#raye and naomi deserve more love !!

[corpsedessert]

Who do you think is the most hated death note character?

Personally I think it's kiyomi takada (Lights girlfriend from college) and Raye penber (Naomi Misora's fiance and one of the FBI agents Kira technically killed).. I think the hate for these two is unreasonable and kind of stupid, I feel like kiyomi is just hated because she's not misa and raye because people think he's

@ busive and mistreats Naomi aka his fiance but.. No?? Is it me or do they just demonize him for just one interaction? Why aren't more of the male characters hated because IK somewhere in the manga the other male characters are misogynistic but Raye gets more hated on than others. Or is it just me? [ ALSO SORRY IF THIS IS ALL JUMBLED UP MY MIND AND FINGERS TEND TO WRITE AND DON'T STOP HAHDHSBDNOOO ] continuing on.. – Raye really was just looking out for Naomi. I don't understand raye penber haters at all, What I do think is that he could've listened but we all know.. Ohba killed them for the plot. Anyways raye underrated as hell 😔

Anyways..

#justiceforagentmassacre , #rayepenber & #kiyomitakada

Because the fandom treats them so offly and I hate it.

Edited on: Also how is a canon ship so underrated in the fandom? Raye and Naomi are so cute !! I wish there were more art of those two. Genuinely. They are #2 on healthiest relationship.. #1 is sachiko and soichiro of course LOLLLL... Anyways agentmassacre for the win, they could never make me hate you <33

Also honorable mentions: Near and Matsuda, but overall they are more liked than Raye and kiyomi. Matsuda and near are both cuties to me though !! For the most part I could never hate any of the characters ( Excluding light LOLLLL )

“ Light when I catch you Light.. “

[raitobie]

What’s your most unpopular DN opinion? (It can be about canon, fanon the fandom)

I honestly wasn’t even sure if I had any truly unpopular opinions outside of obviously, my ship preferences lol. But I think I do have one that is maybe unpopular: Raye Penber isn’t a bad partner to Naomi Misora. The perceived sexism surrounding their relationship isn’t a character flaw of Raye’s as much as it’s a bias that Ohba projects through his characters and story telling. That all women wish for marriage and kids. Naomi is simply written as a woman who is pursuing becoming a housewife.

Raye’s statement about Naomi being his fiancé and not an FBI agent anymore in context suggests that they had a conversation and mutual agreement before coming to Japan that she wouldn’t be involved in the Kira case because it would put her at risk. Naomi wants to get married and start a family with Raye and this is okay with her, so she respects this condition set for him allowing her to travel with him. Raye not only acknowledges her expertise as a great FBI agent but apologizes to her right after for how he spoke to her which was only out of concern and love for her.

And Naomi loved and chose to be with Raye because she felt loved by him. Proven by her being heart broken enough by his death to want to seek to avenge him by getting involved in the investigation. I don’t feel that such a strong and capable woman would just do that for a man who doesn’t respect and care for her. Their conversation does not suggest that Raye undermines her and her input in general, just that he set a boundary with her in this particular instance out of concern.

The fandom tends to treat sexism with sexism and infantilize Death Note’s female characters not acknowledging or considering that they’re grown women with agency and responsibility for their own actions. I believe Naomi was happy and at peace with Raye no matter how much more cool and entertaining she is as a detective and FBI agent. And there’s nothing wrong with that, because as far as we can see, it was her choice and not something she was being pressured into.

She didn’t even really like being an agent if you consider the Another Note novel canon. She just happened to be a good and dedicated one, ended up there and left with traumatic experiences. I imagine that the pursuit of being a wife and mother was much more peaceful and desirable to her in comparison. And maybe Raye knew this and knew the effects being in that occupation had on her, so he was trying to protect her mental health and wellbeing as well as her life. Good guy Raye, didn’t deserve to die.

[gwaaaaar]

Appreciation post for all the death note op/eds :3

Wowie this is gonna be long af bc I have sm to say... i will NOT be going frame by frame I will just be sharing what personally stood out to me, both musically and visually and that means it's the op/eds as they are presented in the anime, so nothing about the full length vers of the songs or their bands MVS.

OK SO. starting with the world. A classic. Very fond of light being shown laid down on a stained glass window but it's almost like you're looking up at him as if he was painted on a chapel's ceiling. ALSO very fond of the constant Christian redraws light gets as "God" like the one where hes on a cross and the one where hes reaching his finger out to Ryuk. Bc hes a nerd . LOVE love the scene where he's walking above the city and the scene where the birds are projected onto him to represent his projected image of himself... and the part where hes standing in front of the moon? Iconic. Really hammers home how isolated he wanted to keep himself as Kira... And misa on the floor? Love the colors they chose for that, the illustration is beautiful I kind of want to redraw it. The blue is a very unorthodox choice for her hair but its gorgeous. ALSO how the lead singer of nightmare holds his note on "kagerou" before light bites the apple gives me chills everytime. The contrast between the kira defense force looking in diff directions all confused compared to the shinigami lookin in a straight line ughhhhh that is the bomb. Naomi Misora pulling pieta plagarism with Raye Penber is also one of the most iconic visuals in the opening imo. Especially the singing that goes with it in that part. I feel like vocals in J-rock always got a certain flair to them (lead singer of SID, margarita-p etc etc) and that flair is what death note needs... THE SCENE where he's a little glass effigy that shatters and then the song goes crazy ohhhh my god oh my god. All the visuals of something breaking or shattering, like the rose bursting into petals in the beginning is delightful to me. Roses and glass are considered delicate items, almost as if Light's psyche was delicate in the beginning and just needed the death note to shatter his sense of self. The parts where they animate Light and L on their platforms or in the tunnel, they always make sure to rotate the camera aroud them which is an incredible animation feat like an utter flex. And those two rightfully deserve such good animation! Musically, the world is a very grand song. There is an instrument I can't quite put my finger on but it very much does remind me of an organ one may hear in church. The lyrics very much capture light's god complex and it is in such a way where you can't associate the song with any other character it is so distinctly Light.

Alumina is so visually stunning with the monochrome and slight dashes of color. You get the snapshots of Light just. Being a teenage boy contrasted with how mature he looks in that first shot... he looks evil almost in that. The first line of "Dare ni mo mirenai yume wo mite" is so incredibly chilling especially with the tone the singer sings it in. Then you get the black and white flashes of Light picking up the notebook and Ryuk. The way its framed is almost cursed like I cant describe it but the exposure is so high up and the speed at which it flashes it feels like I shouldnt have seen it at all. There's nothing that can be done for light he had sealed his fate. ALSO ""Itsuwari" "osore" "kyoshoku" "urei"" is an incredible beat drop and the animation that goes along with it? The way they rotate the camera around light before panning up to ryuk? While Light looks a bit strange from below, that still doesn't negate how masterful that animation is! I'd argue moreso than the scenes where they rotate the camera around L and light in "the world" considering how much more there is, like the trees and buildings compared to just a tunnel or platforms. The final scene where that picture of light flashes and you see his different expressions... very nice way of showing the different facets of his personality. The entire song is so somber compared to "the world." Alumina still has light's inflated sense of self but instead of it being godhood adjacent like "I have to do this for mankind" as if it was a duty thrust upon him, in my opinion alumina is more along the lines of "this world is shit and holding me back from making it better, so i refuse to submit." Both are Light essentially martyring himself for his ideals but Alumina I feel paints him in a more human light. Like the things he feels is something we can feel as well.

Everyone shits on Whats up people but I AM ITS NO 1 STAN... the fact that death notes first op/ed reflects how light sees himself, and then the second ones go off the rails because thats what light is, rouge. When he laughs like crazy and that's all you see... its a bit scary but yeah hes a crazy serial killer for a reason. The scene where L spins on his chair is fucking awesome i can watch that forever. I am so so so very fond of the bright colors in that and the neo noir esque scene where the police force pull out their guns. It's so dynamic and really gives ya somethin to look at. And i know the misa pinups is a bit of a trashy fanservice moment but. Misa is very cute . So. And the art style is cute! Like the dots and the heavy lines, I would steal that art style. Also again with the roses imagery... But god. I think the absolute showstopper is when the singee builds up with "hey hey ningen suan ka, are wo ningen fuan ka?" And it's Light walking through the city while the people that have followed him in his kira endeavours are around him as well and he slowly passes them, discards them. He gets to Mello whos under him in the drain because Mellos actions were to unreadable/unpredictable to him.... never know when hes gonna pop out yk? But inevitably light gets the upper hand on him.... yet when Light reaches Near, the light shines onto Near instead as Near exposes light for who he is and light FINALLY snaps and the singer goes uttetly crazy and screams and smashes their guitar against the floor... does that not scream Light throwing his tantrum at the end. AND as a callback to the first opening, you see him on the stained glass again, but his body is discolored like hes rotting. Dying god imagery??? Can i get 1 million for dying god imagery??? FUCK I LOVE THAT VISUAL SO MUCH. Yeah i know the songs lyrics are repetitive but like. Idk its good it scratches my brain. It shows how much of a one track mind lights gotten. Hes playing around like a bored god after L dies, almost taunting humans as if he wasn't one by insulting them for having vices. Its hypocritical and its funny.

ZETSUBOU BILLY ! is so good. I love the imagery of Light going up an elevator, and in the first part of the song, while the vocals arent calm, they are calmer than the second half of the song. So for that first part its kinda just. Watching light go up. After L dies, it isn't difficult for Light to gain even more influence in the world as Kira and i think thats what the elevator reflects. Then as the vocals build up with "menzai no word" you see light turning, and the next line repeats the scene with light upside down... like how his goals have completely flipped from doing things for the good of others to himself. AND THEN. THE REVEAL THAT LIGHT WASN'T GOING UP. HE WAS GOING DOWN. TO THE SHINIGAMI WORLD. That's sooooo goood. And then his watch flies past and you see him writing like crazy.... The scene where he walks into traffic is such a good way of showing how his god complex has progroessed so far he believes himself immune to practically anything... and the final shot where hes dead on the floor and because hes in blue at first glance it looks like L but then it pans out and its Light... good . I really like how Zetsubou Billy isn't directly abt light but like. Come on. A boy thats despairing over the state of things? The lyrics are a bit strange at time but I cannot see it as representative of anything but Light.

Anyways thats my thoughts of the dn ed/ops :3 i would like to know anyone elses opinions on the soundtrack

[kiranatrix]

I feel like the nature of Light’s ideology and his methods get caricatured a great deal in the fandom (especially by those who only viewed the anime). I keep seeing popular memes about Light killing petty shoplifters who are only attempting to feed their family and I always get the sense that they’re largely inaccurate (for the most part). Light notices in the Yotsuba arc that Kira’s sentencing spares those: who’ve served their sentences and improved their ways, who committed justifiable crimes, and who have shown remorse. So it feels off to seeing portrayed that way, especially when Light’s elimination of innocents (such as the FBI agents, Naomi, etc...) are usually for strategic purposes, intended to help him progress ahead. Not to mention this pervasive belief that Light apparently didn’t know that he would be bound to sentence some innocents to death (with his large kill count per day). Wouldn’t it be more likely that Light knew that it was inevitable and was willing to sacrifice those lives for “the greater good,” in his view?

This is a doozy of an ask, anon. But it is GLORY bc these are all excellent things for me to ramble about Light (thank you!). I’ll take them point by point, strap in cause this is a bit long. *cracks knuckles*

You’re absolutely right that fandom often boils Light’s character and ideology down to a few basic elements that are distorted, mostly to drag him. Let’s be honest-- it’s fun to drag characters, even our favs-- and pretty much everyone in Death Note deserves it. But it does become annoying when its inaccurate, like with your example about who Kira focused on killing and some others I see. To be clear, this isn’t any kind of apology for the bastardly things Light DID do, but clarifying what he was and wasn’t about.

Did Light kill petty criminals?

The only time it is mentioned that Light kills criminals for non-serious crimes is when he was under surveillance by L (the infamous potato chip scene) and had to kill someone on the news right then, as well as the immediate coverup. In that circumstance, he couldn’t afford to be picky-- he needed L to see a signature Kira death (heart attack) when Light supposedly couldn’t be doing it. The crimes that appeared on the news that night (in his chip bag TV lol) ended up being non-serious criminals, and Light wasn’t so thrilled about this. 

Mainly because it meant he had to cover his tracks and kill a few more minor criminals so it really did look like Kira’s work. 

But his focus was putting himself in the clear with L; those minor criminals were incidental, and when he had choice/freedom again, he did not focus on them. The ruse didn’t completely work because L thought minor criminals dying was suspicious since it deviated from Kira’s usual MO. So, L knew the real focus.

This was a strategic move in service of, versus reflecting, Light’s ideology. This is something we see pop up again and again for Light. He is willing to do ‘wrong’ for the greater ‘good.’ We also see his distaste for killing petty criminals later when Light rebukes Mikami’s off-script killings in his thoughts. If Kira had been acting this way all along, then the Task Force wouldn’t have been surprised and Light wouldn’t have been pissed off that Mikami was doing it. 

Kira was looking for violent criminals who had escaped justice, that’s his main goal. He’s also disagreeing with Mikami’s methods of punishing wrong-doers who paid their debt to society (as opposed to the Death Row criminals I discuss below who haven’t ‘paid their debt’ yet). He doesn’t want people to fear Kira and thinks shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak, would do that. His ideology is not punitive; to him, its about prevention. Petty crime wasn’t on his radar until he had to make that a temporary focus for his safety.

Did Light focus on criminals already in prison? 

I’ve seen plenty of posts in the Death Note tag grousing about how Light was ‘dumb’ because he only focused on criminals in prison, but that’s not wholly accurate. The first two names he wrote were criminals he witnessed in the process of a crime with actual victims that needed help (a hostage scenario where the perp had already murdered people, and a man about to rape). Then he went for the Big Bads in the news- the most vicious criminals world-wide.

Other than criminals at large, he DID kill some criminals in prison. The times he did so were:

1) Killing criminals on Death Row who, in the eyes of law enforcement, “deserved the death penalty several times over.” These are criminals who had already been sentenced to die and Kira enacted the ‘justice.’

2) During Light’s ‘testing phase’ of the Death Note when he was trying to understand the rules in a population he could control 

3) When he was trying to be conspicuous about deaths for L’s benefit, like throwing off the assumption that Kira was a student. Light knew that those deaths would be found immediately and attributed to Kira. 

For 2 and 3, these criminals were likely to be on Death Row given what was said by INTERPOL about who Kira was killing behind bars. Ironically, even L thought Death Row criminals needed to die-- he chose Lind L Tailor from Death Row for his stunt, and said on TV he’d seek the death penalty for Kira. Hmm.

Why did Light kill innocent people?

The innocent people that Light killed include Raye Penber, the rest of the FBI agents in Japan investigating Kira, and Naomi Misora. L and Watari might be considered innocent per Kira’s ideology (Watari had probably murdered people but L had probably not, directly). Rem technically killed L and Watari, but Light certainly wanted them to die and orchestrated it that way. The innocent people that Light WOULD have killed include the Task Force (Mogi, Aizawa, Matsuda, Ide) and the SPK (Halle, Gevanni, Rester, Near,) if he’d won in the warehouse.

The main thread tying all these people together? They were all imminent threats to Light and were actively trying to stop and/or kill him. Killing them would never have crossed his mind if that hadn’t been the case. THAT DOESN’T MEAN HE DIDN’T ENJOY IT. Taking out his enemies was something Light did savor, he really loved that win. But it wasn’t like he wiped out the entire FBI or Japanese police force. Those were not his targets; these were individuals who threatened his goal and life, and he saw their killing as self-defense. 

Did Light kill any criminals who were innocent or wrongly convicted?

It’s certainly possible that he did but the manga never touches on it. Given that his MO for killing incarcerated criminals was limited to Death Row, he probably felt like those were safe bets (we know that’s not always the case in the real world, of course). But let’s say that Light, in canon, found out he’d killed someone wrongfully convicted. In the beginning of his journey as Kira (at 17-18), I honestly don’t think he’d given this a lot of thought. What’s funny is that Light was naively, and paradoxically, putting a lot of faith in the human justice system while simultaneously enacting his own justice that relied on having zero faith in the traditional channels. Makes my head spin, but Light is a fascinating character because of that kind of thinking. He championed sweeping ideals of right and wrong, but couldn’t be bothered with getting in the murky details. 

But by the time he’d grown up and matured some, especially after becoming part of the police force himself, he would have know it was a possibility. At that point, I agree that he’d view it as an inevitable sacrifice in service of, but not directly reflecting, his ‘greater good,’ like the previous choices he’d made. 

So why is Kira’s ideology so often distorted? For one thing, his thinking is kind of convoluted. The anime has less nuance about what Light’s about, and many people just watch that. Another common reason I see for this is that someone really, really hates Light for defeating L, and once we dislike someone it becomes easier to roll in more and more unlikeable qualities into a nasty villain pie. Any trait that is ‘bad’ can be overlaid onto Light because he is ‘bad,’ so it fits right?? Ha....no. He has plenty of bad traits and actions of his own to drag him for without inventing new ones. At the same time, I see L’s flaws and negative traits/actions being hand-waved away or justified because he is their fav. It happened with Minoru, too. 

[kimium]

Hi friend!! Since I know you've been enjoying Death Note again recently, I thought I'd send you an ask with a few questions you can answer if you like:

-what is your favourite thing about LawLight as a ship?

-What is your favourite Death Note headcannon?

-Which shinigami do you like better: Ryuk or Rem? Or do you like them both equally?

-Favourite things about Misa?

Hope you are warm and cozy tonight! Love you tons!!!

Friend know that I love you with all my heart for sending me this ask. (Well, I love you anyways, but you know what I mean.) Thank you so much for this! I indeed fell heavily back into the Death Note pool recently. I'm so excited to answer these!

1) What is your favourite thing about LawLight as a ship?

Canonically, my favourite thing about them is how they could have been but fate decided other wise. Platonic or not, their relationship is a Tragedy. They're the "what ifs" and "if things had been different" and "if only we weren't enemies". They are the dreams that cannot become reality, the memory not quite remembered, the bitterness after eating something slightly too sweet. And the worst part is, we as the audience can see this. We can practically taste it. It's hanging overhead, like an apple just out of reach, but we'll never obtain it.

Fandom wise, my favourite thing about them is how everyone contextualizes their relationship. Everyone has a different idea to how their relationship started/ how they manage to get and stay together. My personal favourite ones are set during the Yotsuba Arc and diverting from there. I'm also a huge fan of "Light was Never Kira but he's still a Suspect and is very :/ about it". Top tier humour. I've also read some AUs where Light is part of Wammy's House. Regardless, they're all great.

2) What is your favourite Death Note headcanon?

My favourite Death Note head canon is: L is an older brother figure to Near, Mello, and Matt (who, yes I also think is an orphan at Wammy's). He secretly dotes on them and looks out for them. In turn Near, Mello, and Matt are super protective (they love L a lot) but also they're little shit younger brothers who will gleefully tell embarrassing stories about L to anyone who asks.

(I also like the idea that Naomi Misora dumps Raye Pember's ass and is alive thanks.)

3) Which Shinigami do I like better: Ryuk or Rem? Or do I like them both equally?

I like them both equally! Ryuk is one of my favourite chaotic characters in any series. I love how everything in Death Note is just him trying to cure his boredom. He's truly not on anyone's side but his own.

Rem on the other hand is amazing because she cares about Misa. I love her single minded devotion to Misa and the willingness to do whatever it takes to save her.

4) Favourite things about Misa?

First, I want to go on record to say I love Misa and she deserved better.

Next, my favourite thing about Misa is how she's a risk taker and not as "dumb" as others in the series believe. Sure, she isn't IQ, 5D chess smart like Light and L, but she makes up for it in playing into other's expectations of her. She understands physical appearances matter and uses it to her advantage. They see her and think "she's an airhead, actor/model and is clueless". Which, sometimes, yes, Misa comes off as "vapid" but she's also cunning.

For example, in the Yotsuba Arc her bold (and risky) choice to go after Higuchi and gain a confession out of him is singularly one of my favourite scenes in the series. In my opinion she's similar to Mello. Both of them are slightly more emotional and truly shine doing field work.

I also enjoy how she sees things plainly and to the point. I really think that in some other universe she and L could be good friends. Her simple outlook might be seen as refreshing to L (and Light) who jump through 50 hoops all the time.

Thanks for the ask, friend! I'm indeed staying warm (fire place is on, I have a cup of tea). Especially after that terrible week of ours with -35 C + windchill. (I went OUT in that weather like an Idiot.)

[ihatetaxes99]

Death Note: The Glorious Manga Ending (And the anime that failed to deliver)

Well, this is certainly something a tad different from my usual affairs. Yes, I'm delighted to bear the news that I am taking a break from writing sub-par fanfiction and selling weapons to Middle Eastern terrorists in order to follow something a little less creative, but more immediately interesting to me in my current time of writing. I mean, hell, there's probably a 60% chance that no one will ever read this, since I'll likely drop it halfway through and go back to my black market dealings. But, in that small 40% chance that I do get this out the door, or indeed any further than this very sentence before I forget about it for all eternity, then I want to have a little discussion, a fun little analysis. And of course, I'm going to analyse everyone's favourite slice of life fluff comedy, Death Note. Specifically the ending and how I think the manga surpasses the anime in many, many ways.

If you haven't yet read or watched Death Note, then you won't be reading this anyway, so it would be rather pointless at best and an insult to your intelligence at worst to give a recap of how the series works. If you must have a layman's explanation, big murder book gets dropped into the human world, shenanigans ensue. There, now go watch or read it for yourself. Preferably read, as I am about to discuss. The manga is far better, entirely because of the second half. It's no secret that the Death Note anime handled the second half poorly. Content was cut, elements were skipped, scenes were changed entirely and Near, my favourite character from the manga, was done so dirty that he generally ranks as many people's least favourite, for some understandable reasons and others that I consider rather weak. But the main part of the second half aside, I want to talk about the final showdown, the confrontation in the Yellow Box warehouse, and how I feel the anime adaptation butchered a near-perfect ending for the sake of either time, or budget, or maybe to appease Light fangirls (because that definitely has a factor in why I don't like the anime's ending as much.)

So, to recap, most of the confrontation at the warehouse between the SPK and Kira plays out very much the same. Mikami writes the names down, Light reveals himself, the notebook is revealed to be a fake and Yagami has his famous mental breakdown, followed by one of the most powerful lines in the series:

(Note: I condensed the speech to fit neatly into two boxes)

I love this speech. I think it's one of the best in the series, for reasons that very much tie into why the ending in the manga works better. I want you all to think for a moment; I've seen a lot of people say Death Note is a series that doesn't take sides on the conflict. No, that is bullshit. In the early series, maybe, but from the moment Light Yagami killed Naomi Misora, and arguably even earlier than that with Raye Pembre, he was consistently portrayed as being more and more callous, more evil, more of a scumbag. Let's look over what he did, especially in the later stages of the series.

He:

Murdered the FBI agents tailing him.

Only expressed regret over Utika's death because it may negatively affect Kira's reputation.

Watched with no emotion as his father died and indeed, encouraged him to use the Death Note moments before he died.

Mocked Matsuda for mourning his father's death.

Manipulated two seperate women into doing his bidding (albeit, one was unintentional) and killed one himself, with plans to kill the other had he not been killed.

Instigated a riot in New York with the intent of killing Near and the SPK.

Killed FBI agents who were tailing him.

Only cared about Utika's death because it compromised Kira's strong public image and not because he was actually a good man.

Manipulated two seperate women into falling for him (albeit one was accidental) and promptly killed off one with no hesitation, with plans of killing the other had he not met his end first.

Watched emotionless as his own father died and even tried to get him to use the Death Note in his last moments.

Mocked Matsuda for mourning the death of his father and used it in a last ditch effort to distract the detective and escape.

Staged a riot with the intent of killing Near and the rest of the SPK.

And these are just some of them. By the end of Death Note, Light was not a good person. I personally never agreed with him, but he went from a disillusioned kid with a minor saviour complex to A full-blown, sadistic, perverted image of what he used to be, utterly unfeeling and cold-hearted, with a major God complex, a complete lunatic. As Near said, a mass murderer and nothing more. After everything Yagami's done over the course of the series, it was just too satisfying to read this for the first time, and I will concede, the anime did a great job adapting it. I feel a lot of Light fangirls agreed with him because his ideals sounded good on paper, but in reality, they're completely childish and self-serving. I am not one to moral grandstand, I believe those who take any excuse to give lectures about morality are annoying and often hypocritical scum, but my point here is that this is not a man any reasonable person could agree with if he were a real person. So, this teardown of his ego was perfect.

Now, the first big difference is the ultimate fate of Teru Mikami. In the anime, he kills himself in the warehouse, in a scene that makes me laugh every time due to the comically large quantities of blood spewing from him. He dies defending Kira's ideals, believing in his God. Or, if you choose to interpret it another way, he has accepted that Light is not God, and he has nothing else to live for. Either way, the anime lacks a key scene, after Light is shot by Matsuda and begging for help:

This is extremely important, as it continues what Near did with his speech and sets in motion the following trend for what is to come. Light is humiliated, his second most faithful pawn has turned against him, called him scum, seen him for what he truly is, and worse still, he's done it in front of everyone else. Teru Mikami has denounced his God, and this is just the stepping stone for the humiliation Kira is about to suffer. Also, it's worth noting that just before Mikami denounces Kira, there's a scene of Light crawling on the ground, bleeding, calling out for Misa and Takada to help him, seeming to have gone totally delusional, forgetting that Takada was already dead. This may have been excluded from the anime, or it may have been the fault of the subs I was using. It still serves as a vital part of the theme that the final few chapters hammer in, over and over again, that being the complete and total humiliation of Light Yagami. And the worst for our criminal-killing protagonist is still to come.

Finally, we reach the fate of the original Kira, the end of Light Yagami. In the anime, he uses Mikami's suicide as a distraction to escape, wherein he runs off, seeing visions of his past self, and dies out in the middle of a staircase, from a heart attack delivered by Ryuuk, calmly and quietly. This is all very nice and emotional, we see for a moment, Light contemplates what he became and wondering how it could have ended differently, and him dying in the middle of the staircase, as many people have stated before, is oh so very symbolic of how he finds himself unable to reach Heaven or Hell. However, this does not hold a candle to the manga.

This is what Light is like upon his death there:

Yeah, there's no real doubting it, he's going out like a complete bitch. Like the anime was thoughtful and silent, with an underlying sombre soundtrack, in this the once great Kira is reduced to a blubbering mess, throwing a tantrum because he refuses to accept his time is up. It was made very clear to him at the beginning that he was to die at Ryuuk's hand one day and now that it's here, he can't take it. He tries to cheat death, the one thing no human nor Shinigami can do. I mean, just look at the panels. He's a mess. A privileged, pampered brat who isn't getting his way. That is why I consider the Death Note manga ending to be superior to the anime in almost every way. While the anime gives us symbolism and a sense of calm, the manga goes all the way in tearing down this character, who has been a piece of human garbage for years at this point. I find it so satisfying to watch him get what he deserves, not only the death but the shame.

Light's own hubris and mental instability stole from him the honourable death he received in the anime. And that is everything I believe he needed, far more than the mere reality check he was given in the anime.

Phew, damn this was a ride and a half to write. I always appreciate feedback, if anyone wants to share their own thoughts on the ending. Please do feel free to do so, and I'll hopefully be back soon with your regularly scheduled shitty fanfics.

[death-note-manga-screencaps]

for the ask thing. Matsuda and Naomi Misora?

aaaaaa thank you so much, two of my babies that did nothing wrong

1: sexuality headcanon

Matsuda: he feels bi to me, he wouldn’t have a problem to be with a man but i think he would lean more to women. still he would consider to be with a guy if he caught his attention

Naomi: straight vibes bc of his relationship with Raye but very chill and supportive of his lgbt+ friends

2: otp

Matsuda: i kinda ship him with older Sayu? He is very sweet and caring and it would fit with Sayu’s personality too. I also. sometimes. think about Matsuda and Light, kinda like a platonic ship in Matsuda’s part, very one sided too as Light would be sooo uninterested but maybe he could give in if he needed to manipulate him a bit.

Naomi: umm i don’t like Raye that much but Naomi loved him a lot and i love seeing my girl happy so with him mostly.

3: brotp

Matsuda: even if Aizawa is a bit mean to him at times i think they’d be bros and he cares about Matsu too (he is a tsundere with him) he just isn’t as expressive as him and gives more tough love

Naomi: maybe with L? (sorry i really haven’t read LABB, all i know about it is because of memes) so if they have worked in previous cases together they would get along well, sharing their intakes and being very respectful as they both see each other like important assets to their investigations

4: notp

Matsuda: never with Soichiro, i dont know if that’s even a thing (although it brings me disturbing memories from something i saw yesterday), i think Matsu sees him a fatherly figure more than anything

Naomi: with Light, you bitch get away from my babygirl do not hurt her do not get close to her do not interact let her live her best life she deserves THE WORLD AND MORE

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Matsuda: he had a sort of troublesome childhood, his parents were very distant with him and never really showed much emotion to him. My hc is that he comes from a well off family and they tried to compensate the lack of love with toys and clothes. That’s why he tries to be very upbeat and seeks approbation from Soichiro, because he finally felt like someone cared about him and doesn’t wanna let anyone down, he fears he’ll be neglected and ignored once again if he makes any mistake.

Naomi: ok this will be sad but i think since she started her relationship with Raye she dreamed of having a child, like she had very maternal feelings and loved babies and everytime one of her friends got pregnant she was extremely supportive, helping her and when the kid finally arrived she enjoyed taking care of them.

6: favorite line from this character

Matsuda: 

only one way to describe it: i c o n i c

Naomi: 

when he tricked Light giving him a fake name, my girl showing off her brains

7: one way in which I relate to this character

Matsuda: i can be quite dorky too and akward sometimes but also i am extroverted, fun and  friendly like him. I relate a lot to him too because from time to time i also struggle thinking i am not enough (like at uni when i have tests or difficult homeworks) or when i had anxiety over thinking my friends considered me as stupid because i am always joking and trying to make people laugh (i dont struggle with this anymore bc i had a talk with them and they told me they didn’t think like that but i get his feelings with the taskforce)

Naomi: well to some degree i relate to her as i consider myself to be a strong minded person and very loyal to the people i love so if something bad happened to them and i could help in some way i totally would

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

Matsuda: the whole scene when he is discovered by the yotsuba group and has to make the akward cal to L to get help, my poor boy

Naomi: nothing, she only has iconic moments

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

BOTH OF THEM ARE CINNAMON ROLLS THAT DESERVE TO BE PROTECTED AND LOVED TO NO ENDS

[13eyond13]

Do you think Light ever could have killed anyone with his actual hands?

Hmm, good question!

I think Light would normally be quite averse to actually getting his hands dirty in order to murder someone, and that a big part of his character is how physically removed he is from the murders he orchestrates. Writing down a name in a notebook is very different than actually using a weapon or physical violence in order to take a life, so in some ways it’s very hard for me to imagine Light going to such extremes if he didn’t have something like the Death Note to carry out his murders.

However, Light definitely proves to have a sizeable cruel streak once he decides to become god. He always takes pleasure in plotting people’s demises, and in watching those who “defy” him die right in front of him, and in emphasizing that he’s the one personally responsible for their death in his mind. He seems to appreciate the weird intimacy of it in a secretive way, though he also always wants to make sure the person knows that he’s the one who killed them immediately after the fact, too.

He literally takes off his disguise and stands over Raye’s body to say goodbye to him when he dies, for example:

And he laments that he won’t get the chance to see how Naomi actually kills herself the first time he writes down her name:

He smiles secretly to himself several times while imagining how he’s going to kill Misa someday (not to mention L and everyone else currently on the Kira investigation team):

And he loves the idea of being the one to kill L himself: 

And true enough, he didn’t look too sad to be up close and personal for this iconic moment:

Light seems to believe that anyone standing in his way truly deserves that kind of fate, and also deserves to be humiliated for it right before they die. I’ve never liked it in fics when Light uses a gun or anything like that, because he was against using guns in canon, and it always seems out of character to me for him to wield something so obviously violent or crude in order to achieve his goals. But Light also instigates physical fights twice with L in canon when feeling helpless and insulted during his “innocent” handcuffed period, so he’s definitely capable of being driven to physical violence when he’s infuriated as well.

I think that he will always believe that the other person deserves to die more than HE deserves to die or should be made to give up on achieving his goals, so in my opinion he probably does have the potential to be pushed into killing someone with his bare hands, yes. But I think that it would only be a desperate last resort type solution for him. He seems to prefer to commit his murders using much sneakier, emotionally manipulative, and physically indirect means.

[grelleswife]

Do you have any obscure Death Note character headcanons yourself? I bet they'd be good 😄

I sure do! Thanks so much for the ask, @13eyond13 !

From the manga

The girl accosted by Takuo Shibuimau, one of Light’s earliest victims: Her name was Hana. Came from a lower-middle-class family and was raised by her mother after her father died in an automobile accident when she was just a baby. As a little girl, she always loved to give dramatic recitations of the books she was reading, and she eventually made a successful career in voice acting, primarily anime. Ironically, she was never a true Kira supporter. Even though she felt that many of Kira’s victims deserved their fate, she was frightened by the long-term implications of the killer’s rule.L’s rival Deneuve: A Frenchwoman who was in her mid-thirties when she and Coil engaged in the detective war with L. Of average height and build with mousy brown hair, she was decidedly unremarkable in appearance. However, much like Jane Austen, Deneuve was the sort who said little but observed much, and her intellectual prowess intimated her peers. She tended to keep to herself due to the nature of her work and to the fact that she was rather shy. Although she mainly devoted herself to her detective duties, she also wrote acerbic, insightful novels, painted watercolors, and crocheted in her spare time. Loved chamomile tea and her two cats. After being defeated by L, she felt that she had lost her purpose in life. Falling into despair, she overdosed on sleeping pills one bleak winter day, dying as quietly as she had lived.Haley Belle (one of the FBI agents murdered by Light): Power lesbian. Blonde with a slender build and warm hazel eyes. Good friends with Raye and Naomi. Would occasionally go out for drinks with them (she had a bit of an unrequited crush on Naomi, truth be told). Collected stamps and foreign currency. An excellent markswoman with a wry sense of humor. Owned a pet cockatiel that was adopted by her sister after her tragic demise.Koki Tanakabara (the announcer on NHN TV’s Golden News who was on-site during Misa’s first killings and Soichiro’s dramatic truck-driving escapades): Though a bit gruff at times, he was a decent, kind-hearted family man who loved his wife and three kids. Would sometimes feed pigeons and stray cats at the park when he thought no one was looking (he didn’t like to admit that he could be a bit of a softie). Enjoyed playing baseball when he was younger and attended all of his children’s sports games religiously. Even when the chips were down, Tanakabara was willing to stand by what he believed to be right. Tanakabara always maintained that Kira was little better than the criminals he so callously murdered, and that only a fool would worship such a person as a god. These views eventually cost him his life when Mikami slew him on the grounds that, due to his outspoken anti-Kira sentiments, he was a wicked, worthless individual. 3Another Note

Blackberry Brown: Owned and operated a thriving bakery famed for its cakes and muffins. Liked her toast burnt black at the edges. Enjoyed reading crime novels. Could be a bit old-fashioned– she was the sort of person who unironically owned (and used) a record-player and typewriter.

Blues-harp Babysplit: A talented local jazz musician (saxophonist) who regularly performed at L.A. nightclubs. A raconteur with a colorful personality. A bit of a ladies’ man. Liked cigars and whiskey. Tended to live above his means but had a knack for sweet-talking creditors into giving him more time to pay off his debts. Was the sort of person who always drove at least 20 miles above the speed limit. Released a best-selling album based on the LABB murders when the case was finally closed.

[corpsedessert]

THEM <3

[misas-biggest-fan]

some detailed thoughts on an LABB movie w a ‘read more’ bc i have A Lot To Say

i want it to be a movie bc i love movies

im also open to the concept of a mini series but a full tv show might be a challenging stretch

animated or live action would both be incredible and both have their unique pros and cons

the whole thing is DISTINCTLY LA

busy streets and palm trees and the Hollywood sign and the shiny, overly false glamour of everything

would really contrast well with Rue Ryuzaki’s disturbing fake-ness

like he’s just as fake as the whole city, that both he and Hollywood have on this costume to hide tragedy and hideous deeds

i want it to have the glitz and glam and extravagance of the recent gatsby movie (which i adore, dont come for me)

if bahz luhrmann doesn’t direct i will RIOT id die for bahz luhrmann he’s Good and he has the same energy and chaotic attitude of beyond birthday himself

i want beyond to have a scene like the one where Nick realizes who Gatsby is and Gatsby turns around with the champagne flute and the fireworks go off in slow motion as he smiles that’s my favorite shot in all of cinematic history no joke

it’s HIGHLY STYLIZED. i want bright colors and weird aesthetic choices

I also want some shockingly beautiful frames of LA and surprisingly sophisicated shots of Beyonds face lit up in different neon colors or something

Indie enough to be weird and fun but pop enough to be easily digestible

it opens with mello writing his book (like moulin rouge!! a;lsdjfk)

his burn scars are just healing and he knows he’ll die soon so he has to write down all his important memories, leave something behind

he wants to write down something important to him, something that he can leave for Near, something that might put his own life and actions into context

something that might help other people understand who he was more

so of course, he thinks of beyond

who he respects and admires and pities

who has such a similar and yet different story from Mello’s own

so maybe in understanding beyond and understanding how mello feels about beyond

people will understand mello

near will understand mello

so mello gets to work detailing this story his incredible mentor L once told him, describing this beautiful memory he has of meeting with and talking to L and how L told him about Beyond

(in this scene, you don’t SEE L. you just get an idea of what he looks like, flashes and shots, so that the audience can know L well enough to still wonder about the identity Rue Ryuzaki throughout the movie)

and then of course, we dive into the story

Beyond is OVER THE TOP. he’s more than unsettling, he’s downright terrifying. but he’s still somehow intriguing and even charming at times, like he can turn the smoulder on and off at will. 

Hes a disaster nb, a fabulous hodgepodge of discarded gender roles and impressive makeup skills

Him practicing his evil laugh and trying so desperately to be this comic villain didjdjdje hes such a loser i love him that scene NEEDS to make an appearance

he and naomi’s chemistry is incredible to watch on screen because beyond dominates any scene he’s in unless naomi is there to challenge him because her acting is also so powerful that when they’re on screen together, it’s like you can’t tear your eyes away from this insane car wreck that is their relationship

and NAOMI

a;lksdfj;dlkfj naomi misora <3 <3 <3 <3 ok im ready

so naomi is also a powerful presence on screen, even though she’s not crawling on the ground or eating with her hands or you know whatever ridiculous garbage beyond is doing

more time is spent on her

her disastrous relationship with raye

her feelings over her suspension from the FBI

and really play up the whole jessica jones thing she’s got going on

i want black leather for DAYS

I want “gritty LA detective who’s on suspension from the FBI because she doesn’t play by the rules” or whatever except it’s a twist because not only is she not a man, like this trope usually calls for, but it turns out she was suspended because of her tenderness and humanity instead of her brutality

she still needs to have MULTIPLE fight scenes, a few with beyond and maybe even a few with other attackers, who she absolutely mops the floor with

but then she and beyond have a scene where they fight against someone together

he’s not a good fighter. she mostly has to save his butt every time but he’s just happy to be there and probably keeps saying stuff like ‘wow misora you’re amazing!’ and she’s like ‘?!?! ryuzaki you loser?1?! run?!?’

and of course, there’s enough twists and changes from the book to keep everyone on their toes, but GOOD changes

like maybe we go back to mello a few times and he has more of his own subplot where his relationship to near is revealed more fully, that he wants near to understand him and he wants to reach out to near emotionally in this way

contrast mello’s story with beyond’s so when we learn beyond’s full story at the end, he and mello are revealed to be foils of each other

we get shots of wammy’s house and we see a and beyond interact and we see beyond’s life-destroying grief over a’s death

we get contrasting shots of wammy’s with mello and near and we’re allowed to hope that maybe they can be happier

A and beyond become something of a subplot leading up to as death but you dont entirely realize who beyond is until the big reveal at the end

maybe beyond does some more unsettling things that are just as creepy and in-character but are a terrible surprise for those who’ve already read the book!! i can’t imagine what other horrific thing he could do to scare naomi, but there’s got to be something

i’m rly into bday massacre bc i love naomi and beyond’s rly twisted relationship so i’d love to see more of him being in awe of her, more of them connecting, more of beyond opening up to her even. maybe she tells him a little bit about her suspension. just a little.

also if we could like clean up some of the plot holes in this joint pls and thank you

id even be ok if it’s insinuated that he self-sabotaged a little, on a conscious level or not, bc i feel like that wouldn’t be tooooooo ooc i mean, he’s a hot mess. most of this is just a really twisted cry for help anyway, at least in my interpretation. he wants people to realize he’s suffering. he just… can’t do it in a normal or healthy way :/

beyond pls a;lkdfj

Anyway. Theres also a boppin soundtrack

Fire is a big motif. Maybe make a connection between wildfires in CA and beyond using this case to self-destruct

A little more closure at the end. Thats part of the drive behind my bday massacre fanfic rn is that i feel like he and naomi never got any real closure on the traumatizing, like, week or two they spent together

I also want more closure on naomi as a character arc. I want her to dump rayes sorry butt and i want her to have had some sort of real internal change. None of this “she picks up her life where she left off and never thinks abt beyond again”

Of course, L is revealed and has his glorious little spill down the concrete subway stairs. Its What He Deserves :)

And of course we have to make the obvious contrast between both beyond and mello having survived serious burn injuries its just another thing that makes them such interestingly comparable characters

If Naomi visits Beyond in prison to say goodbye, i wouldnt be opposed. If they made my fanfiction into a movie i wouldnt be opposed

Mello prints out his book in the mafia hideout, his arms folded and waiting as paper after paper comes out, just begging any of these mafia dudes to mock him for liking to write. None of them do. Its a funny moment tho

He debates sending it to near, feeling so awkward and prideful, but he finally does it, leaving instructions for it to reach near after his death.

In the end, naomi and beyond are revealed to be dead at the same time as near receives the package from his dear mello

Naomi and beyond were doomed, and so were beyond and a, but now… near has mellos last love letter to him, cryptically begging him to try to understand. And so theres hope that although the rest of these relationships were doomed, maybe near can still have one piece of mello and be happy

[mikami]

Is there any characterization from the drama that you really like (besides Mikami because he actually exists there)? I think that the drama has the best versions of some characters but others are wildly bad

Hmmh, difficult to say. I’d say the actors for Light, Misa, Matsuda and Mikami all did a fantastic job at physically embodying their characters, but the script didn’t actually give them anything of value to… do with that? So they’re all either inconsistent or merely pretty flat as characters. (To be fair, I think I rate Hinako Sano’s Misa higher than is deserved acting-wise, because I just think she’s… so cute… she’s just so pretty…. I’m just one single lesbian, help me………)

I was considering talking about drama opinions anyway, so here’s a run-down of what I think of the characters as portrayed in the drama:

Light: They really half-assed this concept. If they were going to do ‘average guy Light’, then they should have committed to that and wrote a full character arc based on it. Instead they just try to change him to canon!Light halfway through, which is just unsatisfying on either front. Things like ‘does he still care for Misa?’ go totally unanswered as the drama shies away for deviating from canon TOO FAR suddenly.This Light is for some reason also really attached to L, which is incomprehensible because all this L ever does is torture him and be mean?? They also spend far less time together than in the manga. Light and L’s friendship really relies hardcore on a pre-existing attachment to Lawlight for selling itself to the viewer. In the drama on its own, it’s a giant headscratcher and doesn’t help making Light feel any more fleshed out.

L: A totally different character than in canon, but if nothing else a fairly consistent one. He’s also super attached to Light but in his case I can at least vaguely understand why? Vaguely. He really suffers from being far more of an open jackass than manga!L while also being far more idealized from the writing. He’s gleeful about torture but we’re still supposed to think of him as a genuinely good person. That… doesn’t check out. He’s not badly portrayed but also not very interesting.

Near/Mello: Again, a totally different take. They’re now split personalities residing in the same body, respectively ‘sweet and kind’ and ‘violent and all-out’ in nature. Neither of these sides ever get any specific depth added to them, they only get somewhat contextualized by attachment/dislike for L. Characterization for them gets tossed aside in favor of more L stuff!!

Misa: Grade A dumbass, I love her. Exaggerates the dense and silly parts of Misa’s personality intensely, takes out a lot of her selfishness and unpredictability. Her development also gets dropped early in, in favor of having her sometimes be cute in the background. But hey, if she just repeats “you killed the man who murdered my parents” often enough, that’s almost as if we spent more time fleshing her out, right?

and more under the cut, because this is getting longer than I meant for it to get.

Soichiro: A consistent character, hurray! He’s got the basic traits of manga!Soichiro, only… he’s genuinely just kind of a shitty parent. Stone-faced emotionally absent duty-above-all-father. He makes me… really angry, but he makes me angry on an in-universe ‘I don’t like this character’ level. Writing-wise, he’s pretty decent!

Mikami: Since all the actually sympathetic parts of Mikami’s backstory went to Light in this version, he’s left with the extremely reduced ‘weird elementary-schooler who is happy about his mom dying’ shtick only. Sad. This Mikami is a huge dumbass. Like I can’t stress enough how fucking stupid every single thing he does is. I love him. His utter chaotic energy is the best part of the drama. I wouldn’t mind Oshinari playing a canon-close Mikami either, I do think his acting fits!

Ryuk: Bad. Annoying as hell, nothing else. Half of his screentime is spent calling Misa ‘titty-girl’.

Rem: Who? Rem doesn’t get any more attention than strictly necessary to make the plot work. Don’t look for Remisa here.

Watari: Totally different from canon again, but a treat to watch if you like watching tiny kindly cute old men running around! He’s the only character I got actually emotional about in watching the drama, though he also doesn’t get much depth beyond his basic trope.

Matsuda: PERFECT casting, sadly his personality is pretty much missing in action. Matsuda in the drama is cute, cute, cute, and that’s all there is to him. Even his iconic moment of shooting Light a) only happens on Near’s orders and b) is partly taken over by Mogi and Aizawa.

Mogi: Took the best parts of Aizawa’s and Matsuda’s personality, apparently.

Aizawa: He’s only here to form a comedy duo with Matsuda.

Himura: This character combines Naomi, Lidner and parts of Mello. She doesn’t get any background beyond ‘I owe L my life so now I’ll do anything for him’, so she’s a huge disappointment.

Raye Penber: He takes the roles of both himself and Naomi in the early arcs. A pretty guy, but not overtly interesting. Banters with L once!

Sayu: A teen girl. Half her dialogue is telling Light to make dinner, because fleshing out sibling relations is for losers.

So tl;dr: don’t expect anything beyond surface level portrayals in the drama. L, Light and Soichiro are the only characters that are attempted to be portrayed with depth and the success is limited.

[lizzybeth1986]

Coffee and Cupcakes

Book: Veil of Secrets

Pairing: Naomi x Faith (F!MC)

Word Count: 2,022

Summary: Set during the scene where Naomi meets the MC in Chapter 5, and just before the MC gets to meet Grant and Scarlett. Naomi is upset about being taken off the case after the murder of Tanner Sterling, and Faith knows just the thing that will cheer her up.

Author's Note: It's no secret that I think Naomi is not getting the attention she deserves in the book. I felt the scene where she meets the MC and tells her she's been taken off the case would have been the perfect opportunity for a diamond scene, but unfortunately we weren't given that opportunity. This is what I believe we could have seen if we were really given a diamond scene there. A lot of thanks goes @i-dream-so-i-write because this fic wouldn't have come to life if it hadn't been for her exclaiming "They could have definitely slipped in a diamond option here! 'Naomi has been taken off the case, would you like to cheer her up with coffee and cake?'" 😀

My faceclaims are Raye Zaragoza (for Naomi) and Sarah Jane Dias (for Faith).

“Birchport’s own Prince Charming murdered, Cinderella missing…and it’s up to Walsh and Duffy to save the day.”

The thought itself made the two women shudder. Faith hadn’t known any of these people for more than a day, and still she was pretty sure she’d never trust Walsh to find his way around his own office, much less a case as convoluted as this one was turning out to be. Naomi, on the other hand…

“Might as well get going,” Naomi murmured. She was staring down at the half-empty coffee cup, yet not quite looking at it.

Funny place, this, Faith thought to herself, People get fired here for doing their job.

Not that it surprised Faith, not in the slightest. She'd seen and heard enough in her line of work to understand that that there were Walshes everywhere in America...but it didn't make each revelation of the racism rampant in that department any less shocking.

It took a lot to get Faith to care about people she hardly met, but Naomi Silverhawk had managed that feat in less than an hour.

“Psst…Faith.” Miss Harlenay whispered. Or at least, she seemed to believe she was whispering. “Faith.”

“Yes, Miss Harlenay?”

“Your girlfriend seems a little…down, don’t you think?”

“Friend,” Faith whispered back, trying hard to ignore the heat creeping up her cheeks, “We just met.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” she replied, silently chuckling. Or not so silently. It was Miss Harlenay after all. “There’s a cozy little coffee shop three streets down. Take her. Looks like she could use a pick-me-up, poor girl.“

Faith shook her head. Much as she loved the idea, she’d already taken up way too much of Deputy Silverhawk’s time. She didn’t want to eat further into whatever was left of the poor woman’s day.

"Oh, and their carrot cupcakes are divine!” Miss Harlenay elongated her ‘i’s so Faith knew what she was missing. For some reason, she seemed to think great cake would convince her guest if nothing else could.

Faith sneaked a look towards Naomi, hoping the other woman wouldn’t catch her staring. Her eyes were bloodshot, the bags beneath them a mirror of Faith’s own. It couldn’t have been easy, being a woman of colour in a racist police department, making double the effort to earn half the respect men like Walsh got. Naomi looked tired, beaten down. Defeated.

No way am I leaving you like this. No way in hell.

She turned back to the cheery older woman.

“Say, Miss Harlenay,” her voice dripping honey, “Is the coffee there any good?”

–

Rich and dark, Eleanor Harlenay had said. Like a shot in the arm, she'd said. A sip of that and a bite of that cake could take you straight to heaven, she'd said.

Well, she was right.

The Bean was a homey little café located at the end of a narrow lane, and seemed to have a limited clientele. The decor was warm and inviting, all wood and rustic decor, the day’s specials listed out on a blackboard. It smelled like buttered baked goods and freshly-ground coffee.

Just looking at it brought half the sparkle back in Naomi’s eyes.

"Feel better?” Faith asked her once they found themselves a table.

“Much,” Naomi replied, smiling and setting her bag - where her uniform lay, neatly folded - down. The silk of her newly-purchased outfit slid down her legs before resting on her seat. It was a loosely-fit black dress, brightened up with bursts of colour shaped like flowers, the skirts swishing around Naomi’s legs as she walked.

“So. How many people does Miss Harlenay insist on dressing up in a day?”

Naomi seemed like a different person altogether as she walked down the road without her uniform: laughing delightedly at the feel of the fabric over her skin, her hair loosened and her movements so much freer.

(“Are you sure you’re going to let her go in that?”

Faith sighed, avoiding Naomi’s questioning gaze as she turned to the owner of this B&B. It had become a daily ritual now, coyly refusing then grudgingly accepting her offers of clothing. The clothes looked like they belonged on a fashion ramp, Eleanor Harlenay was nothing if not persistent, and it was often hard to get away with just a simple 'no’.

“Miss Harlenay it’s alright really you don’t need to –”

But she was already rifling through her closet, not waiting for an answer. Before either woman could protest, she’d pulled out a flowy black thing, thrusting it into their hands.

“No way am I allowing a pretty girl like her to go out on a first date in her khakis.”

“Miss Harlenay,” she hissed, nose scrunched up in irritation. She’d faced enough embarrassment for the day.

But the older woman went back to work like Faith had said nothing).

Faith giggled now, remembering the look on Naomi’s face when Miss Harlenay opened her makeshift clothes closet. “Only me so far. Or people I -”

Like. People I like. She stopped herself in time, but nothing escaped Naomi, really. Faith bit her bottom lip and looked away as the woman opposite her raised an eyebrow.

Damn this hopelessly expressive face. You didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to tell when Faith Maria Gomes had a serious crush on someone, and that definitely was the case right now. Were Kate here right now she’d be teasing and leaving hints about matching them up - hints the size of Tanner’s mansion. Were Kate here…

“Your spiced carrot cupcakes and coffee, Miss.”

Faith sighed and shook her head. They'd find her in time, she was sure they would. They’d have to, before Birchport lost more lives. Tanner may have been the only one for now, but she doubted he would be the last.

The cupcakes were a work of art: moist and subtly spiced, studded with chopped walnuts and raisins. The cream cheese frosting was rich and not too sweet, and it went so incredibly well with the coffee. Naomi seemed to agree, laughing as she tried to lick away crumbs from her bottom lip.

“I don't remember how you convinced me into doing this but I'm glad you did,” she said, eyes glistening. “Carrot cake wouldn't be our first choice of dessert back home, but this might very well change my mind.”

From a radio at the opposite corner of the room, Bobby Darin's baritone was singing odes to a lover somewhere...beyond the sea. she's there, watchin’ for me.

It was ridiculous, how incredibly aware she was getting of every move Naomi made on just their second day together. A tiny spot of cream cheese stayed on her top lip, driving Faith to distraction, making her want to reach out across the table and --

But Naomi noticed her staring, and gave her a questioning look. She pointed to her own lip, eyes never leaving Naomi. Naomi nodded in understanding and dabbed the cream off with a napkin. Faith let out an involuntary sigh.

if I could fly like birds on high then straight to her arms I'd go sailin'...

“What would you recommend if I were ever to visit Wyoming?”

“Hmm…I'm not sure. Whiskey truffles from Meeteetse’s Chocolates?” Naomi replied, eyes rolling to the back of her head, probably at the memory of how it must have tasted, “I've tried it only once. Heady and smooth. You can never stop at just one.”

I should nickname you Whiskey Truffle, then. “Do you miss home?”

“Now more than ever.” Naomi toyed with her fork absently, not really looking at the food. She let out a deep, shuddering breath. “No matter how bad things got, I had people to go home to. I didn't have to keep explaining. I didn't have to say anything. They'd just...know.”

It stung, imagining how frightening the first few weeks must have been for this woman she barely knew. How happy Naomi must have been, getting this post on her own merits. How disappointed she must have felt, knowing exactly what she was worth and exactly how little that mattered to most of the men in her department.

Knowing how important it was to all of them that she be less than what she really was.

“Naomi?”

“Mmm?” she murmured, taking a sip of her coffee now.

“I was...remembering the first time we met outside Tanner's home, and I've been wondering since.”

“What?”

“What really got you to listen to me that day? You seemed so resigned to taking the backseat just ten minutes before that. You seemed to be my only hope, but I was sure I would fail.”

“You knew there was a chance I'd say no, and yet...you reached out to me anyway?” Naomi replied, her eyes never leaving Faith’s.

“I'd hoped.”

Naomi stayed silent for a few minutes. Turned to the window nearby, looking lost. Enough to make her worry whether she overstepped a little by asking.

When she finally spoke, it was in a tone so quiet Faith had to strain to hear her. Almost like she was speaking more to herself than to the woman in front of her.

“I'd almost forgotten why I'd left home and started afresh over here.” she said, swallowing, “You made me remember.”

She paused before she spoke again. “Perhaps you made me hope too, Faith.”

--

They didn't speak about the case again until they’d started walking back to Faith’s B&B. The air was cool and salty on their skin, and the silence companionable, punctured only by the distant wails of seagulls.

“Faith,” Naomi said suddenly, placing her had on Faith’s arm so they could stop walking. “I just remembered why I came here in the first place...I got a call from tech about the tire tracks we found.”

“And?” Naomi had her undivided attention now, budding attraction be damned.

“The car. It was a mid-90s Dusk Avalon.”

“Any idea who the owner might be?”

She shook her head, her face already falling. “Not yet. None of those have been registered anywhere within a hundred miles.”

They resumed walking, the silence now heavy with worry, and dread. How were they going to go forward now? The department weren't taking them seriously, the Sterlings were constantly breathing down their necks, Kate was nowhere, Tanner was dead, Scarlett was…

Scarlett!

Faith caught Naomi's look of concern as she searched her bag for her phone.

“We need to talk to Scarlett now,” she was speaking a mile a dozen now. They didn't have time. “Before her lawyers get there and convince her to clam up.”

Naomi looked doubtful. “I told you, Faith, she's not talking.”

“Maybe not to the police.”

Naomi opened her mouth as if to say something, then nodded, taking a step backwards so she could talk freely to Grant. Faith was way more pumped with adrenaline by the time she got off the phone, almost seeing a way out. Some sense of a concrete, tangible clue. All thanks to Naomi.

She turned to her, grinning. “We might get a lead now! I couldn't have done this without you.” Before she could stop to think about what she was doing, Faith threw her arms around Naomi, kissing her soundly on the cheek before she ran.

“I'll call you tomorrow!” She called out as she half-walked, half-sprinted to Grant's mansion.

Unbidden, the lyrics to the song she heard at The Bean made their insidious way to her head. There was no reason why that song should be etched this deep in her mind, why the words wouldn't leave. We'll meet. Beyond the shore. We'll kiss. Just as before. Happy we'll be beyond the sea and never again, I'll go sailin'...

Her lips were still tingling from where they touched Naomi's skin, but that was something for later. She wanted so badly to look back, to see if Naomi was still there, but now was not the time.

Perhaps if she had, she'd have noticed a shadowy figure standing outside her B&B, tracing her fingers over the spot where Faith’s lips touched, just minutes ago. She would have caught Naomi smiling her first genuine smile since she'd left Wyoming for Birchport.

Faith would never understand how much today meant to Naomi, and Naomi would never forget.

--

[moro-nokimi]

rewatch part 5

yes ik i said i was going to pick it up tomorrow but i don’t feel like doing fuck or shit

dark knight!joker voice here we go

YEA IT DIDN’T SKIP THE OPENING

i love this OP so much. 

OH NO LA PIETA. that sure is a thing

THE BELT

(cracks knuckles)

oh wait we’re getting early into the squick

grody

why his eyes so blue

BRUH?

WHAT 

WOW THEY REALLY JUST SMACKED HIM IN THE FACE WITH THE IDIOT BALL

(tells his whole life story to the teenager he’s supposed to be tailing) (hauls ass away)

NAOMI. TABITHA ST. GERMAINE

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

same bangs

dramatic ass. can’t blame him

why is this so horny

she’s practically taking a witness statement

dawg you saw him get beaned by a car

i wish they’d created this panel by panel. yes it’s wish fulfillment what ab it

oh yeah here goes the shitty delivery :(

too bad the tone sucks bc it is a genuinely good scene that does establish he gives a shit about her

he sounds waaaaaaaaaay paternalistic and shitty in the dub and sub. i don’t blame ppl for their wrong opinions ab their relationship

like by definition an opinion is objective but that doesn’t make it any less wrong

and here we go

aw

oh bye i got hit in the nuts with sad :(

they really were planning a family huh :(

oh the joke about her dad scaring him more than kira. bye

cinnamon tography

NOOOOO

ugh it was almost his birthday too when he d*es :( naomi spent it alone and grieving i bet

i wish they hadn’t moved it forward three years, bc now the tracksuit from this jagoff makes more sense

HE DOESN’T EVEN RECOGNIZE THE VOICE? HE WAS JUST TALKING TO HIM

okay i guess the fact that irl there was a week’s time and he spoke to light once hampers things a little but he has a distinct voice (dub-wise anyways)

oh man :(

isn’t that so creepy

okay, gross? he’s a shitty guy but that doesn’t mean he deserved to die

if anything this is pushing me moreso to be anti-death penalty and anti-kira

god he’s bluffing so hard

NO

NO FUCKING WAY

I FORGOT ABOUT THAT

GIVING ME THE HEEBIES, JEEBIES, AND WIGGINS

I FORGOT HE THREATENED NAOMI UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH

oh jesus

he probably worked with those guys beforehand. 

that’s fucking terrifying, not knowing that you’re killing the guys you’ve worked with and then dying yourself.

i wonder what raye’s last thought was, besides it being light yagami

NOPE NOT GONNA GO DOWN THAT RABBIT HOLE

like obviously raye is a smart guy i don’t get the fics that take his intelligence down a few pegs to prop up naomi

those are the same fics that make him to be an abusive dick

like i love her but this is not the move. we can love a woman and hate what was done without removing her agency

oh god, he looks completely dead behind the eyes

aw :(((

NO

YIKES

ugh.

oh shit i thought that was their analogy to g w bush

raye was in a shitload of pain. i don’t envy the guy.

oh god :(((

they’re so heavy on the copaganda, yeesh

light must be peak deer in the headlights rn

oh yeah, yeah he is. that’s why in the manga he’s turned away from his family. wish this had been more faithful to it rather than cutting shit out.

i forgot that netflix spliced in footage from the relight OVAs

OH THAT PHOTO :(

she just barely missed them. aizawa walked right fucking past her. god that sucks.

TREVOR DEVALL.

i love how it foreshadows his arc within the mello/near arc, his dissent to L

no eyebrows u.u

kitty...

how tall is aizawa anyways? we know matsuda is 5′8, and in this he has about 2″ of hair to make him the same height as matsuda. so wouldn’t that make him like 5′6″... but even then there’s sooo many continuity errors, ugh.

fair enough. i can’t wait for the homoeroticism

that bone structure

still geeking about that LLP message with the actual literal message from the man himself

[kimium]

A few weeks ago I reblogged a list of questions around Death Note and thought "well if no one asks that's a shame but it's fine". I then remembered (then = now) that this is my blog. I can talk about what I want without prompting.

So, here I go. Rest is under the cut.

1. Do you prefer the anime or manga?

I think both versions of the series are beautiful but I have to give it to the manga. Fun fact, I read the manga in high school, just around the time the anime aired. I then proceed to not watch the anime until... about three months ago.

2. Who is your favourite character?

I'm very basic— my favourite character is L. (Runner up goes to Naomi Misora mostly due to the LABB murder cases.)

(As a side note, now that I'm older I actually really like Near and Mello. I think both are fun and got a lot more flack from the fandom than they deserved.)

3. Who is your least favourite character?

Probably Teru Mikami. I think it's because he's the character trope "I was picked on in school and now that I received one (1) bit of power I'm now acting exactly like the bullies I hated". Hypocrisy is very annoying.

4. Who were you rooting for? (Team Kira or Team L?)

Initially, when I read the manga I was cheering for both parties. I liked how Light had a supernatural edge and I liked that despite the odds, L was figuring everything out. But now? I'm 100% Team L.

5. Who is your favourite shinigami?

While I like both (I'm not including Sidoh), I think I have to give it to Ryuk. I love that he's chaotic and has always been in it for himself.

6. Which is your favourite arc?

Again, I'm basic— I like the Yotsuba arc. Mostly because it's "look at what L and Light could have been if not for the Death Note". It's bitter sweet because we know this won't last. (Also like it because it's a popular spot to divert canon in fanfiction.)

7. What character deserved better?

MISA. She deserved so much more! There was so much wasted potential with her! For example, she could have snapped out of her infatuation with Light and realized he's only using her. She could have been a threat to him! Also, wasted opportunity to have her get together with Rem (or Kiyomi Takada, which is a fascinating ship).

(Shout out to Matt as well. Boy deserved more development.)

8. Which of the openings is your favourite?

Controversial answer: Neither. I dislike both openings.

9. What is your favourite song from the OST?

Any of the ominous choir chanting tracks. Those popped off harder than required. I love it.

10. What is your favourite song from the musical?

There...is a musical?

11. Who is your favourite ship?

I like the most popular (and again basic) ship of the series: LawLight. Some of my other favourite ships:

-Misa/Rem

-Near/Mello/Matt (My eyes have been open to this OT3. Thank you, AO3.)

-Beyond Birthday/Naomi Misora (my girl deserved better than Raye Pember and yes, a serial killer with identity issues is better.)

-I've also seen Beyond/Light/L as an OT3 and that's Fascinating on so many levels.

12. When did you first get into Death Note?

I was in grade 9 or 10. I read the manga.

13. Do you own any merch? If you do, what's your favourite thing you have?

I own a Death Note. I also own the light novels (LABB murder cases and L Change the World). At one point I also owned the live action dramas but I'm not sure where those are. My favourite is the LABB murder cases. I really enjoyed that light novel.

14. What is your favourite piece of trivia?

Originally, Near and Mello's names were supposed to be swapped. There was an error in editing/printing and they mixed up the names.

15. What is your favourite line from the anime?

To this day, even if I hadn't fallen back into the series, the line "L, do you know Shinigami like apples?" has lived rent free in my brain. Upon getting back into the series, I really love the overlapping lines from Light and L when they say "I am... Justice." It's corny, yes, but also shows both of them are strong in their convictions and believes. I love parallels between opposing characters.

16. Have you read LABB?

Yes, I have! I really love it. I think if Death Note ever did an anniversary anime celebration they should animate the light novel. Or animate the one-shot.

17. If you've consumed any of the side media (novels, musical, TV drama, etc.), which is your favourite?

Besides the LABB light novel, I love the drama. I love how it ended with L exposing Light. It's a fun "what if the series went this way" ending.

18. What song reminds you of Death Note? (Either a specific character or the story as a whole.)

Many, many, many years ago a friend showed me an AMV for Death Note to the song "Chop Suey!" by System of a Down. To this day it still makes me think of Death Note.

[beyondmisora-archive]

Beyond, 10-20 for the ask meme!!

Thank you so much. 

So, just a heads up, these are from a very general no-LABB au with some hints of birthdaymassacre.

10. Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such?

When Beyond cleans, he’s always incredibly thorough. Cleaning the light sockets is actually part of his ordinary routine. He also tends to scratch at his arm and face hard when he’s nervous. He’s always been aware that his behaviors were unusual, but at Wammy’s House there was no one he could talk to about these things.

11. Intellectual pursuits?

Beyond adores puzzles. Making puzzles, completing puzzles. Crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, 3D puzzles, anagrams, word searches, riddles. He loves to learn new things and will often lock himself away to just learn whatever he can.

12. Favorite book genre?

He really likes fantasy. Magic is something that he always wanted in his life, he thinks about it a lot once A dies. He also invests himself himself in murder mysteries, though that’s only to get an idea or two.

13. Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

Beyond is bisexual. He thinks people should feel free to be with whoever they want without any judgement. He once punched a man for being biphobic.

14. Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)

He has some light scarring under his breast from top surgery. He’s also got a few scars on his hands from incidents with his switchblades. Until he goes to a chiropractor, his back has a hunch to it from so many years of terrible posture. 

15. Biggest and smallest short term goal?

For Beyond’s smallest short term goal, he just wants to buy some more varied makeups. For his biggest goal, he wants to make a solid investment like a car.

16. Biggest and smallest long term goal?

His biggest long term goal is putting meaning into his life again. The smallest is attending therapy consistently.

17. Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

Beyond usually doesn’t do for anything too fancy, he doesn’t like to stand out. He likes flannels and baggy jeans mostly. He just wants to be comfortable, but he’ll let Naomi put him in suits. If going undercover, he’ll volunteer himself to be the sexy girl in a dress in a heartbeat, even if that isn’t necessarily what he needs. He likes wearing more “feminine” clothing when he can, but the looks make him insecure.

18. Favorite beverage?

Beyond likes coffee a lot, usually something overly sweet and chocolaty. Like a peppermint mocha frappuccino.

19. What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

Before he left Wammy’s he thinks of A. Of avenging his fallen friend, of killing Roger Ruvie and Quillsh Wammy with his bare hands. He thinks of freedom. He thinks of America, a new start.

Once he finds his way to LA, gets the help he needs, he has better thoughts. He thinks of Misora living her long life. He thinks of how lucky he’d be if she left Raye for him. And of how lucky he is when she does. How he doesn’t deserve her. Doesn’t deserve to live. But he’s there and she’s loving him and somehow… things are looking up for him.

20. Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?

Beyond had the standard colds and flus that all kids get. He generally happened to be the kid that got the entire orphanage sick, another reason Roger hated him more than most other kids.