#what we said about who’s the Ryuk to whose Light…

[cuteniarose]

@rokurookajima

sketched this out at jury duty actually

[kiyomitakada]

At last the warehouse is silent except for Light Yagami's wheezing breaths.

Teru stands. His nice shoes are stained with viscera. He has just killed seven people.

He has never particularly cared about victory.

"Mikami," Light gasps out. "Mikami. You did it."

There is the blood of an eighteen-year-old boy splashed on Teru's dress shoes. He's never fired a gun before. He's handled plenty as a prosecutor, of course, typically while cursing the murderers whose fingerprints littered the handles.

"You're not God," Teru says.

"What are—you talking about?" Light manages a smile. It twitches oddly on his face, like a dying butterfly. "We won."

Teru just looks at him. Looks and looks and looks.

He used to wonder what God looked like. It was an idle thought, one only entertained in the depths of night when the sleep medication hadn't quite kicked in yet. He told himself it didn't matter; God was an entity that surpassed shallow things like appearance, and Teru's job was to follow him no matter what. Teru was not like the rest of Demegawa's little cult, who followed God only for the sake of personal safety and money. Teru was righteous. But he had wondered, regardless.

He had never settled on an answer. But Light Yagami, bleeding from the shoulder, brown eyes and manic grin—

Pathetic, Teru thinks. You're pathetic.

"Listen, Mikami," and Light tries to sit up, but hisses through his teeth and props himself awkwardly with one elbow instead. "You've done well. I'll reward you. Anything you want."

"Your watch," Teru says.

"My—what?"

"Your watch."

The boy, before he had been gunned down by Teru's own hand, had thrown a match. Teru has never been the type for schemes, but he knows for certain that whether real or fake, all of the notebooks are now ash.

"No," Light says, clamping his free hand around his wrist instantly. "You can't—it's from my father."

Teru could almost laugh. How nice having a father must have been. How inconsequential.

"I don't care," he says.

It's a fitting choice for a sacred compartment. Something paternal, something time-keeping, something small. It must fit right over Light's pulse point.

"It's not enough," Light tries. "It's—it's a tiny scrap of paper. It could fit ten names at most."

Teru feels his face fall. He can write very, very small, but the idea of the paper running out is terrifying.

Still. It's better than nothing. Perhaps he'll never even write in it. Perhaps he'll keep it on a necklace or frame it on his desk. Teru can do good work without the Death Note, but he cannot go on without God.

"I don't care," he repeats, and strides towards him.

Light flinches. He tries to get up again; his arm fails him, and he starts dragging himself backwards instead. Like a worm, Teru thinks. That's all he is. A worm and a murderer.

"Don't get closer, Mikami," he says, voice cracking with the beginnings of nervous laughter. "I still have—"

Teru punches him in the nose.

Light collapses. Teru very easily slips the watch off his wrist.

The shinigami is cackling.

"You don't know how to unlock it!" Light reaches for him. Teru yanks the watch away from his grasp. The idea of being touched right now is more repulsive than the blood. "I never told anyone!"

"I saw you do it," Teru points out. Just before he'd broken out of his restraints he'd seen Light twisting at the crown of the watch to kill Nate River. Four times. A holy number? Or just habit?

"Ryuk!" Light shrieks. "Stop him!"

Oh, there it is. The appeal to a higher power. But Teru's God loves him, and Light Yagami's false idol does not.

It's almost sympathetic. Teru is not a heartless man. He knows how it feels to be screaming for help that never comes.

"I'm not going to kill you," Teru says, folding the watch carefully and slipping it into his breast pocket. Light stares at him, eyes wild. "You're just misguided."

"How dare you—"

If Teru was more inclined to humor, he might have said One day you'll see the light. As it is, he closes his eyes. A sense of beautiful, serene inner peace descends on him. It was foolish of him to put so much faith in a human voice over the phone, to be honest. Teru knows better now.

This time, he'll get it right. This time he will please the real God.

In the meantime, he might as well spread His word.

Teru rolls his sleeve down. He grabs Light's bare wrist through the fabric and, before Light can pull back: kisses his palm.

A day ago, this would have been reverence. Now it reveals itself as pity.

Light sucks in a breath, sharp, pained. Teru lets go.

"Good luck," he says, and means it.

"Mikami! Where are you g—Mikami!"

Teru does not look back. The shinigami's cackles fade into the distance.

(Teru Mikami dies of unclear multiple system failure ten days later.)

[ @deathnotetober day 18: worship ]

[sugarylawliet]

no good for me (light yagami x reader)

i’m back lol

> warnings: smut, degradation, spit kink, inappropriate use of the death note, VERY toxic relationship, song fic kinda, lyrics are in bold and italics, based off of diet mountain dew by lana del ray

> tag list: @ygm1slt @cradiot28

❛ you’re no good for me, baby you’re no good for me ❜

Nothing on this earth scared you more than the man you were about to see; the pretty boy brunette flaunting good grades and a picturesque family life whose facade of ambitious, respectful young man was a mask almost no one could see through. Some people felt dread at the thought of spiders or snakes, felt fear in their stomach imagining the paranormal, shadow ghosts or criminal stalkers invading their comfort zones. None of these perfectly rational fears scared you the way Light Yagami scared you. There was no fear to be had at the thought of something undesirable creeping its way into your privacy or comfort zone, because Light had manipulated his way into your comfort and trust long ago. He was scarier than a murderer ready to kill at an urge’s call, his blood lust hid in shadows behind his golden boy facade, his words were tools and his touches were negotiations. You couldn’t trust a single thing that came from his mouth, you often questioned your own sanity. Light Yagami had a terrifying grip on you, and it was exactly what he wanted.

Your eyes scan over the text Light had sent you for the millionth time, the words almost ingrained in your head at this point.

Come to my house. We need to talk. 

You were sure he kept his words vague on purpose, yet another tactic to keep you at his disposal out of pure fear. You weren’t exactly sure if you loved Light anymore; what was your definition of love at this point? You loved him, yes, but was it out of obligation? Was it survival instinct?

It was true, in the beginning you had loved Light purely and truly. You believed his ambition was justice, to make the world a better and safer place for you. But as time went on, “Kira doesn’t kill innocents” began racking up more and more exceptions, and as the twisted justifications spilled from his mouth, so did the gaslighting. Over and over, his sweet words convinced you to keep coming back. His empty promises were a drug and you were addicted. 

His text, you were sure, was a reference to this fizzling out of your love for him. He could sense it, and surely he must have found out you were planning on leaving. You weren’t planning on revealing that he’s Kira- that would cause more commotion you were not interested in being a part of- no, you simply wanted to move states, get away and forget about Light Yagami, forget about Kira and Ryuzaki and Ryuk and everything that has overtaken your life. However, if he did find out your plans to skip town, you may just have to reveal that he’s Kira for safety measures.

❛ you’re no good for me, but baby i want you ❜

Hestiently, you opened the door you had been staring at blankly for what felt like hours. Light had been staying in an upscale hotel during the investigation, so maybe the other tenants could hear you if you screamed for help; the overdramatic thought brought you comfort. 

You walk in the room, closing the door behind you. You’re met with the sight of Light’s back as he sits in the rolling chair across the room. In the absence of any words, without even seeing his face, you know he’s mad. Every slight change of Light’s emotions could strangle a whole room by tension alone; his aura manipulated the feeling in the air, which served as a helpful alarm to know when he is upset. And man, is he upset.

You open your mouth to greet him, but he cuts you off, spinning around in his chair to face you, “Don’t talk.” You nod and close your mouth. Why do you even listen to what he says?

“I knew I couldn’t trust you. From the very beginning I knew you would run that pretty little mouth of yours. I know you’re planning on leaving. And then what? Telling the first news outlet you see that I’m Kira?”

“No Light,”

“I said don’t talk.” He stands up from his chair, “If you tell everyone, you’ll also have to tell on yourself. Imagine what everyone would think of you if they knew...You knew I was Kira and you still dated me, you defended me, you kept my secret, you even got on your knees for me. Are you gonna tell that to the media? That you let Kira fuck you?”

You purse your lips, restraining yourself from talking back. You knew it would only make things worse, but you couldn’t stand the way he talked down on you and expected you to take it. 

“Come here.” He motioned to his desk and you followed, sitting on his lap per his instruction. He placed the death note open on the desk, handing you the pen. With one hand gripping yours and the other on your hip, he began to guide your hand, the pen spilling out the first letter of your name on the pages.

❛ do you think we’ll be in love forever? ❜

“N-No, Light, you can’t do this, please.” You begged, your heart rate quickening as you realize what he was doing. It can’t end like this, it just can’t.

“Shhh, just write. That’s it, baby. This is what bad girls get, you see?” His death grip tightened on your hand as he spelled out your name, the last letters leering closer and closer before you could register the implications of what he was doing. This was it, this was really it.

Light lets his free hand wander up to your jawline, pulling your face closer to yours and enveloping you in a kiss as he wrote the last letter of your name. You shake your head with a whine, however he disregards your concerns and runs his hand on your upper thigh. 

“What’s the matter, Y/n? Don’t wanna spend your last moments with me?~” His nose kisses your neck, and the soft, sensual gestures almost make you forget your life was quite literally slipping away at every second that ticked by. 40 seconds. You had 40 seconds to do something.

You jump off of Light’s lap, reality rushing to your lungs as you felt your world closing in. Your pants become heavier, harsh air ripping through your throat as if they were the last breaths you would ever take because, well- they were.

Your head felt buzzing and dizzy as you fell to your knees, crawling towards Light who had spun around in his chair so his back was facing you; completely apathetic. After all you’ve been through together, after all you’ve done for him, nothing. Nothing at all. 

You crawl closer, grasping towards the notebook Light held in his hands, your weakness limiting your reach as anxiety stole your clearness of mind. He only  chuckles at your meek attempts to save your own life. Your head was racing as your nervousness blacked out everything in the room except for the little black notebook your boyfriend had a death grip on; ‘I’m running out of time, I’m going to die, I need the death note, I need to cross my name out, I need it I need it I need it I-’

“Goodbye, Y/N. You were fun to play with for a while.” Light kisses your nose with an arrogant smirk, peeling your hands off from his lap and wrists before checking his watch, signaling your last few seconds. 

You quit your pitiful attempts to grab the notebook and instead push yourself further and further away from Light until your back hit the wall, lacing your fingers tightly in your hair as you cried your last moments away. 

“5, 4, 3 2...” Light spoke.

“No no no no no, please god,” You cried out, squeezing your eyes shut in preparation for the pangs you would soon feel in your chest.

“1...”

And

Nothing.

You breathe. You let the air flood your lungs; it shouldn’t be possible. You dare to open your eyes, revealing the same scene. You, pathetically on the floor with tears down your face, Light before you in his chair with his head thrown back in a maniacal laugh. 

He tossed the death note down to you, like a dog being thrown a bone. You frantically grab it and flip to the newest page, your name scratched out with two thick lines. 

You were alive- no, he let you live.

❛ hit me my darling tonight, i don’t know why but i like it

“Well?” Light asks expectingly, standing up from his chair and kicking it to the side of the room. You look up at him questioningly, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as tears still brimmed your eyes from the just-curved anxiety attack.

“No ‘thank you’? I spared your life even after you betrayed me- lied to me. You’re so ungrateful.”

“I, I-” You found it difficult to shape your words with your hitching breath. You inhale deeply, eyes closed, calming down, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Light.”

Why were you even apologizing?

“I’m so sorry, please, just take me back. I’m sorry.” The words spilled from your mouth so quickly simply because they felt right. You needed to apologize, you did wrong, you need to be good. You wanted him back more than anything so you can be good.

❛ scary, my god, you’re divine ❜

“That’s right,” Light smiled, his voice softening unnaturally, “Now, how about you come over here and show me just how sorry you are.”

You hesitate for a second before crawling over to him. You sit obediently with your legs beneath your thighs on the floor in front of him.

“Mm, that’s my babygirl.” He pets your head affectionately, coherencing a smile from you. Despite everything he’s done, he always knew how to reel you back in. You needed the approval. You needed his approval.

You look up at him with puppydog eyes, to which he cocks his head to the side. “You know what I want.”

Nodding, you slowly unzipper his khaki pants and pull out his cock. You run your hand up and down, pumping it slowly. 

“Don’t be a fucking tease” Light scoffs, raking his fingers through your hair and forcing your mouth down onto him. That sweet, caring demeanor was gone in barley a second- of course it was. What were you expecting? It was a thinly veiled facade and you fell for it everytime without exception. 

Light groans, pushing your head further onto him as you try not to gag. You feel the tip of him hit the back of your throat as he thrusts into your mouth faster. “God, Y/N, you take my cock so well. Hah, if only the media could see you now. Poor little Y/N wants to run away from big bad Kira, meanwhile here she is on her knees for him, sucking him off like the dirty slut she is.”

He lets out a deep sigh before pulling out of your mouth. “Be useful for once and get on the bed.” He commands, bringing you to your feet with his strong grip on your hair and pushing you in the direction of the bed. You obey, sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for his next instruction.

Light slinks over to you, standing over your figure as his delicate fingers dance up your inner thigh. He takes off your skirt and slowly rubs your clit through the fabric of your panties.

“Mmm, Light, more...” You buck your hips up to meet his touch, his movements were agonizingly slow and you needed more friction.

“More?” At once he removes his hand from between your legs and grabs your face, your jaw in between the tight hold of his thumb and forefingers. “You want more, huh? You don’t get to make demands of me. You really think i’m gonna give you what you want after that stunt you pulled? Hah, I’m not letting you off that easy.”

You let out a whine, bucking your hips again asking to be touched.

“Aww, poor baby...” Light cooed, “Open up.” You obeyed, opening your mouth before Light brought your face closer to his, spitting in your mouth. “Now swallow.”

You do, earning a smirk from Light. “Mm, good girl. Good girls get rewarded.”

He pulls your panties aside before dipping two slender fingers inside you; wasting no time, he pumps them in and out frantically.

“Oh god Light, fuck,”

“You’re so wet for me Y/N, you like this, don’t you? I knew you would, such a dirty whore. You like when I treat you like this? You like being treated for the slut you are? God, you probably got wet when I almost killed you. It makes me hard, having you under my thumb like this, under my control...”

“Fuck Light, it feels so good, I’m close...”

Quickly, he removes his fingers from you once again, earning a cry from you at the loss of heat. “Please Light, I need you so bad,” You beg.

“What did I say? You’re still not forgiven for that stunt you pulled. Don’t whine.” He wraps his hand around your throat, pushing you down onto your back.

He fully pulls his boxers down, aligning himself with your entrance.

“Beg for it.”

“Please, please light, god, I need it so badly. I want you.”

“Hmm, yeah? You’re so desperate for my cock? I’m not convinced.”

“Please, Light, I’ll never be bad again, I’ll never mess up again. I need your cock so badly, I need you to use me. Do anything you want.”

“Mm, that’s more like it,” Light remarks before pushing into you, earning a loud moan. HIs thrusts were slow, no doubt teasing you.

“Oh, Light, please, faster...”

“More demands? God, you’re such a needy slut. Fine.” His grip on your throat tightens, pushing you further into the bed as he snaps his hips into you without mercy. His pace is relentless, quickly finding your g-spot.

“Fuck, Light. It... it feels- fuck,”

“Hah, stupid slut, what’s wrong? Cat’s got your tongue? Or is it me fucking you so hard you can’t even think straight, can’t form sentences?”

His words only egg on your approaching orgasam, “Hmmph, it- it feels so good. I’m gonna...”

With that, Light pulls you up slightly by your neck before slamming you roughly back into the bed, thrusting into you with speed. “Cum, show me how sorry you are.”

You obey, releasing with a loud moan of his name. He finishes soon after, roughly letting go of your throat. “Clean yourself up. You look like a fucking mess.”

You slip your panties and skirt back on as Light sits apathetically at his desk, his focus buried in paperwork. You heart skinks to your stomach. 

Once you finish dressing, Light allows you to leave, informing you of the Kira case work he had to finish and opening the door for you. 

“And Y/N,” He catches your attention before you step into the hallway of the hotel, “Let this be a lesson. Don’t ever try to leave me again. You’re mine.” He grabs your jaw and kisses you tenderly- but you weren’t stupid. You knew the motivation behind it, and let you still kissed his soft lips back and let yourself melt into him. 

“Goodbye,” He remarks after pulling away, “Behave yourself.”. The door slams in your face. 

You can still feel his cum dripping from your heat daring to spill out of your panties. The hallway was empty, allowing reality to rush to you at once. Your senses only seem clear when you were alone- with Light, you didn’t see with your own eyes or hear with your own ears.

You let your back touch the door of Light’s hotel room, slowly sliding down until you were sitting on the carpeted floor. Your life was broken pieces and you cut yourself picking up the glass shards, relishing in the fact that your boyfriend liked the way the blood looked on your pricked fingers.

❛  hurt me and tell me you’re mine, i don’t know why but i like it. ❜

[i-cant-sing]

Hi can i ask for some yandere light yagami? If thats ok?

Yandere Light Yagami Pt 1

Pt 2 here!

I still love this man even though he treated my queen Misa horribly😔 Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

Yandere Light Yagami:

You were his classmate in highschool. You caught his eye because even though you never payed attention to class, you still managed to get a decent grade. Somehow, he knew that you weren't actually trying, that you didn't really care about school. You always knew the answers, but you just didn't care enough to get ahead of everyone else. He thinks that you're almost, almost as smart as him.

The few times that he did talk to you, you always had this look in your eyes like you knew what he was actually thinking about. Like you could read him like an open book. Fortunately for Light, he possessed that skill as well.

Light had thought of courting you, but you gave clear hints that you weren't interested in him. Shocking, really. He was content with just following you discreetly for now. Or at least until his crush on you diminishes.

Light's obsession started when he found out that you shared the same, unconventional opinions on different topics as him. For example, you both agreed on how corrupt and incompetent the justice system is.

Naturally, he tried to get your opinion on Kira. His plan was that once you expressed your gratitude and adoration for Kira, he would reveal that he was Kira and show you the Death Note, and then you would fall in love with him and you both would rule the world together!

But he was shocked when he found out how you disagreed with Kira's principles, how you disagreed with him. "I agree that the world would be a better place without criminals, Light. But who is he or she to decide who is evil and who isn't? There needs to be a proper system for judging people. Who's to say he wouldn't hurt people just because of personal feuds and grudges? And who's to say Kira isn't a criminal too? Plus isn't it just cowardly that he wants to play God but isn't even willing to show himself?"

No matter how much Light would try to convince you otherwise, you wouldn't change your mind. Instead, you became cautious of Light. Why was he so insistent on changing your mind about Kira? He usually doesn't care what other people think. He wasn't involved in those murd- no, Light wouldn't do that.

Light and you had partnered up for a project and you guys decided to do it at his place. You found it strange how his mind was elsewhere; usually he would be quite invested in schoolwork and you would occasionally catch him staring at you, but he looked distracted that day. "Hey could you get the textbook from my desk?" He asked you. You got up to get the book when you noticed a dark black book underneath it. You picked it up and saw the words "Death Note" on it. "Light whats thi-" you turned around to ask him but the words died in your throat when you saw...a creature behind him?

"What's wrong?" Light asked in faux care and if you weren't so shocked by that thing behind him, you would've called him out on it. "Light. There's- there's something behind you."you said in a quiet voice. Without even looking up from his books, he replied to you "oh yeah. That's Ryuk". "What?" This time, Light turned to you and pointed towards the Death Note. "Light. What's going on?" You were getting disturbed by his calm demeanour. "You're smart. Why don't you figure it out? I'll give you a hint. He's a Shinagami" Light pointed towards that thing behind him, who waved at you. Wait. Shinagami? Slowly, you connected the dots. You opened the Death Note to confirm your suspicions. Kira. Light is Kira. "But how?"you asked Light. Finally, he started explaining everything. From how he found the book, how he uses it, the rules, everything.

Light was so sure you'd run away from him, you know, like a normal person. Instead, you tried to convince him to stop using it, that its not too late. That his heart is in the right place but his way is wrong, that his morals are wrong. That he is wrong. When you saw that your words aren't getting a positive reaction, you knew it was time to leave. But before you could take another step, Light lunged towards you and got you in a choke hold. You were unconscious before you could realise that this was all part of Light's plan.

When you wake up, you found yourself in a strange room, limbs all bound to each other. Just as you were about to call for help, Light came in. "You wouldn't try to run away if I were to untie you?" You shook your head no. As soon as he untied you, you went to punch him but he immediately caught your wrist in one hand and grabbed your throat with the other, before slamming you against the wall. "Now, now. Hear what I have to say or-" " Or what? You're gonna kill me? Torture me? I don't care!"you replied as best as you could with his deadly strong grip on your throat. He chuckled before leaning into the crook of your neck. "Why would I do that?" He kissed your neck, continuing "I wouldn't hurt you, ever. No. But if you do continue to be on bad behaviour, I don't know what would happen to your family. Or your neighbour's daughter that you play with. Or the homeless man that you give your lunch to on your way home." You instantly stopped your struggling. By now, you understood that Light doesn't make empty threats. "You've been following me? Light, please. Let me go. What do you even want from me?"you asked him. He chuckled, brushing a few strands of your hair out of your eyes. "You. I want you. I want your heart, body, mind and soul. I want your utter and complete devotion. I want you to want me." He turned you around and moved you towards the mirror in the room. Your back against his chest as he forced you to look in the mirror. "Don't you see how perfect we are for each other? You'll tell me who to punish and I'll be the one who carries out the deed. You said it yourself; that there needs to be a proper system for this. We are the system, (Y/n). You're perfect for this, for me. Plus, wouldn't it be better if you chose who should be executed? I don't think you'd like to know whose name I would write in that book, should you refuse." Light's eyes glowed in the dimly lit room, the threat clear.

Your eyes widened. He's gone truly crazy.

He turned you around so you were facing him. Light smiled at you. He cupped your face in his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over your cheek. "I know you don't like me right now. But you'll see that I'm right. We belong with each other. And together, we can make the world a better place for our kids." With that, he smashed his lips to yours.

Hope yall liked this! Let me know if I should do a part 2. Also, anonymous asks are now open! All thanks to one lovely person whose request I'll work on soon!

Requests are open! :)

[idridian]

episode 5

rem is inexplicably roasting misa (maybe to distract gelus so he won’t save her???? but honestly who knows)

ryuk doesn’t think rem is hot. her teeth aren’t cool enough 😔

ryuk and rem are sports commentating misa and light‘s date and it is wonderful

the taskforce is doing Who’s On First about kira wanting L to appear on tv to see his face and i’m not even sure anymore where the confusion lies

"if i were light and if light were kira, i’d like to see myself on tv" - "uhhh? who?" - "myself. L. so my face is visible" - "who’s supposed to see whose face?" - "kira‘s supposed to see L’s face" - "wait you want to see yourself?" like what?? huh????

rem learned the word 'knutschen' ('to snog') from light’s mom last episode and is making it everyone else’s problem

ONE of the taskforce - possibly matsuda - just called L "baby"

stOP calling 2nd kira slutty/careless PLEASE 💀 💀

presidential alert the boys are fightinggg

i love the implications of "you’re the only boy in tokyo who knows who i am" (yes that’s where he puts the emphasis) because it not only sounds very flirty but also leaves open the possibility of Every Single Girl in tokyo knowing he’s L

L 🤝 light in the ‘being rude to people in customer service jobs for no reason’ department

why doesn’t L want the blueberry muffin?

LITERALLY WHAT IS L‘S DAMAGE REGARDING THIS BLUEBERRY MUFFIN

light just called L his friend!!!!!! or boyfriend!!! who’s to say!! it’s the same word in german!!!!!!

"well, we’re similar in many ways" - light, who just saw L being extremely rude to an employee

L calling light "Kumpel" ('buddy') is everything

LIGHT IS OFFICIALLY L‘S BEST FRIEND

misa called L "a real charmer" and light sarcastically said he’s "scrumptious" anyway time to unlawfully arrest people

the fucking BELLS

blueberry muffin running gag my Beloved (we’ve got a real junket joke on our hands here, miri. lol)

L JUST CALLED LIGHT 'DARLING' (in imitation of misa) (but STILL)

the audio-only medium really helps to put us in misa‘s shoes as she’s restrained and blindfolded. just like her, we are subjected to… uh. creepy breathing. presumably watari’s 😳😩💦

OKAY but misa switching from formal to informal address in her request to be killed when rem shows up Fucks Severely

i am being so normal about watari’s weird effort noise and the forceful way he says "come on" as he gags misa to stop her from biting her tongue

so normal 😩😩😩

light pretending to gaslight himself into believing he’s kira is pure comedy

ryuk ships light/kira selfcest

"the worst webchat in the world is broadcasting to this room" L my brother in christ you organised the webchat. nobody would be on these monitors if you hadn’t put them there

L: "we’ll just keep following the plan" - watari: "…we have a plan?" LMAO

highlights from the german death note audio drama: episode 1

(because i need someone to bear witness to my slow spiral into insanity)

the very first scene is light doing a dramatic kira speech which gets interrupted by his mom calling him down for dinner, a gag which to my knowledge will be repeated at Least one more time throughout the story, possibly more

"i could be a sex god if i weren’t so good with death" - Ryuk

ryuk being highkey horny is going to be a pretty regular occurrence btw. i’m not going to keep mentioning it but just assume that if he’s in a scene, he’s being sultry

watari is Siezing* L i hate it here

"i need to change wifi hotspots" - L, the smartest person alive (supposedly)

68 percent of victims…. so close to the funny number 😔

they’re pronouncing it ya-GA-mi and it’s killing me

bad french accent 💀

L is incredibly hard to understand with his voice filter *cries in auditory processing problems*

bad standup comedy 💀

light almost just choked to death on curry

btw i’m a big fan of how every adaptation has to make light kind of a dumbass (in this case so they can convey that he’s startled or upset in audio only)

is watari flirting with the interpol leader lady????

also watari just made a heart attack joke go off kingggg

*formal address, which uses "Sie" + 2nd person plural instead of the more informal/familiar "du" + 2nd person singular. the bane of all german translations and dubs <3

[theholycovenantrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, SAY! YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF RYUK.

Admin Jen: Say, I wish there were words to describe my joy over your application. Not only because you’re bringing us my beloved Pale Rider, but because of the beautiful way with which you captured them. There was so much to love about your app, but I have to admit that it was the para sample which stole my heart. Ryuk’s voice, his image of the other Horsemen and the way it bled into his dialogue throughout, the nuance in his perspective and the small tics in his mannerisms. It was all so vivid, so visceral, and so mesmerizing to take in. Although I absolutely cannot deny the impact of all the other sections in the app, which only served to amplify the portrayal and bring it to life in a way that left me so thrilled to leave Ryuk in your hands. I trust you with him completely, and I pray for the New World to bear their arrival. Please create and send in your account, review the information on our CHECKLIST, and follow everyone on the FOLLOW LIST. Welcome to the Holy Land!

OUT OF CHARACTER.

ALIAS | Say.

AGE | 25.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS | She/Her/Hers.

ACTIVITY LEVEL | Hopefully around 6/10! I check the dash basically every day for replies, but whether I get to them or not is a completely different story 🥴 Also, given that this is a highly literate roleplay, it may take me a tad longer to craft replies and post them, but I’m confident I can meet the 8 post/month minimum that you outline in your guidelines. 

TIMEZONE | EST / UTC-5.

TRIGGERS | REMOVED.

HOW DID YOU FIND THE GROUP? | A mutual of mine reblogged some of the first promo posts onto my dash. From then I’ve been following the group, and I finally got a chance to read through all of the lore / word-building you guys have done and I am super impressed.

CURRENT / PAST RP ACCOUNTS |

IN CHARACTER.

CHARACTER 

Ryuk.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS CHARACTER? 

I will admit that when I was first browsing, I had the worst choice paralysis because all of the biographies were compelling in their own way. The Angels and their pretentious morality, the Demons with their freewheeling madness, the Gifted toeing the line between mortal and divine, desperate to survive in a world with their powers… That being said, I kept on going back to Horsemen because of their remarkable existence across Caelum, Sanctus Terra, and Infernum. Not quite Angels or Demons, and far from mortal, I interpreted them to be the closest beings to God the world has, given that they were torn from the flesh of God Himself. 

This steadfast solidarity between Viktoria, Ryuk, Nerissa, and Dmitri really hit me square in the chest. Four distinctive beasts, hungry for bloodshed, are dropped into a world already ravaged by devastation at the hands of God’s own creations — so they take solace in each other, even broken from their original purpose. And yet, even amongst these four outliers, Ryuk stood out to me even more, because of their innate understanding of the ravaged world before him. While Nerissa raged for their stolen war, while Viktoria mourned their own creation in Purgatory, while Dmitri adjusted their child-like senses to their surroundings so starkly different whence they came, Ryuk intrinsically knew of their role on this plane of existence. 

I recognized the subtle intricacies woven into Ryuk’s biography, and wanted to challenge myself by writing a character whose desires, motives, and perception of the world is markedly unique from how I interpret my world. What sort of purpose could a Horseman have when stripped of their divine right and design? What do the immortals fear when they are bound with eternal life? What could Death himself fear, when they know the unknowable, and have the power to exact their purpose? 

All beings, regardless of their time on earth, fear death in some way. For divine beings, it is the possibility of their destruction through their infinite life, and for mortals, it is the inevitability of it that induces fear. But what about Death himself? Is it possible that they could be terrified of it as well? 

PLOTS.

DISCLAIMER: I illustrated a few points that rely on the development of other characters, most specifically the Horsemen, but it will all obviously rely on me working out the details with other players. 

I. A HUNGER FOR DEATH PROMISES A STARVATION OF LIFE — a division amongst a former whole.

We begin the story with the Horsemen being a single unit, working alongside each other in relative harmony, existing as mercenaries for the highest bidder. In a world teetering on the fragile truce between the Angels, Demons, and Mortals, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse walk alone, united in their understanding that they are unlike anything else walking the holy grounds. Without each other, they have nothing — so they remain close together out of deficit rather than benefit. However, in each of the Horsemen’s biographies, you’ve outlined a faint, yet irrefutable line dividing the four. As it stands, the division relies on recognition; Ryuk has always understood Nerissa and her cause more than he sympathizes with Nerissa or Dmitri. So what if that line became a crack? 

I’ve interpreted the current division to lie within the fundamental conflict of bloodlust vs. power, with Ryuk and Nerissa lying firmly in the former camp, though this would all be hammered out with the appropriate muns. But the interest lies within the Horsemen, and what would happen if their loyalties suffered an upset — who would they pledge their allegiance to? 

II. MONSTERS, WE ARE NOT SO UNALIKE, YOU AND I — an unlikely understanding.

This brings me into the next plot point, which involves Ryuk’s connections to the other factions.

Within my app, I sought to base much of Ryuk on what he is not — and their antithetical existence to Cade is something I played with deeply in this application. As hungry as they are for blood, there is a distinct lack of intention behind their killing, as if they inflict death because they are a Horseman. It is why the division is so crucial for Ryuk to begin to align themselves to a cause. A trap I don’t want to fall into while writing them is not giving them a fear to hold onto. I think the fascinating part about Ryuk is that they were birthed out of God’s terror of His unknown — and that is precisely what they fear the most. They feel safe and powerful when aligned with his fellow Horsemen, but without them, what do they know? 

The details of what would sweeten their attraction to any cause is something I want to keep open, rather than delineate extensively here, but the core of it is the same: to lower them down so that they may see the light in another’s faith. 

III. IN MY END IS MY BEGINNING — a touch of Death. 

And here, we end with a renewal of their perspective. Some sort of mortal injury happens that gives Ryuk a taste of their own medicine, perhaps in saving something they have truly learned to care about, as much as their dark heart will allow. 

Given that they fear losing their power and dominion over mortals, throwing them into a situation where they are possibly injured by one is a surefire way of allowing Ryuk to face what truly lies dormant underneath: what is their purpose? And why are they here and living, despite having their purpose erased so long ago with the death of their Creator? 

Perhaps this will finally give them a hunger for something more than just taking souls and money for it. 

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH KILLING OFF THIS CHARACTER?

As long as it serves a specific purpose for the long-term prospects of the group’s plot, 100% yes.

IN DEPTH.

DRIVING CHARACTER MOTIVATION 

I admit that this is the one of the parts of the application I struggled with, because for all intents and purposes, Death’s purpose has been ripped away from them. They, along with the other three Horsemen, were created for Earth’s apocalypse — but now that they’ve been thrown into the world without it, in some ways they are lost beyond comparison. 

Even so, Ryuk was still built to thirst for mortal blood at their hand, and as of now, that base instinct is what they actively rely on to move through the world. They are desperate and hungry for the souls they’ve been promised by God, and nothing more. 

And yet, I think they are also terrified of what it means to be stripped of their purpose. There’s this tentative resentment they hold for the world that no longer needs the Horsemen to wreak havoc, and yet, a terror that overtakes them when they think of fully relinquishing what they’ve been handed down from God. A fear of incompetence, the unknown, and the uselessness they feel is what drives Ryuk to continue to do what they’ve always known. After all, it’s easier to believe in a belief they’ve held close to their chest for so long. 

CHARACTER TRAITS 

( + ) RESOLUTE | Permanence: it is the one thing Ryuk knows to be true. Mortal blood expires, and nobody knows it better than the harbinger of Death himself. It is what makes them loyal, unwavering in their beliefs in their tar-black soul once he has made up their mind. ( + ) ASTUTE | It is impossible to be foolish when he has the ghosts of the past right at his fingertips; a history, laid before them like an open book. And what are first impressions, when they have the still-lingering souls to guide him along? Not much escapes their eyes or ears, and they use their gift well, for himself first, and for the Horsemen second. ( + ) VIGILANT | All that knowledge, always within reach — it would be a shame if they did not apply it well. Though he can be quick to react, it is rarely out of ineptitude or  undisciplined impulse; it is precisely the wealth of information he gleans that makes them all the more wary to enter into a situation without identifying the risks first. They are adamant on victory, not by anyone else’s terms but their own. ( – ) DUPLICITOUS | He has no qualms about trickery, or resorting to underhanded means to get their way. After all, what is integrity to a being that values Death above everything else? What is honor to a Horsemen without a future, when Death is the period, the endmark to every creature with a beating, bloody heart? ( – ) RUTHLESS | When Ryuk first learns of the word mercy from the spirits’ whispers, they can barely fathom the concept. Sparing another out of the benevolence of one’s heart? It’s practically laughable, given their own penchant for cruelty when faced with their victims. He is ( – ) PASSIONLESS | And one wonders: what could make such a merciless killer unflinching in the face of their purpose? Yes, they relish in every single kill, just as much as his compatriots, but in the end, he does it because it is all he knows. One cannot mistake the devotion they show for passion, the very fire that ignites the circle of life. No, Death will not and cannot be acquainted with life, no matter how many live souls they take for themselves.

PARA SAMPLE

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” — Matthew 24:36

From the beginning, at the very break of their conception at the hands of God, Ryuk is told they are the antithesis of emotion. It is an age-old story of the hero, their origin a simple blip in the vaporous, golden-god kingdom from which he is torn, cast into darkness until their path is clear — but Ryuk is not a hero. No, they are told that some day, they shall wreak havoc across the mortal realm that He has forged to collect their birthright of the damned souls roaming the earth. When? It’s insolence, a rare bit tumbling out for his Creator, He who has torn a part to make their whole.

You will know, and it is thunderous, the cadence of his voice, that even Death quivers, when the gates to the mortal realm opens. And then, they are thrown into their realm, devoid of anything but dust and half-formed souls. They know this, because the moment they’d slipped into the aphotic depths of His plan is the exact moment they hear their wails, deafening, ululating, even for their immortal senses. 

And oh, did they wail. Told stories of dominions and dirt, of princes and peasants, a swarm of the dead desperate for the ear of a God — or however close they could get to such a being. Time and time again, Ryuk would swat the cloud away, gaze always focused in the distance, where the dark smoke broke into a line of halcyon shimmer, and they’d ask Him ( pray, a soul whispers ) for their birthright, their infernal kingdom of souls. 

Ages pass. They hear nothing. They see nothing. The gilded line shrinks. But what is time for an immortal? Still, they hunger for the permanence of their existence; here, in this inchoate cavity of God’s creation, they are useless. The void is a steadiness of not quite death, but the absence of life — a temporary, an unhappy medium that they cannot satiate themselves on no matter how hard they strived. When? They think again, but He is long gone, in His heavens with His angels and His mortals He’d bore out of Love. 

In the ages to come, they will begin to understand this. Tales brushed in human concepts, of Love and Fear and Ecstasy and Hope, of those dominions and dirt, the princes and peasants. In the ages to come, they will see that the mortals flourish, souls rising to Heaven and Hell without their touch. They will see the expanse of God’s love for His children, in fractured pieces of the half-gone souls’ shrieks, wondrous at how He could destroy something He’d built from the sands of the lands. They will ask why did the mother forbid her to marry her lover? and the souls will answer, because she loved her daughter, a babe she’d birthed for nothing in return.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” — Matthew 24:7

And what they mean to say is — no, they do not understand. How could God, in all his love for his mortal creations, bring their deliverance, Famine and War and Conquest and Death, upon the moral planes? What is their purpose aside to destroy what He has created? To understand the world is to hold it in one’s hands and inflict upon it an inconceivable love, of which they had none in their ichor-stricken heart. 

They resent God for this. They resent their purpose, and yet, they walk the earthly plains alongside their comrades, knowing that even God has succumbed — and so they hold their faith, deal their foreordained havoc in spades.

“For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.” — Revelation 16:14

“You must have mistaken me for a being of mercy, of which I am not.” Viktoria’s nostrils flare. Ryuk’s voice is low enough that the others do not catch the impertinent remark, the subtlest of digs on what she prized most. Within visible distance, Dmitri fiddles with a mortal contraption, one of the many gifts from his beautiful admirers, and far off, in the other direction, Nerissa sharpens her blade on a slick slab of quartz, eyeing her two comrades with a watchful eye.

Among them all, fallows, burnt yellow and unseemly, spread out across either side, an end distant and impossible. In this part of land, there is nothing but rainfall and smog, untraversed by even the most seasoned of travelers, which, of course, had made it ideal for the likes of the Horsemen. Nothing but tar black clouds roamed the sky, save for the sliver of white in the horizon, a marker of Caelum to the North. The line glows, and Ryuk is briefly struck by the likeness of their environment to the emptiness from which they came. If they listen diligently enough, the winds almost mimic the agonized shrieks of undamned souls, and it completes the resemblance, far too uncanny for their liking. He shifts on his feet, left and right, and tugs on his ear. A cue, he’d learned, then committed to muscle memory, to ward away the spirits when they were not needed. 

“And as always, you have failed to listen. And they say you can hear the spirits with those ears?”

It is Ryuk, this time, that prickles under the weight of the insult. Viktoria, as always, has fashioned herself as the brains of their expeditions, always pointing out their next destination. He cannot blame her; of the quad, they all know she is the weakest, but her passion for their good fate flares stronger than his own. Viktoria, always the one hungering for something more. A desire for a bite of the heavens whence they came. 

To each their own, they suppose. 

“I have provided all of us with good information, have I not? Saved our good health, if I remember correctly,  more times than I desire to count.” Their sharp glare meets the other’s steel-bit fire, and she huffs. 

“And what are your qualms of this plan? Do you plan to serve this diseased Tridium for our eternity?”

Besides him, the souls begin to howl. Cry out, they will hunt and kill you, they have weaponry, blessed by the something dark and holy, and yet, another faction beckons, they are no match for the Apocalypse, they are not as strong as you believe —

“What is it?”

They snap out of their trance. In the centuries they have known each other, they have all learned each other’s behaviors like their own kin. Like the flicker in Nerissa’s jaw when she lusts for blood, the fondness glimmering in Dmitri’s eye when he spies a mortal he desires. They’ve all seen the half-slack stupor Ryuk undergoes when he channels the voices of the dead, most of all Viktoria, but he brushes her away, throat cleared with a rumble. 

“Nothing. They caution us against it.”

“And?” 

The sinew in their neck tenses. “And there is nothing else. We all know that some mortals are still gifted. They hold the power to our demise as much as we for theirs.” 

Viktoria scoffs. It is clear, in her stance, from her gaze, that she does not believe he is giving her the entire truth. “We will need more than that if we are to carry through with it; perhaps, they can tell us the size of their armory, or perhaps how it could be of use to us...“ Eyes averted, she begins to pace a small distance. They can already see the cogs turn in their brain, assembling their scheme for an upset of power across the lands. 

“And who has agreed to carry through with this design? Dmitri?” 

They look up. Viktoria, who’d been addressed; Dmitri, who’d believed they'd been summoned; Nerissa, who’d smelled the whiff of conflict. The lines, there are always the lines. Viktoria with Dmitri, himself with Nerissa. Left unsaid, but voice did not negate the fact that the line is a truth, hanging amongst them like an errant thread, impossible to sever even with the sharpest of blades. “You don’t believe we can do it?” 

They stare, unflinching against her black gaze, because for all that they lack with their deadened atrophy and rot, they fill themselves with the faith that there will always be more souls to take. They do not prescribe themselves to a greater fate other than the one that has been given to them, from God, their Creator. What use do they have of power, when they had all that they required in the present? 

“If we take this job, do this favor for this mortal, we will secure an ear in the ranks — a cousin of a member of the Round Table, and we can use leverage, to raise our status, to find these heavenly instruments to mine for crystallis —” 

“Of which he has none, Viktoria, in case you have forgotten!” 

From the corner of their eye, they see Dmitri flinch, Nerissa cease her movements to sharpen her blade. They are always like this, vying for a position that neither of them particularly desire, but ages have passed since they’ve come to terms with their uncertain fate. They’d been dropped amongst mortals and divinity alike, across barren lands and built cities, alone in their status as creatures of God, literal in every sense of the word. He had torn them, the four of them, from His own celestial body, had He not? 

They are quiet again. 

Mere mortals would have raged, now Ryuk knows this. It is the security of more that protects (or rather, exposes) the others to wars, seething with blood and blades, to the black certainty of hatred that infected the strength of their ranks, susceptible and raw. Their net, of course, had perished along with the annihilated remains of God’s and Lucifer’s immortal bodies. They had nobody, and would have nobody else, until the end of time. 

Perhaps they all realize this, sheepish expressions flitting across their eyes, the sunken hollows of their cheeks. Jagged as they are in countenance and disposition, Ryuk has realized they have gone too far in their words. His head hangs an inch lower, shoulders hunched in sour defeat. It is all that they need for the mood to lift. Viktoria nods, and they mount their horses, in implicit agreement that they would defer the conversation for another time. 

They scan the fields. It is still sunken, stinking of something burnt yet still living, sodden with the foul scent of mortal dirt. The gales have only reinforced their vigor, screeching through the vast space, washing away their bitter anguish — but the winds are just that, the earlier parallel lost, if only because they had three others by their side. They have survived the fire, and they will survive, untouched, riding their noble steeds into the winds, not separate, but as one.

[geeknfit]

Death Note AU where BB and A appear on the first arc.

So you know the story, Light Yagami, the top-student of his class one day finds the Death Note, a demonic notebook which allows you to kill anyone you want just by writing their name.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die" says the first rule.

"This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected."

"If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack."

Light reads these rules on the inside cover of the notebook, and thinks it is a joke. Sure, a notebook that can kill people? Absurd. But within time, he discovers this is, in fact, true. What will he do with this? Is this a curse? Will he die if he uses this?

All his questions are answered when he meets the shinigami (god of death) Ryuk, the original owner of the note. He tells Light the truth: he only dropped the note on the human world because he was BORED. He didn´t car what Light did with the not, as long as it was entretaining.

So Light decides to use the note for the humanity's good: "I'm using the Death Note to kill criminals." He said. "Soon, every bad person in the world will die of a heat attack, leaving this world for people who act good. Inoccent people will finally be able to live in peace."

And he did. And soon, people started noticing it. Criminals were dying, police was confused. Conspirancy theories started to grow. In social media, people talked about "Kira", a savior for the honest, the good, the oprressed, while police agencies seemed it as another criminal.

"What do you think about Kira?" gossip periodists asked in TV shows. "Kira?. They are my savior." Confessed pop-star idol Misamisa. Light was watching it on TV with his sister Sayu. Both were fans of Misamisa. Light slightly blushed at the idol's confession.

"Ooooh, i get it, you make that girl's dream come true, and then you tell her you're Kira" Ryuk joked, knowing only Light could listen to him (as only people who touches the Death Note can see a shinigami, and Light kept this as a secret.)

Misa left the TV studio, and walked towards the metro station. "By yourself? It is not good a pretty girl like you walk alone at night." A productor said. "Oh come on! I thought women were allowed to live by themselves on 21st century." Misa joked at his mysoginist comment.

What she didn't expect, was that this man would after follow her and catch her in a dark corner. "I LOVE YOU MISAMISA! I ALWAYS DID! IF YOU CAN'T BE MINE THEN I'LL-'' the man pulled out a knive "I'LL KILL YOU AND THEN I'LL KILL MYSELF!"

Misa was terrified, she couldn't move. Then, suddenly, the man stopped. Just moved back, walked away a few steps and fell on the floor, dead. Misa ran away screaming, terrified. Until she bumped into someone.

She looked up, it was a tall, pale, gostly woman, with dark deep red eyes and skeletic figure. When she saw her, Misa passed out. The woman kneeled to her, and touched hed her hair gently, motherly, carefully.

Misa wakes up, scared. She's not a human. She was a shinigami, a goddess of death. Misa screams.

Misa: who- who are you?

Rem: I'm Rem, the shinigami

Misa: shinigami?! You... You saved me from that stalker?!

Rem: no, it wasn't me. It was the shinigami Gealous. From a long time, you've caught his attention. He developed strong feelings for you, Misa Amane.

Misa: Ho-how do you know my name?

Rem: Shinigamis have the ability of seeing a human's name and lifespan just by looking at them. Today was supposed to be your last day of life, the day you died... But instead, Gealous used his Death Note to kill your stalker, saving your life, and breaking the rules of the shinigamis. He inmediatly turned into dust, he died because he wanted you to stay safe.

Misa: D-Death Note?!

Rem: yes, a notebook used by shinigamis to kill people by just writing their names on it.

Misa: Gealous was Kira?

Rem: no. Kira is a human who got a Death Note from a shinigami.

Rem pulled out a notebook from her pocket.

Rem: and now, everything is left from Gealous is his Death Note. Which now belongs to you.

Misa: me?!

Rem: that's what he would have wanted. Use it wisely.

Now there were not only one, but two humans with Death Notes. Misa began murdering criminals as Kira did. Deaths all arround the world continued increasing. This was no coincidence. This was intentional. Someone was planning all those deaths.

Place: a dark, dirty room. Somewhere in Europe.

Person 1: The Death Note? You are crazy.

Person 2: I'm not crazy, how else, if not, would you murder all those people around the globe, everyone from heart attacks, with no evidence of any drugs or substance?

Person 1: I don't know, but a notebook from a fantasy story doesn't seem like the answer.

Person 2: fantasy? After all we've seen, all we've lived, you dare to call this a fantasy?

Person 1: I'm realistic

Person 2: You are an idiot

Person 1: then, you are implying that Kira person is real?

Person 2: oh, of course it's real, and even more, there is more than one. The death pattern have changed these last days.

Person 1: you're convinced of it.

Person 2: this is the proof, dear. The notes exist. This is our chance. Even more... I'm sure L will be interested im this case... I would bet my jam.

Person 1: so, what now?

Person 2: now? Now we are looking for Kira. Prepare your stuff, darling. We're going to Japan.

[secretshinigami]

Author: @translightyagami For: @kratqa Pairings/Characters: L, Light Yagami, Kiyomi Takada, Sayu Yagami, Kyosuke Higuchi Rating/Warnings: T for, you know. Murder happening off screen but its still gross. Prompt: Roleswap AU between L and Light. Author’s notes: I hope you like junior sleuths Light and Kiyomi, L and Ryuk having a mutual candy-and-TV = Death Note agreement, and letter-writing, because when I write a fic…you know there’s gonna b letters. i also appreciate your patience with any typos; I am a human with sticky fingers.

To-Oh during spring made Light’s skin crawl: love notes proliferated the campus from students not quite grown out of youthful notions; heat creeping beneath his sweaters, tugging at them as if to say short sleeves begged entrance; and the anniversary of his father’s heart attack—one year past—hung over all the landmarks no matter their relation to cardiac health. In that way, he noticed the newspaper story of the murderer who died of a heart attack blaring on a nearby kiosk. Without any real eye of the bizarre, Light didn’t notice things unless their relevance was near to his own life or those around him. Dark ink stared back at him, a jack-knifed business man laid out next to a graphic discussing murder statistics in the Kanto region. It was of no surprise or consequence to Light, whose policeman father made him all too aware of how life flitted from a people every day.

Slipping payment to the newsstand worker and stalking off to his next class, Light read through the story: a well-liked business man succumbing to a heart attack mid-quarter projections meeting and was found—after a house search was requested by the detective L—to have four intact human skeletons buried in his backyard. The wife, a woman with a name that flew in one ear and out the other, claimed no knowledge of her husband’s cruel hobby of picking up young men and then poisoning them with club drugs concocted in their garage; however, the great detective was said to still hold her in suspicion and no innocence was assumed.

A woman bumped into Light, who flicked his newspaper down and apologized for not paying attention. His thoughts were scrambled between happiness for a murderer slain and a stomachache—born not of bad food but an innate strangeness to what he’d just read. The newspaper went into his bag, the story out of his mind, and Light continued classes at To-Oh without much more than passing conversation devoted to “that criminal who died of a heart attack, can you believe it?”

Which, of course, wasn’t his last thought on the case. He chewed the flavor out of the incident, but in quiet. Light never liked to burden people with more than they could take and while his own voice was his favorite song, he knew people had limits. Off-hand, he mentioned the report to his father at dinner, whose murmured response left Light’s trap shut tight to further inquisitions.

“How troubling,” his father said. “We must treasure every day, and live our lives as honestly as possible.”

Three weeks later, in a smaller column, another criminal’s heart attack was reported; this time, Light didn’t pay for the newspaper as Kiyomi put her copy down in front of him. Her near-despot rule over the school’s journalism outfit drove her to often drop stories in front of him, asking for his interest and time to discuss various dictates of law enforcement. For this story, however, she asked not for his expertise, but instead to prod in tandem with her at the curiosity of it all.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She traced a finger over the meager profile shot of the victim, who was discovered post-death to have been collecting severed human fingers in his fridge door. “That one guy dies, turns out to be awful, and then another one?”

“Makes a person want to believe in patterns.” Light looked at her through his lashes, fork to his lips as he took another bite of their shared tart. Whenever they discussed important issues, Kiyomi liked to do it at cafes; Light suspected it was out of journalistic habit, since she took all her interviews to the same place they sat now. “Or even luck, I guess.”

“Luck?”

“Well,” he said, “luck for anyone who would have been those guys’ victims. Luck for the rest of us. Not so much for them.”

Kiyomi took a larger piece of tart, shining with a glazed cherry, and chewed it in vigorous gnashes. “Do you believe in patterns?” Her question was idle, almost absent between chews.

Light shook his head, fork placed down on a napkin and his hand now free to fish his phone from his pocket. “I don’t think there’s anything to this random stuff besides a few jerks getting their comeuppance,” he said. “Nothing but justice, you know. I have to go; my sister texted me.”

Sayu sent him a string of texts, to be honest, about how his mom needed him to come home and help with dinner. Of course, when Light arrived he saw the situation for what it was: his sister needed to watch a TV drama premiere; his mother needed onions chopped; and both of them were unwilling to compromise. Fortunately, the best brother and good son arrived home in time to accommodate them by chopping onions and fending suggestions that he was on a date with Kiyomi.

He fell into his computer chair, swung himself around in lazy circles until his brain became dizzy—one word thoughts all that remained. Onions. Kiyomi. Death. Patterns. Luck. Sticking his foot out, Light halted his movement and froze. In two scoots, he was at his keyboard, and he typed in his query to the Internet as quick as he thought it: Recent Murder Investigations Detective L. After a second, he added quotations around the phrase Detective L and pressed enter. Floods of pixel results washed over him as Light took in link after link to articles covering the great detective who solved any case put on his desk but never revealed himself to the public.

Three articles spoke of specific cases L solved: the Monkey Thief Theory (a jeweled monkey stolen from a well-loved heiress, ultimately found to have been absconded by her own hand); the Pit Viper Peril (a man who used viper venom to poison his business associates); and the Beautiful Woman Break-ins (a woman broke into several of the world’s richest mansions but stole only their fresh fruit. The woman was caught, but no details on her arrest were ever given to the public.) Two articles called L the single most important person in criminal justice history. One article mentioned, albeit as an end note, that L had worked on both cases whose solving had more to do with sudden heart attacks claiming the perpetrators than his own prowess.

A headache formed at the horizon of Light’s skull after reading too close to the screen, so he tried to print the articles. Only one printed all the way—on the second, he ran out of paper and went to Sayu’s room to bug her for using all the printer paper, which she insisted she needed for art.

“You print off pictures of that actor guy in full color and paste them onto your binders,” Light complained. “I need that paper for important stuff. You can’t be so wasteful.”

“It’s the art of collage,” she intoned. “You wouldn’t understand. You don’t have passions like I do, otherwise you’d go out with Kiyomi.”

Light took a third of her printer paper as revenge for the comment and brought in the articles to show Kiyomi. Her eyes were luminous when he arrived at the café table, arms similarly weighted with information which they swapped. She gave him a newspaper with intriguing, if distressing, updates: another man killed by cardiac arrest, revealed to be a secret killer.

“Do you know who was pursuing this one’s death?” He paused, pushing the paper away to give the waitress his full attention and order: black coffee and banana muffin, if they still have some. Kiyomi ordered ahead of him, and her meal sits in front of her pock-holed by her absent bites. In answer, she shakes her head and takes another minuscule clump of her rolled omelet.

“Nobody special was named, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said. “These articles are pretty good, but it’s hard to know whether L has been involved in more without knowing how many heart attack deaths like this have happened.” She gestured with her chopsticks as she continued, pointing at the highlighted National Police Association in the paper’s text. “From what I can gather, the Japanese police are the ones that found the posthumous evidence in the man’s apartment, same as with the other ones.”

“What’s the rub is how would they know?” Light tapped his chin, wristwatch catching café lamp glow and projecting a jiggling circle down on the laminate table. “A heart attack happens, you can just rule that as someone’s poor health, or maybe just a sad stroke of fate. But someone must be alerting police to these people’s suspicious nature for them to be investigating in depth.” He coughed, his next sentence making his throat close in embarrassment, but continued. “Listen. I support the police, you know that, right?”

“Sure,” Kiyomi mumbled around more egg. “You support your dad, at least.”

“Yeah. Well. I know the guys he works with, and while they’re not stupid, there’s no way they got this intuitive so quick.” His muffin slipped in front of him and Light nodded his thanks to the waitress, waiting until she left to pull over one printed article. “Here’s what I know: at least one of these cases was under L’s purview. Who’s to say the other ones aren’t also?”

Discarding the article, Light reached for the condiment caddy and snatched up two creamer cups, while Kiyomi set her chopsticks down in contemplation. Her eyes—dark blue to the point of midnight—scanned both the newspaper and articles. With her mouth pressed together, red lips shining with waxen smoothness, Light could see why she held sway over so much of the school’s masculine consciousness: a beautiful woman who thought before anything. His own attention settled further from attraction and more into an approach toward admiration; she would’ve made a good rival, were he still seventeen and looking for the challenge.

“How would we find out what cases L has worked on?” Kiyomi’s gaze darted from the papers to Light’s coffee, swirling ever more auburn with the creamer added. “Why didn’t you just get a latte, if you’re going to make it so sweet with cream?”

“I like to make things myself.” Light waved his hand to dispel her remark. “I don’t know how to find all the cases lining up to this particular situation, which also have L’s involvement, but I think I can get us to a starting place.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. But I’ll need my computer.” Light took a sip of his coffee and couldn’t resist the pleased smile it brought to his lips: the satisfaction of something useful and pleasurable mixed into one cup. “And about an hour of time, so I’ll probably skip contemporary law today. You don’t have to come, but you can if you like.”

“I should stay, go to class to get notes so you don’t fall behind.” Kiyomi ran her finger around her own teacup, liquid no longer steaming but cool and green with tea leaves solidified at the bottom. “Can I ask you something?” Her voice wavered and Light couldn’t catch its true colors—only flashes of uncertain purple, vulnerable red. “Is it silly to be excited about this? Trying to figure out a mystery together?”

Swallowing, Light pretended not to hear the word together as he knew she meant it: you and me, an item, a duo. “No,” he said. “It’s exciting to solve mysteries, in any case. Every time I’ve worked on stuff like this with my dad, I feel changed, uplifted. Like,” he paused, rubbing his fingers together, “someone just turned on the lights in a pitch-dark room, and now I get to see all the secrets around me.”

“I understand,” Kiyomi said, and in that moment, Light looked at her midnight eyes and saw that she did.

…

It was easier than expected to hack into his dad’s account on the NPA intraweb, although Light knew he used the same password for everything: ssl226. He wanted, in a strange way, for his dad’s heart to be harder to crack—to know less about the key and earn it fitting in the lock—but couldn’t dig into why he felt such a way. Not with Kiyomi sending him text after text from class, each one a more urgent call for updates on his progress. His attention snapped from phone, to computer, to an odd hole in his stomach after their earlier meeting.

He never enjoyed when people tried to get close to him, as though they wanted a piece of Light the same way a child wants a piece of adulthood—desperate without knowledge of what lay beneath. While a social creature, thriving on connection, he cringed from women’s fumbled confessions of attraction and roamed away from their asking mouths toward men, who wanted silent partners to their escapades and were willing to return the favor. In many ways, those interactions left Light cold as well: tacky plastic bandages peeling off at the slightest friction.

The truth was it was easier to want what was right in front of him and not consider the far off. So, Light’s fingers flew across his keyboard with the neon flash from his cell phone ignored. He flipped through files labeled in long numerical defaults—a mark of his father’s tech-illiteracy—with time ticking away. When he finally alighted on the correct documents, his phone inbox was full. Without reading any of the messages, he deleted them all and texted Kiyomi to meet him later at the library.

Armed with a large stack of paper, he weighed down his backpack and left, waving off his mother’s question about why he was skipping class. On the television, a reporter spoke about rising stock in the Yotsuba Corporation’s new make-up company. She laughed after her speech and admitted to wearing their lipstick during the segment. Both Sayu and Light’s mother laughed along too. Light ran out the door, his bag smacking on his side.

The library was quiet except for a few students banging on keyboards, their faces shining with essay-deadline sweat. Light found Kiyomi lounged on a two-seat bench, her legs propped onto the low table and a style guide opened over her face. She sat up when he dropped in beside her, pushing the guide off and starting into an interrogation on why he didn’t answer her texts. Holding up a hand, Light pulled out his papers and set them on the table, smacking a finger on them.

“I know who he’s attacking next,” he said.

“What?” Kiyomi pushed his hand aside and flicked through his findings. “Okay, so these are the last, what? Twenty or so cases the NPA worked on with L?”

“Yes, about twenty,” Light agreed. “But we don’t usually call on him, unless it’s a difficult case. I mean, it’s pretty rare he takes any case at all unless it’s big news. But look at the cases he’s worked on since 2002.”

“Heart attacks.” Stopping at the top page, Kiyomi drew her finger along the chart labels—suspect name, suspect location, case title, behavior—and ended on the final column of conclusion. “Not all of them, though. Only a few scattered ones.”

“I know!” Light couldn’t stop a little eagerness leaking in; his sleuthing was about to pay off. He took out another stack of paper—thinner than the last—and handed those to Kiyomi. “I looked at those cases. All of them had victim counts lower than ten. Some of them were even cases the NPA didn’t put much resources behind. But,” he raised his finger in emphasis, “these ones had interesting details. Like the guy who had skeletons in his backyard? He was some kind of cannibal who left organs behind. The finger guy was notorious, even though he was pretty low activity.”

“You sound like you have a theory.”

“I might. Check out the most recent listing.”

Kiyomi flipped back to the case chart and narrowed her eyes. “Do we know this guy? Kyosuke Higuchi?”

Light sighed and tapped his finger to his knee. “He’s some kind of executive, at the Yotsuba Corporation. I tracked the case listed to one about a bunch of their new make-up brand’s younger interns going missing. The count is five right now, but one of them was the niece of a big government person so the NPA got told to ask L about it.” He smiled at Kiyomi. “Do you want to hear my theory?”

She tapped the paper stack and set it on the table, turning her full attention to him. “Someone is picking off the small fries,” she said, “with heart attacks, and the link between cases is L.”

A frustrated puff of breath exited Light. “Well. Yeah. I guess,” he said. “But it’s pretty smart, right? Getting rid of the guys who you can find, but can’t super prove anything about, before they get to higher numbers.”

“He’s still killing people,” Kiyomi said. “I mean, isn’t that just like what they’re doing? These guys are victims too, in a sense, and this L guy is offing them before they get a trial. What if he’s wrong?”

Light folded his arms across his chest. “But he hasn’t been wrong,” he said. “Not yet.” Shuffling in his seat, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and took a deep inhale. “I want to send him a message.”

“What? A message?” Kiyomi laughed, her long earrings shaking with her clipped hair. “What’re you going to say? We’re on to you, buddy. Better watch out.” She shook her head, laughter making way for a more serious expression. “It’s not a good idea,” she said. “We don’t know how he’s giving people heart attacks, other than by magic or something. It’s dangerous.”

Air lifted and deflating from Light’s chest as he mulled her response around inside. It burned a trail through his soft meats, where enthusiasm continued to grow through whatever scorch she inflicted with sense and caution. His body was a garden growing thicker at just the idea of communicating with the person who had such a power, who made such a decision as to end someone’s life when they ended someone else’s.

Headless of his contemplation, Kiyomi stood and took the papers. “It’s interesting, I’ll give you that,” she said. “But we shouldn’t contact L directly. It will alert him to our own knowledge; we’d give more ground than gain. Let me look over what you have, and later this week, we’ll pool our thoughts and start to put together a better case.”

He handed over his print outs, not too precious about them since he had the real digital versions at home. As she left, Light’s eyes danced away from Kiyomi’s prim stride and toward the tall bookcases. His mind brought to him a scenario where he, and everyone else in the library, was crushed by toppled bookcases and the ceiling caving in. A tragedy without a pinpoint reason behind it—only a god who wanted to see something destroyed. Or maybe it was some kid who leaned too hard. Life was so random in how it could be taken or given, and that thought propelled him further into whatever L’s powers were.

Somehow, there was a man out there able to control death and Light, despite Kiyomi’s warning, wanted to know the shape of his tools.

…

L counted three red candies from his pack and collected them into his palm. They rattled against each other like gemstones, gleaming under computer-haze lights until long black claws pinched one away.

“Red ones are best,” Ryuk said. “Except for cherry flavor.”

“Cherry flavor is fine if you get the right brand.” L turned back to his laptop, nabbing a pink hard candy for himself and sucking its watermelon flavor into a slow, sugar liquid. It subsumed his entire mouth, coated his tongue and teeth. His hand stayed outstretched as Ryuk one-by-one crunched the red candies into his toothsome mouth. Clattering shards collected at his lip corners only to be wiped away by his skeletal hand.

At the moment, both occupied the same opulent hotel room despite their aesthetic pairing more implied them existing in different realities. L had laid out over his hotel desk his laptop, a bowl of packaged sweets, and a thin notebook—opened to a page half-filled by his scrawl. Methodical in his fingers, he looked over the most recent reports sent in from Japan, his interest waning here and there into an intense focus on whatever candy he opened next. Ryuk, on the other hand, was taken up by the television, which L left on for him in most hotel rooms, and all the small colored blotches fizzled together on the screen. He laughed as one blotch fell down a flight of stairs.

Their relationship often balanced on this mutual agreement for entertainment—it flowed between them as Ryuk received TV, movies, and candy from L and L, of course, got the Death Note. While this arrangement meant they were in constant contact, Ryuk did fly between the human world and Shinigami realm on his own whims; he told L human poker wasn’t as good as the death gods played it, which L couldn’t argue being he wasn’t too fond of poker either way. At one point, L asked why he—of all people on Earth and beyond—received such an unholy tool of death and Ryuk responded, “Oh, yeah. The thing sort of fell out of my pocket. I need one of those chain wallets, keep that on me.” As if to prove his point, the next time Ryuk showed up to see how L and the Death Note were progressing, he had his personal Note hooked to a thick metal chain.

“Made it myself.” His voice smacked of undue pride, although L complimented the chain without trace of sarcasm. “Not as good as the human ones, but pretty cool.”

L didn’t care if the Shinigami made a thousand ugly chain wallets, or watched TV all day. What he cared about was the ease the Death Note brought to his work. So often fissures of stress cracked along his psyche when dug into cases which were clean cut—to him, at least—but couldn’t get traction enough with local enforcement to make arrests: to bring justice to people who screamed their guilt to L’s careful crow eyes. But with the Death Note, all he had to do was write a name, wait and assign a search team to the killer’s home posthumously.

Spread in front of him, he tapped a pen end to the blank Note page. All that was left in the Higuchi case was to find a time to kill him while he was alone; for that purpose, L wormed around several important forms and decision-makers to install camera into the vile businessman’s home and office. Blue connective fuzz overlaid the images displayed on his laptop and made Higuchi, idling behind his large desk, appear alien. To some degree, L felt the man was alien to him—in thought, in action (or lack of it), in intention—and had no interest in learning a scrap about Higuchi. He cared more about the space beneath the man’s home, which would be unlocked and unloaded of its human prisoners once Wedy got her go-ahead; keeping a successful thief on his payroll benefited L tremendously.

“He’s been alone for two hours,” L said, to himself and also Ryuk, if the Shinigami wanted to hear. “If I kill him now, how long before someone finds the body?”

“Weekend,” Ryuk piped back. L looked over his shoulder to see his long ebony chicken legs crossed on the bed while yellow eyes stared at the television without blinking. “He might just rot there over the next two days.”

“Oh, I think so—,” L stopped mid-speech at Higuchi’s secretary and her brown ponytail bobbing into frame. She stood at near two inches taller than the man, who sneered as she spoke. At the very least, L knew she was not in danger of kidnapping. He sat straighter and leaned to hear their conversation over the microphones, the secretary’s voice soft and faint from many miles away.

“A young man left this for you.” She held out an envelope; even at his angle, L saw no address or marker beyond Higuchi’s name. “He said he needs you to give it to someone.”

“What?” Higuchi’s nasal intonation pinched his words. “I’m not some kind of messenger. Tell him to just send it by post, if he needs someone to see it so bad.”

“He sounded urgent that you give it,” the secretary said, and dropped the envelope down. “I’ll tell you something, he was very handsome. Seemed like a smart young man. This is probably his resume, you know.”

“Ah.” Snake oil slithered through Higuchi’s response as he took hold of the envelope. “Well, who am I to keep down a young upstart? Anything else he said?”

The secretary taped her finger to her lip and hummed. “Just that it was important someone get this message,” she said. “Someone powerful, who knew what you’d done. I don’t know what he meant by that.”

L’s eyes lit up; Higuchi became pale. “Ah yes,” the businessman simpered. “I’m not sure I know either. Well, why don’t you go home? I’ll see you on Monday.”

The moment the secretary left, Higuchi threw the envelope into the trash and L whipped around to Ryuk.

“Can you fly somewhere for me?” he asked. “And pick something up?”

“Dunno,” Ryuk said. “Depends what I get in return.”

After an hour and a promise for several all large candy purchases, L held a faintly sticky gold envelope in his hands. His hands, covered by white fabric gloves, turned the item over and over in curious rotation. Thumbing the corners, he admired how thick the stock seemed, how elegant the adhesion of the close seemed to lay, and upon opening it, he was sorry to mar the lines. Out fell a quarter-folded page with lines as crisp as the outer shell. L unfolded the page, smoothed it with both hands with delicacy he hadn’t practiced on something non-confectionery in years. Across the fine surface was hard-black typed words, struck out in small font but for some reason read to him like slow cream—a voice L never heard before but caught him, easily, by his mind’s tongue.

Dear L, the letter started. I know what you’ve been doing, but I don’t know how. I’d like to know. I’d like to know you and what tools you’ve picked up that let you wrack such havoc inside cruel men’s bodies.

Are you like them? A cruel man? I can’t say; but I’d like to be able to reject the sentiment.

Each word dropped into L’s consciousness as water on a garden and flourished greenery within him until his interest became a full forest. Someone caught on to him; their fingers brushed his toes but couldn’t quite hold the tiger. Still, the letter’s writer was unknown and on this front, L couldn’t abide. He took to his laptop and rolled back footage upon footage until video of a man at Higuchi’s secretary’s desk showed. At all times, the man’s face was out of view and his voice so low, L couldn’t make out his exact words. Had the letter writer known he’d been watched? A subtle tingle wormed through L’s chest: he knew about the cameras, or suspected them; he knew Higuchi was next; and he knew L was listening, in some capacity.

But how much did this man—who still carried handsomeness in his stature, turned head or no, and had a whisper coated by sugared familiarity—actually know? L frowned and turned back to the letter, scanning it again. He then turned to Ryuk.

“If someone wanted to send a message with the Note,” he said, “how might they do so?”

Ryuk laughed, throaty and amused. “Few ways,” he demurred. “You’re a smart guy. You figure it out.”

L raised an eyebrow, but not an argument. After all, he was the world’s greatest detective; a smart guy who could figure it out. He set to work and by nightfall had a plan. As he finished, he imbued his last pen stroke with some warped hope—that the letter writer saw what his message truly was: not cruelty but a hand beckoning him closer. An invitation.

“A challenge,” L said, to himself, to Ryuk, to the young man whose face he didn’t know. “And an answer.”

…

“Is that the newspaper?” Light slipped in next to Kiyomi, who held ink-covered pages in front of her face, elegant nails curled against headlines like red slashed wounds. Their first period literature class—a dreaded requirement on their degrees which neither enjoyed—found him harried from waking up late. He was unpracticed in disordered sleep and didn’t know how to control panic when it seeped from his pores and into his routine; ever since he gave the letter off to that Higuchi, Light was aware to his core something might happen—something deadly, even.

Kiyomi tilted the front page down enough to show her disappointed gaze trained on Light’s perfect smile—beguiling by practice, not nature. “You can buy your own,” she said. “After all, you don’t want anything from me, much less information.”

“Don’t be like that,” he countered. “You know, I didn’t make any moves.”

“Don’t lie,” Kiyomi said. “Look,” she flattened the newspaper to the desk, and after glancing around, pointed to a large headline, “your little love note found its recipient.”

Light leaned over the paper and scanned the article. Phrases floated forward—a sex dungeon with the women freed by an unknown accomplice—and others were faded but intriguing—Higuchi succumbing to cardiac arrest after consuming an energy drink, a large latte and a bottle of caffeine pills. His eyes froze on one paragraph, detailing a letter found in Higuchi’s handwriting and tucked inside his pocket.

“Experts say the letter was written within an hour of the man’s death,” the article read. “It’s contents are, however, not addressed to anyone known to the victim but instead a mysterious figure called ‘letter writer.’ Beneath we have listed some of the letter, which was confiscated by police and edited for clarity.”

Kiyomi sighed. “You’re in real danger now,” she said softly. “We’re both in danger.”

“He responded,” Light said, breathless. “He wrote back to me.”

Dear letter writer,

I don’t want to alarm you or make it seem as though I am on a crusade. Far from it. This is just my job, and I am good at my job. I get rid of people doing terrible things, but time and resources don’t always play on my side. This is my way of prioritizing.

I’m not a cruel man; and I hope you never think of me as such. But understand I can’t tell you what my methods are. After all, where’s the interest in that for me? But I can give you something small, something to hold onto: without your face, I can’t harm you.

Speak to you soon,

X

Light’s heart thudded in his throat. “Do you still have that chart on you?” He asked Kiyomi, who brought out the papers with eyes warmed by the prospect of research.

“Of course.” She laid them out and shrugged in closer to Light. “What are we looking for? What do we do next?”

Light couldn’t answer. Around and around in his head echoed Speak to you soon in a voice he didn’t know. Yes, they’d speak again soon enough, but he just needed to find out what they’d talk about. Right now, the room was dark; it was all a matter of turning on the light and seeing the secrets in the room.

[citruscloudsandmoon]

fandom asks, Z, Y, M, N, I, P, S, V, F, B

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go. Hmm, i suppose i could begin with L being called a frog. I never got the hang of it. Dude had dark circles under his eyes. We are missing an opportunity of calling him a panda or raccoon for that matter. Plus these both animals binge so it is certainly fitting on him when it comes to sweets. Y- A fandom you’re in but have no ships from.Legend of Korra. M-Your favorite fanart or fanartist. These are coming at my head at the moment; Skm4, Luleiya, B-griveros, Bianca, Rboz, Hotaru,Km92, Viria, dymx, Papabay.  There are more, but i can’t recall their names at the moment. N - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor. Gigglesworth and Zulka from beyblade. Princess Kitty1, EspadaIV, Jk Robertson and VeritasEtVita from Bleach. And moonlight Shimmer from Digimon. I-Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why.Naruto. For a while, i grew distant from it. The petty fights were always breaking out over which pairing is superior, which girl is superior. And i was like, children please, can’t we all get along together? this is supposed to be fun. P-Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).   Hmm there are many but they are mostly part AU and part Canon. I think i got one. Inspired mostly from Supernatural. Angels vs Humans in death note. It works like this; The Angels are the bad people here and your Kiras in the canon universe are these said beings. The Angels all have wings and carry scythes. Also they have superior strength as well. Rem and Ryuk are btw beasts in this universe. The former belongs to Misa and the latter to Light. The story is that the Angels are ruling over humans and their reign is tyrannical. A group of humans consisting of L, Wammy boys, Rest of SPK, Wedy, Aiber, Watari and Naomi are aiming to bring them down. The King, Light Yagami comes to know about them and sends Misa and Mikami to kill them. Before they could do their jobs, these band of humans capture Misa by bruising her wing. Still have yet to decide what happens next but Misa starts working with them. Some sort of love triangle forms as well of Misa x L x Naomi.. And i am really sorry if this was lame, but i really want to see Misa in Suspenders and wielding a scythe, so dre. S-Show us an example of your personal headcanon. Such a vague question. I can’t understand this one so i can’t answer this one. V - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping.No. Not really. It’s more like when i watch the show and if i happen to see any pairing whose dynamics are interesting and there’s potential, i happily board it. It’s actually a plus to the shows. I am mostly concerned with plot lines. F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom.  Beyblade, for 5 years. B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind. Maiko from Atla. I wasn’t too keen on it until i saw the boiling rock episode. Once i watched that, i knew i fell for them (Zuko x Mai) Thanks for asking :) Fandom asks

[dailyblogs24]

A Death Note for social media practices

If you are a manga lover, you know Death Note. If you haven't seen it I encourage you to, I'm sure most of you would like it:

“Death Note is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped to earth by a shinigami (a god of death) named Ryuk. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose name and face they know by writing the name in the notebook while imagining their face.” – Wikipedia

After discovering the Death Note, Light Yagami begins killing criminals to create a better place to live.

If I had my own Death Note, what social media practices would I like to write down to create a better social media experience? Click here to know more here about this article.

Here is my Death Note top 5 list of social media practices:

1. "Monologues" Social media is a space to have, create and/or participate in conversations. Non-conversational content is just broadcast or advertising. This approach provides no lasting value to others, nor to the organization itself (other than pure information sharing).

When you're comfortable with this practice, it's time to stop this approach and focus on dialogue instead.

2. Misleading “Nearly six in 10 internet users said they had seen stories sponsored by Facebook that they thought appeared misleading as content, and 45% said the same about Twitter's sponsored tweets.” – eMarketer

We've all come across an interesting social media link or blog post title that we'd like to learn more about...followed by disappointment once we click on it to realize it points to something else.

Misdirection is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to get more clicks/visits on a website or online channel. This practice only serves to gain a bad reputation among many visitors.

3. Perception of “Marketing Only” Social media isn't just about marketing.

It's great for collaboration, conversation, humanizing content, brands, organizations, and wisdom. Social media is not only good for your marketing and sales, but your entire business strategy, for example: employee training, online helpdesk, complaint and crisis management, networking, crowdsourcing and much more...

If you only focus on social media marketing, you might be surprised at the benefits you gain by looking further and integrating social media into other business strategies.

4. Selling in LinkedIn groups LinkedIn groups are great places to share insights and network in specific areas and places. However, spreading sales messages in every related discussion without curation is not social selling, it is spamming.

Instead of thinking about how to add value to discussions. The more you interact with people and share your knowledge, the more they will know about you and your solutions/products. Over time you will become a reliable source of information and therefore more valuable in the eyes of potential customers. You will get more than sales, you will build a reputation in this community.

5. Explosions of tweets Posting 5 or 10 tweets in a minute is the quickest way to get people to unfollow you. People think you're either a machine and/or a spammer.

Recently, Dan Zarrella did some Twitter research with the BufferApp team for his book project. One of his insights concerns link tweet speed and click-through rate (CTR):

"I found a pattern that applies to all the accounts I've looked at. If one of them tweeted a link and didn't tweet another link for an hour, they had a certain CTR. When they tweeted two links within an hour, the CTR dropped. With three links in an hour, the CTR was even lower. As the pace of the link tweet increased, the CTR for each link decreased.” Dan Zarella

[comicbookgeek13]

How to Properly Adapt Death Note in 105 Minutes

           Alright, motherfuckers, I, like every other Death Note fan, watched one of my favorite franchises get shat all over for the sake of making a lame black comedy whose only goal seemed to be shitting on the source material because Adam Wingard comes off to me as thinking it’s stupid.  A lot of people have been saying that “they only had 105 minutes” and “it’s an adaption so it couldn’t have been something that pleased fans”.  I’ve written an outline for how to do a Death Note movie in 105 minutes that is accessible to American audiences while pleasing fans. It sets up for a sequel, yeah, but I think Death Note’s record of success when done right means that’s not much of a risk.  The goal here is to prove that even when not allowed the thirteen-hour-long episode season of a Netflix series it deserves that the material can still be dynamically entertaining because it’s just that strong.  I also set out to prove that if a 21-year-old hick with no professional experience in writing can write something that functions well enough to appease both the fans I know and have shared this with and people who don’t know the material (like my middle-aged father!) then there is no reason that professionals hired by Netflix couldn’t do the same.  Read my outline below the cut.

Setting:

New York City makes the most sense as a parallel to Tokyo since it is just as heavily associated with its native country outside of said country. It also allows for a rich backdrop for the movie to pull from both in terms of casting and in terms of scenery. Characters:

Light Yagami- As the surname implies, Light and his family are all Japanese-Americans played by Japanese-American actors.  Light is one of the top students in the country, and the top law student at his university. He is charismatic and suave.  He dresses sharp, and keeps a room that is neat but not obsessively so.  He is conniving and cocky.  He is obsessed with purifying the world, and will do anything it takes to accomplish this goal.  He explains his complex plans to Ryuk so we, the audience, can keep up.

Sorichiro Yagami- Hardworking and dedicated, Sorichiro is one of the finest among New York’s finest.  He is a believer in the justice system despite its faults.  A great police captain, he is an even better father and husband.  He’s the reason for Light’s being a law-student and his sense of justice.  

Ryuk- The only character not in need of recasting or redesigning from the Wingard film, most of Ryuk’s alterations are characterization-based. Ryuk has an easy-come-easy-go attitude towards the events of the film.  He has no investment in either Light’s success or failure as would be expected from the sort that drops a Death Note for just any human to find. Snarky, creepy, and adorable in a bulldog sort of way, Ryuk is Light’s companion for most of the film.

Misa Amane- Barely factoring into the film, Misa is a musician with a goth-lolita aesthetic who rocketed to success after starting out on YouTube as MisaMisa.  Her only appearance in the film is a scene where Ryuk is watching a talk-show.  She is also to be played by an Japanese-American actor.

L- The world’s greatest detective and the Holmes to Light’s Moriarty, L needs to be as interesting to the audience as Kira himself.  L’s sense of justice is the cause his insomnia because it drives him to always be working cases under one alias or another.  A believer in the human capacity for change, L is disturbed by Kira and his popularity, but he is also excited to encounter an opponent that’s his intellectual equal.  A person with Asperger’s, L has a preference for looser clothing, hatred of socks and any similarly rough fabrics, and particular ways of sitting and holding things.  He has a great fondness for any and all sweets.  L’s actor needs to be an unknown with the ability to be unconventionally attractive similar to the likes of Johnny Depp or Jared Leto.  His actor should be British, and should be shown some of Juliani and Stanfield’s performances in order to get a handle on the character’s way of speaking.  I would like for his actor to be white since L’s design from the manga and anime is one of my favorite in fiction, but I’d have no problem casting someone of another ethnicity if their performance during an audition felt like the right fit for the role to me.

Watari- An old inventor and ex-British military sniper, Watari, like Alfred Pennyworth, is an English gentlemen’s gentlemen.  His being L’s financial support and public representative makes sense seeing as he’s the one responsible for raising the eccentric detective.  This doesn’t need to be explicitly stated in the film, but instead shown through small, tender moments like Watari fetching L a blanket or sweet he didn’t ask for.  His real name is Quillish Wammy, though that wouldn’t be revealed in this film, and race is unimportant in the casting of his character.

The Kira Investigation Task Force- The men who stuck around following the deaths of the 50 F.B.I. agents, the Task Force are all brave souls dedicated to the arrest of Kira.  Mostly serving as an everyman’s way into L’s methods and an excuse for L to explain his plans to the audience, the characterization here doesn’t have to be too strong save for Matsuda and Aizawa.   *Matsuda is a rookie detective whose age allows for him to have the most open mind when it comes to Kira.  He still wants Kira caught, but he sees why so many support the killer.

*Aizawa is the most skeptical about working with L.  He feels the detective has a way of using people that comes from a mindset too similar to Kira’s for his liking.

The Task Force should be casted as multiracial to take advantage of NYC’s melting-pot population and give representation.  They receive their original names from the manga as aliases from L upon meeting him in person as a safety precaution.

Raye Penber- The F.B.I. agent charged with pursuing Light Yagami and fiancé to Naomi Misora, Raye is a man who opposes Kira as deeply as he loves his bride-to-be.  He needs to have a good chemistry with Naomi so that the audience feels his death’s impact after only a scene or two with them together.  He needs to be attractive in a James Bond sort of way.  His actor should be Japanese-American, and someone who is unopposed to returning for a possible prequel adapting events of Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles B.B. Murder Cases.

Naomi Misora- Equal parts loving fiancé and cunning ex-F.B.I. agent, Naomi Misora is Light’s greatest threat after L.  Having resigned from the F.B.I. in hopes of pursuing a career in writing and as wife and mother, Naomi is devastated by the loss of her husband. Her pursuit of Light Yagami is fueled by her hatred for Kira’s ideology and revenge for Raye, and is ultimately what gets her killed.  Her death should subtly upset L to hint at one-sided feelings for the doomed woman picked up during the briefly alluded to L.A. B.B. Murder Cases.  She should be played by a Japanese-American actor who isn’t opposed to possibly returning for a prequel adapting those events down the line.

Plot:

The skeleton for the plot here is the first Japanese live-action film.

The film opens with Light Yagami , a second-year law student who feels aimless in his path to become a part of a system he sees flaws in, bored in his seat-by-the-window during one of his classes.  These feelings would usually either lead to a career of cynicism or of bucking said system, but things take an unusual turn when Light sees a notebook drop out of the sky during one of his classes.  After class, he picks up the notebook, called “Death Note”, and finds a list of rules written inside of the front cover.  

1.      The Human Whose Name is Written in This Notebook Shall Die.  

2.      If a Cause of Death is Not Written Within 40 Seconds of Writing a Name, The Human Will Simply Die of a Heart Attack.

3.        After Writing the Cause of Death, Six Minutes are Allotted to Provide Details for Circumstances Surrounding The Death.

He assumes the notebook to be a morbid prank.

The next scene has Light discover the authenticity of its powers after writing down the name of a man holding a gas station hostage after seeing live news coverage of the event on the TV in his room.  Initially horrified, Light decides to use the Death Note to clean up the world after a court case that gave a rapist a three-year prison sentence is discussed in one of his classes the next day.  

The next scene is set a few days after this with Light returning home to his room to find what is apparently a demon waiting for him.  The demon explains it is actually a bored god of death, or Shinigami, named Ryuk who dropped the Death Note, what is used by Shinigami to fulfill their job of killing humans, in the human world so “something interesting” would happen.  He spends the rest of the film eating apples and cracking wise.  Light learns only people who have touched the Death Note can see Ryuk after his sister comes in his room wanting help with her math homework.

Through a montage, we see that Light’s killing of criminals, initially only local and then international, soon garners him a following on the internet in places like Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, and 4Chan.  The name Kira, based on saying “Killer” with a Japanese accent, catches on as the way his supporters refer to him online.  The media calls the killings “ a strange series of heart attacks”.

The next scene shows NYPD Captain Sorichiro being called to the Commissioner’s office, and finding a well-dressed old, British man called “Watari” waiting for him alongside the commissioner.  Watari explains that he represents “L”, the world’s greatest detective. The police commissioner explains that Watari is the public’s only direct line to L.  Watari then pulls a laptop from his briefcase, and opens it to reveal a white screen with a black Old English style “L” in the center.  A voice put through several digital filters greets the men in the room, and declares itself to be L.  L tells the men of Interpol’s debate over the cause of so many criminal deaths, and that he suspects the deaths to be murders.  His reasoning is that criminals being so specifically targeted makes a disease unlikely.  He suspects these murders to be perpetrated by a single killer somehow since the range of the killings would take a number of people working together that would make success as unlikely as a disease.  He accompanies his reasoning with charts displaying information backing him up displayed on the laptop screen.  L says that he would like to work with the NYPD to assemble a 50-man task force with Sorichiro at its head because he suspects Kira may be operating out of New York City since that’s where the initial killings were located.

Next up is a scene of Light’s family greeting Light’s father, who is revealed to be Sorichiro, after he’s gotten home from work.  He mentions the NYPD doing something about Kira after Light’s sister mentions her classmates talking about the killer at school. Ryuk laughs over Light’s Dad unknowingly being after him.  

We then get a scene of the Task Force’s HQ being set up.  L speaks to the men, again through a laptop Watari brings, commenting on their bravery and how he will be releasing a public statement against Kira.  

We cut to Light watching TV in his room only for the broadcast to be interrupted by what is called a worldwide broadcast.  A man named Lind L. Taylor appears on screen, and declares himself to be L.  He speaks out against Kira, calling him evil and childish, and claiming he will single handedly apprehend the criminal.  Light, feeling insulted by this, writes Taylor’s name in the Death Note.  After Taylor dies of a heart attack, Light gloats to Ryuk, but is interrupted when the broadcast cuts to the “L screen” previously seen on the Watari’s laptop.  L’s synthesized voice expresses astonishment at how well his plan worked. He addresses Kira directly as he explains that the man named Lind L. Taylor was an inmate on death row set to be executed that night who had agreed to pretend to be L in exchange for being pardoned in the event that Kira didn’t kill him during his TV appearance.  L adds that the broadcast wasn’t actually a worldwide broadcast but limited to New York City.  Had Taylor lived, the plan would have been implemented in different areas using different inmates.  L knows Kira’s location, and that a name and face are needed for him to kill.  He dares Kira to kill him without having either on the detective.  Ryuk thinks this all hilarious, and Light is furious.  L declares that he is justice, and the broadcast ends.  

A montage of television programs discussing L’s TV appearance plays, ending with singer Misa Amane expressing her support for Kira.  It’s shown that it’s Ryuk that’s been looking at these TV shows, and he turns to tell Light how badly he’s been shown up. Light tells Ryuk he’s already going to get back at L.  Using his father’s username and password, Light looks at inmates convicted in cases involving rape, murder, or child molestation, and uses the Death Note to make them all write suicide notes on the walls of their cells using their own blood before committing suicide in differently specific ways that test the limitations of the Death Note.

We next have a scene of the Task Force discussing the deaths, and realizing that there is a message to L hidden in the first letter of each sentence in the notes that can only be seen when they are examined together.  The message is, “L, did you know that gods of death love apples?” L says that the message isn’t the real point of these deaths, but it was to show that Kira can control people’s actions before they die.  

The next scene is of Light and Ryuk walking through a park. Light’s wearing a Bluetooth headset so that he doesn’t look like a crazy person while talking to Ryuk.  Ryuk tells Light that someone is following him, and is only telling him because it makes the Shinigami feel like he’s the one being watched.  Ryuk says it’s been three days since this began when Light asks him.  

Next is L telling the Task Force that he has F.B.I. agents tailing members of each of their families.  When they express outrage, L explains that Kira has to have a connection not only to law enforcement in general but specifically the Task Force to know to access the database the NYPD keeps on inmates in relatively local prisons since no one outside of L, Watari, the commissioner, and actual members of the Task Force know that L is working with the NYPD.  This quiets the discontent some, and it is totally killed when Captain Yagami expresses his support of L’s plan.  

Next we have Light in his room writing names in the Death Note when Ryuk tells him that there is a simple way to figure out the name of his stalker. He explains all Shinigami have eyes capable of seeing the names and lifespans of all humans they see in order to do their job of writing names in their Death Notes, and that Light can be given this sight with no change in the appearance of his eyes in exchange for half of his remaining years of life.  Light declines this offer, and tells Ryuk he already has a plan.

 We then have a scene of the man tailing Light returning home to his fiancé, a woman named Naomi Misora.  She’s working on a novel about a young man searching for his missing friend from college. He says he’ll be able to focus on their wedding again soon as he’ll be done with tailing the families he’s been assigned to follow Friday.  Naomi asks if he thinks that any of them could be Kira, and he tells her no.  He adds that she would be the better out of the two of them to ask since she was good enough to work with L when she was in the F.B.I.  She dismisses him by saying she’d rather focus on writing and loving him than Kira.

Next we have Light getting on a bus to the zoo with his stalker close behind.  Light spends the first few seconds of the ride with his headphones in and watching a video on his phone.  This is all interrupted, though, when a man with a gun takes the bus hostage.  He uses the driver’s radio to demand $10,000 from the zoo.  Light looks to the seats behind him to see his stalker sitting in the seat directly behind his.  Light asks him if he wants to do something about the hijacker, and the man agrees. Before they do anything, though, Light wants proof that the man isn’t working with the hijacker.  After a moment’s hesitation, the man shows an F.B.I. badge revealing his name to be “Raye Penber”.  Satisfied, Light says he’ll pass him a note since the hijacker’s about to turn his attention back to the passengers.  Light drops the paper as he’s passing it, and the hijacker notices.  After reading the paper, he points his gun at Light’s face, and asks him if he’s “Some kind of hero?!”.  Before he can kill Light, though, he notices Ryuk standing in the aisle of the bus.  Ryuk expresses surprise and laughs when he realizes that the paper must’ve been torn from a page in the Death Note.  Panicking, the hijacker shoots at Ryuk, the bullets just passing through to break the rear window, and demands the driver stop the bus.  He runs out of the bus only to be hit by a car.  After the police let Light leave the scene, Ryuk asks him if the hijacker was a criminal Light wrote would do all of that in the Death Note to which Light answers yes.  He adds that the incident would have always ended in his favor since he would have at least seemed “too noble” to be Kira had Penber provided some other means of proving he wasn’t working with the hijacker, but the name will allow for Light to send a message.  

Next is a scene of Raye telling Naomi over breakfast that he won’t be able to go with her to meet with the priest like they’d planned .  Naomi, confused, asks Raye why, but he tells her he can’t say.  

Next is Raye going down to a subway to catch a 1:00 PM train heading to some arbitrary location.  He is approached from behind from a disguised, hoodie-wearing-Light, who tells him that he is Kira, and that he will kill everyone around them unless he complies to his demands.  Light speaks in harsh whisper to mask his voice somewhat.  Raye complies, and takes the seat next to the door of the train at Light’s instruction.  He takes a manila envelope containing a cheap cellphone, sheet of paper, and a pen from the luggage rack also at Light instruction.  The phone rings, and Light is on the other end of the line.  He tells Penber to write the names of his fellow F.B.I. agents current tailing anyone in relation to the Kira Investigation. Raye says he doesn’t know the names. He asks for Raye’s superior that is heading the team of agents, and Penber gives it to him.  A few moments later, Raye receives a phone call from his superior, and is told the names of his fellow agents.  Light again tells him to write down the names, and Raye does so this time.  Raye is told to put the cellphone, pen, and paper back in the envelope before placing it back on the luggage rack, and that he is to get off at the train’s next stop. As all of this occurs, a narration from Light begins.  “Raye Penber. Heart attack.  He cancels any and all plans he has, and tells no one why. He heads to the subway for the 1:00 PM train heading for ((Insert Arbitrary Location Here)).  There, he encounters the man known as Kira, and complies with the man’s demands.  He gets off at the stop that comes after his compliance, and dies.”  Towards the end of the narration, Raye gets off the train, turns to find a smiling-and-envelope-holding Light standing behind the now closed train doors, and die, shocked, reaching towards his killer as the train departs.

Next is Light and Ryuk exiting the subway, and entering a dirty alleyway.  Light pulls out a bottle of some flammable liquid from his hoodie pocket, pours the liquid all over the envelope, and drops a match.  He adds the bottle into the resulting fire, and smiles knowingly at Ryuk.  

We cut to Captain Yagami informing the Task Force that all 50 of the F.B.I. agents tailing their families and the man supervising the agents have died of heart attacks.  He says that, in light of this, any who wish to exit the investigation are free to do so without consequence.  All but six men take this offer.  Captain Yagami tells L that there are only seven of them left.  L expresses disappointment while complimenting the bravery of the seven.  One of the men (Aizawa) rebukes this compliment by insulting L for hiding himself from the world and keeping them at an arm’s length.  L takes this to heart, and tells the men to meet him at a specific hotel in two days.  The same man who rebuked L’s compliment asks why they have to do this, and Watari tells him that they are going to be meeting L.  

Our next scene is of Raye Penber’s funeral with a vengeful Naomi watching her fiancé’s casket be lowered into the ground.  

We then cut to the Task Force arriving in the lobby of the designated hotel to find Watari waiting for them.  The old man leads them to the room where L is staying.  After they enter, a man about Light’s age with pale skin, messy black hair, a white long-sleeve shirt, and baggy blue jeans comes out, and reveals himself to be L after greeting them.  Each member of the Task Force gives their name in return, and L tells them that they would all be dead if he were Kira.  He gives each member their corresponding manga name as an alias, and asks for them to refer to him as “Ryuzaki” from now on.  He gives them a pep talk that assures them that justice will prevail in the end.  

Next we cut to Naomi talking to the driver of the hijacked bus during his lunchbreak.  She asks him if he saw Raye talking to anyone after showing him a picture of her fiancé. He says he saw him talking to a young guy who didn’t even flinch when the hijacker pointed a gun in his face.  

We cut to Watari placing a blanket on L, who has fallen asleep in his crouching/sitting position only for the detective to be awoken by the ringing of his personal cellphone.  Naomi is the one calling him, and he expresses quiet surprise after finding this out.  She tells him she suspects that Light is Kira because of Raye’s death after revealing his name to him, and that she’ll be proven right if she’s found dead soon.  L says he won’t be able to use her claims as proof in a court case since his personal cellphone is the only one he has that isn’t bugged.  She says she knows this, but that she also knows he’ll find something that can be used in court now that he has this information.  Naomi ends the phone call with a “goodbye”.  

The next scene begins with L telling the Task Force he wants to bug Captain Yagami and the Commissioner’s houses.  They’re understandably upset, but L explains by showing footage of Raye Penber’s death as captured by security cameras.  He says his shock before dying means he recognized a person on the train, and his reaching even as he dies suggests that person was Kira.  Raye was tailing members of the two families so Kira must have been among them, and killed Raye for getting too close with the deaths of the other agents being a means of covering themselves and an intimidation tactic.  Sorichiro agrees to the bugging of his house under the condition that he and L be the ones to watch the feed with the others watching the commissioner’s. L accepts this condition, and says the observation will only last for two weeks.

 We next have Light returning home to his room.  Ryuk suggests that they play video games now that the human has come home, but Light acts as if the Shinigami isn’t there.  We see L and Sorichiro watching all this and everything else in the house on various screens.  After putting his school things away, Light leaves the house.  He now tells Ryuk that he suspects his room has been bugged, and can’t speak to him in his house until they’re gone.  When asked how he could know such a thing, Light says he’s been putting a pencil lead above the top hinge of his bedroom door as a means of preserving his privacy while away from home since he was a teenager because the lead always breaks when the door is opened.  Ryuk is distressed by his apple supply being cut off, and Light is frustrated over not knowing how L could even suspect him.  Ryuk asks Light just what it is he’s going to do about it, and Light smiles after a moment’s consideration.  

We cut to L and a clearly haggard Captain Yagami watching the Captain’s family eat dinner.  L expresses admiration for Sorichiro’s dedication to his family.  Sorichiro asks why Light’s room has the most cameras, and L says Light’s intellect makes him the most likely to be Kira.  On the camera feed, Light says he’s going to his room to do homework.  He grabs a previously opened bag of chips, and heads for his room.  He starts doing his homework, eating chips every few minutes. Downstairs, the local news reports on the apprehension of a man who’d robbed a grocery store, killing three people in the process.  The man suddenly dies of a heart attack.  Light’s shown no change in behavior that would allow for him to see this report. Throughout all of this it should cut between the feed and L and Sorichiro watching it.  The Task Force celebrates Light and the rest of Sorichiro’s family being relieved of suspicion, and L is frustrated.  

We cut to reveal Light had a piece of the Death Note, another pen, and a smartphone hidden in the bag of chips.  

The next scene is Light leaving school, and none other than Naomi Misora meeting him on the way to his car.  She answers his confusion by telling him her name, and that she knows he is Kira.  Light calls her crazy, trying to get past her, but Misora won’t let him pass.  She tells him that Raye Penber was her fiancé, and that she’ll see him exposed to avenge Raye.  Light pushes past her, and drives off.  

We cut to Light getting home to his room.  Ryuk excitedly tells him all the cameras are gone, and Light tosses him an apple he’d been keeping in his desk drawer.  

Our next scene has the Task Force arriving to L’s hotel room.  L asks Captain Yagami if he’s enjoyed going home to which the Captain says yes.  L begins to tell them what he thinks their next plan of action should be, but he is interrupted by his cellphone ringing.  He answers to find Naomi once again waiting for him on the other end.  She tells him she’s sending him a link to a video feed so that he can watch Kira confess to his crimes.  L asks her just what she’s planning to do, and she tells him she’s already done what she planned to do before ending the call.  L tells Watari to go to the linked feed.  The feed shows Light tied to a chair, and alone in a dark room.  He seems confused and scared, calling for someone to explain what’s going on.  Sorichiro is horrified, and asks L what’s going on in an accusatory tone.  L tells Watari to begin tracing the feed, and gives the Task Force a summation of what’s going on.  They all watch as Naomi enters the dark room, apparently a warehouse given the door type.  She says she knows Light is Kira, and he’s going to have to either confess or kill her like he killed Raye before she can kill him if he wants to live.  Light denies her accusation, and begs to be let go. This deeply disturbs the Task Force. Naomi begins to torture Light in an attempt to get a confession.  Tension builds as we wait for Watari to find the location.  He finds that the feed is coming from a warehouse called “The Yellow Box” which was used as a location for mob negotiations in decades past. Sorichiro and the Task Force immediately head out.  

We cut between their racing towards The Yellow Box and Naomi’s torturing Light.

Naomi pulls out a gun, aiming it at the bleeding and crying Light, saying that she is going to kill him in ten seconds if doesn’t confess or kill her first. Before she can shoot him, though, Sorichiro and the Task Force arrive, telling Naomi to drop her weapon and put her hands above her head.  Naomi, apparently realizing she’s gone too far, asks Raye to forgive her and shoots herself in the head.  Sorichiro unties Light, embracing him and crying over his relief for his son’s safety. He and the other Task Force members walk him out of the warehouse so that he can receive proper medical attention. Over this tender scene, Light narrates,“ Naomi Misora.  Suicide. After abducting the person responsible for her fiancé’s death, she contacts those responsible for the Kira Investigation, and provides them with a way of watching as she tortures her captive in order to get him to confess to being the killer known as Kira.  She threatens to kill her captive, but, upon the intervention of the police, realizes how far she’s taken her search for answers, and ends her life with a gunshot to the head.”  

Our final scene starts with Light in his room, now bandaged in the areas where he was most severely injured during his interrogation.  The doorbell rings, and he goes to the door to answer it.  He opens the door to find L on his doorstep.  The detective reveals his identity to Light, and asks to speak with Light inside.  L explains to him that he wants Light to join the Task Force.  He adds that he suspects Light to be Kira.  He talks of how Naomi had called him before Light’s abduction, and how she’d said Light must be Kira if she were to die soon.  He adds how uncharacteristically irrational she was in her final actions, and how they know Kira has the ability to control the actions of his victims before their deaths.  Light counters this by saying that her fiancé’s death must have sent her over the edge, and that he would’ve just killed Naomi while she was torturing if he actually were Kira since he knew her name and face.  Light then asks why L would want him on the Task Force if he suspects that Light is Kira.  L lies that Light’s odds of being Kira are only 5%, and, that if he is wrong about Light being Kira, Light’s track record of successfully assisting the police in previous cases would make him a great asset in finding and arresting the real Kira. Light fakes consideration, and accepts L’s offer by shaking the detective’s hand.  The film closes with Ryuk laughing and saying, “Humans are so interesting!”  

[libralita]

Death Note Part 2

Writer: Tsugumi Ohba

Illustrator: Takeshi Obata

Summary: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal…or his life?

Rating: ★★★★☆

Part 1

Review:

I really enjoyed this series. It was so engaging and thought provoking. There was one part that bored me to tears and I kind of hated but other than that it was near perfect.

I’ve broken up my notes into parts because I read the giant 2400 bind up so it would be too long to do one post.

Hearing Light’s explanation for what he did makes me even more annoyed with the business executive plots. Light is so smart that he could figure out what he would do without his memories and what someone like Higuchi would do. That’s so awesome! Now why would I want to read 17 chapters full of these stupid business executives? There were way too many to care about or even remember their names. They weren’t as smart or cool or interesting as Light and L. Light and L figure out it’s the eight so quickly. They were pathetic antagonists.

“No matter what world, the god of that world creates the rules. You will be defeated by the fake rules I have created, and die for the sin of defying me.”—Page 1228

Did Light become crazier?

Ugh! Misa can’t remember L’s real name! I mean…I’m glad L isn’t dead but still.

“Ryuk: Sorry but… Misa: Huh? *Ryuk drops Misa* Ryuk: I’m male, I’m shy when it comes to girls.”—Page 1249

How weird.

“Even if she can’t remember the name…Misa will make the eye trade with Ryuk so she can help me…that trade will come in handy immediately!”—Page 1254

Jesus Christ, Light.

“So it was all part of his plan.”—Page 1257

Ryuk knows what a crazy SOB Light is.

“Light: The Kira case hasn’t been solved yet. I’m in no mood for love at the moment.”—Page 1264

Bit of a contradiction, Light. A while ago you said you fell in love with Misa.

Is everyone just sitting in absolute silence while Rem, L and Light are figuring this shit out?

WAIT WATARI! NO! HE WAS SUCH A BAD ASS!

NO NO NO L IS NOT DEAD! I SWEAR TO GOD!

20 days, 18 hours, 31 minutes and 30 seconds? Until what? L what did you plan?

Alright so looks like this Near kid is probably going to be a candidate for L and there’s this old guy who knows about the count down.

So now Light is Kira and L. What a strange turn of events.

“Ryuk: Then I can’t expect much more fun…”—Page 1316

Ryuk, we still have 1084 pages to go. I’m sure there will be plenty of fun!

“L is dead.”—Page 1321

No! I will stay in my bubble of denial FOREVER!

“January 10th 2005. Mary Kenwood, the second Kenwood daughter, dies in a motorcycle accident in Colorado, USA. April 7th, 2005. With his family at his side Thierry Morello succumbs to liver cancer in a hospital in Paris, France. Mary Kenwood and Thiery Morello, along with their alter egos, Wed and Aiber, are vanquished to the darkness.”—Page 1325

Okay then? Wait…did they die?

Holy shit, the business executives all die of heart attacks.

Alright, let’s see if Near can fill the L-shaped void in my heart.

Interesting so now the FBI, CIA and Near are going to try and track down Kira without L.

Stop. There’s a CIA agent called “Ratt”. Stop it.

Please tell me Light is using 4chan to kill people, they would be hilarious. Also, Light, might I introduce you to the concept of Fake News.

Ah, the NPA director has been kidnapped by a crazy chick.

“No matter what I have to do I will get it before Near…”—Page 1355

So we meet Mello, who at first I thought was a girl but is apparently a boy. And he grew up with Near in the orphanage and they were in competition to become the next L. Mello was always in Near’s shadow so now Mello is going to do anything to defeat Kira and Near. Which includes kidnapping and getting the Death Note that the Japanese police have.

So Watari ran this orphanage that was some sort of training facility for future L’s. Which means that Watari was some sort of father figure to L…which means my heart hurts.

This is actually a really interesting plot line. We have this weird sibling dynamic. It’s another cat and mouse game now that L is gone.

“Mello: I want Kira’s head and I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way. I’ll be number one.”—Page 1370

Huh, maybe training children to become these obsessive detectives is a bad thing.

It’s time for Near and Light to meet.

“L number 2, nice to meet you.”—Page 1413

Oh shit.

L M N, we need all the letters of the alphabet! Also, it’s a good thing that Light’s name also begins with an L.

“The original L gave his life and proved to the world that a mass murderer named Kira is lurking somewhere in Japan. He was even able to find out what Kira was using to do those killings. But even though you’ve taken over L’s place, you’ve done nothing. Not only that, I think Kira’s public approval has even increased because of you.”—Page 1478

Oh shit, Near is throwing shade!

Again, I think creating a school to create super genius detectives is probably not the greatest idea in the world.

“Touta Matsuda One of the men who work under me. But he’s completely useless.”—Page 1499

Aw, Matsuda, that’s so sweet.

Wow, Light got the President to play right into his trap.

“Near, I’ve pretended to be brainless but L is still the greatest detective in the world! And Mello, let me show you who is going to change the world with the Death Note—Kira!”—Page 1531

Light, you’re so crazy.

“I can do this…there are no disadvantages for me.”—Page 1542

What could possibly go wrong?

“Misa: Light, I’ve been a great help, haven’t I? Light: Yeah, I love you, Misa. Ryuk: Hyuk. Is that the face of someone saying ‘I love you’…?”—Page 1547

No it is not.

Well that plan was a complete disaster. You stupid cockroach shinigami (Sidoh). Although, I probably shouldn’t want Light’s plans to succeed.

Ugh, I feel so bad for Misa.

Light, you’ve corrupted Matsuda! He was kind of annoying but now…

Wait! Shit! Light’s dad is making the deal!

LIGHT’S DAD DIED!

Welp, Near figured out that L is Kira.

Now the former-VP-now-President of the US decided to turn over to Kira.

“…Then, Near, Mello, and L won’t be able to lead normal lives once they’re exposed to the world as infidels…”—Page 1683

Light, dear, you are L.

“If you’re scared, you don’t have to participate but please don’t leave the headquarters. I’m scared so I’m not going to go outside.”—Page 1689

Aw, poor Near.

Ah so Mello is with Hal.

Near offered to write Mello’s name.

Hey, shouldn’t this Xavier’s School for the Crazy have taught these kids how to act normal that way they could go outside without being an L suspect?

“Light: Yes, Near? Near: Sorry, I called the wrong number. Bip”—Page 1752

I love Near. Oh he was checking to see if it was L. That’s so smart.

“Light: Near, you must escape. Near: Look who’s talking, Kira.”—Page 1764

Oh snap.

It’s…raining money…Smart.

Aizawa is going to look into Light being Kira again. Hopefully he doesn’t die.

And now we have a new owner of the Death Note: Teru Mikami.

“Has Aizawa made his move? If he has, I shouldn’t try to pry into it too much. They’ll only get more suspicious of me if I do. Actually, it might be better to have them investigate as they please, and even check out Misa.”—Page (Too lazy to find the page number)

Fuck, Light knows.

I wonder if because Aizawa is a father that’ll effect his relationship with Near.

“No, the important part is ‘I’ll kill Kira, and then kill myself.’ Therefore Deputy Director Yagami and the Kira suspect are related.”—Pages 1820-1821

He’s so good. Oh shit, Near figured out that Light is the new L. Man, Near’s good. Light could never figure out L’s real identity but Near figured it out so quickly. Though, now that I think about it. It might have been in Rem’s Notebook.

I didn’t know Matt from Game Theory worked for Mello. The more you know.

Now we get to meet Mikami. Let’s see how crazy he is!

Huh, have we gotten this mug shot picture before for Misa and the business executive? We got one for Light and Ryuk.

So Teru was bullied. He is quite crazy.

Near…why do you have finger puppets?

Wow, it’s one of the girls who use to have a crush on Light. What a one in a million chance. Ah, but this inadvertently make things a little bit more difficult for Light. Man, this book is so brilliant sometimes.

Light, you are really shit at keeping your identity a secret. Mello and Near have both figured you out.

Back to Japan!

So Mikami is punishing the by-standards now. This is turning into an Seinfeld episode.

Takada, I need to remember that name.

Ide, they want to bonk! Matsuda knows people, he just doesn’t understand crime.

Light got into contact with Mikami and everything seems to be going according to plan for Light…unfortunately?

“I’ve never made travel arrangements myself. I want you to come back, and then we’ll go to Japan together.”—Page 1949

Aw, that’s so sad.

So battle between Light and Near has truly begun.

Damn, Hal Lidner has some balls.

Poor Misa.

“Once the victim’s name, cause of death and situation of death has been written down in the Death Note, this death will still take place even if that Death Note or the part of the Note in which it has been written is destroyed, for example, burned into ashes, before the state time.”—Page 2006

Doesn’t the Netflix movie completely throw out this rule?

MIKAMI ARE YOU NUTS? YOU JUST KILLED SOMEONE WITH THE DEATH NOTE IN PUBLIC!

“Matsuda: Ooh! Light’s in trouble now!”—Page 2031

…We are all Matsuda.

“Near: What this proves is that Light Yagami is a lady-killer.”—Page 2039

AY-OH!

Poor Aizawa.

So now Misa and Mogi have been kidnapped/taken into custody by Near. Ah, so this was Near’s plan to get someone to touch the Notebook.

Near is putting his plan into action I’m getting dangerously close to the end.

I’m assuming that Mello is going to show up at the last minute and completely ruin Near’s plans.

Mello’s kidnapped Takada!

And now Matt is dead. I hope Stephanie isn’t too sad about it.

Ah shit Takada is going to try and kill Mello. She, much like Hal, has some balls of titanium.

Aw shit Takada killed Mello. I wish he’d been more prominate in the book series. He was a cool headache for Light.

And now Light has killed Takada so he can destroy Mello’s body.

Near has a mask on.

And meeting has begun.

Nate River, there’s Near’s name.

“I’ve tampered with the Notebook. We managed to get it into our possession, and replaced the pages. The person behind the door…the one in charge of the actual killing, has been filling up one page every day, so I just calculated which page would correspond with today’s date, and replaced all the subsequent pages.”—Page 2212

Holy shit, really?

“Exactly as planned!”—Page 2214

FUCK!

“I ordered Mikami to use the fake Notebook outside on purpose to have your agent witness it in plain sight.”—Page Lazy

*sighs*

FUCK YEAH NEAR! YOU FUCKING DID IT! I’m so proud of you, kiddo.

“Matsuda: Light…Why…?”—Page Shit is Getting Real

Oh, Matsuda…

Man, Gevanni is good.

Oh god Mello scarified himself for Near.

“Mello always said he was going to be number one, and that he was going  to be better than me and L but I always knew that I would never be able to surpass L. it could be that I lack the action and he lacked the calm and even though we couldn’t surpass the one we admired on our own together we can stand with L together. Together we can surpass L.”—Pages 2262-2263

HELL YEAH!

Near called Light a murderer, hell yeah.

FUCK YEAH MATSUDA SHOT LIGHT!

Ryuk is writing Light’s name down in his Notebook.

Light Yagami is dead.

Near is eating chocolate.

I feel like if I were on this task force I’d retired after this.

Aw, Misa is the leader of a cult…how odd.

The bonus chapter was kind of funny.

[nesossary]

And so it begins....

(Live commentary by me. I’m gonna nitpick, so bear with me. Oh, and spoilers)

(Also there’s a review at the end so skip the commentary if you want)

(But please read, the thought’s that ran through my head while I was watching was actually pretty funny.)

- I paused it after 30 seconds and I don’t want to continue 

-Don’t make me, I’m scared it’ll be bad, but I’m also scared it’ll be good

Time To say a prayer to the shinigami for a miracle, but I’m continuing

-Getting paid to do other people’s homework, great business, but you didn’t even finish the paper

-So Mia smokes..... she’s already more interesting than Misa Misa

-Not even two minutes in and we’re getting some steamy stares between Light and Mia

-I would say how it was stupid how the Death Note fell while there were so many people around, but it doesn’t really make sense that Light only saw it in the anime either.

-That line about child abuse was probably supposed to sound smart, and it did, but Light sounds like a loser saying it like that

-But I agree with what he says about the bigger picture

-THEY KILLED HIS MOM. SHE WASN’T DEAD IN THE ANIME. WHAT ABOUT HIS SISTER?

- ”A tree or a plant or something” Funny, but sounds NOTHING like Light

-”The human whose name is written in this note shall die”

     Movie Light: Woah      Anime Light: Pffft As if, Yeah right

-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

-LIGHT RUNNING AROUND SCARED OF RYUK IS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN 

-(I don’t even have to say how inaccurate that is, right?)

-What a wimp

-RYUK DIDN’T EVEN FINISH THAT APPLE

- “I don’t have a pen” *sigh*

-I love how Light writes his y’s, just saying

-Decapitation? Really?

-That was way more gruesome than I thought it would be

-Livin next to a railroad, how unfortunate

-”You wouldn’t understand anyway”

-Rule 95 is a LIE

-PLEASE DON’T PRONOUNCE RYUK’S NAME LIKE THAT

-thunder = shinigami

-Light’s scared faces are going to make me need a new spleen

-yes, thank you for correcting his pronunciation  

-Ryuk didn’t even know any of this stuff about the death note, he’s not that smart

-Can’t be controlled more than two day before that death, yeah okay

-LIGHT FINDING THE DEATH NOTE WAS A COINCIDENCE 

-Seven days, yeah okay, sure whatever you say

-Technically the waiter is now charged with manslaughter

-WHY ARE YOU READING THE DEATH NOTE IN A GYM

-Light is so awkward, I relate

-”Hey, you wanna see my......... death note?”

-ANYONE WHO TOUCHES THE BOOK CAN SEE THE SHINIGAMI STUPIDS

-wow, something that happened in the anime, death by truck

- ”We?” Light you showed her the death note, why are you confused?

- ”Let’s hold hands while we walk on the porch but immediately let go when we get inside”

-did they go to his house just to make out?

- ”Let’s make out while we kill people, okay?”

-FINALLY, this montage of news broadcasts is perfect, except for like naming himself Kira, but whatever

-Thank goodness his name is still Watarti

- I actually have to admit they portrayed L nearly perfect

-THEY KEPT THE SWEETS THING, THANK YOU!!!

-L is just as crazy too!

-Ahhh, the stand off between Light and L is brilliant! RYUK LAUGHING TOO

-I actually love the irony in how James said that he thinks he can tell if Kira is sitting in front of him while Light is sitting in front of him

-Yes FBI man, follow Light

- Anime Light didn’t even hesitate to kill the guy following him and the entire squad of FBI in the US

-Wow Mia, that wasn’t subtle at all, it’s so obvious you took the death note

-AYYYYYYYY AYYYYYYYY HEART ATTACK

-THE FBI AGENTS LOOK LIKE ROBOTS

-FINISH YOUR DAMN APPLES RYUK

-I hate how they’re pinning Mia as the bad guy and Light as good. In the anime Light didn’t care, he jumped on their challenge.

-LIGHT WOULD NEVER QUIT, I MEAN IT LASTED 7 YEARS FO GODS SAKE

-I do like the decrease in Light’s mental state

-How in the world did L come to the conclusion that Light was Kira?

- *sigh* I’m so happy L sits like that, I really am

-Light, you’re supposed to keep your calm so L doesn’t know it was you.

-This “I love you” moment is so cringy 

-Watari isn’t he real name, you know

-AHHH, L, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!

-Okay, L would never do that

-Please don’t make homecoming a thing please

-I love the shot of Watari walking up to the orphanage (Even though that NEVER HAPPENED)

-Ugh gross, was a homecoming scene necessary?

-Close the locker

-I love when Ryuk laughs at Light, it reminds me of the anime

- “MOVE, I WILL DANCE WITH HER”

-LIGHT CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF KILLING THE FBI AGENTS!!

-STOP MAKING MIA LOOK THE BAD GUY!!!! LIGHT WAS THE ONE BEHIND ALL THE KILLINGS! HE WOULD HAVE KILLED WATARI WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT

-I firmly believe and agree that L can’t drive

- 1:14:13 I HEAR IT! I HEAR IT!  L’S THEME!

- do it do it do it do it do it, WRITE HER NAME

-Ha “Drive slow, Drive safe”

-This hands on L is bothering me

-This entire chase scene is really well done despite not even coming close to the anime

-Lol “Lord Kira”

-What the heck is this ferris wheel scene?

-You’re on a ferris wheel, how are you going to run away?

-I’m not going to say anything about the crashing ferris wheel

-Do we NEED this song?

-This song RUINS this scene

-HIS FACE

-If the song wasn’t playing, that would have been a cool scene, but NOOOO they had to put that in

-NOw some old man has the death note

-*gasp* the old man is back

-”With the power of this Death Note, I REVIVE you!”

-Why would knock when he’s in a coma?

-OMG this music needs to stop

-WOW, now the plan Light came up with to end up with the Death Note and not die was what the ENTIRE move should have had

-THE SONG RUINS IT!!!!!

-Wow, L survives and Light dies, I feel like it should have been like that in the anime

Now, my thoughts.

Okay, so if I’m being honest, I didn’t hate this movie. I hated how it was adapted, but overall I feel like it was a pretty good film.

While yes of course, it didn’t really do the anime justice (ha lol), it did succeed in being a engaging movie with a good plot.

If this was a stand alone movie, I would have thought it was brilliant, but as an adaptation, it really falls short. (Like really short)

The worst part was how they treated Light. Not only did they make him weaker, but they made him seem like the misunderstood hero. In the anime, Light knew exactly what he was doing the entire time, he never stopped to think whether what he was doing was right or wrong. He fully believed that he was doing that best thing and that his word WAS law. In the movie, Light needed to be pushed into doing the things he did. He didn’t even want to use the Death Note in the beginning.

When the FBI started following him, anime Light’s FIRST thought was how he was going to kill them. HE came up with the plan on how to kill them without revealing himself. In the movie, Mia did this.

I also HATE how they made Light the “delinquent, only hangs out on the sidelines kind of guy”. The WHOLE POINT of the anime was that Light was the kind of guy you wouldn’t expect to be a mass murderer. He WAS the straight A student with a ton of friends and a bright future. Light was the kind of guy who had girls lining up to be with him. The kind of guy who could go to any university of his choice because they were all desperate to have him. He wasn’t the loser who never talked to anyone and sold homework answers like drugs. Being such a well respected person actually HELPED him in the anime. ALSO, HE NEVER ATE ANY POTATO CHIPS, LIKE A NORMAL PERSON OR OTHERWISE.

Let’s talk about Mia, while I will admit that she was more bearable that MIsa Amane, she still was portrayed horribly. The movie made it seem like SHE was the brains of the operation. It also made her seem like she was the actual bad guy when in reality, Light was behind every major death in the anime.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Light’s dad was the generic “I’ve lost almost everything, my wife died and my relationship with my son is bad and I live in a crap house” dad. Also, Light’s mom doesn’t die and he has a sister, just saying.

I’m kinda disappointed that Matsuda wasn’t in the anime.

L, in my opinion, was the best portrayed character. At least in the beginning. He started to fall short when he started to freak out and run around.

Also the songs in the movie killed some scenes for me

In conclusion, this movie wasn’t bad as a stand alone. As an adaptation though, it really could have been better.

[nekative]

So, that Netflix Death Note

I’ll get this out of the way: as an Asian Canadian, I was already not a fan of this adaptation of the story. I didn’t appreciate the whitewashing of many of the characters, especially Light and Misa (named Mia in the movie).

“Okay, but L is black.” That’s great. I like this. In the manga/anime, I don’t believe there was ever a direct reference to what race he was, and I believe that there was somefhing about how there are actually Multiple Ls, so this doesn’t bother me.

In my opinion, they didn’t need to use Light. Ryuk said in the manga/anime that the reason he dropped the book in the first place was because he was bored. There was no particular reason as to why Light was the one to pick it up. It was just chance. He wasn’t chosen, or anything. So, they could have absolutely created a completely different character for the sake of having a white lead role in this adaptation, instead of whitewashing Light and making him trash.

But I went into this movie with an open mind, hoping that I would be proven wrong on my assumption that the movie will be Bad. Here are my thoughts.

There will be spoilers if you ever wanna watch that t r a s h so there’s your warning.

Let’s completely forget about the fact that it’s an adaptation of Death Note for a second, and let’s look at it’s own horror/thriller film.

The acting in the movie in general wasn’t great. Lakeith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi, and Willem Dafoe were probably the only ones whose acting was tolerable. Personally, I think Lakeith Stanfield’s acting actually carried the movie from a steaming pile of horse shit to a not as smelly pile of poop.

Light and Mia were annoying. I wanted them to be caught. Light was described as “bright”, but his actions throughout the movie indicated otherwise. In fact, it felt like the movie was making him the victim of peer pressure, both from Ryuk and Mia.

Also, really quick, but Ryuk said something in the movie about how many people tried writing his name in the book but only managed to write the first two letters of his name, but his name was CLEARLY there in the rules and last I checked, the pages with the rules are still pages in the book, so…

Overall, there was never a sense of dread, which is what I kind of want from a horror/thriller movie. I didn’t feel anything other than frustration (and the occasional relief when L was on the screen). So, would I recommend it as a horror film? No. Unless you wanna laugh at something that’s actually so horrible it got a chuckle from me once or twice.

Now, let’s get to the fun part, where we compare this leaking bucket of lukewarm piss to Death Note, the manga/anime.

They took Light Yagami, one of my favourite fictional characters of all time, and made him into the biggest disappointment I’ve ever seen. From a student who was Japan’s brightest… From a character who was so smart, so cunning, so RUTHLESS… To a character who was called smart like, twice, and was falling for every trap L and the police put forth, and also a huge fucking pussy.

For fuck’s sake, Mia was more like Light than Light was.

I also hated how Ryuk became a sort of catalyst for every event in the movie as opposed to someone who was just interested in being an audience member. The Ryuk I know would never get involved in what Light was doing. If he was bored, he would complain and complain but not fuck shit up for Light like how he did. Nor would he threaten Light like how he did.

Granted, Light deserved the threat, after he said he would write Ryuk’s name in the book, but still.

I hated how this Light was killing people in ways other than a heart attack. That was Kira’s signature thing. That was how L and the public at large recognized that there was someone else at work. Also, he was SO in love with Mia like? It was Weird to me that they would make Mia the one who was manipulative.

The way that he got the name ‘Kira’ was fucking stupid, too. “It’s Russian for Light” and “it kinda sorta means killer in Japanese” like wow we’ve got an edgelord over here.

Also, why were the Russian inmates he killed writing in Japanese? What was the point? I also don’t think that death would have been possible in the anime/manga because it’s super unlikely that these inmates knew Japanese, and so would have been impossible for them to accomplish. All I got from all that was that Light was a ginormous weeb.

Also, let’s just announce to anyone who wants to know that we’re Kira. :)

L and Watari were the only ones who reminded me of the original characters, and I loved them for it. Of course, L was more emotional and stuff, but it was fine. The way he spoke, the way he moved, it was all very L. My main issue with L was how he wasn’t as careful as his anime/manga counterpart was. None of the characters were as careful as the original characters, and it was infuriating.

It was like they wanted to incorporate every single interpretation of all of the characters from all of the adaptations but also try to make it their own and giving them their own spin to things, but it just came out as a really stupid, edgey piece of trash.

The movie didn’t feel like Death Note until the end of the movie, and even then it was more like a fleeting breeze of “yes this is Death Note” than “YES! THIS IS DEATH NOTE!!”

So, if you’re a fan of the franchise like me, should you watch this God forsaken movie? No. Don’t. Save yourself the trouble and watch literally any other version of the story.

If you’ve never watched the show or anything and don’t know anything about it, please watch the original show once you’re done with this garbage.

[its-just-like-the-movies]

Date Night!: Death Note (17, F)

I think part of the reason it’s so much harder to really analyze a perfect film than a perfectly shitty one is that a great film leaves you wondering how they did it. What geniuses had the decision to write that score, to edit in this style, to write that character in such a way, to interpret them so fully? I can’t imagine how much time I’ve spent wringing my hands at Annette Bening in 20th Century Women, trying to understand Dorothea Fields as a creation, as a conscious work of art by way of multiple collaborators as well as the actress playing her, amidst a film that feels utterly human and alive, and without seams in any way. I bring up this film here because I had this thought watching Adam Wingard’s disgusting, dull take on Death Note only a few nights ago. You may be asking “Why is it that both of your Date Night pieces have been centered around demonstrably monstrous acts of garbage?” and I say wait a minute, we’ve seen good things. One day I’ll talk about Shin Godzilla. But that’s just me postponing the inevitable. Tommy and I, and our very good friend David, sat down on the first of September and decided to watch a train wreck that was even worse than we could have imagined. It hasn’t just been whitewashed, but striped of all the source material’s morality and mythology, about as far removed as one could be from anything in the original series while vaguely needing to use certain character names and still actually having a death note, and Americanized in the worst possible way. But it steals baldly from other films and makes it central character completely unbearable while everyone else is vaguely more interesting and doomed to the sidelines of the story. No one wanted this film, necessarily, but is it too much to ask that it be good?

The first immediate example we get of the film’s selective pilfering of its Japanese source material is that our central character is named Light Turner. It’s not in any way a typical American name, especially for white boys with dye-blond hair, but because the source material starred a dude named Light, why not? They couldn’t let that central character stay Japanese, though, because this is America, so it has to be about a white dude and his white girlfriend trying to dodge the world’s greatest detective, a young black man who is still called “L”. The white soon-to-be girlfriend is named Mia, and we know that she is Serious and Not Like Other Girls Or Whatever because we see her looking Hardcore and Bored and Over It during cheerleading practice, a brunette in a sea of blondes, who finally just starts smoking rather than letting the Other Girls catapult her in the air. This is probably because they wouldn’t hurl her into the sun itself, which is the only thing Hardcore enough for her to join. And we know Light is Hardcore and Over It but Still Has Morals because we see him doing another student’s homework and later trying to save another student from the most college-graduate-looking motherfuckers who ever decided to teleport from the 90’s to now and bully someone.

It’s almost too easy to tear down this shambling mess of a film. Wingard shoots Ryuk as though the filmmakers either couldn’t afford to make him look presentable or were just embarrassed to look at him. Light is a terribly bland protagonist, made even blander by the far more interesting sociopathic tendencies of said soon-to-be girlfriend Mia and the truly bizarre spectacle of Wingard’s remodeled L. This version of L is at least someone interesting to watch, even if it’s in such a conventional way as to have almost no resemblance to the original version of the character. Mia, on the other hand, is only altered insofar as her obsession with Light is really just an obsession with the death note itself, and a desire to kill off people more indiscriminately than he does. There’s something deeply uncomfortable about how Mia and Ryuk are eventually aligned as the villains of the piece for lacking a moral compass, especially when Light’s feels superficially arbitrary and utterly dull, and even moreso given that Mia’s eventual betrayal of Light feels like some version of “bitches be crazy”, but both are still the most captivating characters on the screen. If Ryuk has almost no real reason to be there after his introduction, Willem Dafoe’s self-satisfied line readings make the character a welcome presence. That this character egs on Light to commit his first killings was perhaps the biggest sticking point to David early on, given the manga version’s role as an excited but impartial audience surrogate more than anything else, but his presence is still entertaining. Dafoe’s reading of the line “Humans are so interesting!”, one of the few moments where Ryuk got an actual close-up, was also the only actual chill I got during the whole 100 minutes, though credit must partially be given to my shock that any line from the manga - let alone one of its best, in the early going - even made it into the film.

My previous interactions with the Death Note media empire is having gotten partway through the manga and the anime dub in early high school, losing interest a little while after the death of a major character, though not necessarily because that character died. Maybe it felt like the end of the series, or maybe I just straight up lost interest, or moved on to a different property. That being said, I still remember Death Note and its characters fairly well, and certainly well enough to know how butchered this abominable film was. It’s astonishing how much Wingard tries to alter these characters away from any resemblance to their source material, but it brings up what strikes me as the largest question I have about this film, and all the grossest politics and connotations I can think of surrounding the terms “whitewashing” and “Americanizing”. Of course America’s version of Death Note had to star a white boy in the lead role, because Hollywood can’t just have a leading character of color for no reason at all. Of course he had to be saddled with a faux, crummy version of “morals” with a faux-tragic backstory behind his killings while his girlfriend is giving the depravity that made the original so noteworthy and framed as the eventual Big Bad for it. Mia Sutton is perhaps the only character Death Note has going for itself, a genuine female sociopath on film who barely seems motivated by her hubby-in-crime and is more than willing to ditch him once he gets cold feet. Apparently Wingard credits Mia as having more of Original Light’s traits instead of Misa Amane’s, which makes sense to think about but speaks plenty about Wingard’s seeming disinterest in actually adapting his source material. I kept thinking about The Hateful Eight’s Daisy Domergue, featuring another case of villainous characters whose only point of agreement is that the lone lady of the bunch is the worst of them all, though there her crimes are left mainly vague, her threats treated like bluffs once she has the room to say them rather than getting smacked around by her walrus-moustached captor. It’s the film’s most toxic element, one that I’m not convinced Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance makes the right decisions about in portraying her. The Hateful Eight is also a much better film than Death Note - what film isn’t? - albeit with its own, significant flaws, but in Death Note Mia’s crimes and the crimes of her allies and enemies are all equally defined, because the film is so awful it needs her amorality if only to give the viewer someone compelling to root for, as my squad saw it, because Margaret Qualley commits to her character and makes us sad to see her go. I don’t mean to imply that Qualley is a better actress than Leigh, nor is her performance necessarily stronger in these respective films. But sometimes mere competence in a shitty film is easier to like than a commendable misfire in an uneven one, and Qualley’s work is one of the few umbrellas we can run under in this heaving shitstorm of a film.

I truly don’t know how to engage with L, who seems like the most conspicuous victim of Wingard’s rewrites. LaKeith Stanfield is clearly giving his all to the performance, and if you told me he was the only person on set who’d ever read the manga I’d believe you in a heartbeat. But all the intrigue of his work, the intensity it achieves in certain moments, is drowned out in how overly mannered this character is. Repeatedly L is seen sloppily eating gummy bears ascribed with ingredients that enhance thinking capabilities, rather than strawberry shortcake because it’s fucking delicious, that’s why. Twitchy behaviors are augmented by the character’s complete lack of chill, rather than the naturally super-intelligent, laid-back L the manga gave us, one in terrible physical shape and complete physically incompetence. Here, L gets a chase scene by car and by foot, and brandishes a firearm. Here, L gets a traveling Victorian set to be imported into the middle of the San Diego Police Department’s office area. At least he still gets to keep his own brand of amorality, perfectly content as he is to use some criminals as bait to see where “Kira” is based, but he’s not the savvy liar and manipulator detective of yore. This character is conventionally compelling, but perhaps the most emblematic case of Wingard’s seeming desire to write a Death Note film that doesn’t actually resemble any previous Death Note property. Who knows why this character was cast with a black actor in a shocking white version of San Diego - or even if there was a “reason”, and Wingard just liked Stanfield’s ideas about the character - but the spectacle of him being placed in a chokehold by SDPD chief Light’s Dad was easily the grossest thing Death Note had in store. I can’t help but wonder what Stanfield really saw in this opportunity, how much he got out of it, and what the disparity is for having highlight roles in the best and worst horror films of 2017.

And then there’s Light, remixed from a type-A, grade A model student into an angsty loner who has literally nothing going for him but a wonky dye job and being lucky enough to get a handheld killing machine. Putting a hat on the guy makes him instantly the blandest man alive, and he as much as anyone else is shorn of the traits that made the character such an interesting protagonist. Yes, Mia gets so many of Light Yagami’s traits, but can Light Turner have anything going for him? Can he not nearly shit himself once Ryuk (in such a bitchy spectacle of an arrival) storms onto the scene? Can he not have a motivation so forgettably stitched on the film all but abandons it twenty minutes in, and can his morals actually be interestingly complicated instead of bland, Americanly contrived? Nat Wolff’s Light, possibly the worst performance of the year, is such a guileless goon that his last-act transformation into a criminal who’s actually capable of planning out a long con to save his own life and kill one of his enemies is easily the least believable part of the film. It’s astonishing how much the want of having Evan Peters and Emma Roberts in the lead roles is present in how Light is styled and in how much Margaret Qualley just fucking looks like a less actively bitchy version of Emma Roberts. There’s even a little card that says “Normal People Scare Me” in the American Horror Story font in Light’s locker, like some emo kid in 2011, which gets to the heart of this character’s deep mischaracterization. Why make this kid into a Tate Langdon-type who’s so blatantly angry at the world it’s honestly shocking his father takes as long as he does to realize his son is a fucking mass murderer? How is it in any way a bold, difficult statement that the valedictorian can be a sociopath, that kids with ostensibly no real problems can also want to end the world themselves? There’s a lot I didn’t like about the fourth season of AHS but at least it gave us an emblem of corrupted white, heterosexual male privilege and prejudice that this film just can’t recognize, or won’t.

A funny, somewhat poignant, and very quick moment in Okja sees a character flash a newly made tattoo on his arm that says “Translation is Sacred”. Death Note is not just an abominable act of translation, but of adaptation, of fidelity to a source material’s characters and themes. Outside of its vaguely compelling supporting cast, a lot of Death Note feels haphazardly cobbled together from a multitude of sources and bad ideas all meant on making the film more palatable to an audience that only wanted this film because the source material was so rich, most notably that killings in the Death Note seem to be primarily carried out by Final Destination, Rube Goldberg spectacle-type accidents, rather than simple, mundane accidents. Why make a Death Note film if you’re not going to make it resemble Death Note at all? It feels late in the game to say that I’m not fundamentally against molding source material to suit an adaptation, especially with something as dense as Death Note into a feature film under two hours. But there’s not a single alteration that this film makes to the material that helps it in any conceivable way, no small high point worth the heaps of garbage you have to sift through to get it. It’s not so much a misfire as a willful rejection of any sharp edges or idiosyncrasies that made the original property the hit that it became. It’s also, hopefully, the kind of misfire that kills a hoped-for sequel dead in its tracks. If there’s one thing we can do to reckon with the fact that this shambling corpse of a film exists, the best thing we as a viewing audience and as people who want adaptations of ambitious, international properties can shout from the rooftops that hypnotized FBI agents are leaping off of like synchronized divers. We liked them for a reason, and if you shear off that reason to be more appealing, all you’re left with is a boring white boy nattering on about his schemes in a hospital bed, outshone by a demon barely in focus, and failing in every way to live up to that demon’s last, great line. In the world of Adam Wingard’s Death Note, humans aren’t interesting. They’re cardboard cutouts of characters that aren’t tarnished by association, but shine a little brighter in comparison. You couldn’t ask for a less ambitious take on this property, no one did, but we got in anyways, and if no one will bother to learn from it, then all we can do with this maddening pile of shit is heave it straight into the sun and hope it burns into an even greater state of nothingness than the film has achieved just by existing in this neutered state.

[whenthemarshmallowmettheslayer]

Coffee and one more Joker to kill.

Fandoms: Red Robin comics, Batman comics, Death Note anime. 

Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Ryuk (mentioned), Ra’s Al Gul (mentioned), and Alfred Pennyworth (mentioned). 

Rated: Teen. (I only use the f word once.)

Summary: "Bruce couldn't protect me or Barbara from one. Now it turns out there had been three of those f*ckers?" Tim finally gave in and laid his head against Jason who was surprisingly a good pillow. A much better pillow than Tim's arm for sure.

"You're helping me find the third one tomorrow morning so I can find out his name," Jason ordered Tim who was slowing falling asleep once again.

Tim hummed. "You buy me coffee and it will be a date," he answered before closing his eyes and finally went back to sleep. Notes:

Tim groaned as he slipped back into consciousness.

His body ached and it's not from falling asleep in a chair while working on a speech he was going to have to give -

Tim paused his thought.

He drew his elbow back that a few minutes ago he had been using as a improvised pillow and swiped his finger to turn his laptop screen back on.

It was two in the morning.

Tim groaned again though this time it was from dismay instead of pain.

Okay he had six hours to finish his speech for the board of Wayne Enterprise, catch a few more zzz, have a shower, get dressed, and find those crutches that Tim had began to hate using.

Subconsciously Tim squinted his tired eyes at the glowing screen of his laptop, the only light in the dark vast room, which made his eyes hurt even more as he tried to remember if he left his crutches at his room at the Manor or here at the safe-house that had slowly became Tim's residence after his fight with Bruce about Captain Boomerang.

Suddenly Tim was jostle from his thoughts as he heard a loud banging on a door.

Tim winced at the loud sound that did nothing but cause his lack of coffee induced migraine to hurt further before letting out a menacing growl.

WHAT IN THE ACTUALLY FRACK, Tim thought murderously before stumbling as he tried to start walking towards the door that was still being heavily pounded on.

There were only two people who knew his current base of residency. Alfred who Tim swore had the super power of omnipresence and Ra's al Ghul.

Ra's al Ghul plus however many minions he had watching over Tim who the Demon's Head had dubbed "the detective" after Tim had out smarted him.

But neither option made sense.

Alfred knew that Tim was on coffee withdraw since it had been the "kindly" grandfatherly butler who had Tim cold turkey the caffeinated beverage. So it was unlikely that Alfred would disturb him, especially at two in the morning, instead of giving Tim a wide berth.

Ra's al Ghul also knew not to disturb Tim unless he wanted several of his main bases of operations to "accidentally" blow up because of mysterious and utterly coincidental gas leaks.

(Timothy Drake was never someone you should piss off and that's a fact without even adding his utter ruthlessness from being deprived of caffeine that even made demon-brat wary to test Tim.)

Hell, Ra's minions knew better than to disturb him when he was without caffeine unless they wanted Tim's metal bo-staff in their faces!

Maybe Ra's was here to attempt another speech that basically consisted of "join me in the dark side Tim we could rule the galaxy."

Tim paused at the front door.

For a second, only a second because Tim was not weak minded even without coffee in his system, Tim was tempted to say yes if caffeine was offered instead of cookies.

He opened the door not giving a damn to look out of the door's peephole.

He wasn't scared.

Tim Drake was actually itching to fight, an outlet for his lack of caffeine induced anger. He may not look like it but Tim was badass despite demon-brat's loudly voiced opinions.

Google "look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't," and you'll see his, Timothy Drake-Wayne's face because Tim had hacked google search engine and images out of boredom with Bart and Kon's encouragement. Or had they dared him? Tim mused as his eyes fell on a not so familiar face.

Tim blinked at the sight before him then blinked again.

It was true that whenever Tim was deprived from coffee (Caffeinated coffee mind you - Tim didn't drink the blasphemy that shall-not-be-named for its lack of caffeine.) he wasn't... how shall he put it?

Maximum warped speed Mr. Sulu.

...Or you know. He's most sane; apparently drinking the amount of coffee, which was a necessity for Tim as much as air was, Tim took everyday and than doing a cold turkey per Alfred's worried request - no, actually it was more like polite command caused several effects.

Migraines, sleepiness, irritability, lethargy, constipation, depression, muscle pain, stiffness and last but not by far the least hallucinations that could put Doctor Johnathan Crane's work to shame.

However an inebriated Jason Todd with freaky red eyes was not what Tim would have excepted.

"What the hell did you do or piss off?"

While Tim and Jason's relationship with one and another had improved dramatically Tim was on his third day (But whose counting?) without coffee. He had enough problems in his life (main one: coffee withdraws) without adding a drunk Jason with glowing red eyes.

"May I come in pretender?" Jason, ever the polite gentlemen, asked.

Tim fought the urge of slamming the door at his resurrected brother's face because Jason had asked a question instead of answering Tim's.

Didn't the great Red Hood know the rules on pseudo-interrogation?

Whoever asked first is suppose to be answered first.

Honestly was he and Alfred the only members of their family that knew common sense?

"Sure," Tim answered despite the annoyance he felt.

"Why haven't you tur- turned on the lights?" Jason asked with a slur in his speech.

Tim narrowed his eyes threateningly. "I'll answer when you answer my question," Tim answered with all but a snarl.

"I found a notebook in an abandoned warehouse that was suppose to contain some sex traders."

Tim raised a perfectly plucked ebony eyebrow.

"It's title was called Death Note," Jason said as though that explained why Jason had red eyes instead of Lazarus green.

"Oh?" Tim commented as he practically dragged Jason towards his couch. It was a miracle they didn't trip or break anything.

"It had all the rules about killing a person; as if I need a black, morbidly named diary to kill people."

Tim snorted his agreement.

"So a five days later I saw this thing."

"Thing?" Tim repeated the non-descriptive word back to Jason as they finally collapsed onto Tim's couch.

"His name is Ryuk. He's a Shinigami," Jason told Tim. The older man's breathe reeked of cheap beer.

"A Japanese god of death," the words came out of Tim's mouth unbidden; he winced, not meaning to interrupt Jason's explanation. Who knew how long Jason would stay conscious with all the alcohol he had consumed and smelled of.

"Always was the smart one replacement. That's why I wanted you as my Robin," Jason complemented him and Tim blinked owlishly. He was unsure how to process that statement. He filed it for later.

"He gave me the gist of the diary that can legitimately kill people if you have seen they're faces and know they're real names. Or if I made a deal for Shinigami eyes I could just kill by seeing an asshole's face."

"What was the cost of the deal Jason?" Anger crept in to Tim's tone. Yes, he's deductive reasoning was low without caffeine but he hadn't lost his common sense.

"Half of my life," Jason told Tim before Tim slapped Jason upside the head for stupidity.

"Why the hell would you do that?!" Tim shouted in anger before wincing.

Ow.

That hurt; that really hurt.

He had forgotten about his migraine because of Jason's story.

"Cause if a person's correct name is written in the Death Note and you've seen his face he can't come back."

Tim knew immediately the he Jason had referred to.

"What was his name?" Tim croaked curious even though he still wasn't over the fact Jason had made deal with the devil, actually a Japanese death god.

Jason let out a miserable sounding groan. "Not he Tim. Them. Why do you think I came by your place drunk off my ass replacement?"

Tim straightened up from the shock of the reveal but Jason pulled him into his arms. If Tim didn't already know that Jason was drunk he would of now.

Dick was the cuddlier of Tim's older brothers. Not Jason.

"Bruce couldn't protect me or Barbara from one. Now it turns out there had been three of those fuckers?"

Tim finally gave in and laid his head against Jason who was surprisingly a good pillow. A much better pillow than Tim's arm for sure.

"You're helping me find the third one tomorrow morning so I can find out his name," Jason ordered Tim who was slowing falling asleep once again.

Tim hummed. "You buy me coffee and it will be a date," he answered before closing his eyes and finally went back to sleep.

A/N: I have a perfectly good reason why I haven't update my any of my fics. I finally got around to watching Death Note. I'm not finished with the series but I'm getting there.One of the several things that inspired this fic was Coffee House Rules by chibi_nightowl. I would recommended reading it (it's a series of hilarious drabbles about Tim, coffee, and the batfamily) if you love Tim Drake or just the batfamily.