CHAPTER 34

A/N

Hey, so recently I have gotten a lot of public and private messages about various things to do with me, my views on the show, and my writing. A lot of them are the same questions and it's getting REALLY tiring having to write the same thing to every single person so I'm gonna clarify some things here so you can stop messaging me.

Have I changed my opinion on Sam recently?

NO. I have not. Sam has always been my least favourite character on the show by far. That DOES NOT think I think she is the worst person on the show (I agree that Tory a worse person than her during season 3). It just means that the things that annoy me about Sam (her manipulation, her playing the victim card, etc) are things that I PERSONALLY find so frustrating to watch and make me dislike her character a lot. Same applies for Daniel, Johnny in S3 and Robby

However, for those curious, one person who my feelings towards HAS changed is Amanda. Amanda used to be one of my favourite characters on the show.

Am I a Sam/Miguel author?

NO I AM NOT. I am NOT a Sam/Miguel author. I am a Cobra Kai writer. I could choose any pairing in the show to go with. I have no obligation to pick Sam/Miguel as the endgame of any story because I am not a Sam/Miguel author. The only reason I have used Sam/Miguel thus far is because they are the easiest couple to write about because THE SHOW are naturally pushing them together. However, for this latest story, I wanted to challenge myself and reach outside my comfort zone, which anyone who aspires to improve at anything knows is the best way to improve at anything

Does this mean I think Tory/Miguel is better than Sam/Miguel?

NO. I do not. I honestly think all of the 4 main relationships on the show are pretty bad relationships, and none of them are what teenagers should aspire to be like.

Tory/Robby is the worst imo. They both have serious anger issues and serious abandonment issues which although could make them good to build each other back up after s3, it also has the potential to blow up even more. In my opinion, I feel like Tory'd be a pretty bad influence on Robby (which she proved in S3 during the zoo episode). This is my PERSONAL beliefs

Tory/Miguel is the second worst relationship. As proven during season 2, Tory only made Miguel worse with her no mercy bullshit, which is what I feel like would happen with Robby too in S3.

Sam/Miguel is the third worst. I think the show is pushing them together too hard. Their season 1 relationship was AWFUL. Sam was dumb for flirting and holding hands with Robby on a hill where people were literally sitting on so it couldn't have been that steep. And Miguel was also rlly dumb for getting jealous and blowing up. People argue that Sam/Miguel's relationship grew a lot in S3. I respectfully disagree. Like I 100% agree that both characters grew a lot as people in S3, but I don't know how much their relationship did. A lot of people argue about Sam raising money for Miguel's surgery early in the season and then protecting him from Robby in episode 8. Thing is I don't know how much of that was because she liked Miguel romantically, and how much was because it was just the right thing to do. I like to use the example of "what if it was demetri who was kicked over the railing?" Sam would 100% still raise the money for him, and wouldn't just let Robby beat him up. And another one often mentioned is the All-Valley committee meeting and Sam going up to support him by the podium... once again I don't know how much of that was actually because she liked Miguel. Earlier that day, she told her family that they needed to make sure the All-Valley continued because "they needed to show that miyagi-do weren't the bad guys." She already made up her mind that she needed the All-Valley to continue, so I feel like it wouldn't have made that much of a difference who it was speaking up there. It was in her best interest to help out. Yeah so I feel like Sam and Miguel's relationship actually wasn't built up very well in Season 3 and to be honest, probably won't grow much in season 4. Although the show are 100% gonna push them together and portray them as soulmates, I don't think they are. Their relationship isn't going to grow in Season 4, because it's not going to be tested at all. Because the thing that broke down their relationship last time was a combination of 2 things: Miguel's jealousy and Sam's need for her father's approval. But in Season 4, neither of things will ever really come into play as Robby is going to be in Cobra Kai and not with Sam in Miyagi-Do so Miguel doesn't have reason to be jealous; and Sam doesn't need her dad's approval as Daniel has already met and liked Miguel.

Sam and Robby's relationship was honestly the best relationship of the main 4 teenagers. The reason for this is because it was a normal summer high school relationship. The show weren't pushing them to be soulmates or anything. They just had fun together, spent time together, and it was all nice and chill until Sam cheated on him…

Did I "trick" Sam/Miguel readers into reading this story by starting it as Sam/Miguel and then changing it to OC/Miguel?

NO. I seriously don't understand how anyone can seriously think that? If you guys seriously think I care about fanfiction THAT much, let me put ur mind at ease… I don't. Don't get me wrong, I love writing, but I don't care about views that much that I would pretend to do one thing and then change it to another just to try and entrap readers into reading the story.

In case you forgotten, I actually started this story in the beginning of April, but then put it on pause. When I came back to it in mid May, I had exam prep, job interviews and many other things on my plate so I didn't have much time to write. So in the little time I did have to write, I wanted to challenge myself. Sam/Miguel was the easy option, OC/Miguel was the challenging option as it would involve creating an entirely new character and linking her to the storyline, so I opted to go for the more challenging one.

You are writing for us, the readers, so shouldn't we have a say in what the story endgame is?

NO. You shouldn't. You know, I was surprised at the number of comments, both public and private, saying this. People are saying that because I post my stories online, I desperately need the approval of readers, and I can only get that if I let them decide on the story's endgame.

Do I enjoy having many ppl read my story? Yes, I 's nice to see people interested in your stories, whether they are enjoying them or criticizing them. But with so many things I have going on in my life, my enjoyment of writing trumps the "wants" of the readers. You know, the same chapters that take you like 15 minutes to read take me like 5-8 hours to write? I'm not gonna spend that much time writing a story that I don't want to write. Plain and simple.

Also, another thing I have gotten often is people saying I have an obligation to settle on my plotline so readers can decide whether my story is "worth their time" or not. Well I'm sorry but I'm not going to do that. I sat and I planned out this story at the very beginning when I started writing it, but since then I have come up with so many additional plotlines and will probably continue to do so until the end of the story.

Have I decided on a determined story endgame?

No, I haven't. Although things are looking increasingly likely that I am going with a Miguel/OC endgame, as you all have probably seen, things with my stories can change in a heartbeat. And that's the fun of writing in casual environments like fanfiction. You could wake up one morning with a completely new plotline, and that's awesome. Endgame couples are not my priority in stories. Having good plotlines are though, so my decision could change in a heartbeat if I come up with a better plotline that incorporates a different endgame.

That's all I have to say I think. Sorry I went on for a while. But just next time if you feel the need to message me, stop and read this note first and see if your question or statement is answered there.

Oh, and one more thing, my Season 4 story just hit 100,000 views on fanfiction net alone. It is a milestone I never thought I would achieve with a story but somehow, I did and I really appreciate everything any of you readers did to help me get there. God bless you all!