#i might elaborate on the mello thing at a later date but not in this post

[grimalkinmessor]

If L met the wammy boys do you think he would like them? My unpopular opinion is that he would probably find them annoying

I'm not sure! I don't think he thinks about them even remotely as much as people would like to pretend—I think he's largely ambivalent towards them. Not particularly fond of them but not disdaining them either. My own personal headcanon is that L was closer with the first gen of successors: A and B (a possible C notwithstanding). But after the tragedy of A that lead to B's downfall, I think L purposefully stopped giving a shit about any of the Wammy kids. Self-preservation and all that, you know?

Now, having said that, in Another Note we see that L has spoken to Mello alone at least once. We don't know whether it was before Near, after Near, before Kira, after Kira, whatever—which would add on some telling factors to that interaction, but I digress. My own unpopular opinion here is that this means that L would've eventually chosen Mello as his successor. For several reasons, but chief of mine being that L just liked Mello better. I also think that would've been the easier choice for everyone involved, again for multiple reasons.

I think L would be mildly annoyed by all the Wammy kids tbh. Just because they're kids and he's an adult who doesn't seem like he'd be good with children. That, and the fact that they're fighting for a name that they'll never truly earn instead of making a name for themselves on their own merit.

(To that end, are we,,,,,sure that Matt was in the successor program? Is it specifically said anywhere in canon? Because it would make more sense if it was more of a 'two at a time' deal than a free-for-all for all the Wammy kids to participate in. Then again that might just be 'two/three at a time', which would include Matt, but again. L is very secretive. I don't think he'd be telling his every secret to every kid that showed interest in becoming the next Great Detective.)

ANYWAY. TLDR; I think children would annoy him in any fashion they came in and his arrogance would do the rest, but despite all of that he would've chosen Mello as a successor because out of everyone else Mello was the only one he seemed to show a personal interest in ✨ Sorry for the tangents my brain goes off 🙏