KNOW MERCY.

Send a letter and I will respond with a headcanon about the ns/fw topic that corresponds to it!

sometimes,  when he’s with john,  daniel can’t help but feel young again.   less like the local legend whose face is plastered on massive billboards throughout the valley  (  he can’t wait for those fuckin’ things to come down,  replaced by ones featuring amanda  ),  more like the kid from reseda who toured a beat - up retail space by the train tracks and thought we can make somethin’ out of this.   somethin’ real great.   so long as he’s got a partner by his side,  someone who’s along for the ride,  even when it gets bumpy.   and yeah,  the last few years have gotten pretty rough at times.   he’s got new scars to prove it.   but he has a shiny engagement - turned - wedding ring too,  and a home big enough to hold their whole family when need be,  and this :  a dojo they’ve set up together,  to john’s exact specifications,  so he can teach their students eagle fang.   a style all his own,  untainted by the dojo that’s done them  —  and their loved ones  —  so much harm.

daniel kicks the competition, sure, but he can't kick the embrace currently swallowing him. he feels like a newlywed again, arms around daniel, feeling him lean into him. a swell of pride, too, mixed between a gorgeous husband — there's a trophy husbands joke somewhere here — and a dojo that's all his own. like how he felt starting eagle fang back at the beginning, but better. how he gets to share it still with his best friend. the same rush of pride he'd felt when he and miguel had first set up the original — well, new — cobra kai dojo ... not that johnny's ever told daniel about miguel's involvement there ( nor will he ever. )

just wait and see!

let 'em laugh.

i know my time is comin'.

no one'll call me a loser again!

try to walk as if you're going somewhere.

the pressure's on for you and me.

don't, and it will mean i go ballistic.

good luck, have fun!

just like the good old days!

you've always been a dreamer.

give up your dreams.

your dreams are lame and weak.

we ought to cut the bull and just get real.

give up your dreams, and get a freakin' job.

join the grown - up world like us.

quickly, don't let anybody see you!

how come you never told me you could play music?

you ever play electric guitar?

let's waste that time together, shall we?

you're in the band!

don't forget to emote!

i only play classical.

that's good. for my grandma. who's, uh, dead.

i still don't have a job.

is that something you could swing?

i'm putting you in charge of the whole damn thing!

i pledge allegiance to the band.

if you're in raise your hand!

you never let me get in a word.

no matter what it is that i do, it's like i just can't seem to get through.

i've got so much to say.

still, you never listen.

can't you see i'm hurting?

i promise, one day i'll make you hear.

i'm not the kid you want me to be.

you just don't wanna see the real me.

you just keep shutting me out.

i'm not gonna beg you — you'll never see a tear.

the legend of the rent was way past due.

how can you kick me out of what is mine?

you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore.

what it all can mean is quite confounding.

the children all like him more than us.

who knows what he does but god, it works!

maybe we too could do some good.

there's been one solution since the world began : don't just sit and take it, stick it to the man!

get all of your aggression out.

stick it to the man!

go off the script, do what you like.

they hate it, they can take a hike.

why live your life to someone else's plan?

crank the amps to 17!

don't just sit and take it, stick it to the man!

show 'em what rebellion means!

why march to someone else's caravan?

there's no way you can stop the school of rock!

i'm in charge!

go punk, or start packing.

it's time to play!

come on, this isn't hard!

make sure he remembers, or i'm breaking both your necks.

we don't have time to waste while you try to find some taste!

i can still remember how the music used to be.

where do last year's one - hit - wonders go to?

what happened to the girl i was?

guess the songs kept playing, but i didn't stop to hear.

where's the joy i used to know, way back when?

sorry for the outburst.

let's keep this our secret, who'd believe it anyway?

thanks for the reminder that there's music in me yet.

if you flip the record and start over, does it sound the way it did before?

he can barely read!

i promise you, i can read!

we're gonna sue!

his ass belongs in jail!

i'm a loser, okay?

i used you.

worst of all, i wasted your time.

i thought nobody could, but you, you understood.

you raised my voice up, taught me not to fear.

i've learned who i am because you're here.

school won't be the same without you here.

now that i've found you, you can't just disappear.

you've taught me so much since you've been here.

two and two make five!

rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme.

i've been biting my tongue too many times.

what's that? it's hideous!

well, that's not very nice.

some of you may die... but it's a sacrifice i am willing to make.

whoa, look at that! who'd want to live in a place like that?

that would be my home.

you know, you're really quite the decorator. it's amazing what you've done with such a modest budget.

i like that boulder. that is a nice boulder.

man, this would be so much easier if i wasn't color-blind.

we can stay up late, swapping manly stories.

in the morning, i'm making waffles.

where are you going? the exit's over there!

i have to save my ass.

what kind of a knight are you?

for your information, there's a lot more to me than people think.

you know what else everybody likes? parfaits!

you dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden!

parfaits may be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet.

hey, don't look at me! i didn't invite them!

we were forced to come here.

hey, what's your problem? what do you have against the whole world, anyway?

look, i'm not the one with the problem, okay?

it's the world that seems to have a problem with me.

they judge me before they even know me.

that's why i'm better off alone.

you're a monster!

i'm not the monster here, you are!

now tell me, where are the others?

my patience has reached its end.

all right then! who's hiding them?

two things okay? shut... up.

do you think he's maybe compensating for something?

so where is this fire-breathing pain in the neck, anyway?

i was talking about the dragon.

men of his stature are in short supply.

hey, where are you going? oh man. i can't feel my toes.

i think i need a hug.

doesn't that bother you?

man, i like you. what's your name?

celebrity marriages. they never last, do they?

it's on my to-do list!

you didn't slay the dragon?

that's not the point!

all right, you're going the right way for a smacked bottom.

you're afraid of your own feelings!

i heard the two of you talking!

man, that was annoying.

oh... oh this is all my fault.

you can't do this to me, [name]! i'm too young for you to die!

turn your head and cough!

believe me, if it was me, you'd be dead.

we must be getting close.

why didn't he come to rescue me?

you're not making my job any easier.

you love this woman, don't you?

i don't want to rush into a physical relationship.

you may remove your helmet, good sir knight.

let's just say, i'm not your type.

this is the part where you run away.

does that sound good to you?

you look... uh... different.

it only happens when the sun goes down.

i didn't know you wrote poetry.

only the true love's kiss can break the spell.

i guess you don't, uh... entertain much, do you?

' hell yeah, it's a yes. when am i ever saying no to you cooking? ' daniel's last attempt to get him to eat a side salad briefly comes to mind, but john doesn't let that thought linger more than a moment. not when he can see the little hamster wheel in daniel's mind kick it into overdrive thinking about john's after - dinner plans. it's a tease, and yeah, johnny'd be lying through his teeth if he said the idea didn't get his motor running too, but at this rate, he's just happy to have a night that's just the two of them. he knows that'll be more or less the norm soon, because, even if lexy's still here, the social butterfly she is, she'll only be around half the time, and raf already has his days split with carmen anyway. even so, he's selfish. and he's not afraid to say so.

i understand. i mean, i think you're absolutely fucking stupid for saying it.

if you don't mind, i'd like to just dwell on the regret.

i'm either going to hate you, or i'm going to hate myself.

don't make me look silly.

do i have a choice?

other people had boyfriends, and i had batman.

you've both met ed sheeran?

this is weird.

i don't think i'm getting paid enough for this.

yeah, i've thought about that more than once a day, every day since.

come on, you little fucker.

you've been raiding the old tombs again, have you?

it's quite rude.

that's what i call mine.

i'm just happy she's getting laid.

why are you saying that?

let's see the fruits of their labor.

i painted my whole room when i was a teenager in batman style.

when do you guys ever have fun?

i imagine this is what your house is like. empty.

oh, that's a bit mean.

i was on my period.

shut up. shut up with the puns.

i dread to ask what you've brought in.

oh hang on, what's happening there?

so far i agree. do you agree?

i think the best thing for a middle aged man to have on his bedside table is a book of poetry.

you have fifteen minutes.

why are you dressed like this?

i'm busy giving you a dirty look.

when i've finished with you, i'm gonna go to him.

is that your dirty look?

don't worry, we're gonna get married. this is foreplay.

i thought yours was good, as well.

don't play me.

i think probably everyone in the room can do this.

ask me another one.

i'm not impressed.

tricky, tricky, tricky.

i was just gonna lie down.

i can't actually do that.

i go to friend's houses, and they just pour me red wine out of a bottle. and i think, "you haven't got a decanter."

that's so snooty, i don't even understand it.

have you washed these carrots?

i like your system.

i think you might be close to the edge.

i remember that fondly.

shall we do it?

i'm gonna go and get a guitar.

now, super quick question. can i get on the roof?

if you could use one word to describe me, what would it be?

is that you? looks like you.

there is something oddly satisfying about it.

i am a man of my word, and i told you you would get an an opportunity to see me take my trousers and pants down/

i didn't say when or where.

i've seen all the mission impossibles. you aren't in it.

somehow, i had it in my mind i had to crack the code.

is it a lemon?

what if i hopped the fence and went into the golf course and you never saw me again?

what are you going to do with the shoes?

i went on a date with a woman who was much stronger than me once. and i didn't mind it.

i'm not gonna lie. i crushed it.

i have fucked it.

is "ha ha" a word?

don't look!

i like mushrooms.

listen, you're getting a bit aggressive, okay?

you started as a thoughtful, attentive man and now you're becoming an arsehole.

we were the monsters, weren't we?

i don't really respect myself.

daniel takes a step back,  rag slung over his shoulder.   now that things have started to settle down,  they’ve been working on getting the freshly minted eagle fang dojo ready to open up for classes in a few weeks.   the kids come with some days,  helping bring equipment and trophies in.   but lexy has plans with the boys,  and devon talked anthony and kenny into checking out some exhibit with her,  so it’s just the two of them today.   (  he tries not to think too much about the empty bedrooms at their house,  their occupants off on new adventures without their dads in tow.   he’s so proud of them  …  but part of daniel wishes sam and robby were still ten minutes at best away,  rather than over ten hours.  )   

the trophies are all set up — minus the 2019 all valley one that he just couldn't manage to sneak out of the house. hawk was his kid, fuck you, larusso. and they look good. almost as good as the man shining them. there's a joke, somewhere, about how john just likes to ogle daniel when he's doing housework — and that's true, he does love sexualizing his husband doing mundane tasks. probably the best part about being married. but it's less lust that drives this stare, and an annoyingly intense rush of affection. that they're here. in his own dojo ... theirs, sure, but his. just as miyagi-do is theirs, but daniel's. and despite some of the trophies reading COBRA KAI, there's no stain of the former dojo here. this is new, this is theirs.