tommy to one last day of fun. His departure allows Kreese to corrupt the other Cobra Kais, moreso than in canon where Miguel was around to raise objections. The OG Cobra Kais, besides taking issue with Johnny for letting Kreese back in the picture, don't exactly help Johnny when they suggest that maybe it's for the best that Miguel is on the side of the LaRussos for now, as they've come to develop a lot of respect for Daniel and Mr. Miyagi since the tournament in 1984.

Episode 7:

I'd divide up the training sessions of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do to happen on separate days. Miguel participates with Sam in the meat locker training scene, taking Robby's place in the canon scene, while pairing Robby up with Demetri or Chris. Meanwhile, Hawk acts as Tory's partner in Coyote Creek instead of Miguel.

Meanwhile, Miguel suspects that Hawk was behind the trashing of Miyagi-Do and it was as payback for the mall fight. Finding out somehow that Cobra Kai are training the following day at Coyote Creek (because someone, maybe Stingray, was foolish enough to post it on social media), he decides to bring Sam and some of the other Miyagi-Dos to ambush the Cobra Kais. Miguel does the ambush on and beatdown of Hawk and takes back the medal of honor, while Sam attacks Tory and gives her a beating, even though Tory wasn't a participant in the vandalism of Miyagi-Do. Daniel's not happy with Sam or Miguel, but Sam counters that they have to show they won't stand for being picked on.

When Tory tells Robby about what happened, Robby is understandably torn on his loyalties. On the one hand, he's got to be loyal to Miyagi-Do, but Tory is his girlfriend, and his resentments towards Miguel begin to resurface. Tory is furious, recalls the same thing Kreese said to get Hawk to trash Miyagi-Do in the first place, and swears revenge on Sam. And for that matter, the Cobra Kais also want revenge on Miyagi-Do.

Episode 8:

Johnny gets Miguel to come back to Cobra Kai, now that Kreese has been expelled and isn't around to teach them in his old ways. Daniel is sad to see Miguel go, but tells Miguel that he's always welcome at their place for private sessions with Daniel and Sam. While Hawk is glad to see Miguel back, Miguel keeps him at arm's length in light of the vandalism and what happened at the mall, and Tory puts on a poker face to hide her hatred of him (which is another reason why she's targeting Sam: to hurt him by proxy).

80's night at the roller rink in canon is the first time Sam and Tory have crossed paths since episode 4.

In canon it goes like this: Tory invites Miguel to the roller rink, and Tory trips Sam for talking to Miguel, getting Sam and Robby ejected from the rink.

In the alternate timeline, it goes like this: Tory invites Robby to the roller rink, and she kisses Robby in front of Sam, something Sam doesn't react well to because she sees Tory as dragging Robby down and potentially undoing the hard work Robby has put into turning his life around ever since he entered the LaRussos' lives. Miguel tries to smooth things over with Tory for Coyote Creek, with little success because he doesn't realize just how deep Tory's hatred for him and Sam is. He starts to realize this when Tory trips Sam moments later, leading Sam to retaliate with a leg sweep, and Miguel also retaliates by getting in Tory's face. As a result, both Sam and Miguel are kicked out of the rink.

Episode 9:

Moon's party goes down a bit differently when it comes to Sam, Miguel, Robby, and Tory's actions.

In the show, while Miguel is by the pool kissing Sam, Robby's inside getting food for a very drunk Sam. However, he gets distracted as the summer-long tension between Hawk and Demetri escalates, and he has to step in and defend Demetri.

Here, due to circumstances, the roles are reversed and Miguel is the one inside defending Demetri from Hawk, while it's Robby who's outside by the pool with Sam, just making sure she's all right (after all, he's the son of two alcoholics). There's no drunk kiss, and instead, Robby and Sam are being friendly, talking, and Sam is raising her concerns about Tory being a bad influence on him. They're seen by Tory, and like when Miguel approached Sam at the roller rink in the actual timeline (or in canon when Miguel saw Sam being friendly with Robby at the LaRussos'), she misinterprets the whole thing in a way that fuels her hatred for Sam that has been festering ever since Sam beat her up at Coyote Creek.

When the police break up the party, Robby hastily decides to take Sam back to Johnny's apartment like in the show. Tory happens to see him getting Sam into his car, and decides that Robby isn't entirely over his feelings for Sam. Giving her another excuse for the school brawl.

Miguel isn't anywhere near them, so he reaches out to Johnny. Johnny calls back when he gets to his apartment and finds Robby and Sam there, or Miguel finds them together there. In either case, there's a short fight between Robby and Miguel (due to Miguel, who has been fully aware this whole time that Robby had a crush on Sam, fearing Robby was taking advantage of her) that Johnny quickly breaks up, with Johnny placating Miguel enough to get him to back down. Miguel takes a few deep breaths, focuses, goes over to his apartment to get his mother, and she quickly whips up a hangover cure for Sam. Carmen also sees fit to call Sam's parents to let them know that she's all right, and they can come pick her up in the morning.

Episode 10:

The Sunday morning after Moon's party, Daniel comes by to pick Sam up. Meanwhile, Robby begins to reconcile with his father. He is thankful for Johnny's help, and when Daniel shows up to take Sam home, Robby is willing to accept the blame to prevent further tension between the two men.

When Daniel arrives, there is no "rematch" between him and Johnny, and nothing of him disowning Robby (it's actually a bit redundant seeing as Robby's going to provide Daniel with a reason to hate him later). Johnny just hands Sam over to Daniel, Daniel takes her home. He's not happy that she seemingly turned to Johnny instead of him in her hour of need, but accepts that that's an issue for another day.

Over that Sunday, Robby and Johnny reconcile at Johnny's apartment, while Miguel goes over to the LaRussos' house and talks things over with Daniel, Amanda and Sam. He apologizes for not being more attentive to Sam, as he was busy trying to defend Demetri.

That Monday, Johnny takes Robby to school. Even as Johnny's attempts to be fatherly to him on his first day of school are awkward, Robby appreciates that he is trying, and encourages his father to make peace with Daniel, believing that the two of them could learn some things from each other.

Shortly into the morning announcements, Tory assaults the teacher and seizes control of the intercom to announce an ass-beating of Sam. Like in the show, the two girls circle each other in the hallway, with Robby and Miguel frantically racing to reach them. Miguel gets there first and manages to briefly separate them, only for Robby to arrive and — believing that Miguel is attacking Tory — start his own fight with him. With Miguel also giving his all, still pissed at Robby for (seemingly) trying to take advantage of Sam.

The brawl thus plays out the same. And the outcome of the Sam vs. Tory and Miguel vs. Robby fights are the same. In the girls' fight, Tory shifts her spiked bracelet to her knuckles, slashing Sam's arm before threatening to slice her face with it. Sam regains the upper hand and knocks her down a staircase. Meanwhile, Miguel pins Robby to the floor, but, remembering what Johnny said about the difference between having no mercy and no honor, shows mercy and apologizes. However, Robby’s anger at Miguel over having everything Robby doesn't have--the tournament trophy, the romance with Sam, Johnny's preferential treatment, Daniel's approval-- boils over and he seizes the opening to attack Miguel, inadvertently kicking him over the stairway balcony and paralyzing him.

In the aftermath, Daniel is furious that both his daughter and her boyfriend, who he's come to like ever since the tournament, are both in the hospital with injuries. He also blames Tory for corrupting Robby once he learns from Sam that Robby had been dating Tory.

Season 3:

Season 3 has some differences in the details, but otherwise stays mostly the same.

-----

At the end of the day, the rivalries amongst Sam, Miguel, Robby and Tory are made a bit stronger by cutting out the love triangles. With Sam vs. Tory, that rivalry is balanced out a bit by having Sam be a contributor to the increasing tensions between them, not just Tory doing everything. While Robby vs. Miguel is a bit stronger rivalry due to the fact that Robby has to interact with Miguel a lot more, all while having to bottle up his resentments of Miguel so he doesn't lose the LaRussos' hospitality.

#cobra kai #cobra kai season 2 #cobra kai season 1 #cobra kai season 3 #daniel larusso #ralph macchio #johnny lawrence #william zabka #amanda larusso #courtney henggeler #samantha larusso #sam larusso #mary mouser #miguel diaz #xolo mariduena #tory nichols #peyton list #robby keene #tanner buchanan #john kreese #martin kove #sam x miguel #robby x tory

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Hello! So, something that always intrigued me is the concept of “reverse aus,” and I’ve been thinking about that in the context of Cobra Kai for a while now. How do you think it would go down if Demetri was the one to get roped into Cobra Kai? Obviously, I don’t think he would be as into as Eli canonically was (probably due to it becoming a special interest for him), but I’d be curious to hear your take on it. Would Eli end up going to Miyagi-Do like canon Demetri did, or would Demetri and Eli sort of become the new Evil Karate Husbands™️? And possibly, how do you think Demetri and Johnny’s dynamic would go? (I’m just going to awkwardly add that this is cc-tinslebee, coming to you live from my main blog because I don’t think Tumblr let’s sideblogs send asks-)

So this is actually the SECOND ask I’ve gotten about this scenario--Cherry sent in another one!--so I figured I’d give it a stab. Took me a while to work out how I think it would go and how everything would play out different if Demetri and Eli’s roles were reversed, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried to make it more interesting than just “Demetri does all the stuff Eli does and Eli does all the stuff Demetri does.”

Also I lowkey LOVE the idea of Evil Karate Husbands and even though that isn’t the direction this particular AU goes in, I might do a divergent spin-off AU to explore that too??? Because man...the thought of Miguel desperately trying to save his two best friends who have fallen to the dark side...*cries*

Fair warning that this AU is gonna get dark as shit--I fully belive things would’ve gotten equally fucked up between them in a role reverse AU, just, ah...in slightly different ways. A lot of this will not be Happy Times later on, much like their canon relationship XD

OKAY TIME FOR PAIN, LET’S GOOOO

Longboi post so be warned!!!

Season 1

After getting his ass handed to him--for trying to stick up for Eli, no less--Demetri was pissed. Why the hell was he paying some guy to beat him up for daining to have a problem with him bullying his best friend? Going home in a rage, he nearly texted Miguel to tell him he was quitting--but something stopped him just before he hit Send.

He remembered the look on Eli’s face just after Kyler shoved him away. He remembered seeing Eli stiffen when Kyler grabbed him by the chin, practically feeling the terror emanate from his friend’s body. He remembered how completely and infuriatingly helpless he felt.

It certainly wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. But maybe if Miguel was onto something--maybe if karate really could protect him and Eli from the bullies--it could be the last.

Mr. Lawrence (or Sensei Lawrence, as he obnoxiously insisted on being called) hardly let up on bullying Eli. Even at Eli’s request not to call him “Lip” and the pleading of his star student Miguel Diaz himself, the man only seemed to crack down harder--in some sort of twisted effort to “toughen Eli up,” Demetri guessed. Demetri defended Eli every single time, not mincing any words mouthing off at Sensei Lawrence. It got Demetri punched in the face, flipped on the mat, saddled with much harder drills than the rest of the class, but he didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t about to let anyone treat Eli like that, no matter what pain he had to endure for it.

Johnny, meanwhile, is immensely annoyed by this obnoxious, sarcastic kid who just can’t stop running his mouth--but working him twice as hard as the rest of the class is proving to be fruitless in shutting him up. But, Johnny’s finding, Demetri constantly antagonizing him doesn’t have to be a hindrance. Anger like that can be weaponized--the more he provokes Demetri, the more he insults and belittles that Eli kid he’s so attached to, the harder Demetri punches. The quicker he moves when he fights. The stronger he kicks. Johnny sometimes comes home after training covered in nasty bruises, almost entirely from sparring Demetri--they’re enough to make Carmen and Rosa Diaz worry he’s getting jumped on the way home.

One day Johnny takes his ribbing of Eli just a little too far, hoping to get an especially vicious reaction out of Demetri. Eli, pushed to the end of his rope, runs out of the dojo, barely holding back tears. Demetri starts to go after him, but Miguel puts a hand on his arm and stops him, saying they can both check up on him later.

When Demetri finds Eli after practice, Eli’s sobbing. “I can’t do this anymore, Deme. No matter what you say to him, he just keeps picking on me. It never stops.” Demetri winces, because Eli isn’t wrong--Sensei Lawrence really hasn’t stopped bullying Eli at all, and while Demetri was busy letting himself get riled up by it, he didn’t actually think to see how it was affecting Eli. “Well, I know it sucks now, and Mr. Lawrence is a huge asshole, but we’re learning to be tough,” Demetri reasons. “We’re learning to be intimidating. A few more months here, and the bullies will never touch us again! Just like Miguel!” And Eli just scowls, uncharacteristically angry for his timid self, and says “Well, it’s not worth it if I have to feel like shit the whole time! If every time I step in here I get everything about me picked apart, over and over again! I’m done with this, Demetri.”

And just like that, Eli is out of the dojo. Demetri can’t help but be disappointed--he’d looked forward to them training together, and seeing Eli become a badass, fearless fighter who could hand Kyler’s ass to him after all those fucked up things he said to Eli. And to make matters worse, Sensei Lawrence doesn��t stop using Eli as fuel to rip out Demetri’s rage long after Eli’s gone. “Oooh, Loudmouth, feeling sad today? Missing Lip the Quitter?” “You keep throwing punches like that, and you could get beat up by that loser with the fucked lip you were so enamored with. Although knowing you, you’d let him win anyways.” And Demetri can’t help but hate the man, but damn, if it doesn’t feel good to land an especially good hit on him, or jab him in the thigh with a powerful kick.

But things aren’t bad--Demetri still has Miguel, and their new friend Aisha. Eli still hangs out with them outside of practice, and indulges Demetri in his ever-increasing ramblings about martial arts, no matter how nervous and uncomfortable karate tends to make Eli. If Demetri likes it that much, maybe he should make an effort to show interest in it. The four of them crash Yasmine’s birthday party, and Demetri even finds himself smooth-talking them into getting alcohol with his newfound confidence. After all, if he can land punches faster than a snake can strike, how difficult can it be to weasel his way into getting a little beer?

Meanwhile Moon, feeling understandably unfulfilled in her popular clique, takes an interest in the Cool New Karate Gang in town, and after apologizing to Aisha at the beach rager, the two strike up a friendship. She comes to hang out with their group more and more, and Eli finds her surprisingly easy to talk to. Moon constantly makes an effort to include him when the others get to wrapped up talking about karate, and he appreciates her kindness and sincerity. It’s odd, really, how easy it is to have a conversation with her, considering how nervous he tends to get around her. But Eli doesn’t think too much about it.

When it comes time for the tournament, Moon and Eli go together to support their friends. Eli finds his gaze flickering back and forth between Moon and Demetri, lingering on each of them longer than he would care to admit--and he can’t quite explain why. Something about Moon’s wide, excited smile, the smell of cherry shampoo in her hair...but also Demetri’s smug, triumphant smirk when he pulls off an especially impressive move, the way his wiry arm muscles ripple when he fights. They’re both just so...captivating.

Demetri, for his part, is ruthless. Much more so than Eli has ever seen him be. He’s always been sarcastic and cynical, but resigned to his fate--at the tournament, Demetri lashes out in vicious ways the old Demetri would never have had the courage to pull off. He talks shit to the other contestants far beyond what’s considered “sportsmanlike”--and Eli can tell he’s not holding back, with the theatrical body language channeling every awful thing he’s saying.

Demetri fights like lightning--he weaves and maneuvers and strikes at breakneck speed, a limber, flashing form hitting all across his opponent’s bodies before they have any idea what’s happening. He dodges hits and jumps aside like he has some cosmic sense of when and where they’re coming. And it scares Eli, seeing a viciousness and relentlessness in Demetri that he’s never encountered before--but somehow, he finds, he just can’t look away.

Season 2

After the tournament, Demetri’s life has never been better. At the summer’s start, he’s still riding the high of the Cobra Kai tournament win. He didn’t take home the trophy, but suffice to say he got much farther than anyone believed a scrawny, lanky nerd ever would, and he is incredibly smug about it. He realizes, at the end of the day, he’s gotten what he always wanted after all--the bullies don’t come near him and Eli at all, and he can rest easy, knowing Eli is finally safe. However, he’s so busy embracing his new skills that at times, he almost forgets that was ever even an issue. His newfound fighting prowess has caught the attention of Yasmine, of all people--maybe someone who can throw kicks that good isn’t as much of a loser as she originally thought.

She finds out after her family’s plans to go to France for the summer fall through, and she finally patches things up with Moon after their fallout at the beach party. Moon can’t stop gushing about how amazing Demetri was at the tournament--both she and her new friend Eli (who Yasmine definitely thinks seems like a weirdo, but hey--maybe if Moon thinks he’s worth her time, he can’t be that much of a loser) were so impressed with him. Interest piqued, Yasmine joins their little but ever-growing group. She finds herself quickly drawn in by Demetri’s ever-growing confidence, intelligence, and surprisingly enjoyable (if somewhat annoying) sense of humor, and before long, the two are dating.

Yasmine and Aisha are...cool. Kind of. Yasmine doesn’t quite apologize, and the two aren’t friends by any stretch of imagination, but they tolerate each other, and Yasmine refrains from making awful comments and picking on Aisha in front of their friends. Aisha, for her part, does her best not to lash out or be mean to Yasmine either, keeping the peace mainly for Demetri’s and Moon’s sakes.

Meanwhile, it would take an idiot not to notice the rather starstruck looks Eli’s been shooting in Moon’s direction. Moon, for her part, is either entirely oblivious or simply doesn’t even think to consider a shy, timid, nerdy kid as a romantic option, even if she does consider him a friend.

Oddly, Demetri finds himself extremely bothered by Eli’s doe-eyed crush on Moon. He really can’t place why--he has a girlfriend already, so it really shouldn’t bug him so much that Eli is finally growing noticably interested in girls too, now that they tend to be in closer proximity. And it’s not even like Moon seems to be at all interested in reciprocating. Maybe, he figures, it’s the fact that Moon never would have even looked their way if it weren’t for the fact that he and Miguel and Aisha were the “Cool Karate Gang.” The same karate gang, of course, that Eli quit. That Eli didn’t have it in him to fully be a part of. And yet here he is, reaping the benefits still.

Interestingly, Yasmine also seems bothered by Eli’s affections for her friend. Demetri feels her stiffen beside him and sees her shooting disapproving looks whenever she catches Eli staring at Moon. Demetri isn’t sure why she seems to take issue with this too--perhaps she thinks Moon is too good for Eli, and her friend deserves better than a shy, awkward nerd.

Something about this mindset very much rubs Demetri the wrong way, but he pushes the feeling aside. Maybe he should count his blessings instead of being so inwardly critical of his girlfriend. After all, not everyone gets to date the hottest girl in school.

The day of Valley Fest arrives, and Yasmine goes to support her boyfriend. Moon and Eli tag along, eager to support their friends as well. Caught up in the thrill of the blaring music, the bright, flashing lights, the audience cheering, Demetri feels a wave of pride as he looks at his little group of friends that came for him, yelling and whooping and jumping up and down. For some reason, he finds his gaze drawn specifically to Eli, wearing a grin bigger than Demetri’s seen in months and eyes absolutely glowing.

Suddenly Demetri feels an overpowering urge to wrap Eli up in this world he’s fallen in love with, immerse him entirely in the karate that’s made Demetri feel so much more happy and free in the past several months. Grinning, he strides forward and reaches down, using the absurd upper body strength he’s built up since he’s started karate to yank Eli up onto the stage. He hands his best friend a wooden board and steps back, racing forward and snapping it in half with a jumping roundhouse kick. For a few seconds, Eli can do nothing but stare at the broken board, something shifting inside of him.

After that, Eli decides maybe it’s time to give karate another go. Something about the way Demetri positively shone onstage--how genuinely happy all of it seemed to make him--makes him thing it can’t be so bad, even if he does get taunted for his lip again.

He stops by the dojo the following week, gathering up every ounce of courage he has to ask that mean blonde man how he goes about joining the dojo again. He’s hoping against hope that maybe, after all these months of teaching students and a tournament win under his belt, the edge of his pathetic cruelty will at least have been taken off.

No such luck. Upon seeing Eli walk into the dojo, Johnny greets him with “Hey, Lip is back! Real world not treat you as nicely as you thought?” The two are, regrettably, completely alone in the dojo. Eli sucks in his breath--Demetri isn’t around, so if anyone is going to defend him, it’ll have to be him himself.

“Could you please not call me that?” His voice shakes as he says it, but nonetheless, he finishes the statement. It occurs to him that not once in his (admittedly brief) stay in Cobra Kai did he simply...request that Sensei Lawrence not call him Lip. Demetri’s approach was always to get angry about it, go off on the sensei about how wrong it was to mock someone’s appearance, but Eli himself had never been the one to make a case for Sensei Lawrence to treat him better.

It hardly helped. Sensei Lawrence just claimed that if he didn’t want him to call him Lip, he shouldn’t have a freaky lip, and then went on to claim whoever did his cleft lip surgery must have done an awful job. Eli attempted to move away from the topic, but Sensei Lawrence didn’t let up. “It’s hard to when it’s right in front of me. Hard to believe Demetri was so willing to defend you like some knight in shining armor or some shit. You’re pathetic.” Having heard enough, Eli storms out, anger overtaking him. How could he have been so stupid, to think this was going to go any better? Why did he think that just because this man had been willing to help Miguel and Demetri (who were normal) become badass meant he would extend the same treatment to the freak with the lip scar?

Eli calls Demetri in tears. “I don’t know how you can train with someone like him,” Eli spits out. “He’s a shit person, Demetri. I--I don’t know what you and Miguel are thinking. It’s like he gets some kind of...I don’t know, sadistic pleasure out of bullying people. He’s not any better than the people he claims he’s trying to help you fight.”

Demetri, to his horror, reacts only with scorn, scoffing and rolling his eyes. “God, all this drama because he was mean about your lip again? Jesus christ, grow a backbone, Eli. I hate to say it, but I think Mr. Lawrence was right--if you can’t even handle someone making some insensitive comments about your scar, how are you going to handle an elbow to the teeth? Or any training more intensive than a slap on the wrist, anyway?”

Eli can do nothing but just stare at him through the screen. Demetri, the one person who he has always been able to count on to not comment on his scar, the one person who has always comforted him or talked him through it when he cried, is brushing him completely off--being an asshole about the one thing Eli was certain he never would be. Why is Demetri, of all people, not taking his side on this?

All Eli knows for sure is that he doesn’t like this new version of Demetri one bit. What happened to the best friend who was always willing to fight for him, no matter what it took? Now, he seems more concerned with looking cool and tough and upkeeping some kind of ridiculous reputation than Eli’s own well-being.

Over the next few days, a rage he didn’t know he even had in him bubbles up inside Eli. He decides if Demetri’s going to play dirty, so is he. And maybe, if Eli plays his cards right, the old Demetri will come back.

Despite his long-standing frustration with the way adults treat him--delicately, condescendingly, like a Thing of Pity--Eli figures he can get some use out of it for once. If this is the only way they’re going to see him regardless, he might as well use it to his advantage. And so he goes crying to his mom, who he knows for a fact other adults talk about being a “valued member of the community” and probably has some influence and some strings she can pull. He bawls to her about how his best friend has turned into an unrecognizable jerk, all because he’s training with a middle-aged man with the mindset of a high school bully who has no issue verbally abusing his students. Sure enough, discussions are had with the Neighborhood Committee, phone calls are placed, and Eli overhears his mother vowing to shut down that degenerate karate place if it’s the last thing she ever does.

Meanwhile, back at the dojo, Kreese makes an announcement. The elderly, intimidating man has recently teamed up with Johnny to teach--and he gives Demetri the creeps, if he’s honest, but he seems to know his stuff when it comes to karate, so Demetri goes along with this new addition to the sensei roster. However, when Johnny goes off to visit his high school friends and leaves the kids alone with the new Sensei, Demetri can’t help but feel uneasy.

“Now, the dojo’s been getting some concerned phone calls,” Kreese says, arms crossed and expression difficult to read. He doesn’t seem to be angry--if anything, he looks faintly amused. “Parents of the local teenagers are worried. They think Cobra Kai is full of bullies. Think our methods are...abusive, even. They want to shut us down.” Worried murmurs start to echo around the room, but Kreese silences them as he goes on. “Oh, don’t worry. It won’t be a problem. I have my ways of talking people down. We know better, anyhow. They’re just...intimidated by us, because we’ve honed skills here they couldn’t even dream of having. But nonetheless...” Kreese smirks in a way that makes Demetri feels ever-so-slightly unnerved. “If you run into one of your little peers whining to your parents about getting rid of us, well...show them Cobra Kai can’t be messed with so easily.”

And suddenly Demetri’s seething, because he knows exactly who made sure those phone calls got made.

Eli, for all his timidness, is notoriously smart. Demetri knows this intimately. He’d hardly put it past Eli to be this cunning, to manipulate the pitying adults around him to get what he wants.

When the Cobra Kai kids take a trip to the mall later that day, Demetri knows exactly where Eli will be. Every Wednesday, a new issue of Dungeon Lord comes out--they used to go get it together, but since getting into karate, Demetri hasn’t been keeping up. Demetri would figure someone like Eli wouldn’t have the balls to go out in public alone, if not for the fact that he knew how invested Eli was in the current plot.

And so Demetri heads to the comic book store, a group of reluctant Cobra Kai “pledges” in tow. Maybe it’s a bit sadistic, but he likes having someone to be able to boss around--it feels nice to be at the top of the food chain for once. Lord knows it’s the first time that’s happened. And if he isn’t going to milk that tournament win for all it’s worth, then what even is the point?

When Demetri arrives, Eli turns to look at him in confusion. “What are you doing here?” he says, lip curling slightly. “I figured you were too tough for this kind of stuff now.”

Demetri just scoffs and crosses his arms. “Well, Mr. Kreese said the dojo’s been getting some calls from weepy parents concerned we’re bullying their poor kids. Saying our Senseis must be some evil, abusive monsters twisting and corrupting the neighborhood teenagers. So I think you know exactly why I’m here.”

Eli just looks at him with a doe-eyed innocence that makes his blood boil. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Demetri advances on him, eyes flashing. “Don’t bullshit me, Eli. I know you’ve been meddling.”

To his surprise, Eli looks up to meet his gaze evenly, pretense of naiveté completely gone. “And what if I have? I don’t like the influence they’re having on you.”

Well, Demetri doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but he doesn’t like it. “What is it about Cobra Kai that’s got you in such a tiffy, huh? You’re jealous I found a way to fight back and actually protect us? You don’t like that I’m not a pathetic loser you can look down your nose at anymore?”

Eli just looks at him in bewilderment. “Jesus, no, that’s not it at all, dude. Just...do you even hear yourself? You’ve turned into such an asshole since you started all that karate shit. It’s like I don’t even know you anymore. You walk around thinking you’re hot shit and everyone has to bow down to you all because your dojo won some stupid tournament. Well, news flash, Demetri--nobody cares.”

The callous way Eli, of all people, says it can’t help but throw him off. Is that really what his best friend thinks about him now--that he’s just some arrogant prick strutting around flaunting his success?

And then Demetri remembers how he got here--what it was that pushed him to be such a hard-assed fighter in the first place--and he feels a wave of venom coarse through him so powerful that he nearly chokes on it. Before he knows it he’s grabbing Eli by the shoulders and shoving him up against the wall.

“You fucking ungrateful brat,” he spits out, his words poison. “I did it all for you, you know. Everything I did was so that I could finally protect you. And this is how you thank me? After I’ve been getting my ass kicked over and over again so you wouldn’t have to worry about bullies anymore?”

Eli is surprisingly unfazed. “And where was I when you were learning to be such a good protector, Demetri? Getting shit on as a tool to motivate you? Nobody bothering to check how I felt about that? A real good bodyguard you turned out to be.”

“And yet Kyler and his little posse haven’t bothered you once. Who do you think that’s thanks to?”

“Miguel too. You don’t get all the credit. And anyhow, not like it matters when your Senseis would just as soon take the same cheap shots.”

Demetri just curls his lip. “Don’t get mad at me because you were too weak to survive Cobra Kai. Because...what, a middle-aged karate teacher hurt your feelings? I’d like to see how you go about taking a real fist to the jaw.”

Demetri raises a fist as if to demonstrate. Eli flinches, anger and defiance suddenly completely gone as his eyes widen in horror.

“You’d actually hurt me?” he asks softly.

Demetri slowly lowers his fist, realizing the answer as soon as he sees the terrified look in his friend’s eyes.

“Consider this your warning, Eli,” he spits out, with as much venom as he can manage. “Don’t mess around with Cobra Kai, or things are going to get ugly.” He smirks--a little sadistically, he has to admit. “You saw the tournament. Well...you’d better believe that’s the least of what I can do.”

When a downtrodden Eli shows up at Daniel LaRusso’s front door, timidly requesting to learn karate, far be it from Daniel to turn away a new student. Eli’s sob story about how he’s being bullied and threatened by his best friend only makes the new sensei more determined to take him under his wing--Daniel is no stranger to bullying, after all.

The next time Cobra Kai goes on an outing to the mall, Demetri catches Eli in the food court, eating with Samantha LaRusso and that kid whose ass he kicked at the tournament--Robby Keene, was his name? Mr. Lawrence’s kid. This seems...odd. How would Eli have met them?

An unexpected wave of jealousy rips through him. How did shy little Eli manage to make other friends? Let alone with an ex popular girl, of all people. Nonetheless, he figures this might be a good time to make sure his ex-friend isn’t trying to start any more shit with Cobra Kai.

He catches Eli in the deli line, sliding up behind him and purring, “Oh, I hope you haven’t been poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, have you, Eli?”

Eli turns and glares at him with a venom Demetri didn’t know the other boy had in him. “Why, Demetri? Scared your precious Cobra Kai is going to lose all its coolness cred if it gets out how shitty you all are?”

Demetri seethes with anger again, and before he knows it, he’s shoving Eli out of the line and ramming him up against one of the pillars on the edge of the food court. The crowd of eaters around them “Oooooh”s, but Demetri ignores them. He raises a fist again, fully prepared to follow through this time. “I’d watch your mouth, if I were you.”

Eli just curls his lip, more defiant than Demetri’s ever seen him. “You don’t scare me, Demetri. I know who you really are.”

The Cobra Kai pledges start to loom behind them, ready to provide Demetri with backup if needed. Eli notices and scoffs. “Wow, siccing your goons on me too? Way to set up a fair fight, Demetri. You’re so badass.”

Struck by a sudden desire to prove him wrong, Demetri socks Eli in the jaw before he can think better of it. He pauses afterwards, momentarily shaken by what he’s done.

To his dismay, Eli’s horrified shock is short lived before he laughs darkly. “Well, you’re not the only one who knows karate now. I joined Miyagi-Do.”

Demetri just scoffs. Ah yes, a little karate training and Eli, of all people, is going to kick some major ass. “All right then. Let’s see what you got.” He takes a step back, allowing Eli to try and get a hit in.

When the fight breaks out in full force, it’s vicious. Eli throws the first hit, but it’s weak--he’s out of practice since abandoning Cobra Kai. Demetri has him on the ground in seconds, throwing punches and kicks with a speed and rage he had no idea he had. Eli barely has time to get up before he’s getting his ass handed to him.

What Demetri doesn’t count on is Eli’s new dojomates coming to his rescue, getting the smaller boy behind them and executing a near-perfect synchronized fighting routine. Even with his lackeys helping him, Demetri is completely annihilated--nearly unconscious on the food court floor within minutes. The last thing he sees before he passes out is Eli staring down at him, blue eyes wide with horror.

When word of the incident at the mall gets back to Moon, shit hits the fan--to put it lightly. Yasmine is with Moon when she confronts Demetri, but she doesn’t say anything--just stands glaring with her arms crossed while Moon goes off at him. “How could you treat Eli like that? He’s your friend!”

“Not anymore.” Demetri curls his lip. “He joined Miyagi-Do. He’s made it pretty clear where his loyalties lie now, and it’s not with me.”

“Who cares about Miyagi-Do?” She retorts. “He’s still your friend! Our friend! And I don’t like the way you’re bullying him.”

Demetri scoffs. “Don’t you get it? He’s just a pathetic nerd who can’t handle the fact that I’m cooler than him now. All he wants to do is drag me down to his level again, I guarantee it.”

Moon’s gaze is more poisonous than he’s ever seen it. She turns to Yasmine. “Tell him, Yas,” she says, her tone dangerously quiet.

Yasmine sighs. She says--with notable hesitation, Demetri notices--“If you don’t stop bullying Eli, we’re through.”

Thrown off, Demetri laughs harshly. “What do you care? You don’t even like Eli! I see those...disgusted looks you shoot in his direction, when you think we won’t notice.”

Yasmine bites her lip. “That doesn’t matter. Moon is my best friend. If she’s not okay with this whole...thing, then neither am I.”

“You’re not fucking serious. You’re dumping me because your bleeding-hearted friend told you I wasn’t being nice enough to a guy you can’t stand?”

Yasmine pauses, but ultimately stands her ground. “I’m sorry, but if it’s between you and Moon, it’s going to be Moon. So her word goes. So either stop with this whole stupid feud with Eli, or we’re finished.”

“I...” Demetri can only stare at her, shocked. He never could have imagined getting this ultimatum...and yet here he is.

He must have hesitated a second too long, because Moon grabs Yasmine’s arm and starts to pull her away. “I think that’s all the answer we need,” Moon hisses.

“Wait!” he called helplessly after them. Yasmine turns around once as she walks away, but only to spit “It’s over!” over her shoulder. As if for good measure.

Kreese finds Demetri circling a punching bag in the back of the dojo, spinning around it and throwing kicks and punches faster than cobra strikes. Seizing his opportunity, he advances. “What’s wrong, son?”

Demetri turns, tensing. He’s still wary of the man, but to hell with it--it’s not like he has anyone else to talk to. “Fight broke out with Miyagi-Do, and we lost. Pathetic, I know. Please don’t rub it in.”

“Cheer up.” Kreese smirks. “The fight isn’t over until you say it is.”

Demetri just sighs. “No use going in for a rematch. They’re strong. I couldn’t take them again on my own.”

Kreese’s smirk widens. “You’re a smart kid. There are other ways to fight back, you know. You don’t always have to beat them into the ground.”

As he leaves, Demetri lets that sink in.

Well, Demetri is nothing if not tech-savvy. May as well make some use of that Yelp Elite status. He spends hours setting up dozens of sock puppet accounts, programming them to post terrible review after terrible review blasting everything he can think of about Miyagi-Do. The encouragement of violence in youth (Eli had technically punched first, hadn’t he?). The weak, subpar fighting style that broke down as soon as it was challenged by serious fighters. The pretentious, culture-appropriating sensei. Daniel LaRacist indeed.

During the Coyote Creek excursion, Demetri finds himself pitted against Miguel, fighting in the world’s most intense game of what essentially boils down to Capture the Flag. Demetri, about to get the better of Miguel, finds that he can’t help but gloat about his little online attack. Can’t be long before a one-star dojo goes out of business.

When Miguel seems to take issue with it, saying the whole thing is mean-spirited and over the top, Demetri can’t help but scoff. Miyagi-Do has been plenty clear in declaring war--their little battalion at the mall proved that. Demetri wishes Miguel wasn’t still too caught up in pining over Sam LaRusso to realize that.

Miguel, meanwhile, decides this dojo war of sorts is getting out of hand. It turns out Demetri isn’t the only tech-savvy student in Cobra Kai--Miguel designed their website, after all. With a little bit of basic internet coding and some rudimentary hacking, he manages to access the sock puppet accounts Demetri made and take the bad reviews down. He even goes so far as to go over to the Miyagi-Do dojo and personally apologize for how Cobra Kai has been acting, telling Robby Keene that he found out who blasted the bad reviews and took them all down. “We’re not all assholes.”

Come Moon’s end-of-summer party, Demetri is surprised to get an invitation. He hasn’t seen her or Yasmine since they both chewed him out, and Yasmine ended things. But perhaps this is a show of good faith. Maybe Moon wants to be friends again--and maybe that means Yasmine’s come to her senses too, and might be willing to talk things out.

Moon welcomes him when he arrives, previous animosity gone for the moment. “Hey, thank you for inviting me. I’m...sorry,” he starts. “Of how we left things off. I was an ass to you and Yas.” “It’s alright,” Moon replies cheerily. “I invited you because...well, I’m hoping that before school starts, we can stop all the fighting and be friends again.”

His heart sinks as he sees Sam LaRusso lead a stream of kids through the door, Eli trailing at the end, and he realizes exactly what she means. The Miyagi-Dos are here.

He sits forlornly on a couch with Mitch and Aisha, thinking about how much worse this night just got. He brightens, however, when he sees a shock of blonde hair at the door not long after. So Yasmine came after all.

Moon grins in delight, calling over to her. Taking a breath, Demetri stands up and approaches the two girls, determined to smooth things over with them both.

He’s not surprised to see Yasmine make a beeline for Moon, not noticing him for the moment. What he isn’t expecting is for Moon to sweep Yasmine into her arms, kissing her full on the mouth.

Demetri stops in his tracks. The girls turn to him a few seconds later, seeming to notice him for the first time. They look at him expectantly, as though waiting for him to finish walking over to them. Or say something, and not just stand there gawking stupidly.

“Uh...are you two...um...like...uh...” All he can do is shuffle closer and gesture abstractly, not able to find words. Yasmine blushes and looks away, while Moon tucks a hair behind her ear, her smile strained.

“Yeah. It’s new,” she admits, laughing nervously. “We’re, um...”

“Girlfriends?” Yasmine offers, looking up and smiling at Moon with uncharacteristic shyness. Demetri can’t help but bristle--shyness she never showed him.

Well, far be it from him to be judgmental. Even if Yasmine broke his damn heart just now, Moon is still his friend. He gives them a strained smile. “That’s...that’s great! Happy for you two. No shame in uh...trying out something like that.”

Demetri excuses himself and sulks back to the now-empty couch, mind racing as he sits down. Is that why Moon was trying to encourage Yasmine to break up with him? Was it even about Eli at all? Did Moon just want Yasmine for herself? It seemed unlike Moon, but who could say?

And Yasmine...had she always wanted Moon, too? Is that why she seethed every time she saw Eli shooting lovestruck glances at her friend?

...had she even ever liked Demetri at all, or was he just a cover-up for the fact that she was...lesbian? How was someone as feminine and fashionable as Yasmine a lesbian, anyways? All the lesbians Demetri saw on tv cut their hair boyishly short and had about 5 nose rings and walked around in leather jackets and combat boots.

His thoughts are interrupted by the last sweatered boy he wants to see taking a seat at the other side of the couch, glancing nervously at him with darting eyes. What did Eli want? And why was he so nervous? He’d been unduly bold as of late.

“You seen the new Doctor Who trailer?” Eli mutters.

Something about the nonchalant way he says it--like this is the olden days, when Demetri always felt like shit about himself and had no one who tolerated him but Eli--makes Demetri’s blood boil. He scoffs. “I have better things to do than watch nerd crap like that.”

A short silence. “Capaldi regenerated,” Eli offers finally. “I know you weren’t big on 12.”

No more Capaldi? Demetri turns to look at Eli, interest suddenly piqued.

“What’s the new doctor like?” he asks before he can stop himself.

Eli grins. “She’s a badass.”

“She?” Demetri finds himself grinning back. “How progressive of them. Welcome to the 21st century, Doctor Who.”

A sudden giggling catches his attention, and Demetri looks to where Yasmine and Moon are sharing a chair across the room, tangled up in each other’s arms and trading soft kisses like they don’t have a care in the world. He tenses.

Eli seems to sense his discomfort, and sighs. “Hey, I’m sorry, man. If it helps at all, I liked Moon a lot, too.”

Demetri just scoffs. “Yeah, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. They just have to be gay, right?”

Eli gives him a strange look. Demetri shuffles uncomfortably, realizing what he’s probably thinking about. The...incident, 4 years ago. Demetri glares at him, hoping to banish the thought before it arrives. None of that meant anything--they were just dumb kids. Dumb kids doing dumb shit that didn’t matter.

“I don’t know, I mean...if they’re happy together, shouldn’t we just be happy for them?”

Eli reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, and Demetri hesitates. Their special touch. Eli still remembers, even after everything that’s happened.

For a moment he’s overcome with longing, wishing things with Eli could just go back to how they used to be. Back when he knew no matter what hell he went through at school, Eli would always be there to pick him back up again. But then it sinks in what Eli’s really trying to say.

Be happy for them. What a bunch of Miyagi-Do bullshit. Just accept his sad little lot in life, just like he used to do. Go back to nerdy little Eli at the bottom of the food chain, doomed to spend the rest of his youth admiring pretty girls from a vast distance.

He never wants that to be him again.

“Oh, fuck you, Eli,” he spits, grabbing Eli’s hand and yanking it off of his shoulder. Eli freezes, looking like he’s just been slapped.

“What, so I’m supposed to do like you, moping and pining and hoping a pretty girl will look my way if I wish hard enough and just sucking it up when she doesn’t? Well, I’ve had plenty enough of that--I’ve been on the top. And I’m going to be on the top again. But you? You’ll always be pathetic--you and your entire sorry excuse for a dojo.”

He gets up and walks away, bristling with an anger he can’t even fully place anymore.

As Eli watches Demetri go, he realizes he’s finally had enough. Demetri doesn’t want to patch things up? He just wants to keep being an arrogant shithead? Fine. But Eli’s not about to take his prodding and insults anymore.

Eli makes his way over to Moon--still his friend, despite the unreciprocated feelings--and Yasmine, strikes up a conversation with them. Yasmine, he notices, is being notably nicer to him--probably at Moon’s request. They get to talking about sexualities, and Eli accidentally lets a little something slip about Demetri.

When they were 12 years old, they had kissed. It was Eli who suggested they practiced kissing, to get ready for all the girls they would inevitably date. However, a bit of choice wording and it sounded like Demetri had planted one on Eli out of nowhere...and Eli, of course, hadn’t liked it one bit, because he was totally straight. “You can’t tell anyone, though,” he pleaded the girls, big sad eyes every bit as convincing as he had hoped. “Demetri doesn’t want it to get out that he’s...you know. Gay. He’s worried it’ll ruin his reputation.”

Moon nods sincerely, but Eli can tell from the almost imperceptible smirk on Yasmine’s face that she has other plans. If there’s one thing he’s learned about Demetri’s ex over the last few months, it’s that even trying to be a better person, she can’t resist a good bit of juicy gossip.

And from what Eli gathers...two girls dating? No problem, as long as they’re hot and popular. At least creepy guys can fetishize it. But guys liking other guys? Now that...Eli has a feeling that won’t go over well.

As soon as Eli excuses himself, Yasmine gets to work. A few whispers at the snack table when Moon isn’t looking, and news of Demetri’s supposed orientation spread like wildfire.

Demetri, meanwhile, is determined to prove Eli wrong. So what if Yas doesn’t want him anymore (or never did, the mean voice in his head keeps prodding)? He’ll find another hot girl to have on his arm. He’s a top Cobra Kai fighter, after all--it’s not like it’ll be difficult.

He saunters over to a group of girls, leaning up against the wall in what he thinks has to be a very suave way. “Hey ladies,” he says. “Name’s Demetri. I’m sure you’ve heard about me--seasoned Cobra Kai fighter, finalist in the All-Valley tournament. But no need to be intimidated--if any of you beautiful ladies ever need a hand with anything, I’ll--”

“Take it off of the nearest dick to help us out?” one of the girls cuts him off. They all break out in snickers. “No thanks.”

Demetri freezes. Why would they think...?

Then he realizes there’s only one person who could have made them think he was into that sort of thing.

He tenses. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but--”

“We’ve heard all we need to,” another girl says, eyeing him up in disgust. “Not interested in getting it on with someone who’s probably had his cock up another guy’s ass, to be blunt. Gross.” Before Demetri can say another word, the girls are gone, turning and slinking hurriedly off into the crowd.

Every time Demetri tries his luck with another girl, he gets similar rebuffs. And every time, he seethes a little more. Fucking figured--timid little Eli couldn’t take the fact that Demetri had worked up the confidence to win over a girl and he hadn’t, so he had to ruin Demetri’s chances with every other girl so he’d feel better.

Besides, Demetri remembers that day from 4 years ago. He remembers that Eli was just as into...all the stuff they did.

Unfortunately, before Demetri has a chance to go over and confront Eli about the whole business, the cops show up. He’ll just have to wait until school, he figures.

Meanwhile, word gets back to Sam that Miguel showed up at her door, apologizing and promising he took all the bad reviews down--apparently Robby didn’t relay any of this to her. When Miguel admits to Demetri about the drunken kiss, Demetri chuckles, slapping him on the back. “My man! Trying to build up a whole harem here, are we?”

Miguel sighs, looking sullen. “I cheated, dude. That’s shitty.”

And then comes the PA announcement. Tory Nichols is starting shit, and Demetri can’t pretend he’s not intrigued to see where this goes.

As soon as the fight breaks out, Demetri is overcome with adrenaline. He whips through the crowd, spinning and throwing kicks and punches like explosive flashes. All he can think of is Eli, Eli, little Eli...oh, when he finds him, there’s going to be hell to pay.

And it doesn’t take long--of course Eli is the one who tries to pull a teacher in to stop the fight. The fucking wimp.

When Eli makes a run for it, Demetri can’t help but smirk when he leads him straight to the computer lab. How very typical, for someone whose hero is Steve Jobs. He grins, something frighteningly sadistic bubbling up inside of him.

For a second it almost scares him, how badly he wants to drive his foot into Eli’s chest.

“Little Eli Moskowitz!” he taunts, before he can stop himself. “Cowering away in the computer lab, just like the little nerd he is. Can’t hide forever, outer. I know damn well what you told them about me.”

He tries door after door, continuing in a singsong voice as he goes. “Oh dear me, what would they say if they knew you enjoyed it too, Eli? Well, I guess they won’t believe me now. But I know. I know you’re no better than me.”

Ever since they were kids, Demetri has been the speedier one. They used to race across the playground at recess, pretending to be Quicksilver and the Flash, but Demetri always came out ahead. Long, gangly legs tended to do that. So when Eli turns to see Demetri in the doorway, and he makes a run for it, he doesn’t get far.

Demetri grabs Eli around the waist and throws him against the wall, whipping kicks and hits into his stomach and thighs faster than he can block. Demetri hardly notices the bruises forming, or the bleeding cuts.

It’s then that Eli does something Demetri doesn’t expect--flips the script, as it were. As Demetri reaches out to strike again, Eli surges forward and grabs him by the shoulders, flipping him around and pinning him against the wall. Maybe Miyagi-Do specializes in defense, but they still taught him how to throw a good hit or two. He throws defense to the wayside and starts raining punches down on Demetri--sloppy, uncoordinated, but something the “Strike First” Cobra Kai student is entirely unprepared to defend.

When his chest is stinging and his head throbbing, Demetri can’t take anymore. Eli was a lot more...well, powerful than he expected. At his first opportunity, he turns and books it. Maybe this isn’t a fight he can win after all.

Eli doesn’t chase. As angry as he still is at Demetri, he can’t stop thinking about the mars and bruises and cuts that appeared across Demetri’s face and skin as he punched him, mirroring his own, and he feels sick. He can’t hurt Demetri anymore, no matter what Demetri thinks of him now.

Demetri just makes it to the staircase when he sees Miguel motionless on the floor, Robby Keene looking over the railing. Sam LaRusson hovering over him. He runs to Miguel’s side, world crumbling around him.

Turns out he showed mercy, just like Mr. Lawrence always said to. And look where it got him. When John Kreese offers him a place in a new Cobra Kai, determined to make the Miyagi-Dos pay for hurting Miguel, Demetri isn’t about to say no.

In his grief, it seems like the only option.

Season 3

On the first day back at school, Mitch is quick to remind Demetri that there are other girls in the world besides Yasmine. Surely it won’t be too hard to work his charms on some of the freshmen--after all, word about that little incident with Eli when they were 12 can’t have gotten across the entire school, can it?

“Well, hello, ladies!” he purrs to a passing group, leaning against the wall in the most nonchalant way possible. “Welcome to West Valley High. I know freshman year can be intimidating, high school classes and new people and all, but if you ever need help with anything, I’m--”

“--the scrawny little gay kid who ran his pussy ass away from the world’s easiest fight?” one of the girls finishes scornfully. “Yeah, we know.”

As they walk away, he notices one shoot a flirty smile at a passing Eli, surrounded by his squad of Miyagi-Do losers. “Ooooh, you’re famous now, E!” he hears Chris say, and his blood boils all over again.

Ah. So everyone knew about Eli’s little triumph.

Mitch saunters over, and Demetri follows his lead. “Got something to say?!” he snaps.

Demetri’s eyes lock with Eli’s, and he glowers down at him. Eli’s face is tight, expression almost...sad.

Not like he’d expect anything less from that little crybaby.

“Oh, little Eli,” he chides. “I’d like to see you try and hide behind security.”

“I don’t need to,” Eli mutters, not breaking eye contact.

“Everything all right here?”

At the sound of the counselor’s voice, Eli does something unexpectedly bold. He sidles up to Demetri’s side and presses into it, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “No, Counselor Blatt, we’re all friends here!” he says, offering that shy little Eli smile that made every adult in a nearby vicinity go mad with protectiveness.

Eli’s arm is tight around his neck--like a chokehold. But, Demetri notices after a few moments, it’s shaking--the grip almost frantic. Like he’s scared of when he’ll have to let go.

Odd.

Demetri turns, and his and Eli’s eyes lock. He tries to give the shorter boy the most intense, seething glare he can under his forced smile, but Eli returns the look with equal intensity. Demetri jostles his backpack his backpack and thumps him on the chest, feeling an odd compulsion to touch his old friend right back.

Maybe he missed feeling Eli’s body underneath him. But that wasn’t a thought he could afford to spend a lot of brainpower on right now. “Yeah!” he says. Of course we’re still friends! Of course you didn’t fuck up my love life and humiliate me to the entire school because you couldn’t handle the fact that I was getting some and you weren’t!

When the counselor chides them about having somewhere to be, Eli just nods, murmuring, “Yeah, of course, Counselor Blatt. Sorry.”

As Eli pulls away, he pats Demetri’s shoulder a couple times. Small, almost imperceptible, but there.

Demetri can’t tell if it’s serious--if Eli still cares--or if it’s just a cruel mockery of their old touch. He’s not sure he wants to know.

When Demetri runs into Samantha LaRusso in the hospital and she insists she wants to help, he hardly expects a whole fucking fundraiser gleefully using Miguel as their poster child. As though the Miyagi-Dos weren’t the ones who put him in the hospital in the first place. When he catches a glimpse of the carwash while driving Mitch to practice, he decides he’s going to do something about it.

Beating up the kid is an easy fight, getting the money with Mitch and the others a sinch. Maybe at some point he would’ve felt bad for this--pummeling some short kid and then taking his charity money. But all he can think of is Miguel, his best friend, lying in a white gown and hooked up to wires. Because of this kid and his stupid “peaceful” dojo.

Peaceful, Demetri’s ass.

When Demetri walks into the cafeteria the following Monday, he’s not sure what he expects to see at Yasmine and Moon’s table, the place where he would be sitting, under different circumstances--but it definitely is not Eli Moskowitz with his hair dyed bright blue and spiked up. Miyagi-Do blue. Apparently all that coolness cred he felt he got from “scaring” Demetri off in the school brawl has gotten to his head, and he’s playing out his new “badassery” up to 11. He’s showing something to Yasmine and Moon, and they’re smiling and giggling. Yasmine, of all people, is smiling at nerdy little Eli’s antics.

Demetri squints, and sees that Eli’s showing the two girls a comic book--he recognizes the copy. It’s Eli’s limited edition Captain Marvel comic book, signed by Kelly Sue DeConnick herself. Demetri remembers standing in line with him at a con to get it a few years back--he’s pretty protective of the thing.

And now he’s using it to impress girls? Because apparently Yasmine and Moon are into that kind of thing? Oh, but of course Yasmine couldn’t be into nerd shit when DEMETRI was dating her, could she?

And those gooey eyes Moon is giving Eli, her little giggles--Demetri doesn’t like them one bit. What, now Eli’s worth her affections--now that his “nerdiness” is cool? Aren’t she and Yasmine a stupid item, anyways?

Deciding he’s going to put a stop to this, Demetri saunters over, lunch tray clutched so hard his knuckles are turning white. Before the group can react to his presence, Demetri picks up his chocolate milk carton and dumps it all over Eli’s stupid blue hair, making sure to get plenty on the rare comic book in front of him.

“Oh, I hope that wasn’t important, was it Eli?” he taunts, voice thick with mock sympathy. “That sure would be a shame.”

Eli turns to look at him, eyes wide with heartbroken shock. For a moment, the anger doesn’t set in.

“I had to wait in line 5 hours to get that,” he says quietly. “You know that.”

“Sure do.” Demetri smirks. “And it took all of 5 seconds to completely ruin. How tragic.”

Eli tenses, eyes darting around for a couple seconds. Demetri starts to walk away, his point made, when he feels an iron grip on his wrist. He turns to see Eli smirking at him, clutching his arm with more force than he ever thought possible from the once-timid boy.

“Careful there, Demetri,” Eli sneers. “Coming all the way across the cafeteria to bother me when you’ve got your cool Cobra Kai friends to hang out with? People might think you’re a little...obsessed with me.” Yasmine and Moon snicker, and Demetri bristles as he realizes the implication.

“Although I shouldn’t be surprised since you love obsessing over other boys, don’t you?” Eli goes on, like his point isn’t clear enough. “Y’know, I feel bad for Yasmine. I mean, any idiot could tell she used you as a beard, but I had no idea it was a mutual thing.”

Demetri tenses, willing himself not to lose his cool. “Really letting that little victory get to your head, aren’t you, Eli? Honestly, I was going easy on you. Now I know not to next time.”

It’s at that moment that Sam LaRusso decides to show up, sliding up next to Eli and glowering up at Demetri. “There won’t be a next time if I have anything to say about it,” she retorts.

Demetri can’t help but scoff. Of course Sam LaRusso would be all too eager to defend her little pet nerd now, even though she was all too happy to laugh at him with her mean girl friends a year ago. “I’m not scared of you,” he says. “Like you’d start any fight daddy couldn’t bail you out of. Or that doesn’t end with your ex boyfriend getting thrown over a railing because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.”

It’s a low blow, but Demetri doesn’t care. It’s hard not to look at this girl and see part of the reason Miguel might never be able to walk again.

Sam LaRusso shoves him just as the godawful counselor is sauntering over, but to hell with it--maybe Demetri could spin this to his advantage.

“She hit me, Counselor Blatt!” he cries out, pointing at Sam. “Attacked and physically assaulted me, completely unprovoked!”

“That’s not true,” Eli mumbles, eyes darting. Flawlessly slipping back into the poor little Eli role in a way that never fails to make Demetri seethe. “It wasn’t unprovoked. He started all this by destroying my limited-edition comic book for no reason.”

Demetri puts on his most convincing remorseful face and sighs. “Look, that was an accident. I just tripped while I was walking and my milk spilled. Anyhow, if your book’s that valuable, you probably shouldn’t bring it into a school cafeteria where people are more than likely going to spill food on it.”

He’d like to see the dumb counselor argue with that.

“Look, I don’t want excuses. I just want you all to respect each other.”

“Oh, absolutely.” Demetri turns to give Eli a forced smile. “Nothing but 100% respect in this environment going forward, I assure you. Sorry if we caused any problems.”

Please, just anything to make her leave.

With one last warning to Sam LaRusso, the counselor is gone. Demetri turns to the two Miyagi-Dos and smirks.

“To hell with respect,” he sneers. “Your lot hardly deserve it.”

It doesn’t surprise Demetri when Eli and his little gang of Miyagi-Do losers decide to start shit in gym class. What he isn’t expecting is for Eli and his stupid blue hair to start running next to him--right after he’s tried and failed to catch Yasmine’s attention after scoring a goal.

He’s been thinking about her all morning--was Eli right about her? Did she only use him as a cover-up?

...would no one ever want to date him for him?

Well, maybe if he won Yasmine back, he could disprove that. If Moon was going to be hanging off of Eli’s arm before too long, chances were her and Yasmine’s relationship’s days were numbered.

Whatever Eli is about to say, Demetri can already tell it’s not going to help.

And it doesn’t. “Wow, Demetri. Few guys are so bad in a relationship that they manage to turn their girlfriend gay. I hope you feel accomplished.”

Demetri balls his fists. “Say that again. I dare you.”

“You really did have a good thing going with her,” Eli sighed, voice laced with condescending pity. “It’s a shame she decided she could do better than some belligerent Cobra Kai douchebag.”

And then suddenly Eli lunges for him and tackles him, knocking him to the ground just as easily as Demetri once did to Eli at the mall.

Not that it ended up mattering all that much--Demetri was able to talk the Cobra Kai’s way out of trouble in the principal’s office, just as he so often could. Nonetheless, it seemed Eli was hardly turning out to be as much of a pushover as he thought.

When Mitch and the guys invited Demetri to go to Golf N Stuff--fuck around for a bit, cause some mayhem--he wasn’t about to say no. The thrill took over, running around, snatching tickets and prizes away, throwing them in the trash--he almost felt as powerful as Kyler must have, all those months ago when he tossed the lesser kids’ backpacks in the garbage. Is this how it felt, to be on top? To have everyone else too scared to mess with you?

Because Demetri loved it.

What he wasn’t counting on was Sam LaRusso and her little posse arriving to confront them in the laser tag arena--including Eli, face hardened and ready to fight.

Things seemed to be going pretty poorly--that was, until Tory Nichols and the backup arrived. That reduced Sam LaRusso to a sniveling mess, and finally it looked like this would be an easy finish.

Demetri found himself only stalling for a second when the way cleared for him to go at Eli. Something about the sudden terror on the other boy’s face made him hesitate, but not for long. Eli threw a weak punch, and Demetri quickly flipped him onto the ground, pulling his arm up behind him.

“No, please, stop, Deme, stop! It’s me!”

Deme...

Eli’s old nickname for him.

Demetri pauses, and suddenly he feels sick. Deme...Eli’s nickname. Eli.

Wasn’t all of this for Eli? To protect Eli?

And now here he was, about to hurt him. The one thing he swore he was going to stop everyone else from doing.

And then comes the goading cries from Tory, Mitch, and the others. Do it! Finish him! He deserves it!

He deserves it.

And then Demetri remembers what happened to Miguel when he didn’t take his chance to finish the fight with Robby Keene. Suddenly Demetri’s running out of the end of a hallway again, seeing Miguel’s motionless body lying on the stairs, and the rage and horror and mind-numbing devastation hit him all over again.

“Demetri, finish him!”

In a split second, Demetri makes his decision. Eli’s arm snaps in half.

All it takes is one terrible, pained scream from Eli for Demetri’s entire world to come crashing down on him. What the fuck did he just do?

He can’t even hear the other Cobras, gleefully congratulating him and sneering at the “pussy” on the floor. All he can hear are Eli’s pained sobs.

He’d seen Eli cry before, but never like this. Never thanks to him.

When everyone congratulates him next practice, Demetri barely hears. He’s just numb. All he can see is Eli, curled up and crying on the dirty cement floor. When Tory tells him she didn’t think he was going to do it, all he can manage out is that Miyagi-Do had it coming for hurting Miguel.

And as if his week can’t get any worse, here come Kyler and his goons sauntering into the dojo like they own the damn place. Demetri does his best to convince Mr. Kreese this is by no means a wise idea, but the sensei will not hear of it.

When Kyler and Brucks realize who he is, it only makes Demetri more livid. “Oh shit, it’s the yogurt backpack kid! Lip’s little friend! I thought he moved away!” When a fighting ring is formed, giving the new recruits a chance to “earn their spot,” Demetri is all too ready for combat.

He’s horrified at how quickly Brucks takes down Mitch, how quickly his friend is ushered out the door. It was bad enough to see Bert go, but this...this is different.

He can’t remember the last time he’s felt more alone.

When Kyler steps forward, looking for an opponent, Demetri volunteers before anyone else can. Mr. Kreese shoots him a surprised look, but he doesn’t care. This fucko has been making his life hell for years--he can already tell this is going to be therapeutic.

Demetri doesn’t hold back. The fight has barely started before Kyler’s had enough. A few fast hits and his lip’s already bloody, and he’s backing away. “No...please stop...”

And suddenly Demetri’s back in the library, on that afternoon that seems like an eternity ago, watching Kyler grip Eli by the throat. Hearing him sneer “who would ever want to kiss THAT shit?” like Eli was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen. Feeling absolutely powerless, hand clutching the back of a chair as he burned with rage that had nowhere to go.

Well, he wasn’t powerless now.

And before he knows it Demetri has Kyler pinned to the ground, landing punch after punch to his face. Because, he realizes, at the end of the day, who gives a fuck if Eli’s on the other side?

That’s still his Eli, even after everything. The same Eli he stood by for over 10 years, the same Eli who he wished so long that he could protect from everything, the same Eli who felt like he had to constantly hide a tiny red line on his face because his peers collectively decided--for no good reason at all--that it was ugly.

And maybe he couldn’t make those people hurt the way he wanted to then, but right now...well, he could hurt at least one. And that was enough.

He doesn’t stop until Kyler is practically pulverized and his hands are drenched in blood. After throwing his last punch, he smirks, leaning down to whisper into Kyler’s ear.

“Now who’d want to kiss THAT shit? That’s right, asshole--I remember.”

Demetri kicks Kyler’s limp form as he walks away. He shoots Brucks a glare as he falls back in line--just for good measure.

When Miguel comes back to school, Demetri’s one of the first to greet him at the door. “Cobra Kai’s still going strong! It’s going to be great to have you back!” He’s a little confused as to why Miguel seems so hesitant, but he doesn’t worry too much about it--they can sort through all that later.

Miguel’s certainly taken aback by the clunky cast he sees on Eli’s arm when he runs into him in the hall--but perhaps even moreso by the fact that he has both shamelessly dyed his hair blue and spiked it up in a mohawk and is currently walking the school hallways with Moon on his (unbroken) arm. As it turns out, once word got back to Moon that Yasmine was the one who had shamelessly whispered around the school about Demetri being gay, she had broken things off with her. And, with his new “coolness” upgrade, she’d taken quite a liking to Eli.

Not like she had any way of knowing he’d been planning on Yasmine’s cruel gossip, after all.

But the cast, Miguel quickly learns, has a much darker backstory than anything he could have expected.

He wastes no time confronting Demetri about it in the lunchroom. “I heard what happened with Eli. How could you do that?”

Demetri’s stomach clutches. He scowls, determined not to show his discomfort.

“Wow!” He scoffs. “We go to all the trouble of getting payback on those assholes for getting you thrown over that railing, and this is the thanks we get?”

Miguel shakes his head, horrified. “Dude, who cares what dojo Eli’s in? He’s our friend! And in any case, it’s not his fault what happened to me. What the hell were you thinking?”

I don’t know. I don’t know. Demetri’s face hardens. He can only imagine how angry Mr. Kreese would be with him if he caught him showing any kind of weakness. Any kind of second-guessing.

But he can’t help it. Glimpsing Eli in that cast for the first time...

“Look, the Miyagi-Dos were the ones who picked a fight with us,” Demetri retorts. “We just had to do what we had to so they’d back off and leave us alone. We had to finish the fight.”

Miguel pauses, looking pained. “This isn’t...this isn’t you, Demetri. You’re letting Kreese get in your head. He’s trying to manipulate you, get you to...obsess over revenge so you’ll hurt people. But I know you, and I know you don’t want to. Eli, or anyone else.”

Demetri clenches his fists. “What would you know about how I feel about Eli?”

“Look, I can’t claim I know what’s going on between you two,” Miguel amends. “But you have to believe me--Kreese is dangerous. He’s using you. He doesn’t care about you, Demetri. Just...come to Sensei Lawrence’s new dojo. Please. Things can be like they used to. You don’t have to be in this...this war.”

This gives Demetri pause. “He...made a new dojo?”

Okay, so he’s still not Mr. Lawrence’s biggest fan--the man is an asshole at the best of times. But to be able to train with Miguel again...to be able to be badass without being expected to be some soldier...

He can’t finish speaking before Brucks’s voice rings out through the cafeteria. “Look everyone, Lip’s got a dick in his hand!”

Demetri looks up to see Eli being held by the cast, eyes darting around as the entire cafeteria bursts into laughter. Involuntarily, Demetri bristles.

And there it is again, that feeling of being the helpless kid in the library as Eli’s taunted. And even after all this time...he still hates it.

Miguel turns to him, shaking his head. “So these are your friends now? I thought you were better than that.”

And just like that, Miguel’s gone. Gone from the Cobra Kai table, gone from Demetri’s life.

It makes him wonder if he’s making a huge mistake. But he knows he can’t back out now--not when he’s this far in. Who would even want to take him back? Probably not Miguel and Mr. Lawrence--despite what Miguel said, Demetri knows there’s no way he’s going to forgive him so easily for hurting their other friend. And certainly not Eli.

What makes it even worse is seeing Eli later that day, curled up against some lockers with Moon. Moon is tracing over his cast in colored sharpie, slowly transforming the dick pic into a beautiful landscape and night sky. Eli is bragging about how the arm-breaking didn’t hurt that bad.

Demetri remembers when that soft little smile was reserved only for him, and a pit starts to form in his stomach.

Well, no use bitching. You did this to yourself.

It seems like the world is out to just make Demetri’s existence in Cobra Kai as shitty as possible these days. Mitch and Bert are gone, Miguel isn’t coming back, Brucks is being a royal douchebag like always, and perhaps worst of all, Robby Keene shows up at the dojo. Demetri tries his damndest to appeal to Mr. Kreese about how outrageous this is--this is the kid who paralyzed Miguel in the fucking first place, what’s the point of dojo-wide revenge if they just take in the main culprit like an old buddy? But of course Mr. Kreese spouts some nonsense about how they need all the help they can get for the All-Valley, and sometimes you have to be allies with people you aren’t the biggest fans of, blah blah blah. To make matters worse, Tory--not a friend exactly, but probably the closest thing Demetri’s got to one left--is getting far too chummy with Robby for Demetri’s taste.

Maybe Demetri’s insane, but it seems like more and more ridiculous shit is being handwaved in the name of...what? Winning a karate tournament? Getting revenge for a kid who’s already recovered, and doesn’t even seem to want it?

When word gets back to Cobra Kai that Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are teaming up, Kreese sends the students on a special mission: Show the other dojos that even with their combined forces, they’re no match for Cobra Kai. It seems like a waste of time to Demetri--why antagonize other dojos just minding their business? It’s not like there was anything worth fighting for in this dumb war anymore, considering Miguel was on his feet again (literally AND figuratively). Nonetheless, Demetri finds he’s itching for a good fight--it’s been way too long since he’s charged into a full-fledged battle.

Maybe this will help him get it out of his system, if nothing else.

When the fight breaks out at the LaRussos, it doesn’t take long for Demetri to be overtaken by the thrill of it. Just like he was at the school fight. Just like he was at the tournament. He’s zipping through the house, landing kicks and punches left and right. And it feels good. With everything having been so awful lately, he can’t remember the last time he’s felt more alive.

And then he lands a fierce kick, and Brucks chest-bumps him. “Hell yeah! kick some ass! Dumb losers never had a chance.”

Brucks. The same kid who laughed when he saw Eli starting to cry about the comments he made on his lip. The same kid claiming Kyler tossing his backpack into a yogurt-filled trash can was “brute.” And now here he was trying to be buddy-buddy with him.

Everything comes crashing down on Demetri at once.

Miguel’s speech, saying Kreese is manipulating him. Saying Kreese doesn’t care about him. Kreese cherry-picking what does and doesn’t count as vengeance--hurting Eli, someone who had nothing to do with Miguel’s fall, does, but teaming up with the kid responsible for said fall apparently does not. Demetri’s friends being booted from Cobra Kai one by one, just for not being strong enough.

The sound of Eli’s screams and sobs in a dark laser tag room.

Miguel was right, wasn’t he? Kreese never cared about getting payback for him. He only cared about starting a war for his own sadistic pleasures.

Demetri hears grunting and whimpering, and he looks up to see two of the other Cobras kneeing Eli in the chest over and over. Pinning him into an arm bar.

“Yo, ‘Mete!” one calls out. “Free shot!”

Eli looks up, gaze full of fear and pain. Bright blue irises glinting with welling tears.

Once upon a time, Demetri made a promise to himself that he would stick with karate, aggravating as it may be, so he would never have to see that look on Eli’s face again. It’s time, he figures, that he finally made good on that.

His face contorts into a snarl, and he runs to Eli. Eli closes his eyes and scrunches his face, bracing for a pain that never comes.

Demetri kicks one Cobra to the wayside and smashes the other into a glass table with perhaps more force and adrenaline than he’s used all night.

When he turns to Eli, the other boy backs away, eyes still wide with terror. Demetri feels sick to his stomach, and the tears come before he can stop them.

“God, Eli, I’m so sorry,” he splutters. “I’m so fucking sorry, for everything. I don’t know what I was thinking, and it was all so fucked up, and--”

“Demetri.”

“--I’ll never hurt you like that again, but if you don’t want anything to do with me now, I totally understand, and--”

“Demetri.”

“--I was so awful to you, and I didn’t listen to you, and I should’ve been there for you, and I’m such a piece of shit friend and--”

“DEMETRI!”

Finally Eli raises his voice enough that Demetri pauses. “...yeah, Eli?”

“Please stop talking. I forgive you. Now are you going to shut up and help me finish this?” He raises a hand, as if to initiate their old handshake. An olive branch.

Demetri grins so wide he thinks his face is going to break, and he grips Eli’s hand like a lifeline. Something to finally pull him out of the darkness. “Yeah.”

They’re a lethal fighting team. Between Demetri landing speedy hits and Eli protecting him and shielding them both with his bulked-up form (where did he get all that muscle? Demetri wonders), they dispatch half the Cobras in minutes. Whatever rush Demetri was feeling fighting when he first got here is nothing compared to fighting with Eli.

When they stop the fight between Tory and Sam, Tory wastes no time voicing her disdain for the ex-Cobras. “You’d better watch your back,” she spits at Demetri, and he feels a chill run through him. Turns out this girl is terrifying when she’s not fighting on your side.

Eli intercepts her as she leaves, staring her down defiantly in a very un-Eli-like manner. “You’d better watch yours,” he growls. “Touch him, and I’ll end you.”

Demetri glances over in surprise. When did Eli get so bold?

Well...he thinks he could grow to like it.

Season 4 (because fuck it)

Demetri is hardly expecting Mr. LaRusso and Mr. Lawrence to forgive him, never mind let him into their new dojo. But life has a lot of pleasant surprises in store for him, it seems, after the shitshow it recently put him through. It’s also possible Eli (and maybe Miguel too) but in a good word for him.

Demetri can’t stop apologizing to Eli. Seemingly every day, he finds a new thing to apologize for. Eli gets aggravated with it before long, having to reassure Demetri at least 50 separate times that he forgives him for everything. Nonetheless, Demetri refuses to stop--because he’ll never stop being sorry.

Or trying to find new ways to make it up to Eli. Going easy on him during sparring. Buying him lunch after practice. Helping him perfect some of the most badass Cobra moves.

Things end between Eli and Moon. Eli can’t fully elaborate on why--he just tells Demetri something didn’t feel quite right. The spark died out, like Demetri’s adrenaline rush slowly seeping away toward the end of a fight. That, and, Demetri gathers, something seems to have been distracting Eli from his girlfriend as of late.

Most likely the approaching, high stakes All-Valley. Karate is Serious Business, as they’ve both embraced now.

Rumor has it Yasmine and Moon are trying again, Yasmine realizing for seemingly the first time how awful she’s really been and making an effort to be better. Moon makes her want to be better--more than Demetri ever did, he realizes. And maybe that’s okay--he and Yasmine probably just weren’t right for each other.

Then one day, after yet another one of Demetri’s long-winded apologies, Eli offers something other than an exasperated. “It’s okay. Seriously.” There’s a pause before Eli quietly says “I’m sorry too.”

“For what?” Demetri blurts out, baffled. Everything Eli’s done has paled in comparison to his own atrocities.

“For outing you,” Eli says simply. “That was fucked. And it wasn’t my place, even if I was mad at you.”

“It’s all right.” Demetri shrugs. “You were right, anyways.”

Eli gives him a strange look. “I was?”

“Yeah, I mean...” Demetri laughs dryly. “I don’t...like girls. I pretended I did, because I felt like I was supposed to. That’s what people expect you to do when you’re a top athlete and all that. But dating Yasmine, chasing other girls, it always felt...empty. Like I was just acting out a role in a play or something. And at the end of the day, I think...” He pauses. “I think I was always looking at you.”

Because the last few months have made him realize something. Training with Eli, teaching Eli how to protect himself, watching Eli step up and defend him from the mistrusting stares and the scornful whispers...

Just how much of the person he’s become is thanks to wanting to protect Eli. The fact that that was always how all this started.

“I love you,” he blurts out, before he can stop himself. “I know I did a shitty job of showing it, and I know you were with Moon and you’re not like that, but I need you to know, and I understand if you don’t feel--”

Eli cuts him off with a fierce kiss, pinning him up against the dojo wall with unexpected aggressiveness.

When Eli pulls away, he’s smiling softly. The same smile he gave Moon in the hall as she drew on his cast--the smile that’s once again all Demetri’s.

“I love you too,” he murmurs. “Why do you think I broke up with Moon? Every time I was with her...I couldn’t stop wishing it was you. She’ll never know me like you do.”

And Kreese had better look out because Miyagi Fang’s next big power couple is a force to be reckoned with--the snarky, frighteningly fast-attacking ex-Cobra, and the buff, blue-mohawked Miyagi-Do with more inner peace than anyone would expect.

SOME RANDOM SIDENOTES ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE PUTTING THIS ALL IN THE TAGS

~I’m sorry if anyone is OOC in this--I know Johnny is kind of a fuck, but he genuinely WAS pretty crappy to Eli at first and who knows if he would’ve treated him any better if he didn’t “flip the script”??? ~Dark/Evil Demetri is so fun but also so awful to write--I hope you like him being an absolute fuck because the Corruption Arc is REAL ~Yes, I DO in fact fully believe Demetri would go on a crazed revenge quest just like Eli/Hawk did out of his grief for Miguel--the boy absolutely loves Miguel and arguably would want vengeance as much as Eli if their roles were swapped!!! Because Demetri cares about Miguel SO FUCKING MUCH even if it’s not as obvious as it is with Eli but that’s a rant for another post ~I included YasMoon because fuck it, I thought it’d be interesting. That and, unlike the Cobra Kai writers, I am not at all afraid of what conservative audiences will say, so I am not afraid to make things as gay as possible. ~There’s a good chance I swapped Kyler and Brucks’ places near the end solely so I could have Demetri beat the fuck out of Kyler because I just really need that ~Yes, even without formally becoming “Hawk,” Eli could learn how to be a conniving manipulative little shit if he wanted to be. Look at some of the shit he pulls with the counselor in canon Season 3!!! Boy sure as hell knows how to play the victim. ~Honestly not sure if being outed as gay is better or worse than being outed as a bed-wetter, but I had to think of something that would pack the same kind of emotional punch. In Eli’s feeble defense, the West Valley High kids don’t seem like the types to be like...especially violent against queer kids (otherwise NO WAY would Moon and Piper have been able to be that open about their relationship), they’d just be assholes about it. So Eli wasn’t putting Demetri in legit danger here so much as just opening him up to a lot of ridicule. Which is still fucked, but hey, I DID warn you this would be kind of fucked up XD ~Maybe short, concise apologies work for Eli, bUT NOT FOR DEMETRI THE RAMBLER ~Dark Demetri chasing Eli through the school like a goddamn serial killer = 10/10 gave myself a big Spook writing ~Yes, Eli does still have (and always had) his “Hawk” traits, even without the formal “transformation.” I just think his “Hawk” side would be a little more subtle and subdued if he were in Miyagi-Do, but it’s still there for sure.

#tw: outing #tw: internalized homophobia #tw: very dark stuff in general #tw: toxic relationships #tw: violence #tw: kinda sadistic characters tbh #tw: just generally some dark shit thematically in here yo #hawk x demetri #demetri x eli #binary boyfriends #hawkmeat #eli x demetri #demetri x hawk #elimetri #yasmoon #yasmine x moon #moon x yasmine #cobra kai #demetri cobra kai #eli moskowitz #miguel diaz #aisha robinson #moon cobra kai #yasmine cobra kai #sam larusso #kyler cobra kai #brucks cobra kai #role swap au #alternate universe #my askbox

[miyagifangdo]

What are your top CK ships and favorite characters?

My first anon!! Aaaah thanks for this!

So this definitely gets divided into fanon and canon ships

Fanon: 

Lawrusso: Look I know they will never make it canon in a million years and I kinda dont even want them to cause they could never make it as wonderful as the fanon version? Like I already love the canon bits/scenes we get and it’s delightful and I’m looking forward to it all in s4! But I just think Lawrusso is so rich with the history, the angst and just all the material there to explore. One bit pet peeve though is how often Johnny’s bullying and torment get brushed aside and that puts a REALLY bad taste in my mouth so I only read/engage with fics that acknowledge that and have him apologize (cause goodness knows I have given up on expecting that from the show I honestly dont think they will do it in s4 and will be pleasantly surprised if they do!)

DAMIKO: My comfort babies! Okay so they definitely don’t count as fanon cause they were (are...ahem) canon but given the current state of the show as of now they won’t probably happen (a girl can dream about a wild twist endgame tho huh? :D) so its in the fanon category. Anywho, I adooore them and think they are soulmates, and truly made each other so happy. Like Daniel’s smile remained the same 34 freakin years later and Kumiko still in love with him! <3 (also their summer romance is very very similar to my own 2 years ago while I was in exchange abroad during Uni so I definitely relate a lot to them and it’s just....abundance of feels okay?!)

Canon:

Jarmen: Listen they are good^tm for each other! Carmen’s priority will always be Miguel and here is a guy whose first priority is Miguel! Like they just work, and I really wanna see them develop next season, and also more screentime for Carmen in general cause I love her :D

Samiguel: PURE! Wholesome! Babies <3 Let em stay together no more drama!

As for favorite characters in no particular order: Daniel, Miguel, Aisha, Carmen, Kumiko, Mr. Miyagi (he counts as CK okay cause he’s in the show, spirit, legacy everything!) and I generally like pretty much everyone except Kreese lol

#cobra kai #lawrusso #damiko #kumiko #jarmen #samiguel #daniel #johnny #carmen

[marnie1964]

Karate Kid/Cobra Kai survey

i'm gonna consider myself tagged

It’s the year 2021 and you’re obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?: an unexpected turn of events but it's passing the quarantine, i guess!

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?:  to be completely honest, i don't really like the movies? i didn't vibe with them as a kid and when i went back and tried to watch them this year i couldn't make it all the way through.* i think they're well crafted movies, but i've never liked relatable young boy wish fulfillment (i couldn't even get thru harry potter as a kid), and i think the first one is guilty of burying the lede twice over with regards to mr. miyagi and later the relationship between kreese and johnny. and lucky me--these are exactly the areas that cobra kai delivers on.

*except for the third one, which imo is a camp masterpiece and also genuinely heartbreaking. it's the only one that allows daniel to be an genuine pain in the ass. i think i've finally figured out what the target audience for cobra kai is: people who's favorite karate kid movie was tkk3 (me).

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character: johnny! what is a man but a miserable pile of bruce springsteen lyrics? or aimee mann lyrics? or mountain goats lyrics? or otis redding lyrics? or--fuck, have americans ever written songs about anyone else? i have an unreal amount of good will towards this man and his late-life struggle for recuperation. he's the heart of the show both in terms of his relationships with other characters and in terms of zabka's chemistry with the other actors.

my deep dark double secret fave is kreese. he makes me feel real anger in a way that's usually reserved for characters in vince gilligan shows. i'm a bit obsessed with him and his preoccupation with johnny and later johnny's teenaged son (I Have Thoughts). the show does a great job of making what he did to johnny--and all the years and years and years of fallout from that--feel really real, which makes him one of the most viscerally despicable villains i've ever come across . it's unironically among the best portrayals of domestic abuse i've seen, may god have mercy on our souls. the decision to pop out from behind a fucking cardboard cutout of himself to scare daniel in tkk3 was also a hilarious galaxy brain move. aspirational stuff.

also--shout out to daniel-san. the writers really had to work their asses off to make him into a character that appeals to me, and i think they did a great job of it. he's a cringey tool who's capable of displaying a surprising amount of integrity under the right circumstances! he's tom wambsgans! he's pete campbell! he's wonderful i love him!

Favorite ship:  johnny & daniel (what if mysterious skin was a sports comedy??)

Underrated character: the True and Correct answer to this question can only be aisha, although i don't think she was actually underrated by anyone besides the writers. chozen is also lowkey my favorite katate child because c'mon, he had everything (spear fights! ziplines! teen death matches! formfitting disco-era polyester button down shirts worn with gold chains!)

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  uhhhh... the only teen couple that could have been interesting is tory/aisha. they were cute together and their friendship rang true to me. it's that thing where you're the new girl and you're conventionally attractive, but on the inside you know you're a freak so you immediately gravitate towards the most obvious female outsider. i lived it, bay-bey!

i also think there are interesting things to explore with carmen and johnny's relationship. i don't know if the writers are even aware of it (i lean towards no b/c men amirite) but the entire premise of carmen's character is that she chose to live in poverty to protect herself and her son from a bad man with power. she's thereby the exact opposite of johnny's mother, who (at least by his understanding) married hollywood film producer shmarvey shmeinstein to provide her son with a better life. so, there's a lot to unpack in his attraction to her. also they're super hot hur hur i like sexy nurse thing hur hur.

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?: i can't look directly at it, but sweep the leg. zabka what the fuck man.

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?:  i don't think i've seen anyone mention this one yet, but the football jersey with the sweatpants. it makes him look so small and huggable, i wanna pick him up and set him on my shelf or something.

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver: bring back ali's lesbian girl gang!!! or else--dutch. he was funny and iconic, i loved his exaggerated offended reaction to everything daniel said or did in tkk. also, i'm tacky so i'm a sucker for aggressively bleach blonde hair. the SCANDALIZED wasp couple standing behind ali and johnny in the spaghetti scene will also do. or terry's secretary (an mvp--i believe the original actress has passed away so in my heart of hearts she's portrayed by j. smith-cameron).

Scene that lives in your head rent-free: the whole character development speed run that johnny does from sweep the leg to crying while handing daniel the trophy to getting strangled in the parking lot by his beloved teacher. i'm especially transfixed by that last bit--what's the thought process of a man who decides to publicly execute his teenage student via strangulation? why did none of the many bystanders call the police? johnny is the real kitty genovese, prison for everyone.

from the cobra kai series proper: daniel's decision to greet johnny with a big hug after not seeing him for 35 years and never actually being friends with him (I Have Thoughts), the heinously creepy scene where johnny is repeating the cobra kai mantra for miguel and his entire disposition completely changes (demonic possession shit), and johnny's tiny go-ahead-and-kill-my-abuser nod (his face is so stoney after being so animated at dinner) coupled with daniel's shaky little sign of relief (macchio is really the cutest when he looks scared).

it goes without saying that every johnny & miguel scene lives rent free in my HEART.

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?: anthony becomes relevant for one (1) episode next season when amanda and daniel finally get around to putting him up for adoption.

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war.  Which dojo do you join?:  i enter the cobra kai dojo decked out in all of my snake-themed clothing and jewelry (it's a lot). i approach kreese and explain to him that the open mouth of a snake, viewed head-on, is a yonic symbol. i am permanently banned from the cobra kai dojo.

(seriously though, assuming i'm a teen in this scenario i think i would have vibed with tory/miguel/aisha. dimitri and sam would have driven high school me up the fucking wall though. the cobra kai style looks like more fun/better exercise. do i also genuinely believe most young girls could actually benefit from someone yelling no mercy down their neck? maybe so 💖)

What’s your training montage song?:  50ft queenie - pj harvey (it takes place in the alison bechdel feminist karate dojo ofc)

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?: it's a full episode flashback to the time johnny got arrested in albuquerque, new mexico. johnny's court-appointed attorney is a weirdly hot babe who seems like a super straight laced killjoy at first, but soon reveals herself to be an unhinged woman. one thing leads to another, and johnny winds up in bed with her and her loser husband. there are lots of great themes about punitive justice, people's ability to change for the better (and worse), and what makes someone "good" or "bad" to begin with, but mostly it's just really hot sex. the husband tries to sell johnny a prepaid cellphone and johnny tell's him that cellphones are never gonna catch on, cause who want's to be bothered by people all the time like that?

better call saul. it's a better call saul crossover ep.

(fwiw think that greg 'hbo succession' hirsch should also be terry's cousin greg on the non-roy side. think about it--the roys are small people, but cousin greg is really tall?? and who else is really tall, and a blue eyed brunette to boot? terry silver. it all adds up! this never becomes relevant to the plot, in any case, i'm just considering it canon until the writers come to my house and explicitly tell me i'm wrong.)

Tagging: anyone who's interested 😘

#cobra kai #tag game #johnny lawrence #carmen diaz #john kreese #daniel larusso #those tags are just so i can find my word vomit again god bless #about specific characters

[seyaryminamoto]

What would you think if we had to wait 30 years for an Azula redemption arc like how fans of THE KARATE KID had to wait 30 years for Johnny Lawrence and Chozen to be redeemed? What did you think when Chozen was redeemed?

<.< and how do YOU know I watched Cobra Kai, huh, huh, Anon?!?!?

(did everyone watch Cobra Kai...? x’D)

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes them forever to redeem Azula. It feels like something they’d only do when people stop talking about ATLA as much as they do these days, something to bring back attention to the franchise if things start looking grim for their other ventures in it. A lot of content creators wind up caving in to whatever the loudest or most loyal fans ask for, and it’s safe to say that I’ve seen no louder or more persistent community in the Avatar fandom than Azula’s fans looking forward to her redemption. Maybe they think our posts are too mean and they’ll refuse to give us what we want because of that x’D but I also can imagine them doing this, however controversial it may be, mainly to bring attention back to the franchise if it ever falls into irrelevance again.

As for what I’d think... honestly, Anon, if it’s done right, I’ll be fine with it. If it’s done organically, with proper development, letting Azula actually establish new bonds with people, giving her true growth, addressing the problems she has while helping her reorient herself to better purposes without sacrificing her identity in the process? I’ll clap it out even if it happens 30 years later. I’ve been here 8 years already, I can wait a while longer if that’s what they’re going to force us to endure (?)

If done poorly, however...? I’ll ignore it, frankly, same as I’ve learned to ignore all canon material that is either not well written, or founded upon a myriad of retcons, or an attempt to whitewash characters, or just... uninteresting? x’D Misquoting Pirates of the Caribbean here: “Canon is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules” :’D so if canon fails Azula, I can just as well fling it overboard and continue sailing off towards whatever horizon I want for our girl, simple as that :’D

As for Chozen! Tbh... I didn’t hate how they redeemed him? I mean, the trip to Okinawa is probably one of the best things in the third season, and I enjoyed a lot of the twists there (soooo much better than the overdose of high school karate drama, my god...). That being said, I remember Chozen as such an irrational two-dimensional character that it was simultaneously great to see him grown and different, and also disappointing because we didn’t actually get to see that growth happen. It makes sense, though, it works for the character fairly well to have had help and guidance from people who taught him better than the completely batshit behavior he exhibited during The Karate Kid II. And, if I may, it’s actually NICE to see a character who actually got his shit together during the 30 years between The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai x’D while I do enjoy Johnny’s trainwreck redemption arc, it can be a little unsettling to think that he couldn’t get his life in order for that long (same as Kreese, who is basically a moustache-twirling bad guy no matter how many tragic stories of his Vietnam experiences we might see). So it was good for Chozen to still have enough of his old presence while also bringing out a new, more human side to the character. 

At the same time, if people find his growth too easy because we didn’t see it happen, I get that too and I can’t blame them if they complain for that. Then again, we’d need a whole different TV show about Chozen if we want to see all his turbulent journey to peace and true inner strength, and I’m not sure they’ll be down for producing that? Either way, he played a good role in the story, he finally broke the mold of villains never growing out of their bad habits and toxic mentalities, and he was pretty entertaining to watch, so I have very few complaints myself (there’s a lot more things worth complaining about in season 3 beyond Chozen, honestly x’D lots of convenience writing, so much unnecessary drama, excessive love triangle BS, a very unrealistic depiction of a journey to recovery for a character who received as much damage as Miguel did...? I’d sooner frown upon all that than on Chozen’s offscreen journey to redemption, personally...).

#anon #cobra kai and Azula I guess??? #first time I talk about it here isn't it #I don't think I ever did before #I admit #the first two seasons really blew me away #they're basically official sequel fanfiction #and it shows #these people really love this story and these characters #if they find people who genuinely love Azula and know how to write #and THEY are the ones to redeem her in future canon content? #please... go right on ahead and make it happen #I encourage it gladly

[lifebeginsbyleaving]

Eggroll

My first time writing smut and don't even open it if you aren't ready because we jump right the fuck on in.

This is for the sterek week prompt canon highlights. It's somewhere after S3 E1. During the past few months Stiles and Derek got closer. I changed a lot. Boyd and Erica never left, neither did Jackson or Allison. Also Stiles is eighteen, idk how but he is. And I changed some other things. The scene is the one they are planning to break into the vault, but right before it.

Or the one where Stiles eats Derek out like the last eggroll at the buffet.

*******************************************************************************

"Wait no, stop."

Derek's actions haulted as his eyes switched from an angry looking, pinched brow, face to eyes wide as saucers. "Fuck I didn't hurt you did I?! Shit!" Derek began to slowly ease out of him.

Stiles' hands flew down from the headboard, one to curl around his bicep the other to hold his waist. "No wait."

"Does that hurt more?" Derek looked stricken, which give the circumstances seemed hilarious.

A low laugh escaped Stiles. "No, you didn't hurt me."

Derek's eyebrows furrowed again, but less looking like he was in pain and more in confusion.

"Well then why woul-" His eyebrows shot up. "Unless you didn't want to anymore. Shit." He once again tried to pull out, but Stiles dug his fingertips in.

"Hey, hey." Stiles moved his hand from Derek's arm to gently cup the side of his face. He leaned up and softly kissed his lips. "I still want to."

Stiles tried to look into Derek's eyes as reassuring and loving as he could.

Derek softly smiled and leaned in for another kiss, quickly trying to get their night back on track. Stiles indulged him till Derek bit his lip and roughly grabbed his hips.

Stiles broke the kiss. "No."

Derek looked confused again and this time slightly frustrated. "If I'm not hurting you what's wrong?"

"Derek more can be wrong with sex than just pain."

"What does that even mean? Do you want me to stop or no. If so I'm completely fine with that, you know that Stiles. Just tell me what I'm doing wrong." He sounded slightly angry until the last part betrayed his self doubt.

Stiles took a deep breath. "You're being too rough."

Derek's face was shocked. Stiles didn't grab him this time when he pulled out. "Fuck Stiles! I thought you said I wasn't hurting you!" Derek's eyes searched Stiles' skin in a frenzy looking for bruises or blood.

"And you didn't."

Derek looked up at him again. "Oh. Oh! I- I um- it seemed- I mean I thought- I thought you liked it?" Derek self consciously bunched up the sheet around his waist.

"I did. God did I love it. Especially the part when you slammed the bedroom door and then me against it then had me jump up. Fuck. Meeee! That was hot. Like seriously I am going to dream about that for months."

"What? Stiles stop lying! You're confusing me."

Stiles put a comforting hand on Derek's thigh and stroked it with his thumb. "I'm not lying." He grabbed Derek's hand and put it over his heart. "You did not hurt me. I did enjoy it."

Derek squinted like somehow he missed a lie.

"I just don't think you did. I think the person being hurt by that wasn't me." Stiles looked at him with sadness. "It was you."

Derek looked at him deadpan. "Werewolf Stiles."

Stiles lightly hit his chest. "Not what I meant, asshat." Stiles looked serious again. "I just don't think you were enjoying it like I was."

"Could you not feel how hard I was for you?" Derek said it blaśe, but it made Stiles blush.

"Yup. Definitely. I could feel it, all up in my business. And pressed against my thigh earlier. Yup definitely. For sure. And I liked that too. That was great. An-"

Derek could see Stiles collect himself to get back on track. He took a deep breath.

"I think you enjoyed fucking me, not how you were fucking me."

Derek stared blankly. "I think you were thinking too much when you should've been focused on being fucked. Is there seriously a difference?"

"Yes Derek. You can fuck different ways just as much as you can fuck different people."

Derek nodded bitterly. "Right, and you don't like how I fuck."

Stiles groaned. "No, I love how you fuck, but it doesn't feel like you love it."

Derek sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm sorry. I know we've only been dating for a little bit, and you wanted this to be great, but I have no idea what you mean. I'm sorry I'm doing something wrong."

"You're not doing something wrong, you just don't seem really in it. I am kind of new to all of this, so tell me if your experience is different. If you don't know what a partner wants to do, what do you do?" Stiles asked like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

"What do you mean?"

Stiles scoffed. "You can't tell me I'm the first one that's ever- Oh my God I'm the first one that's ever called you out on your caveman fucking!"

Derek looked embarrassed.

"Don't call it that! Look Stiles I get you might be new to this, but when people see me they assume things. I look a certain way so people expect me to act a certain way. When they see me, the leather jacket, and the car they know what they want."

Stiles looked at Derek with a fond considering look. "And what about what you want?"

Derek looked thrown. "What I want?"

Stiles huffed and moved to sit in Derek's lap. "Look, those other people might want to fuck Derek Hale, or the leather jacket, or the car, but not me. I don't want to fuck Derek Hale the macho alpha."

Derek looked at him quizzingly.

"I want to fuck Derek. Who I've only been dating for a couple weeks, but I've known long enough to know what every eyebrow twitch means. Who will sometimes look at me across pack meetings with a smile so beautiful and fond it knocks my breath out. Who breaks for bunnies and gasps till he knows it's safe then grumbles about it. Who is my alpha that takes care of our pack."

Derek's eyes flashed and his hands moved from being loosely on his hips to wrapping around his back.

"Who can make me feel as frustrated as I've ever been as easily as he can make me smile and laugh till I feel like bursting."

Derek tried not to look at Stiles as he swallowed thickly and tried to will away the shine in his eyes. Stiles grabbed his chin and pecked his lips.

"I want to fuck you Derek. The real you. I want you to fuck me how you want to fuck me, not how you think everybody wants to fuck you. You can want things from sex Derek." Stiles leaned back and saw the shine in his eyes, so he kissed under each eye. When he finished he crawled into the center of the bed and turned around to face Derek. Stiles laid down and spread his legs as he splayed his hands above himself like they were bound.

"Fuck me Derek. The real you."

Derek's eyes flashed as he let out a pitiful whine.

"H-how?" His voice cracked halfway though.

Stiles smirked. "However you want."

Another whine escaped Derek.

"No. I mean- I- no one has ever- I don't-I don't-" He looked overwhelmed and unsure.

Stiles set free from his imaginary bondage once again moved closer to kneel next to Derek with a look of understanding. "Okay. That's totally okay. How about I help you? I've read a lot of helpful stuff on being open with your partner. Would you be okay with me talking while we figure this out together?"

Derek vigorously nodded from where he was breathing in Stiles' scent in the crook of his neck.

"Alright first things first, safe word."

Derek's head shot up and looked fearful. Stiles laughed.

"Relax I'm not about to get out the whips, whenever you try something new both partners have to have a way out. Besides I've always wanted to make a safe word."

Derek nodded then smirked. "So whips later?"

Stiles returned the smile. "Whips later. Now think. Hm... how bout, 'This is private property.'"

Derek swatted Stiles' ass then grabbed it. "You're damn right this is. But it's too long."

"Wait I have it. Miguel."

Derek looked unimpressed.

"Too bad it's Miguel now. You shouldn't have been a smartass."

Derek gave him the eyebrows that meant, 'Look who's talking.'

"Do we have any no goes? Mine would be don't call yourself daddy. I have a healthy relationship with my father, thank you."

Derek was quiet for a bit. "Don't lick my abs."

Derek looked small.

Stiles gave an acknowledging and encouraging nod.

"I like it a lot when you kiss up them, but don't lick up."

Stiles nodded again before he leaned down and pecked him three times up his chest and kisses his lips for longer. "Okay."

"One other thing?"

Stiles grabbed Derek's hand and kissed the back of it. "Anything."

"You fuck me."

All the breath was knocked out of Stiles and Derek was overwhelmed by the scent of lust pouring out of Stiles.

"Yo-you want me to fuck you? Just clarifying. Making sure I didn't just hear wrong. Yes. Totally. For sure. Abso-fuckin-lutely."

"It's just I never have done it that way. And I mean I don't really know how to do not caveman sex, so why not start here. And I trust you."

"You don't have to justify yourself, and you don't have to answer, but why haven't you ever?"

Derek shrugged. "People assume I'm always a dominant top, and no one I've ever dated asked. It's okay though I know what I look like, so I'm okay with being top and giving-"

Stiles shook his head. "Just because you're the top it doesn't mean you can't get things out of sex."

Derek nodded. "I- okay. And I guess it's also because if they see me and they don't want me to screw them, they want to screw me as a power trip. Like if they could top me it makes them more, and I don't like that. My wolf really doesn't like it. So I haven't. Well mean she was dominant, Kat-"

"Uh uh nope stop right there. If I'm to get it up at all tonight we aren't talking about her whatsoever. We can, but not tonight." Stiles got serious as he ran his fingers through Derek's hair. "Tonight is about you, me, us, and sex. Happy sex. Good sex. Lots of sex."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Is that all you think about."

"What no!" Stiles said in a faux affronted tone. "I also think about you..." Stiles batted his eyelashes. "And having sex with you."

Derek shifted in the bed and made a face.

"What was the purpose of those eyebrows?"

"What do you mean they're my eyebrows."

Derek did an eyebrow wiggle. Stiles had a small amused smile.

"No, I mean the face you made. You made a face a couple times just now. When I sai- Oh my God! Derek does the word sex make you uncomfortable?!" Stiles seemed amused.

Derek groaned and leaned forward to press his face into Stiles' neck. "Maybe." Stiles laughed.

"Why?"

Derek pulled his face back to look at Stiles with a look of cute confusion. "I don't know it just sounds too biological or medical."

"So you prefer fucking?"

Derek scrunched his nose. "Screwing and fucking sound like I'm gonna leave you in an alley."

"Well then what would you prefer," Stiles snorted. "Love-making?"

Derek's cheeks burned.

Stiles' eyes went wide.

"Wait no-"

"Oh my god!"

"Stiles no. I didn't mea-" Derek was cut off by Stiles crashing his lips into Derek's.

"I love it." Stiles kissed him again, but this time starting to lovingly caress Derek's tongue with his own, unlike any fast and biting kiss they'd shared before. Stiles moved his hands down Derek's shoulders and continued languidly down his body till one of his hands lightly started stroking Derek's cock.

When they parted they were both breathless, but somehow Derek was struggling more. Derek had his eyes on Stiles' puffy flushed spit coated lips.

"Derek?"

Derek met his eyes.

"I want to make love to you."

That's all it took for Stiles to feel Derek harden again completely under his touch.

"Yes."

Stiles couldn't quite tell if it was permission or a plea. "Okay do you want to ride me so you are on to-"

"No. I want to be under you."

Stiles knew how much that meant from a wolf, especially an alpha and it affected him as if he was one too. Stiles could feel his dick already wanting to fuck Derek senseless, but he got the feeling Derek had never made love to anyone and Stiles wanted to be that person.

Derek was staring at his mouth hungrily.

"Do you want me to blow you?"

"I love your mouth, but we've done that before." It looked as if it pained him to say no, but Derek's words were coming easier and more truthful.

"So you want to do something we haven't done before?"

Derek nodded, unsure, after a bit.

"Do you have something in mind?"

Derek shook his head no.

"I- I want to- Maybe just-"

Stiles smirked. "Derek do you want to experiment in bed?"

His cheeks flushed in just the perfect shade to let Stiles know how right he was.

"Do you want to have super kinky sex?"

"No! Well I guess. I just want to try something that isn't just this goes there."

"This goes there?" Stiles teased.

"You know what I mean." He snapped. Stiles put his hands up placatingly. Then one dropped down to stroke Derek's dick again.

"Relax babe. I'm not making fun of you, just light teasing. Besides," Stiles took one of Derek's hands and placed it on his dick. "I think you can feel I am also interested in something new."

Derek teasingly swiped his thumb over the tip of Stiles' cock, something he learned days into their relationship that he loves.

He sucked in a breath. "Toys?" Stiles lifted a questioning brow as he spoke.

Derek turned red. "Do you even have any?"

"Not here. This is your loft. Where are yours?"

Derek flushed more.

"If you blush anymore tonight you might as well stay that color... I've always thought red suits you." Stiles gave a conspiratorial smirk.

His eyes flashed red at the compliment.

"How am I more embarrassed to talk about and get sex toys than my teenage boyfriend."

"Legal, say legal or it's creepy."

"Legal."

"Good boy. See now we can do this, and a good thing I think I'm starting to get blue balls" He kissed Derek as he manhandled him to the center of the bed. Stiles laid on top of him as they kissed and stroked each other.

Stiles broke the kiss. "Do you trust me?"

It was out of his mouth as soon as Stiles finished speaking. "Yes."

"Turn over."

His words sent a jolt up Derek's spine.

Stiles moved to make room for him to move.

He did.

Somehow he felt more bare like this. Not knowing where Stiles was, or what he was doing. He expected to hear the lube cap, but he didn't. He expected a slap on his ass maybe, for swatting Stiles earlier.

He could feel him settling in between his legs.

Maybe Stiles would bite his ass hard enough to draw blood to mark him. Or maybe Stiles would raw him with no warning to see what he would do. He hoped he didn't take the kinky thing too far and he didn't suddenly feel warm piss on his back. That is definitely in the no gos. Maybe he should look back and mention it.

Just as he was about to he spoke. "I want to rim you. Is that okay?"

Derek expected a lot of things, but he did not expect that. And he definitely did not expect to be asked. He was so surprised his dick almost forgot to react, almost.

"I already said I want you to fuck me, I said yes. You don't have to ask. Fuckin hell, especially not for that!"

He heard a frustrated sad noise before he felt a comforting weight drape across his back.

Stiles kissed the back of his neck and hugged him from behind, which was a kind of an awkward position.

"Yes I do have to ask. You can't just give blanket permission in the bedroom when you don't know your partner sexually yet. I'll always ask. So can I?"

Derek lilted his head up for a kiss. "Yes."

After their kiss Stiles was gone again. He didn't hear the cap, but he felt the cool plastic of the lube bottle against his leg. Then he felt the warmth of Stiles in between his legs, but chills and bumps raced up his legs as Stiles danced his long delicate fingers down his thighs. Stiles started to knead his ass and he could already tell he was stretched too thin he was not going to last long, not if Stiles kept being this gentle. He started leaving lovebites, that faded within moments, on his inner thighs.

Derek felt calm.

Derek jolted, not realizing kneading had turned to spreading, and now there was a smooth slick tongue lapping at his hole.

The sound he made was inhuman, but Stiles didn't mind.

It seemed like he had made a game of seeing how far he could stretch his hole with his tongue without dipping in or how many times he could go around. Derek couldn't tell if it was entirely comfortable or was going to be the best thing ever. Stiles slowly swept a wide stripe up and Derek made an inpatient growling noise.

Once Stiles began fucking his tongue in and out feverishly and then with his fingers Derek quickly decided it was the best ever. Derek started moaning loudly, and Stiles was a quick study of what made him the loudest. Stiles had his face smushed up against him as he ate him out like he was the last eggroll at a buffet. He could feel his face, and his hot breath, and the spit rolling down. He could feel him, but god he could smell Stiles reeking of sex and happiness.

His boyfriend was happy because he was doing something that made Derek happy. His claws were ripping the sheets and started to dig into the mattress.

"Please. Fuck. Please touch me Stiles." Derek whined.

"Stiles! Stiles! Fuck Stiles!"

He took his name as a sign he was doing well and another plea so he crooked his fingers.

"Stiles!" Derek came with a pillow muffled shout of Stiles' name.

Stiles startled back. "Holy fuck!"

Derek was breathing heavy. "Sorry."

Stiles could tell if he had more breath he'd continue. "Sorry? Are you kidding Der? I just made you come with my tongue and fingers up your ass! That is the most awesome sex thing I have ever done!"

"We have different definitions of awesome." Derek's face was still smushed to the pillow.

Stiles looked skeptical. "Are you trying to tell me you didn't like it? Because I'm pretty sure you did." Stiles sat up on to his knees so he could massage Derek's shoulders.

"No I loved it, I'm just not so sure it was great for you."

"Are you kidding? I loved having you writhing under me."

Derek shivered.

He remembered what Derek said earlier and what he just said could come off a little power trippy.

"I mean, knowing I was pleasing you was great." He seemed to have known what he meant.

He moaned as his muscles relaxed.

"I'll be right back."

That seemed to crash him out of his post orgasmic bliss. "Where are you going?"

Stiles placed a kiss to his forehead. "Right back." Derek watched his beautiful naked ass walk from one dresser to his closet.

"What are you loo-"

"Found it!" Stiles triumphantly held up a bottle of eucalyptus lotion. "Why was it in your closet?"

"It's not ready to say it's gay yet."

"Har har. Seriously Derek its weird. Who keeps lotion in their closet."

"You checked the closet."

Stiles threw the lotion at his back. Before jumping right on his ass facing his legs.

"Oof."

"I think you're getting too far away from the glow, you're starting to get mouthy."

"Look who's talking." Stiles squirted the cold lotion right onto the back of Derek's thighs.

"Cold!"

"Ha! You bastard." Stiles began rubbing it in and soothing his muscles.

He worked his way all the way down to his feet and back up.

Stiles mixed the lube and lotion and circled his finger before pushing in easily. Before he had gotten up to two fingers and his tongue. He quickly added a second as Derek let out a content hum of approval. He kissed all up Derek's back after adding a third finger.

Derek was ready and whining for him and he was aching with the need to be inside of him, but he wanted this to be perfect for Derek. Derek needed to know sex could be about him, and not just a weapon or tool.

"I can't wait to feel you. You are perfect. I could stare at you all day. I could fuck you all day, just to see what makes you moan my name the loudest. I think I could make you orgasm so hard you black out. I could make you feel so good. I will make you feel good Der. I promise."

"Fuck you were made for this. Those fingers, and that ass, and fuck don't get me started on that mouth. If it isn't doing dirty things it's saying them."

Derek was always quiet, Stiles was the loud one. He never expected him to dirty talk him back, and that's what made him loose it. Derek made a shocked noise at the loss, but was silenced by the crinkle of a packet.

"Werewolf. Don't need condom." It was like his mind couldn't speak properly.

"I know darling, but it's easier to clean up. Unless you want a buttload of my cum."

Derek stuttered out, "N-no co-condom."

At that Stiles grabbed the base of his dick, because he waited too long and he honestly didn't know if that would shoot him over the edge. "Jesus christ Derek! If I was a werewolf you would've killed me by now."

Derek could hear the cap popping off the lube and slick noises. He expected to feel the press of Stiles' dick, but he felt his still slightly slicked hand slap his leg. "Roll over."

"What? Is that a dog joke?"

"Roll over. I need to see you. I need to look into those beautiful eyes as I wreck you."

Derek obliged.

"There we go."

Fucking finally Derek feels Stiles slide into him. They both let out moans of bliss and satisfaction.

Stiles started to speak as he waited for Derek to adjust. "Oh god Derek! I'm not going to last long you feel so good. Oh god look at you. God Der you look so beautiful right now. I would take a picture, but I don't ever want anyone to see you like this. How you are for me. All laid out and wanting. God you don't know what you do to me."

Derek mumbled his own words along with Stiles'.

Derek started moving his hips so Stiles started to shallowly move in and out. He made inpatient noises. When that went unanswered he pulled Stiles' hair and started thrusting up.

"No." Stiles pinned his arms above his head. "Keep these here."

Derek frantically shook his head. "No. Can't. Need to touch you. Can't Stiles."

"Keep them there," Stiles said sternly.

Derek whined and reached for the bedside table, he dug around in the drawer before coming back with a pair of handcuffs. Stiles could tell they were coated in wolfs bane. Flashes of a cruel blond chaining Derek clouded his mind.

"No." Stiles still had the stern, but now mixed with an edge. Stiles threw the cuffs across the room and pinned his hands down once again with one weak hand. "You keep them there not because of those, because of this," Stiles kissed him full with emotion neither of them were sure they were ready to say.

"Keep them there because I asked you to, not because I made you."

After he spoke he tenderly kissed him again. When Stiles pulled away Derek didn't know when Stiles had moved one hand firmly to his hips and the other to lightly stroke his dick, but his arms weren't moving regardless. Derek had tears in his eyes from that kiss.

"God so beautiful, so perfect. I wish I could see you like this forever. Stretched beneath me like I deserve to be able to touch you. You're so good to me, for me. You are the most beautiful person I have ever met. God look at you, you take care of your pack so well. You're a good alpha. My alpha is so beautiful." Derek's eyes bled crimson. "He takes care of me so well, I take care of him too. Der, you take care of me so well. Let me take care of you. Let go Derek."

Stiles' control was slipping. He started thrusting and jacking Derek off faster.

"Look at you. God. I love this. I wish I could see you like this all the time. I wish you always looked like I just got done making love to you. So beautiful."

Derek came with a deep roar and Stiles could see his half shifted face and claws with tears streaking down his face. Stiles collapsed into Derek's neck and breathed out heavily as he fucked Derek through his orgasm. He finally let go with a shout of Derek's name. Derek pulled him as deep as he would go as he came.

They laid there breathing heavily in each others arms for what seemed like hours and mere seconds at the same time.

"We should've been doing that years ago."

Derek nodded into Stiles neck.

"Woot woo! Batman finally got some." Erica ruffled his hair. Boyd rolled his eyes, but gave him that head nod of respect thing.

The pack had a weird thing about sex. Because everyone instantly knew everything it wasn't a big deal and they talked about it.

"Dude! How come you didn't text me?!"

"Bro I just got done having sex with Derek, you coming over for pack night in an hour?"

Scott wrinkled his nose. "Okay I see your point." Allison smiled at Scott's stupidity, and gave Stiles a thumbs up.

"So did you stop planning out our wedding and the names of our kids?"

"Leave Jake and Dia out of this, but yes I don't think you're the most perfectest person in the world anymore." Lydia looked shocked and a bit hurt like she never expected him to move on. He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. "Close second though my dear." She smiled and it seemed like a slight against her perfection she could handle.

"If I ever get bumped to third I will bury someone."

"Noted."

Cora glared and said, "He's my brother."

"Yup. Sure is."

"Don't mess him up." If they were talking about anyone else he would've thought she meant don't mess it up, but knowing his ex's she meant don't hurt him in a way he can't heal.

"He's already messed up." Her eyes narrowed. "I just hope I can take care of him long enough for him to realize that he's worth taking care of himself. And if he lets me, even after that."

She gave a sort of half smile. "Mom would've hated you." Stiles' heart sank. "But Laura and dad would've loved you. They would've gotten her to come around."

He knew how much that meant. When he spoke his voice was thick. "Thanks."

"Thank you." She nodded towards where Derek was hiding in his room.

"If you ever need a man with more... experience just le-"

"I will kill you... again."

"Well that would be unpleasant. Especially since I couldn't see my nephew glow whenever you walk into a room."

He looked interested in the non-existent dirt under his nails.

"Hurt one of the two living family members I have left and I will hurt you. And if my nephew is being more than his usual pig brained self let me know I'll hurt him."

"Thanks... I guess? Now go away you're creepy." Peter slunk away.

Isaac took him by complete surprise. He hugged him and buried his nose in his neck.

"Um I'm sorry are we friends... or even not hate each other now that I'm screwing Derek?"

"Sorry you just smell like him when he's happy."

"Do I have to worry about you stealing both of our sheets so you can smell my boyfriend's jizz?"

Isaac looked like he was about to retch. "No! Not like that! Not like sex happy! Just happy happy!" Stiles sniffed his shirt, he will never get used to people telling him about smells he can't smell.

He smiled at the thought that he made Derek happy. "Oh okay well cool. Thanks bud." He ruffled Isaac's curls which wasn't met with immediate dismemberment so, progress. Yay!

Derek finally came down so they could start.

Halfway through the meeting Jackson burst in like he owned the place with a, "What's up dipshits?"

They tried to resume, but he kept interrupting.

"Along the northern sid-"

"Whoa whoa. Wait!"

There were eye rolls all around. This has to be like the eighth time.

"Did Stilinski actually get fucked? Wow, what poor bastard took one for the team?" Jackson was smirking, but no one else found it funny.

"Shut the hell up Jackson." Scott snapped.

"Really. We know you have to be a douche, but why not do it on non meeting hours. We have more important issues than your fragile ego and masculinity." Stiles could always count on Erica to get dirty when he needed her.

Jackson's nose flared. He was still a bit slow with identification of people, but he was good with emotions, how ironic.

"Seriously? Wow Derek, if I'd known my alpha was that desperate I'd have taken you to The Jungle myself."

Stiles rolled his eyes, but the pack looked defensive and Derek looked murderous.

Jackson better shut up.

"I know a few cheap whores."

Derek was lunging before anyone even registered what he said, all except Stiles. He moved in between the two stopping Derek in his tracks by a hand on his chest.

"Aww are you gonna protect me from your boyfriend?"

Derek bared his fangs.

"He's not worth it. Last week his mom and dad flew out the day before his birthday and he stormed out of our party so he's probably still sore."

Jackson saw red. "Oh yeah you, little bitch, well at least I'm not so pathetic I had to beg my own alpha to fuck me."

Derek's eyes were flashing red, but Jackson was too focused on Stiles, and he was standing now.

"Jackson stop."

"Oh why Lydia? Do you feel bad for him because of his little boy crush?"

Jackson turned back to Stiles. "He probably felt indebted to you because you're weak and nothing."

Stiles holding Derek's gaze steady was all that was holding him back.

"How sad you are Stilinski, but you probably take it real good."

Derek would've leapt. He would've torn him to shreds of not for the fear that Stiles would defend himself. Tell them that it was Derek that took it. Derek their alpha took it up the ass from the weak human pack member and cried when he came. Derek was frozen he saw his pack in a flurry of motion screaming and pointing fingers at Jackson. Boyd the only one daring to hold back Erica. Slinging insults, but none of them dared harm a pack member without orders.

Orders he wasn't giving. Because he was frozen in place by how weak he was.

Everything snapped back into place all at once and the screaming grated his ears till they all stopped at the sound of laughter.

It was Stiles. Was it crying? No, he was laughing. Maniacally.

"You know what Jackson? I did take it from him, and he gave it to me good. Harder, better than you ever could for anyone. And he fucked me like you could never understand, and never get the way you are right now- with care."

Stiles got more and more worked up till he was shouting.

"So go ahead call me no better than a whore, but the only one getting a cheap fuck here is you!"

"Sure. Whatever Stilinski, whatever helps your pathetic ass sleep."

And then Jackson did something stupid. He got Stiles angry. Not upset, not disappointed, not sad.

Angry.

He looked at Derek and said, "Man someone really fucked you up for you to want Stilinski."

"That is enough!" Stiles yelled with fury and power.

"You know what Jackson? I feel pity for you. You're just a piece of shit who likes to pretend they're a worth while person sometimes. I'm done with it! For all your barbs and jokes at my expense do you know who the only person keeping you in this pack is?"

Jackson scoffed and looked around like can you believe this guy to be met with confirmation of its truth.

Jackson sobered a bit at that, but then his venom was back.

"So what I've finally pissed you off enough I'm kicked out? Hallelujah."

"You don't seem to get it Jackson. Lydia broke up with you because you don't deserve her, you're shifting between a werewolf and kanima because you can't get that poison out of your veins, Danny your best friend wants nothing to do with you because you are such a douche, the team won't talk to you, and your parents leave you-"

Stiles could see the crack in Jackson's perfect face at that.

"Because they don't see what kind of person you could be if you had someone who wouldn't give up on you."

All the air, confidence, and superiority left him in one big whoosh.

"I- I- I don't understand?"

Stiles sighed. "No, you don't. You have no one Jackson. No one that cares about you, the real you. No one that loves you for who you are completely. Look at us. This pack is filled with nobodies. People who don't have people. People who do, but there'll always be something they can't accept or know about, but not here. We are what the others need. We are a pack. We have people because we chose each other. Understand this, you have no one, but you could. You could have a pack. It's your choice whether or not you're willing to work for it. You choose, but know if you walk out that door it won't open for you again. So choose." Stiles looked impatient.

"Now!" Stiles shouted forcefully. Derek flinched, still being close to him.

"Stay."

"What? Sorry weak human hearing."

"I want to stay."

"Yeah I know you want to stay, but are you willing to?"

"Yes."

Stiles nodded. "Good. Now apologize to your alpha. You were rude, disrespectful, and insulting. Don't make me make you do it twice, because you've only got one shot."

"Derek I am sincerely sorry for my actions. I was disrespectful and I'm sorry. I will do whatever it takes to make up for my actions." When it was clear he was done Derek and Jackson both looked at Stiles to see if it was enough.

He rolled his eyes. "Sit down and shut the fuck up."

The meeting finished without a peep from Jackson, but the entire time Derek felt his guts twisting. He felt the shame of not standing up for his boyfriend. The guilt of not dealing with his own beta. And most of all he felt the fear of Stiles being angry at him for not correcting him. Derek decided what to do.

"Alright that is all for this week's pack meeting. You guys know the rules." As people started to get up he added on. "Oh and Stiles fucked me." Immediately he could tell that was not the right thing to do. Everyone froze, Stiles looked at him with wide eyes, and he felt himself turn very red. "I just thought everybody should know that."

"Oh no, I could've lived my entire life not knowing that." Cora said with a look of disgust and disappointment as she scrubbed a hand down her face.

Stiles was next. "No, Derek! Everyone should not have know that!" Stiles threw his hands out to his sides and walked closer. He whispered to Derek. "Look is this like some type of voyeurism?"

"Dude ew."

"Dereeek that's gross."

"Keep me out of your kinks."

"Count me and Boyd in."

Derek shouted, "What!? No!" He looked stricken. "I just thought I should set the record straight, and I felt bad for not doing it earlier! I just didn't want you to get mad. Are you mad?"

Stiles cupped his cheek and smiled. "I am not mad. It's kinda sweet in a messed up way."

Stiles cocked his head. "A really really messed up way."

"M'kay can we get back to how we're going to deal with this?"

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