#i simply think. that if they HAD to have kira and lessing go into a cave and then have kira leave alone but for a ghost that she can pretend

[weidli]

EURYDICE: You're early. ORPHEUS: I missed you.

[brawberryz]

⎯⎯ㅤStupid detective

Batfam Yan! × L Lawliet! Reader

《Platonic》

Note: English is not my first language / M.list

TW / yandere behaviors, obsession, isolation, murder, violence, toxic relationships

L Lawliet! Reader, who is one of the family's best detectives.

L Lawliet! Reader, who is scolded daily for her diet of nothing but sweets. Several times they forced you to change your diet to a healthier one, but you simply refused.

Sweets were the best thing for you, and you weren't going to let anyone take that away from you.

L Lawliet! Reader, who spends most of her time in her room solving cases. You had surpassed the entire family in how far you could go without sleep.

Your dark circles were enormous and adorned your eyelids. Your family still wonders how you're still alive.

L Lawliet! Reader, who instead of using the shower or bathtub like a normal person decided to bathe in the washing machine. Alfred could still remember when he found you spinning naked in the washing machine.

Your excuse was that it was more comfortable. From that day on, your family's eyes never left you, afraid you'd do something stupid and end up dead.

You really didn't care. As long as they didn't bother you while you were sorting things out, you weren't bothered by their overprotectiveness.

L Lawliet! Reader, who began to obsess over a particular case, Kira. It was a case of a new serial killer tormenting all of Gotham.

Bruce offered to solve it, but you stopped him and told him you'd take charge. He trusted you in your abilities, but he believed this case was more dangerous than it seemed.

L Lawliet! Reader, who one day found you with a boy handcuffed to your wrist and a very loud blonde girl.

Apparently, you had found the culprits, but you didn't have enough evidence to blame them, so you literally stuck to them, refusing to leave their sides.

You can already hear Alfred preparing the guest room. They knew you weren't one to give up, and they knew you'd do anything to prove you were right.

And if that meant keeping two "innocent" people locked in your room and technically interrupting their lives to prove you were right, you would do it.

Fuck, of course you would.

L Lawliet! Reader, who can feel the murderous glares her family was giving their "guests."

They couldn't believe what you did. How dare you let strangers into the mansion and stick yourself to them!?

They hated how the blonde girl named Misa touched and hugged you. Who did she think she was, touching you like that?

It made their blood boil that someone other than them would touch you or spend time with you. Ever since those two people arrived, all your attention was focused on them.

Are they supposed to be your family? Why are you ignoring them now?

The no-kill rule trembled in each of them every time they saw you with Light or Misa.

They had to get rid of them NOW.

L lawliet! Reader, who ended up getting into a fistfight with Light after an argument, was surprising in that even though you were handcuffed and technically glued to him, your movements were skillful and quick.

Maybe your body seemed weak, but you weren't; you had been trained by the whole family to be perfect.

If Dick hadn't interrupted the fight, I could swear you could have killed him.

Although he wouldn't mind if you killed Light either; it would be one less problem on the family's to-do list.

L Lawliet! Reader, you have shitty posture. You could easily have some muscle problems when you're older.

Sometimes they wondered if your back or some muscle didn't hurt because of your posture.

L Lawliet! Reader, who is aware that she is surrounded by yanderes and murderers, you had realized this a long time ago.

You weren't stupid; you weren't the best detective for nothing, maybe better than Batman (although that would be too much of an ego boost for you).

You just hoped that your family's yandere-like behavior didn't interrupt your investigation into Kira.

My obsession with Death Note has returned. Omfg how I love that fucking show.

Maybe I'll do a Light and misa

[43501]

Opened my copy of Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases for the first time in a decade and man, I forgot this is a goldmine of info and Mello characterization. It lets us know what kind of person Mello is almost more than the source material. Every time he's on panel/screen he's always so intense, it's fascinating to see him write and kind of get this feeling of "oh, he is also a normal guy outside of those situations".

He says he had one extensive in-person meeting with L, which is backed up by this other post of mine where I point out that, in the anime at least, Mello references having spoken to L personally. If we take it as canon it means L and Mello met at some point between Kira emerging and L leaving England for Japan.

He expresses a strong sense he might die. I've seen people say that he's "narrating from beyond (heh) the grave" and it's nonsensical, but that's not what's happening here. He's just writing while anticipating his death and writing as if these notes may be discovered posthumously.

He thinks that, in the event he dies, Near is the one who will discover his writings. This is interesting to me because it suggests Mello either knows Near knows his whereabouts, or would figure it out and recover his belongings. I actually think this is outright supported by canon - we see Near eating Mello's chocolate in the manga's epilogue. I don't think he instructed his staff to go out and buy that same chocolate, I think that's straight up Mello's stash.

At some point he started identifying less with the "Mello" alias and calling himself Mihael.

He's so sentimental... ending the prologue simply with "Good memories and nightmares". Bro.

"Imagine you were going to kill someone. What do you think would be the most difficult part? .... The correct answer: killing someone." Damn, I love you Mello lol. Also fascinating when you remember that he achieved his status in the mafia by beheading someone. Yes, he would know how hard it is to kill a person.

Mello states that he and Near belong to the "fourth generation" of Wammy's House kids.

He expresses open sympathy for Beyond and his state, twice... based on his own narration and how he portrays B in the course of the story, he definitely relates to B's emotions.

"Perhaps these gods actually wanted a blood soaked world of betrayal and false accusation. Perhaps the entire episode exists as a lesson to teach us the difference between the Almighty and the shinigami." I can't entirely make sense of this, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but is "Almighty" capitalized here to definitely refer to the divine? Like, the Christian God but in a bit of a sidestepped, roundabout way? Wish I could see the original Japanese text for this line. If anyone has essays/posts about it, please show me.

And on a meta-textual level, the ambiguity of our role/perspective as the reader of these notes is also interesting. We're probably just an omniscient, unmoored observer being told about this set of notes Mello wrote and his line to the effect of "if it happens to turn into [a book]" is tongue-in-cheek. I know there's a slight, hanging implication that Near did in fact publish his notes, but I think that's unlikely since they contain so much sensitive/classified information.

[vamphorica]

♰ Religion in Death Note ♰

One of the most fascinating things about Death Note as a franchise is its exploration of faith and religion in the context of the world building, and how it compliments this using Christian motifs and imagery. The latter is often portrayed superficially, which I think is a shame given that there are many occasions throughout the series where relationships that some characters have with faith could be examined in accordance with the world Ohba has created.

For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to consider two main religious influences in the world of Death Note:

The Canon Explanation (The Shinigami Realm, Rules of the Death Note, Mu as the Afterlife, etc.)

Christianity (specifically, the use of Catholic imagery in Ohba’s official art.)

Let's begin with Canon.

i. The Canon Explanation

Ohba is clearly partial to weaving a complex web of rules as a means to support the supernatural premises of his stories (see Platinum End). This makes The Canon Explanation so effective not only because it limits the behaviour of the characters throughout the text, but it is also very pertinent to religion conceptually. By listing out the apparent commandments of the Death Note, a set of religious principles have been established that the users of the Death Note must follow. While you are not technically committing a sin by, let's say, trying to kill someone over the age of 124 with the Death Note (x), it sets out a guide which is indicative of rules one might follow in a religious text. You could say that Light, Misa, Mikami, and Takada each had to have a level of faith in the Death Note in order to use it. They all followed the rules, even if they did so under Light's direction as their self-proclaimed God. Light’s familiarity with these rules and his confidence with manipulating them is what ultimately makes his reign as Kira so effective. I think the act of writing a name down in the notebook itself is a form of commitment to belief – as a concept, the Death Note seems too absurd to a sceptic.

When the Shinigami begin arriving in the human world, it is obvious that they are not divine beings in the perfect, omnipotent manner that humans may expect. If anything, they are curiously quite human themselves – forgetting rules and acting as a result of emotional impulses. It is indeed Ryuk's boredom that sets the story into motion – everyone who died as a result of the Death Note did so because of him. The Shinigami pose no actual threat to the humans they follow, often noting how humans appear more competent at being Death Gods than they themselves are. While this is subjective, depending on interpretations of faith, the typical Grim Reaper figure is seen as a serious, all-knowing figure that is to be feared, while the Shinigami of Death Note are far less intimidating. I think this delivers a decent proposal that religion in Canon is not a matter of worshipping the supernatural, or suggesting that they are better than us. By having the Shinigami presented as being similar to ourselves, human characters have the ability to use their power without the fear of divine retribution. Light’s extensive knowledge of the Death Note rules and how to work around them, along with his strict work ethic, only further demonstrates his commitment to carving out his position as God when compared to the Shinigami.

Mu is explained quite simply – there is no heaven or hell. There is a notable lack of elaboration here for a reason, but I do wonder if Light might have been more reluctant in his pursuits had traditional heaven and hell been at stake. Would he have become Kira if his act of justice would damn him to hell? Would he be concerned that his victims might end up going to heaven? Mu is the Canon version for what happens when one dies in this universe, so, beyond proposing speculative questions, there is little to analyse here.

Now, there is one character who I want to delve deeper in relation to The Canon Explanation: Mikami.

Mikami -> Mikami is deeply devout. Of all the named characters in the series, Mikami is the only one who is expressly religious, particularly regarding the Canon Explanation. While I think it is interesting to consider Light Yagami's relationship to Godhood, it is only through Mikami that we understand Kira’s societal impact. Mikami is also the only character in Death Note to be granted a rather comprehensive backstory, so we are given an insight into what led him to become such an ardent Kira supporter. Light chose Mikami not just for these strongly held opinions but also because of his devotion to him specifically. Mikami is ritualistic in the way he worships the idea of Kira through his dedication to writing one page of names in the Death Note daily, following Light’s commands without question. The only other occasion where we see a similar act of religiosity towards Kira is at the very end of the manga when a group of Kira supporters take a pilgrimage to pay their respects. Yet even this does not quite encapsulate Mikami's religious fanaticism. His strong conviction that Kira is God demonstrates the societal inclination to view Kira as a religious figure to be worshipped.

I think because Death Note relies so strongly on Light's internal psychology as he encounters various forms of opposition, the external impact of Kira on the world is only provided to us through passing mentions of political support. It is absolutely crucial to interpret Kira in a political context, but again, this is not really explored in too much detail. What we do know is that Kira supporters, including Misa, Mikami and Takada, may politically be in favour of Light's moral judgement, but because he poses himself as a God rather than a political leader, we must assume that he wants to play into a deific persona because it affords him far more unconditional power than he would have as a mere mortal.

From the beginning, Light is able to present his power as originating from a divine source, and it is only until Lind L. Tailor’s death that it becomes apparent what limitations Light is working within. Before then, criminals dying of heart attacks across the world could not be considered to be within human capability, let alone performed by a singular perpetrator, so Light maintained the illusion of omnipotence. Distancing himself from his humanity not only gave Light the benefit of being undetectable for some time, but also encouraged people to support Kira through the belief that he was inherently above them. It was only L who managed to shatter this façade early on in the Kira investigation.

I will now move onto something slightly more tangible, as it reflects our world within the text – Death Note's use of Catholic imagery.

ii. Christianity

As if to make up for the lack of exploration into Kira's religious influence, Death Note heavily relies upon Christian imagery to highlight its desire for religion to be seen as a core component of the franchise. Realistically, I am aware that a lot of manga and Japanese culture from the 2000s was heavily inspired by Catholic imagery and that there was certainly an aesthetic trend being taken advantage of here. However, I am still going to consider it specifically in relation to Death Note. It gives me an excuse to move on from Ohba to Obata anyhow, which I am more than willing to do.

Let's have a look at some official art.

There's a lot to be discussed about these specific pieces of art, and there are plenty more examples that I am sure can be found and analysed over, but we can recognise what their general theme is – kitschy Catholicism. This is not intended as criticism, I love Obata's art and as unsubtle as these official pieces may be, they reinforce Death Note's desire to incorporate religion into its series as a strong motif, if not an effectively developed theme. It also somewhat exposes its superficiality. The imagery is explicit, bold and bright, without doing much work in considering what the actual religious belief might be able to bring to the series beyond the visual components (according to this post -> x the Latin on the last image isn't rendered properly, which proves my point further). There are instances in the anime where there are Biblical references, such as frames that foreshadow L’s death, but the manga does not engage in these same parallels.

This leads me nicely onto talking about Misa.

Misa -> Misa is shown throughout the series to lean heavily into fashion and interior design that reflects a very Gothic Christian aesthetic, which is undeniably iconic and an important visual aspect to her character.  Mirroring the series more generally, it does appear that this is the extent to her relationship with the Christian faith. Misa’s allegiance to Kira could suggest that the trauma of her parents’ death came to some kind of resolution when their murderer was himself killed. Again, we have no idea if she actually was a religious character to begin with and I need to stress, it does not matter, but it is still worth considering given how a lot of the Christian imagery in the series is associated with her character specifically. I don't think this feeds into any flat character analysis that might suggest she doesn't know the potential significance of the crosses she wears or decorates her home with. We could just say she has an aesthetic that is very well composed but doesn't carry much weight beyond its stylistic merit.

Derailing slightly, but I do wish they had maintained this style throughout the entire series. Alas, as soon as she met Light, she lost this cool Goth look pretty quickly. Rem would never have let this happen. 💔

One more character analysis before we wrap this up. The quite honest reason as to why I decided to write up this essay was so that I could discuss Mello in relation to religion in Death Note.

Mello → Much of what I discussed about Misa's style could be applied to Mello, the only other character who visually demonstrates any religious tendency. However, I think there are some differences here that could suggest Mello is actually religious, which then allows us to consider his character in the context of the Canon Explanation. Firstly, one of the main signifiers Mello wears is his rosary, and while it is unlikely you will experience any adverse effects from wearing one as a non believer, I think those who wear a rosary are aware of the deeper connection to Catholicism than someone who wears a simple cross necklace (see Misa above, right). Secondly, narratively, I think there is more opportunity for Mello to be religious. Wammy's House, from their gates, actually appears to be a Christian organisation, and while I do not actually believe that they were, I find it interesting nonetheless. I also would be surprised if they were denominationally Catholic, if we are following this line of logic, presumably they would be CofE, but who knows. Regardless, even if Mello was not religious as a child, I think his arrival into the Mafia would certainly have introduced him to Catholicism. Of course it seems antithetical, but I would not be all that surprised if a teenage boy who is expected to do some horrendous things to rise to the top of a criminal organisation might turn to God in the process.

Following on from the prior point, Mello is a completely contradictory character, so I do not think it is all that necessary to consider his moral code from an entirely rational perspective. I think the fact his Beretta has a small cross charm on it in itself is very symbolic of the kind of character we are dealing with here (see below). Interestingly, it looks to be a Celtic cross, rather than a traditional crucifix.

What does this actually mean? Mello represents a good integration of the two religious influences I've discussed – he appears to have faith in a religion that we as readers contextually understand, and yet he interacts easily with Shinigami and the Death Note. While the two do not contradict one another exactly, I think The Canon Explanation certainly does not lend much credence to Catholic interpretations within the text. Like the others who have encountered a Death Note, Mello is initially shocked by the arrival of the Shinigami attached to his notebook, but quickly recovers. He interrogates Sidoh with such evident effectiveness that he ends up frightening him.

I think this is where I begin to get a little frustrated with the depiction of religion in Death Note because we have such a fascinating premise here. Does Mello's faith waver as his beliefs are evidently challenged by Sidoh? Does he consider Kira as a force of evil from a moral perspective informed by Wammy's, or his understanding of God? Does he believe in heaven and hell? None of these questions are answered, and I do appreciate I am being fussy because I am very fond of Mello, but I think there was a rather unique opportunity present in the series that was completely neglected. I have already explained how Death Note relies so heavily on Catholic imagery and clearly wishes to present itself as a series that deals with religious themes, so I think there is a failure here to consider the nuances that have already been set up.

How interesting do you suppose it would be to see how Kira's influence begins to impact the other established religions, as people see criminals dying en masse? Remember that ordinary people would be likely predisposed to consider this as an act of God. Society would certainly be more scared, especially as it would simply be inevitable that Kira killed innocent people who had been deemed criminals by their legal systems. There is a lot to go analyse about that topic alone, but another time!

I suppose with a lot of the questions I have posed, they could be answered through fanfiction or headcanons. I could decide that Misa believed in God until she met Light, or that Mello chose to ignore the implications of Mu given that he follows a religion that sets itself up on the premise of eternal reward or damnation. I just want to facilitate further conversation, because I do think this topic is fascinating.

Thank you @saturniiids, @vengeflies and @stylooooo for giving this a read for me! ♡

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What do you think L thinks of the successor program?

Previous Thoughts on Wammy's and How the Concept is both Bonkers and Toxic

Well, what we see is pretty damning.

L... Doesn't Talk About it Much and Other Bad Signs

L brings up the successor program once in the manga (this line is removed from the anime adaptation). It's a very one-off line in which he tells Light (while still in the college arc) that "you know, even if you were to kill me, L is legion and I'd just be replaced by the next L" and Light sort of stares at him.

Neither touch on this ever again.

Worse, when the torch is passed, it's only because Watari happened to be in the room where he could push The Big Red Button (TM) that sent information to Wammy's. And yes, while there was clearly a protocol in place to let the successors take on L's legacy, it uh... sure wasn't L pushing that button and the fact that it's a secret button in the security room where Watari hangs out (and certainly not L) leads me to think this is a Watari idea (the orphanage where people compete for the title of L, being in fact, Watari's weird fucking idea).

Most tellingly, L doesn't even bring it up when he knows he's going to die. He doesn't even think to himself "ah yes, those bratty twelve-year-olds in England will get vengeance for me and then Light will be put to justice". L doesn't think about the Wammy program at all in his last day, in fact, he knew for several hours he was going to die and he didn't seek out any means to bring his successors in or even think "oh woe that Light is right there or I could inform my secret successors of everything we need to know".

We learn later that Near and Mello never actually met L, in fact, and if they ever did speak to him it was... brief and impersonal. This leaves them both with weird complexes about the man and their relationship with the role of successor.

In fact, L blatantly says "Light is my successor" and seems to mean it. True, L knew Light was Kira and was perhaps doing this for the mind fuckery, but on the other hand he had no reason to do this and again, had time to take it back once he realized Light was Kira again (which he did very quickly after Light got his memories back). Had L not done this, he could have either a) directly had a Wammy's person take over and explain the whole successor thing (he does not) or b) left it such that Soichiro was in charge. He has nothing to gain by even hinting that Light could take control over his title after he left. And the fact is... Light does do it. He's the power behind L for six years while Near and Mello do... well, Mello joins the mafia and has a time in Nevada, Near does who fucking knows what.

Basically, L couldn't be less supportive of the Wammy's orphanage unless he actively shut it down and fired Watari (but then who would bring him snacks?)

But Why?

L's in it for personal victory. L wants to beat Kira himself, he wants to do it on his own terms, with his own ingenuity. It's not so much about beating Kira but the fact that he will be the one to beat Kira. His 'successors' doing so would be less than meaningless to L.

Leaving it to some twelve-year-old to solve, hand-picked by Watari because they solved puzzles good and read good too, would be worse for L than fucking Matsuda or Misa making a major break in the case (and canonically, both those things happen, and canonically L handles it fucking poorly).

Worse, Watari is not even implying, but outright saying, that L is not so special a super genius snowflake and that Watari can cultivate another one simply through hard work and careful selection. "Congratulations, L, you are irrelevant and superfluous!" And worse, those replacements are little kids and I imagine L finds their quirks... annoying. (I'm not convinced L's not just s troll).

And if we take LABB into account, all L sees them do is kill themselves or make trouble for everyone (through murder). L does not want to deal with these people (and so he doesn't and makes Naomi do it for an entire hilarious novel).

TL;DR

L hates those fuckers.

[bookwormbynight]

bookworm-san, dear mutual. do you happen to have any more fem! light headcanons/thoughts? for healing, for the soul……… 😌

Darling. Gimme just a second to reread my posts on the AU and get my brain juices going again 🙏

(Also, fun fact: I do actually have my name in my lil bio bit lol! I don't think most people notice.)

Fem!Light during the Yotsuba Arc may have been more aggressive than canon Light about separating herself from a relationship with Misa, simply because it isn't assumed that "well, I'm the one who must have asked... I just can't figure out why" because that's not how her relationship dynamics work. She doesn't remember saying yes, she can't imagine why she would have said yes, Misa is clearly delusional and can fuck right off. Her aggression might be the only reason why Misa wouldn't white-knight his way into stopping the mutual lawlight murder attempt on their first "date" lmao. I can clearly imagine him trying to heroically interject and protect his girlfriend only for Light to shriek "fuck OFF Misa" so 'unfemininely' that it takes Misa a full fifteen minutes to reboot lmao.

This is me projecting because I'm a 100 pound girl with a-cups but I want Light to have small boobs (also canon Light has a flat ass anyway). Let me sexualize my body type for once, gimme that. Tiny lace bralettes, zero cleavage through a shirt neckline, barely a handful of titty and you can probably fit most of the boob in your mouth, but anybody who's interested in her either doesn't notice or actively likes it.

On a related note, average-ish height, like canon, so like 5'4 or 5'5, but small person. If that makes sense. I want people to be able to just pick her up with minimal effort because that means it would happen more often (I have friends who literally just throw me over their shoulders and walk away without asking me first) and she would fucking hate it and I think that's hilarious.

Flats-only girlie. Coward. Until L bullies her into heels for fetish purposes ONCE and Light has trouble walking and it makes her red-faced angry embarrassed which does NOT deter L in the slightest.

I think she'd wear her hair half-up half-down in a neat little clip in the back with bangs, it's very Professional and Pretty and intentionally chosen. She pigtail braids her hair at night Cinderella-style to keep it nice and L finds it annoying. The only time we would see it down in the canon timeline would be in solitary confinement, and the rain + foot scene and proceeding death scene (because that was immediately after).

For her death scene in particular, I think her hair would start up, as it usually is, but it would definitely have gone really askew and fallen out of the clip by the time she dies.

I really can't decide how exactly her relationship with Ryuk would change based on her perception of gender dynamics but I'm absolutely sure it would, whether or not we genderbend Ryuk as well. Idk, someone else help me flesh this one out bc it's all just a nebulous feeling in my head.

The daddy issues. Dude. The daddy issues would be so bad. Like, we already had "I desperately want my dad to think I live up to his expectations of me + dad is too busy with his job all the time to feel like a legit regular part of the family". Now imagine that combined with the fact that Soichiro just assumes Light has Woman Brain. "It's wonderful that you're top of your class and you're getting a degree, all capable women should go to college, but don't you think you should pick a less demanding career path so you won't have such a hard time having a family one day?? It's really sweet that you want to follow in my career path honey but I don't know if this job is good for girls like you". That scene with Namikawa would happen and L would praise her like canon and Soichiro's jaw would fucking drop. Ugh.

On a similar note I absolutely do not think Light would be able to stomach playing up the "I'm JUST a GIRL I CANT be KIRA 🥺🥺🥺" schtick even to draw some of the suspicion off of herself because canon Light already had such a hard time literally just not showing off and now add in fem! Light's inferiority complex. She would get so salty every single time people suggested it's not possible for her to be Kira ""even though I'm not"". The ONLY times she would be willing to play up the canon ditz act is when it makes her look a little careless, NEVER stupid.

[delucadarlingwriting]

Vampire Divorce Court - The Cold Absolutely Bothers Him, And So Does His Ex-Wife

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Word Count: 967

Book 1, In the woods surrounding Wayhaven

The sun is finally starting to set. Even though it brings cooler temps, Mason breathes a little easier, feeling his strength trickle in as the sun dips below the treeline. Adam’s stride loosens at Mason’s side as well, though he remains no less alert for it.

The dark makes them stronger, but it’ll do the same for their rogue vampire. Just another reason for Mason to be on edge. Like two sharks circling below in deep water, and one of them has a bit of him still in its teeth.

Adam glances over as Mason shakes out and sparks up another cigarette.

“Are you running low yet?” Adam asks. Mason blows smoke out of the side of his mouth and shakes his head.

“Not too low.” Though considering he’s already gotten through a pack and a half today alone, he probably will soon.

He rarely has to think about Barbie anymore. Hell, it’s only been the last decade or so that she started sending him Christmas cards for whatever fucking reason. Before that, he was free to bury it all away and forget it. The cards he can at least shove in the side pocket of his duffle bag he never opens, along with the fucking ring she had Adam give him. Couldn’t even do it herself.

And now here she is, somewhere in this town, ready to throw his life into disarray once again.

Not realizing how close the ember is to the filter, Mason sucks in another breath on his cigarette, only to get a burning lungful. He coughs (fucking coughs!) and throws it down into the leaf litter, stomping on it with his boot before Adam can comment.

“I can still send her back, it’s not too late,” Adam offers. The genuine hope in his voice makes Mason laugh, even as he pounds a fist against his chest to chase the last of the smoke out.

Adam and Barbie never did get along. Mason really wonders what exactly Adam said to convince her to travel across the ocean on such a short time table. She’s always been mule headed, so it must have been pretty good.

Behind them, a rush of footsteps causes them to both jerk around. It only takes a moment to place the sound though; only Farah runs that fast.

A few moments pass and she arrives, weaving around trees and skidding several meters before coming to a stop right. Adam immediately steps toward her.

“What’s happened?” he demands. “Where is the detective?”

“Oh she’s fine, relax,” Farah says, waving him off before grinning. “Didja miss me?”

Adam relaxes. “If the detective is unharmed, why are you here? And where is Nat?”

“Nat’s keeping an eye on Kira and Barbie,” Farah says.

Adam stiffens. “Keeping an eye on them doing what?”

“That’s why I came to find you. Basically as soon as she arrived, Barbie started bossing everyone around.” Farah rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “She wanted Kira to show her the crime scenes and anything else “relevant”, so the two of them are doing a grand tour of the town, basically.”

“Of course,” Adam grumbles, looking every one of his 900 years suddenly.

“She also told me and Nat to go patrol,” Farah says. “Nat didn’t think leaving them totally alone was a good idea though, so she’s just stalking them at a distance.”

Mason doesn’t bother hiding his amusement; Nat wouldn’t appreciate that particular description.

“Good,” Adam says. “Go join her. We’ll stay further out, but if you need us, just call.”

“Well, I always need to hear your voice,” Farah says, fluttering her eyelashes. Adam huffs, but doesn’t respond. As ever, Farah remains unbothered and simply flounces away at speed.

“She’s not going to take it so well forever, you know,” Mason says once she’s well out of earshot. Adam’s jaw twitches as he marches ahead, Mason unhappily hurrying his pace to keep up. “And you clearly want her too.”

“Clearly,” Adam replies, deadpan.

“You’re not subtle,” Mason replies with a click of his tongue. “Why not give in?”

Adam runs a hand over his closely shorn hair. “Of everyone on this team, you should know best how matters of the heart can lead to disaster.”

“Our disasters were pretty damned different,” Mason points out, ignoring the hollow pang in his chest at the reminder. “Besides, I didn’t mention anything about Farah’s heart.”

Adam comes to so abrupt a stop that Mason nearly bowls into him. The commanding agent turns on the spot, so broad he manages to block out what little light is still filtering in through the tree leaves. The look he levels at Mason is cold, hard, and unyielding.

“I do not toy with people,” Adam says sternly, voice low and bordering on a growl. “Especially not her. Enough of this.”

Hands up, Mason takes a step back. “Alright.”

Adam stares him down another moment, then continues down the deer path they’ve been following to this point. Mason gives him some space, waiting until Adam has gone several paces before following.

He makes a fair point at least. Farah wouldn’t be content with a roll in the hay.

Frankly, Mason hasn’t been content with them either. Sleeping around was a decent distraction, a good way to try and overlap the old memories with new ones. Try. It hasn’t actually worked to date. And after everything that happened with Alima…yeah, Mason’s giving sex a break, which is something he’s never even once considered in the last century.

Mason shakes out another cigarette and shoves it between his lips. He’s going to need all the nicotine he can get to make it through this shitshow of a mission, especially if he can’t even bank on getting laid.

Next

[crazybungoustraydogsauideas]

Dazai Osamu as Yagami Sayu

Yes, Light Yagami's little sister.

A/N~(Feeding the trans!Dazai fans maybe? Trigger warning, I use She/her for Sayu and He/him for Dazai but this is a post about them being the same person, so technically I'm deadnaming Dazai. If this makes you uncomfortable, don't read it! This will also include more sad topics because, come on, this is Dazai we're talking about, and his backstory most of all! What did you expect, sunshine lollypops? Not with Dazai Osamu! /maybe possibly in another post about things I imagine in this AU/This is lowkey just a character analysis)

I just started watching Death Note last night and I'm only eigth or so episodes in, and although I know most of the Bungou Stray Dogs plot, (Thank you Gacha Reaction Videos) I haven't finished BSD either and I'm still in season two.

I saw a tumblr post where someone was talking about how Light Yagami and L Lawliet could be Ranpo's parents, which really makes sense if you bend the universes a little timeline-wise. They share intellect, and similar beliefs one could raise a child into unintentionally, and they also look similar and act very similar.

A little bit later, I saw a few Gacha Reaction Videos where Ranpo was L, and then a few where Dazai is Light. The idea of Dazai as Light is very intriguing, posing where someone who is told to be a 'good man' might fall into the idea he is in the right and trying to get rid of evil. Light and Dazai look similar, it makes sense for Light to evolve into Dazai and become smarter, etc. But, the problem is the timeline and such. Does 15!Dazai live with his family, the Yagamis, and gets brought into the fold of the PM at the same time? Does 18!Dazai leave the PM to his limbo years and become Kira then? Dazai is smarter than Light, at least in my opinion, so it would make more sense for Dazai to adapt into his more intelligent form. Plus, he kinda dies at the end of the anime if I've predicted correctly.

As I thought this, I had the idea that Dazai would make more sense as a sibling of Light- and I realized he already has one, Sayu.

SInce I haven't watched most of the anime, I'm going to pretend that things go my way. Sayu is Light's younger sister, who doesn't know about him being Kira and really looks up to her brother. She has the potential to be smart, as in the first or second episode she comes to Light for homework help because she doesn't understand anything but ultimately ends up being able to grasp the concept pretty quick and seems to amaze Light just a little with how fast she picked up on it. It could even be that she already understood the homework but just simply had adapted to pretending not to be smart enough so that she could spend time with her brother. After all, when they are being watched by the cameras in the 8th episode, she is surprised when he interacts with the rest of the family like a normal kid his age. This may be the only time Sayu gets to spend with her ambitious brother, so she may already have the intelligence and ability to out-lie Light at this point.

I've heard theories about ability birth being related to how a user was treated, and it seems to be a common theory that Dazai's ability comes from isolation. The ability itself sets him apart from other users, separating them from a major part of themselves and him from them. As Sayu, he was likely seen as the lesser of the siblings, not just because of age. Light scores top of his class, is respected by all those around him and is very respectful, and has even helped his father at the police station solve several cases. What has Sayu done? Struggle with homework, watch television, etc. All things most people would see as less than, inferior to Light's driven and scholarly pastime of studying and more studying.

I think Sayu was masking, pretending to be as happy as she appears in the anime. She, like many younger siblings, felt inferior and probably at times worthless, overlooked by her parents. I don't think this bred any obvious hatred for her brother or parents, but maybe deep inside she felt a bit resentful- and she hated herself for that resentment. Light was smart and good- He'd worked hard to be as smart as he was, surely he deserved it. Maybe one day Sayu could be as brilliant as Light, maybe even better. Maybe one day she would show the world what Yagami Sayu was capable of.

I don't think Sayu liked her name very much. Her brother's was Light, a name with good connotations and brought the image of saintly light beams to mind. The name Sayu means 'makeup' (Sa) and 'abundant' (yu), literally just saying she will wear a lot of makeup and hide her face. That's where the dislike of her assigned gender began. She didn't like her name, and she didn't like makeup.

She first started using the name Shuji Tsushmina (the real-life Dazai Osamu's birth name), which Tsushmina refers to a Japanese island. Shuji can translate to 'to repair', 'to mend', or 'to discipline' (Shu) and 'to govern', 'to rule', or 'to cure'(ji). The name could be taken as her mending herself, or trying to follow in her brother's footsteps. The name was her online persona, where she found that when people assumed she was a man, she felt... more right. She felt real, seen, and validated. It was a realization that she didn't want to be feminine anymore. She started introducing herself as Shuji to people outside her school, not yet ready to come out, using people she briefly met as tests for how they would react and how she felt about it.

When Sayu had worked up the courage to approach the idea to her family, the Kira issue became prominent, taking up most of Light and Soichiro's time. She never got around to it before they both died. During episode eight, when the whole family is under surveillance, I think Sayu notices. I think she assesses the situation and realizes ICPO suspect one of them- In fact, she'd noticed Raye Penber following her and her family around, and she'd determined that since none of them were the Kira, they wouldn't have to worry.

She did feel quite uncomfortable with the bathroom being taped, as well as her room, so she got good at changing clothes and using the restroom while covering herself. When she had to shower, she would try to find a friend's house to stay over at or stop by after school. She lied that her bathroom was under renovation and her friends gladly let her use theirs. Sayu didn't like the way her body screamed 'female' and didn't like the idea of whoever was watching seeing her body.

I think L would have noticed something about Sayu leaning towards masculinity. It wouldn't seem important to most, but L probably had a profile built in his head of a man being Kira, and if Sayu was mascule-leaning, it would fit the profile. I think this was one of the first gender-affirming actions that Sayu hadn't even been aware of.

Later, skipping time because I haven't gone much past this in the anime, when the whole case comes to a close, and Light dies, Sayu is the first to find out. I know that the whole Kira thing spans over 6 years, but we are going to pretend, for the sake of time that it is only about one year. When Light first finds the Death Note, Sayu is around 13 (in canon its 14) and is a Junior high student. She is closer to 14 when Light dies and her father is dead by this time as well. It really messes her up, as she is told both her brother and father died in the pursuit of Kira. She is brilliant, as well as knowing how to get information from the police just like Light, so when she endeavors to find out more about Kira, she discovers it was her own brother. Her already distressed mind buckles under the revelation, knowing she can't tell their mother, who is also very shaken by their deaths.

Around this time, Sayu begins to transition, working through their emotional issues begrudgingly as they change their appearance to match with what they feel. Sachiko, their mother, isn't really in an emotional state to be transphobic, so she just accepts it as her new normal of reality. She doesn't really register what Sayu is changing until Sayu had cut their hair.

Sachiko had come from getting the groceries and walked through the living room to ask Sayu to help bring them in. And there was no Sayu, but the splitting image of Light on the couch. And Sachiko couldn't take it, couldn't take how much she missed her son and how much she missed her husband and how much she missed her daughter.

She killed herself that night. And Sayu found her. And Sayu went out into the streets, shell-shocked and not able to register his surroundings. His father had died, his brother had been killed because he was Kira, and his mother had hung herself because Sayu looked like Light. Sayu looked like Light. It was both incredibly gender-affirming, one of the best compliments in Sayu's mind, and devastating. Sayu would later in life look in the mirror and see Light and smile because they were so very similar.

On the streets, Sayu sees a not-so-busy street, out of the way of people and out of sight for most. Sayu walks into it, watching oncoming traffic, having waited until there wasn't enough time or distance for the car to stop. He looks straight at the singular car, mentally praying to whatever god was listening, be it Jesus or Light, that the driver would kill him on impact, painlessly. He hoped that the driver would get out and find Sayu's dead body and panic about the life they have left and that they can't go to jail for this. Sayu hoped that the driver would get back in their car and drive away like nothing happened and no one would ever find out they'd hit someone.

The car hit Sayu dead on, throwing him backwards. The force of the impact with the car and then the ground sent him unconcious, sparing him from the agony that awaited him when he woke up.

When he woke up, he was strapped down on a table. A doctor stood over him. "Well, hello there! You've been asleep for quite some time."

The doctor's name was Mori. He was nice at first. Then he wasn't. Elise was there, too, and she... wasn't nice, persay, but she was infinetely better than Mori. Mori turned him into a killer. Elise gave him the support he needed, not to heal, but to still function. In the end, it was Elise who would be the first to use the name Dazai chose, the most consistent with it. Mori would be the one to turn him into a witness, a mafioso, but also the one who made sure his wardrobe was full of male clothes, the one who never told anyone he wasn't biologically a man, the one who helped him get the surgeries he wanted discretely and safely.

That's why, when Dazai meets Mori again as an ADA member, he has to close his eyes. Because he hated Mori so much it sometimes felt like he loved him.

[imnotaweebiswear3]

A Shinigami Doesn't Understand Love (A Mikalight fic)

Rated; M (Mature)

Dn rarepair week day one; Shinigami | Angst

Light and Mikami's relationship through the few weeks that they spend together.

Tags: Rarepair, love, attempt at humor, Implied/referenced drug use, Suicide attempt, Ryuk being Ryuk,

Warning; This story includes an attempted Suicide by the use of illegal drugs. Please do stay safe and remember that I do not intent to hurt anyone with my writing, I just think that a relationship like Mikami and Light's would be very toxic. Viewer discretion is advised.

Ryuk really doesn’t get this. He wasn’t stupid by any means, he just simply doesn’t understand this. Why in the good name of fuck is Mikami Teru, the fourth Kira, the only one of the Kiras’ that Light actually has sent him to do a “wellness check” on.

Sure he’s been over to Takada’s place many times, but that is mainly just to make sure she’s not fucking anything up with Light’s future rule. And he basically lives with Misa, but Light actually could not give a shit about Misa even if he was forced to.

But this was different, he was asked to go to Mikami’s flat, make sure that he ate, went to bed, and made it to work in the morning. Then, and only then, would he give Mikami the new orders for the day, and then fly home to make sure that Misa did her goddamn job.

Mikami finished his work, ate a basic meal of Chicken and rice, and then proceeded with his elaborate night routine. That was something that he and Light also had in common, second only to the need for justice or whatever. After the routine, he went to sleep, woke up, did his “morning shed” as Light likes to call it. And then went to work, nodding along as Ryuk trailed off the agenda for the day.

Misa was unaware of Ryuk’s whereabouts the previous night, immediately asking, “Where have you been all night?” And then went off about how he might have a ‘lady Shinigmai friend’ that he had spent his night with instead of her.

She didn’t know, and he was sure that Light didn’t want her to know. A sneaking suspicion told him that Misa would flip the fuck out if she knew that her Lighty had sent their Shinigami to watch Mikami of all people.

Misa had a problem with Mikami, a hard problem. If Ryuk had been there during the time that the two spent with L, this was probably the same problem that she had with L. It wasn’t the fact that Light liked Mikami more than her, Light liked everyone more than her, it was because he was the only other male Kira. And she thought that Light would be tempted.

She knew Light was gay, Ryuk knew Light was gay, everyone knew Light was gay. And she had a problem with Light being near another male who was under the age of 39. And an objectively attractive one at that? She was pissed at the mention of Mikami’s name.

This happened again a week later, but this time Ryuk didn’t just linger in the shadows and watch Mikami, he had to watch Mikami and Light. They were talking, kinda, maybe. If you could call this talking, this definitely wasn’t what Shinigami considered talking.

Much less tongue action. And much, much less things in mouths that sure as hell don’t belong there…

Okay, so I’ll explain this picture for you. Ryuk was kicked out of the apartment six hours, and 27 minutes ago. And he was invited back a minute ago, and god be damned. Light got laid. Mikami also got laid, but he seemed to be taking this a little harder. Ryuk was forced to stay back at the apartment when Light left. That means that only he and Mikami were in the flat, and Mikami broke down.

Like snot everywhere, hysterics, he broke stuff, made sure to throw some stuff Ryuk's way to. Thanks Teru… And he finally stopped all the crying after he broke his flat screen TV. He then proceeded to pray for three hours.

Mikami didn’t go to work that day.

This became a normal thing for the two psychopaths. Once a week, every Thursday, they would fuck, Light would stay the night, and then Ryuk would stick around Teru’s place intel about five PM.

Ryuk didn’t understand love, but this was not love in any means of the word. Just because Ryuk could feel love, and he didn’t understand how humans felt love, that didn’t mean that he was incapable of comprehending the meaning of Love.

And this wasn’t that.

It was a codependency, a power that Light craved, and a power that Mikami yearned to give him. They weren’t in love, they just needed this, and they were the only ones able to give it to each other. Ryuk was convinced that this was just mutual gain through sex, until that night.

It was a regular night, a Thursday in fact. The two, Shinigami and human, proceeded to Teru’s flat. It was a highrise in the middle of Tokyo, Ryuk really had no idea why Teru lived here. When his work was thirty minutes away, his theory was that Mikami liked the view from his penthouse apartment.

And that is where Light and Ryuk would find him, sitting on his couch, staring at the flashing lights of Tokyo. A daze in his eyes, one that Ryuk had only seen once. In the eyes of a musician who had the death note for only seven hours.

He was as high as a fucking kite.

Ryuk had never seen Light run to a man’s side so fast, well, since L at least. He was concerned for Mikami, he was tearing up, panicking. He actually cared. The three transferred from the living room to the bedroom, with assistance from Ryuk in carrying the long haired man.

“Ryuk he’s overdosing, his skin looks like he’s fucking dead, and god his eyes..” Light’s voice broke, but he took a breath, and stared Ryuk head on. “Lay him on his side, and open that window.” He demanded, seemingly not wanting to touch the man any more than he had to.

In any other situation Ryuk would have made a joke, but he was gagged. He laid the man on his side and proceeded to open the largest window in the room.

Light sat on the bed, away from Mikami, but at arms length. His eyes were puffy, and he was sniffing, watching Mikami.

“Hey,” Light says out, Ryuk knew that the comment wasn’t for him, so he didn’t respond. “Where did you even get the drugs Teru? Huh? Down the fuckin street corner, in the red-light district? You’re supposed to be the smart one out of the bimbo and nepo baby, that shit was definitely laced with something. You dumbass!” He raised his voice, like he was yelling at Ryuk again.

“I could give less of two shits about you Mikami, but I need you. Unless you’ve decided to go against god, then I’d be happy to write your name down. I can’t have floozy soldiers, who overdoses on drugs they aren’t supposed to be taking.

“You disappoint me Teru, you we’re so promising too. A smart man who would lay his life down for me. And a good fuck as well.” He said mournfully, looking down.

“Respond, Soldier, I know you can hear me. Or have you died before I was able to do it with my own hands?” A small noise came from Mikami. His eyes were open now.

“I’m sorry Kira, I just…couldn’t take it anymore…” The man, who was still overdosing as he spoke, said out to the other. “Take what?”

“The feeling when you left, It was like a withdrawal, having all of you and then none of you at the same time. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to do something. I thought that if I was gone by the time that you two got here, I wouldn’t have to feel the need anymore.”

Ryuk doesn't feel bad for humans, but he sure as hell can pity them. And Teru Mikami was taking the ‘Pitied by Ryuk’ trophy home for sure.

“You dumbass,” Light says, breaking out in a sob. Which was something that Ryuk had never seen from the man. Even after his own father died.

“I would have stayed, if it meant not losing you to this bullshit.”

Now, as I said, Ryuk can comprehend the concept of love, and this had something like love in the tone. And in the words said.

“Don’t cry over me, you’re a god, don’t lower yourself for the likes of me..” Mikami rasps out, “Shut up Soldier.” Light says, crying even more. Resting his lips on the other’s.

Mikami doesn't die today, he dies January 18th at the Yellow-box warehouse. And so does his ‘god.’

His Shinigami brothers used to joke that if two humans had the same death date, they were soulmates.

But Shinigami don’t understand love.

for: @dnrarepairweek

[aaxzlyte]

Hi! For the ask game,

29. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

31. What fic meant the most to you to write?

26. Do you ever "prep" your fics with outlines or warmups before you start writing, or do you just dive right in?

10. Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

[Fanfic/Author Ask Game]

29. honestly, this is super inconsistent – if i feel the fic needs loads of revisions, then i'll put it through the process of quick edit → complete rewrite from scratch → edit / revise again more thoroughly !!! – but i have honestly had fics where i hardly even looked at the fic after writing it before hitting that post button (this is often when i'm too impatient to put the fic out or feel i don't have time to edit it before the date i want to post it on, sometimes i also simply know i won't come back to the fic in the next couple months if i put it in the editing bin to wait for me to get back to it)

31. hm... i'm going to take this as "what fic holds the most sentimental value since it's beginning stages?" – in which case: it's probably monsters who suck blood (CW for darkfic - gore, non-con, cannibalism) which i knowwwww is not everyone's cup of tea whatsoever but... it's one of my earlier fics and one that i was kind of experimenting with,,, the prompt was cannibalism and i immediately knew that i wanted so badly to be be able to post for that day because cannibalism is special to me in a weird way (i know this sounds really insane, i swear i'm not a cannibal...) – but i'm honestly still SO proud of how that fic turned out and i read it again semi-recently and was so happy with how it reads :')

26. this honestly also depends... oopsie – i have no real "process" as a writer i suppose,,, generally speaking for longer fics, i will jump into an idea to write whatever ideas / scenes i have jumping around in my head before realizing this idea is very much only fit for a longer fic format and THEN i will start outline and such !!! i don't really post fics that are that long and so many of those happened when i was just minding my own business and suddenly my brain is like "aaxz, what if..." and i jolt up in my bed to grab my laptop or open my notes app to immediately start writing before i lose it lmfao

as for warmups, um... i hate doing warmups and it doesn't work for me, personally – i don't have a designated time that i spent just writing like some people i know,,,, i've learned the hard way that there is no way to force myself to write,,, nowadays i'll go a week or two not writing at all or writing very little and be content because i know this means i'm getting a break and my brain will be ready for another weak of loads of writing and ideas soon !!! – also i would feel so obligated to post my warm-ups and make them into a fic or something...

10. hmmm – part of my wants to say Beyond/Light because i only have one fic for them posted and it is only implied relationship between them, but i've definitely written plenty for them and have a hefty fic universe already bursting at the seems with ideas and short stories i've written :')

instead i will sayyy (there's actually so many ships i wanna write for now that i'm remembering past plans and such)... okay give me this list haha

Mogi/Misa was going to be a piece from me for the rarepair event in March but as soon as i began to write it, i was hit with a wave of haze and suddenly had the idea for my Misa/Nori out of left field,,,, whoops !!! still only have like less than 50 words written in that Mogi/Misa doc and i wanna get back to it but sigh...

Halle/Misa which i've had a few ideas for that i've written down but i don't think i've properly started any kind of fic for them i wanted :(

Naomi/Misa is one i have a really fun idea for and now that i'm remembering it i may get to that sooner rather than later, it seems so funnn

Kira Quad - Light/Misa/Kiyomi/Mikami – part of the issue with this is that i've realized i don't like writing Mikami very much because his character is not something i'm especially used to / comfortable with, i think,,,,, i have a few MikaLight in the trenches but alas they may never see the light of day – Kira polycule is so awesome to me though

Terraito - Ryuk/Light is one i haven't actually had any ideas for but i wanna see how i would execute this and it also seems fun

Birthday Massacre - Naomi/Beyond howww have i not written for them yet?!?! they are everything i love and more and yet i get no ideas for them everrrr

A/Beyond – another brief idea i had for rarepair and i wanna mess around with them but i don't know either character very well (in A's case, general fandom consensus, if there is one)

Gelus/Misa and Gelus/Rem (and... Gelus/Misa/Rem?!) – i love them all so much and i want them to KISS why can't i write for them :(

Matsuda/Soichiro – all i have in my notes app for then is "where is the Daddy kink?!?!" so that's my explanation here

okay tysm for the questions and sorry it got long... phew

[vamphorica]

What do you think Mello, Matt, and Near’s backstories are? Just in your opinion.

cracks knuckles – thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to ramble about this, anon. sit back and relax because this will be unnecessarily long and convoluted ♡

let's start with Mello.

i know the fandom has more or less established him as Croatian, but he is British to me, perhaps with some Germanic/Russian roots a couple of generations prior. he can speak both these languages fluently and has been to Berlin twice. for what it is worth, i think the deviation of his name as Mihael rather than the more common Michael came about simply because his mother wanted to choose something a little more alternative.

i do think Mello arrived at Wammy’s at a very young age, for reasons we will get into with Matt momentarily, but regarding where he was born and grew up in the early years of his life, i can see him being raised in London (maybe Manchester? either way, a large city with too many people). he has always gravitated to living in areas where there is a dense population, not only because he enjoys meeting new people and the various opportunities that living in a city provides, but also because of the subsequent anonymity that comes with it. at the House, he hated how much attention he and Matt would get when they sneaked out on occasion to explore Winchester. the novelty of genius orphans gave the residents an excuse to gossip about them, and they could never get very far without someone calling Roger to come pick them up. Mello feels the need to control how others perceive him on his own terms, and he feels able to do so best when no one knows his history or identity beforehand.

Mello was raised by his mother. his father had been in and out of prison for several months while Mello's mother was pregnant before finally being locked away for a life sentence after murdering a rival gang member. although Mello detests his father's recklessness, he is able to take advantage their relationship years later when joining the American Mafia. it would also be around this time that Mello would obsessively study the lists of Kira's victims, keeping track of names that were broadcast for Kira to pass judgement. two days before his seventeenth birthday, he discovered a small article confirming his father's death in custody of a heart attack.

Mello's mother was extremely protective of both Mello and his older sister, doing what she could to ensure they were safe from the world of crime that they had been born into. she had been the one to teach Mello about God, and his earliest memories are of going to Mass. his mother gradually became more fanatical, the church they attended gradually becoming more cultish in nature, and eventually he was taken into state care when the organisation was raided by authorities and several people (including his mother) were arrested for their involvement with political interference and terrorism.

he was transferred to Wammy's House at the age of five when it became apparent that he was not getting along with the other children in the foster home, as well as his demonstration of potentially high intelligence for a boy his age.

moving on to Matt...

i have thought about Matt's backstoru for a while, and i genuinely think he was a bit of an accident. let's just say that Roger noticed some members of staff at the House had been acting a bit odd and he eventually confronted one of the librarians, who had become uncharacteristically reserved and elusive. she eventually confessed to having a relationship with the groundskeeper and had recently discovered she was pregnant. Roger was more than a little irritated by this progression of events, but it was apparent that she wanted to keep the child. under the condition that the unborn boy would be raised in the House without any knowledge of who his parents are, Roger allowed the members of staff to remain in their positions.

by the time Matt was born, he was one of only four children at House, and the others were significantly older than him. Roger took it upon himself to experiment with Matt's childhood development, not having had the opportunity until then to raise a child to become a potential successor for L from birth. it should go without saying that Roger's efforts were fruitless, not because Matt wasn't capable of getting high grades in his exams and assessments, but because from the beginning he was incredibly apathetic towards the idea of becoming L. Roger made the assumption that by relegating his position in the House, it would motivate him to be more ambitious, but without any strong relationships with the other children, Matt was content to keep himself isolated in his room, playing video games. for a few months, there was increasing concern as he refused to come out during mealtimes, and the librarian, who always seemed to take a strong interest in the youngest child at the House, got into the habit of leaving snacks outside his door during that time.

The resident psychologist eventually recommended that another child of a similar age ought to be enrolled in the House for Matt. perhaps if he had an equal with whom he could form a healthy and productive rivalry, he might be more inclined to try harder with his studies. it was around this time that Mello was transferred to Wammy's House, and soon, he and Matt spent most of their time with one another. It was clear that Mello was more driven than Matt, and as it became apparent Matt wasn't getting any more ambitious, Roger eventually wrote him off as a lost cause. Matt didn't care - he was just glad to have someone his own age to hang out with. he knew that if he were to try and compete with Mello, it would be detrimental to their friendship, and that was more important to him than being a successor ever had been.

and finally, Near.

i don't think Near was born in the UK, like the other two, but somewhere in Scandinavia, maybe Sweden or Finland. his father was a professor of politics and history at a prestigious university where he met Near's mother, who was doing her master's degree. despite the fact that he was already married with two twin boys who were just a few years younger than her, they engaged in an affair that resulted in the professor's dismissal from the university and public humiliation for both of them. his wife stood by him, but when it became evident that his Near's mother was pregnant with him, she demanded that they have full custody of the child. with her name tarnished and unable to care for her child, she almost took the financial compensation offered in exchange for her son, but instead decided to send him off to the Netherlands to live with her mother.

Near grew up for the first eight years of his life in Amsterdam with his grandmother, who would often make accommodations for her grandson, especially as his features developed and he began to resemble his mother's appearance. she often bought toys for Near, and he would be quite happy to sit and play with them by himself. he didn't start speaking until he was about six and was eventually diagnosed as autistic when his grandmother began to grow concerned that he was not reaching his developmental milestones.

several years later, Near's father was invited to give a presentation at Oxford now that his reputation had recovered. here he met Roger, who attended his lecture. after a few drinks with one another, Roger confessed he had always wanted to pursue academia, but obligation meant he now found himself as the head of an orphanage in Winchester for gifted children. Near's father was fascinated by this and asked whether the children in residence had to be orphans. Roger shrugged – there was no real protocol when it came to procuring children for the House, and so Near's father volunteered that his child should be enrolled at the House. Roger wasn't completely convinced on the idea initially, but the promise of a substantial donation for the orphanage provided Roger with enough incentive to agree to Near's entry.

sorry this took me a little while to respond to, but i'd be more than happy to answer any more questions about these headcanons, they're still very much under development!

as such, Near was the final child of the third Wammy’s generation to be enrolled at the House. his immediate academic success from the beginning of his residency took everyone by surprise, not least Mello, who had been enjoying three years of high grades and potential successorship. as a result Near realised he was unlikely to make any friends and spent his days playing with the toys and puzzles his grandmother would send, until one day he stopped receiving those parcels altogether. Near knew it was unlikely he'd ever see his family again, and he had no real desire to maintain a relationship with them. it is only now that he is older, after the Kira case, that a woman claiming to be his biological mother manages to make contact with him, and he decides to converse with her over email for a few weeks. fortunately, these days Near enjoys the company of Halle, Gevanni and Rester, and no longer feels quite as lonely as he used to.

[raw-law]

Anything you'd change in the law, of you had the chance to?

Light:

My answer is, dear Anon: nothing. I'd change absolutely nothing about the law. Let me explain.

The laws---if you're talking about international ones, that is---they're generally well thought-out. Well formulated by a group of intelligent people over hundreds of years. All we, the general public, have to do is simply: follow the law.

But there are people in the world who aren't part of this 'general public'. Politicians, world leaders, presidents, ministers, who hold a lot of power in their hands.

Anon, the sad truth is this. No matter how many changes you make to the law, no matter how fair you try and make it, how hard you try for justice to be served, there will still be people escaping the long arm of the law.

For people with power, that's the problem. No one can stop them, even if every single law says that they're wrong. Much less if the person is a world power, a powerhouse country with others backing them up.

That's why my views align so much with Kira's own. If the law can't get them, then it's time to go beyond the law to delegate out punishment to those criminals. We can't let them get away scot-free, can we?

Thanks for your question, Anon.

L:

i don't think i'd change anything with the law either, but i share a slightly different mindset.

in my eyes, there's not much you can change to suddenly cure the world of all its evil. no matter what laws you add, there will always be people who wish to wreak havoc on others. if anything, adding more laws might tempt people to break them even more... what would really need to be changed is how we go about keeping people like this contained.. how do we effectively weed out the sick and prevent them infecting anyone else?

well, we have trials. lawyers. prosecutors... but, let's be honest. i think everybody knows it's not a perfect system. nothing can be. there's no point in changing law if you can't change the government itself. and even if you are to change the government itself, nothing is ever going to be ideal. humanity is inherently flawed. anything humanity tries to create, especially when based around their society, will be flawed as well. if anything, the current law is probably the best we'll be able to construct.

i still can't excuse kira's murder sprees but... in a question like this..? i'm afraid i can't entirely oppose his thought process either...

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If Light hadn't fucked up with the Lind L. Taylor thing, do you think L would still have been able to figure out where Light was? I've always considered that moment to be the most damning fuck up on Light's end.

That's the thing, L already knew Kira was almost certainly in Japan.

Light's first victim was only broadcast on Japanese media in the Japanese language. More, as Light went on his initial murder spree, while he did have many international victims, he likely had several victims who were only broadcast in Japanese media or else much less well-known outside Japan. This is in part why the Japanese are the first to really notice Kira and give him a name on Death Note 4-chan.

Now, it's possible Light might not have been Japanese. He could have been simply staying in Japan during that time to be able to look up these criminals as well as fluent enough in Japanese to get by but it's more likely that he does live in Japan and speaks Japanese because he is Japanese.

L canonically states that this was why he broadcast in Japan in the Kanto region first: he was almost entirely certain Kira was in Japan and Kanto having the largest population was as good a place to start as any.

L didn't really need the Lind L. Taylor stunt to narrow Light down to Japan. In fact, the stunt could have gone very wrong for him very easily. Light might not have spoken English fluently enough to understand the broadcast (what it was broadcast in to give the illusion of being an international broadcast), Light might not have been watching TV at the moment of the broadcast, or Light could have simply decided not to kill Lind L. Taylor.

That said, if it didn't work out, L doesn't really lose anything. He can save face by claiming it was to rattle Kira and goad him into doing something stupid later on, it also sows doubt of Kira with the public and assures them that someone is on the case. L would just wave his hand and say, "Anyway, uh, let's start our investigation in Japan" and then continue with where he left off in canon.

(As a reminder, from there, Light started fucking with the police and tipped his hand so as to eliminate L as a rival: making it clear that Kira had access to police records that are not available to the public. That's how L was able to narrow it down to family members of Japanese police which is where he brought in the American FBI (who he can somehow send out internationally, when that's a domestic agency, but whatever L).)

The reason L does it though is not just to prove Kira's in Japan and likely in Kanto (which is nice but that's still millions of people to sift through). It's to prove to the public that Kira is a human driven by emotions and malice, it's to rattle Kira wherever he is, and it's to prove to Interpol that this weird guy who refuses to show his face anywhere is in fact the man for the job (as Interpol was generally dubious about involving L as he's... not popular for understandable reasons).

Now, typical L, he sets up a man's public execution on live television in what feels like a Black Mirror episode with the justification "he was going to die anyway" to just prove a point he already could have proven otherwise but that's just what L does.

I do agree it's Light's biggest fuck up, however, it's also very telling that it actually changes absolutely nothing had he not fucked up. He just felt like a really angry idiot for a moment there and L got put on the top of his death list.

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time!! last night we watched tng's "rightful heir" and ds9's "the forsaken."

rightful heir (tng):

they were high when they wrote this one. like worf on whatever he was on to try and make him hallucinate

what's really funny about this one is that we were both just complaining that, even though we both like worf, we found the klingon episodes a little rough/dry. and then what do they do. they have worf hallucinate clone jesus

actually, i was really surprised picard laid into him so hard for being late to work. i know it was a tough-love kind of deal bc toughness "speaks" to worf or whatever and it was supposed to seem "nice" because he let worf go on a little field trip afterward but also like. who yells.

i did like that they referenced the klingon prison camp episode. girl i'd still be feeling that one too

clone jesus as a plot is really insane. like, it's already insane that everybody bought into it and GOWRAN of all people was the one to be like "you chumps are getting snowed." but then he's just a CLONE? they grew jesus in a vat somewhere? in a little test tube? and then they crowned him emperor??

no, scratch that, worf threatened to KILL people if they DIDN'T crown him emperor even though he was just going to be a figurehead because this is somehow supposed to fix the amoral klingons who have fallen into decadence. horrific.

side note. s6 has had a LOT of single-character episodes. we had some picard centric eps some worf centric eps a deanna centric ep and a beverly centric ep...when do we get the fucking gang back together? i feel like i never see them all at once anymore. like don't get me wrong i loved beverly's little romp and i feel like this way allows slightly more of the character work i have been craving but the format change is so weird. can we not have a little character work without singling out one character at a time? pretty please?

the forsaken (ds9):

i am sighing the deepest longest sigh i have ever sighed. my mixed feelings...

ok, to start with, i hate when tng characters show up in ds9. it's like they bring the bad vibes with them. BUT this is the least i've ever hated lwaxana.

i think the version of lwaxana as presented IN THIS EPISODE ONLY is very nearly a likable character. unfortunately, i have context for her

the flirting has actually grown on me. like, when she's doing it harmlessly. y'all know isabela from da2? like that. what i have a problem with is her being so touchy-feely - leaning into peoples space or trying to snuggle up with them or take them by the arm. the flirting IN AND OF ITSELF is actually kind of cute/sweet if you divorce it from the context of a horrifically overbearing mother and a woman who is narcissistic and can't take no for an answer. "i can swim" like ok girl i admit you have game. i just wish she would do less TOUCHING.

ok, on to odo, the real star of this episode. odo my new best friend odo

i actually think trapping him in an elevator to force him to turn into goop in front of someone else is a VERY clever premise. and at first i really wished it hadn't been with lwaxana but the more i thought about it the more i realized no one else on ds9 would do. in order for it to work it would have to be both someone who is a little pushy/loud/not totally respectful of his private nature AND someone who could offer a similar vulnerability ie taking off the wig. anyone who's too tactful/respectful of odo/a grownup in general like sisko, kira, dax, obrien, etc would simply turn around and leave him be. anyone who's NOT respectful or a grownup in general (i'm thinking specifically of quark, but julian could probably also work for this) doesn't have a metaphorical wig to take off. like, it would have been great ship material for him to be in there with quark or kira (i know about odo/kira bc i got spoiled, i am a little skeptical but VERY intrigued), but neither of them would have had the same vibe. so i am forced to conclude against my will that lwaxana was the right choice after all.

unfortunately a stranger is also easier to tell crazy shit to...and i looooooved learning crazy shit about odo's past, by which i mean i gasped aloud and covered my mouth with both hands in horror. HE SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD IN A LAB EXCEPT HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A CHILDHOOD!!! he doesn't EAT. his mouth is an approximation of one, it doesn't actually work!!! lwaxana, do you know then what else must be a nonfunctional approximation? actually, maybe he doesn't even have any of that going on. maybe he's smooth like a ken doll and that's why he keeps expressing disinterest in sex/romance, or because he has disinterest in sex/romance he never bothered to figure out how to replicate a working set of equipment. anyway the point is i know my king is somewhere on the aro and/or ace spectrum i just have to get to know him better to figure out where

in conclusion, yes it had to be lwaxana, NO i'm not happy about it, but i could have been if she was just less touchy. also, side bar, i don't like that she brought up the ferengi rape episode like it was haha funny. girl it wasn't funny to you at the time and it was definitely not funny to ME

TONGIHT: tng's "second chances" (this one looks good...i'm so hopeful) and ds9's "dramatis personae" (i haven't seen a summary or thumbs for this one but i trust ds9)

[jjsstars]

tw rarepair week 23: day 7, post-canon kira/derek

|| for @teenwolfrarepairevents event

|| tags: marriage proposal, professor!kira (it’s just background)

It’s whispered at first, in Kira’s ear before she walks out the door to go to her early morning class at the college she’s filling in at. At least for the summer, it means Kira and Derek have less time to see each other and maybe that’s why he uses the extra lovey nickname.

Kira purposefully ignores the “sweetheart” Derek said that morning, knowing how hard pda can be for her partner. But then it keeps happening, going from a whisper to said with a smile, to almost used as much as her name. She loves it, drinks it in every time Derek’s smooth voice lets the word come out.

“I’ll see you tonight sweetheart, wear something classy.” Hale smiles with a kiss to Kira’s cheek as he dashes out of the auditorium she’s speaking at, they have plans tonight and are both giddy about it.

Kira bought a tight little black dress in advance and she knows Derek’s going to be in a suit since he left the card for the dry cleaners out on the coffee table. She swears sometimes he forgets that they live together. Not that Kira minds all the much, she gives her speech to her students, happily telling them to have a good weekend before she’s rushing home.

It doesn’t take Yukimura long to get ready and she even has time to talk to Lydia on the phone about her and Jordan’s plans, they’re staying in, Lydia teasing that whatever Derek has planned for Kira must be good if he’s actually wearing a suit. She laughs along the jokes Martin throws out, with Parrish’s input once he crashes their phone call; until Derek sends a text that he’s downstairs, having gotten ready at Peters so they each had their own time to prepare for the night out.

The dinner they have is nice and fancier than Kira was expecting, she knows Derek has the money and the connections to get them into luxury places, she just wasn’t thinking it’d be tonight. She does her best to look and act the part of someone who’s been here before, someone who’s totally not staring and blown away by each dish that gets brought out. She’s not sure she does it well, Derek doesn’t mention it, only takes her hand and watches her through hooded eyes.

“What’s the special occasion? Not that I’m complaining it’s just- why here? Why tonight?” Their food has been finished for at least fifteen minutes but Derek hasn’t ordered desert, instead he’s got an odd nervous look on his face. Kira hopes she didn’t mess anything up.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” His tone falls serious, Kira straightens her back and nods. They already live together and have had the kid talk, both deciding that if it happens then it happens but they won’t force it, so Kira isn’t sure what Derek could be getting at.

“What is it?” She asks and prays he doesn’t hear how her heartbeat has sped up just a notch, it’s wishful thinking really, she knows he hears it, Derek doesn’t say anything.

“I want to ask you to marry me.” He says simply and gently places an opened box with a gold ring in it. It’s modest, a thin band with a small K+D engraved into it, Kira’s heart skips a beat. It’s what type of ring she’s wanted since she was a kid and dreamed of marrying a prince, a dream that she knows she’s told Derek at least once, and that he’s heard her describe what type of ring she wanted. She can’t believe he remembered it. She looks up to meet Hales eyes, double checking that she isn’t dreaming, he smiles back in reassurance as though he can read her mind.

“This is the part where you say yes or no.” Kira’s shoulders drop with a laugh, all the tension in her slipping away with Derek’s grin.

“Yes, yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She rushes to assure and in seconds Derek has the ring slipped onto Kira’s left hand. Her heart feels full when she stares down at it, the light hung above their table making the ring gleam, it’s a shine Kira hopes she never has to go a day without seeing.

“I can’t wait to marry you sweetheart.” The grin across Derek’s cheeks is wider than Kira’s ever seen, his eyes glowing a flash of red that makes her own flick orange. She can’t wait to marry him either.

[delucadarlingwriting]

upside down spiderman kiss for barbie and mason, please 🥰 (~agentnatesewell)

Ask for a Kiss!

I forgot about these. OTL

I'd already written most of this one before heading out on vacation. The last two are next on the list! And thank you again for sending in a prompt, I've been enjoying writing them ;v;

***

There’s nothing about the day she’s been having so far that would lead Barbie to believing she would be here, trapped and hanging upside down, with no way of getting down. This is exactly why she doesn’t do field work. Not the kind that Unit Bravo does, at least. 

Somehow despite the situation, Barbie doesn’t find herself in any sort of state of panic. Sure, she’s dangling with her head about six feet above the ground. The magical rope tangled around her hips and legs isn’t the most comfortable. A point in her favor though is that she can hear the gentle, distant sound of Unit Bravo, Kira, and perhaps the group of fae they’ve been looking for making their way along the forest path. 

She could call out to them. Considering the trap hasn’t harmed her, she can only assume it’s meant to keep trespassers away from the fae village until patrols can send them on their way. Having to face her team (especially Adam, who had told her not to wander off, which she had agreed to until the moment everyone else was distracted) would be far more humiliating than simply waiting for one of those patrols to find her. 

In the meantime, Barbie reaches for her spiral top notepad and pen, concealed in the inside pocket of her blazer. The trek into fae territory was not entirely what she’d expected. It seems as those inhabiting this village aren’t like the other fae she’s met before, but some sort of…off shoot. Though that could also be due to the fact that they’re a rather insular bunch, having last been noted in Agency records some years before even Nat was human. Barbie very much looks forward to taking notes of her own to add to the records, along with her name attached to them. Her excitement to do so ends up leaving her distracted, and she fumbles as she tries to flip to a new page and hold the others down at the same time. Her pen slips from her grip and Barbie jolts into action, trying to catch it, but only managing to lose her hold on the notebook as well. 

“No!” she cries, snatching at thin air as it tumbles down and falls well out of reach. 

The distant voices go quiet after her exclamation. She goes as still and silent as she can while swaying back and forth in her magical rope cocoon. There’s some short discussion, then she distantly hears the sounds of a group walking away. 

Barbie chews her lower lip; perhaps not calling out for help is a bad idea. Sure, she’d fairly certain someone will find her, but what if they don’t? 

Just as she’s contemplating yelling out for them, a dark figure emerges from the shadows and brush quickly enough to startle a yelp out of her. 

“Mason!” she yells. “Don’t scare me like that!”

Mason slows his pace, eyebrows knitting together as he takes in the sight of her. He strolls over with far less hurried steps until they’re somewhat eye to eye. 

“What the hell are you doing, sweetheart?” he asks.

Barbie rolls her eyes. “Oh yes, because I’ve obviously done this on purpose.”

“Hard to tell with you sometimes,” Mason says, not able to hide the amusement glinting in his eyes. Barbie tries to grab at him, but he grabs her first, his hands cupping either side of her ribcage to bring her to a stop. 

“Are you going to let me down?” she asks. He chuckles.

“Yeah, of course.” He moves closer, a molten look in his eye. “I think I deserve a reward though.”

“You’ve done nothing to earn one yet,” Barbie points out. He grins, sharp and handsome even when viewed upside down.

“Then call it a bribe.”

“I don’t think I can fellate you from this high up, Mason,” Barbie replies dryly. Mason snorts, his hair shimmering as he tosses his head back with a laugh. It makes her heart skip several beats and she suddenly deeply wishes she could fellate him from here. 

“A kiss will be fine,” he says as he bites back laughter.

Oh. Yes, of course that’s what he meant. She tries not to flush up about it, but that’s a moot point when the blood has already rushed to her face thanks to being held upside down for so long. 

Mason sidles closer, grey eyes taking her in, calculating her responses before making every move. She relates to how he approaches these situations, though she finds her own senses don’t give her nearly as much information to work on as his do. He can read her so well without her giving him much to go on at all. Like now, despite not moving an inch, he senses how receptive she is to his idea. He comes in close, one hand reaching up to unclip her hair and tuck the clip into his pocket while the other moves to bury itself into her hair, his thick, strong fingers forming against the back of her skull with an abundance of care. Barbie’s lips part on their own and she leans in.

His mouth forms over hers, soft and open, his tongue teasing at her upper lip. Barbie groans, grasping the air until she finds his face, cupping it and tilting her head for a good angle. It’s odd, being upside down, but it hardly distracts from how her spine tingles at his hungry advances. 

They part when she gets dizzy, though whether from being upside down or kissing him she’s not sure. Mason’s breath has gone a touch ragged. He pushes his hands through his shaggy dark hair then flicks his gaze up.

“Enjoying yourself?” Barbie asks, squirming against the bonds which have suddenly become restrictive. 

Mason chuckles. “Oh yeah.” When Barbie pouts, he adds, “And I’m trying to find the best way to get you down.”

Barbie strains to try and see where the rope’s source is, but quickly finds the same problem Mason has. There doesn’t appear to be one. So any attempt to cut her down will simply drop her. 

 “Don’t call the others,” Barbie pleads. Mason already has his phone out. He doesn’t even look at her before hitting something on the screen and lifting it to his ear. 

Only four minutes later the rest of the team—and several deeply amused fae—arrive and she is promptly put on her feet. Her very wobbly feet that barely hold her up. Mason slides an arm around her waist, leaving it there even once she’s steady. 

“Now that this…” Adam pauses, giving Barbie a longsuffering look, “...situation is resolved, shall we move forward with the meeting?”

“Oh yes,” one of the fae says, covering their acid green lips with a hand as they grin. “Our queen will be more than pleased with your arrival. Come this way!”

Cheeks burning, Barbie plants her feet and waits for everyone else to go ahead first. The last thing she wants is to feel everyone staring at the back of her head. Once they’ve passed she inches ahead, wishing more than anything to simply retreat back to the SUV.

Mason chuckles, leaning in to whisper in her ear, “Are you ready to be chastised about that later?”

Snorting, Barbie rolls her eyes. “I’m used to Agent du Mortain’s appraisal of my performance.”

“Mhm.” Mason’s smile isn’t as teasing as it was before. “I’m sure he’ll go easy on you this time.”

“Oh, will my embarrassment have been lesson enough for him?” Barbie asks, unable to resist the urge to rub at her face, even if it smears her foundation. She’s certain to look a mess as it is, there’s no point in trying to preserve her appearance.

“Probably.” Mason’s hand slides down her hip, just above her rear. “And I meant chastised by me.”

“You?” Barbie sputters. “Where do you get off chastising me about anything?”

Mason arches a dark brow. “You wandered off and didn’t tell anyone where you were.”

“You could’ve found me,” Barbie says with a huff. Mason’s hand drops and grabs a handful of her rear, which draws a surprised yelp from her. Several of the fae ahead peer back at the two of them, but Mason has already moved his hand back up to her hip. Still far more familiar than is appropriate for work, but better than anyone seeing him feel her up.

“Just make sure to take me with you next time,” Mason says, smirking. Bastard. 

When she’s sure no one else is looking, she pauses, leans in to kiss just behind his ear, and says, “Behave better, and I might.”

“Mason,” Adam’s voice booms from ahead. No privacy with vampires around. Mason grins, teeth sharp and elongated. 

“Absolutely not,” he replies in a whisper before urging her on to catch up with the group. The fae village is within sight now, and they both shift their focus to their immediate tasks.

She’ll argue with him more later, perhaps during that ‘chastisement’ he’s promised.