[smallsinger5901]

listen i don’t agree with the people who say ‘near’s the worst he’s a cheap copy of L!!!!!!!’ But unfortunately. I think near would.

[skyborneveggie]

@korrororo

i would be so interested to read this O_O

Omg so this post got me thinking about the depiction of the Gothic Double in dn; the definition of the gothic double being, (1) the split self as a representation of societal repression, (2) the uncanny; seeing the familiar (ie. yourself) in the unfamiliar or monstrous, and (3) linked fates, be it due to either obsessive or supernatural bonds.

Light and Kira

The split self as the duality of man, Light wants to be seen as good by society but at the same time harbours a deep resentment towards it. Upon killing, Light sees himself in the monstrous and thus rationalizes that the monstrous must not actually be so. (This duality is classically demonstrated by the Yotsuba Arc, which is reminiscent of a Jekyll/Hyde transformation in character.) Once Light accepts the death note, and accepts the moniker of Kira, his fate is sealed.

Light and L

The split self as two sides of the same coin. Two characters of the same mind, but one is compacted by the restrictions of society while the other lives entirely free from it. Light recognizes himself in L, which disturbs him and so he rejects it, pretending it doesn't exist. Their fates are linked through mutual obsession. One cannot live while the other survives, and yet with L's death Light goes through a (second) spiritual death of his own.

Light and Ryuk

A manifestation of Light's apathetic boredom. Light is less afraid of the version of himself he sees in Ryuk, a literal supernatural specter representing death, than the version of himself he sees in L, and perhaps without meaning to trusts him as a friend. Their fates are linked by supernatural bond; Ryuk is an inescapable physical presence, and destined to write down Light's name one day. (Light's death reminds me more of a Dorian Gray-esque double in that he is killed by a mostly passive object/figure; Ryuk, and the notebook as an extension of Ryuk)

Near and Mello

Near and Mello are cosmically linked in that they are, as individuals, narratively only partial fragments of L that need to come together to meet the sum of the whole. Their fates are entirely dependent on their realization and acceptance of this, on both of their parts. (They are the most obvious example of the gothic double imo, because all of this is said directly in the text.) The source of tension over the uncanny comes not from recognizing themselves in eachother, but rather recognizing L in eachother.

And now some tenuous thoughts that I haven't fully thought through yet...

Light and Mikami

Mirror images. Mikami is the opposite of L in that he is externally identical to Light, but internally different. Light and Mikami are doubles bi-directionally because, by way of circular logic, Mikami pedestals Light as a deified version of what he wishes to be; and Light lauds Mikami for being "exactly like himself". When in reality Mikami is the actual, genuine version of what Light is pretending Kira is. Thus their fates are inextricable because Mikami is, in a way, the purest iteration of Kira; and it is specifically because of their symbiosis that they both fall.

To contrast him with a pure foil;

Matsuda

Matsuda does mirror Light as the purehearted, upstanding youth that wants to be seen as good by others (especially Soichiro). He doubts his certainty of Kira's evil much like Yotsuba Light does, and in the end he shoots Light, prevents him from making a kill, and helps bring Kira down. Which is exactly what Light verbally promised to do. But Light doesn't pay him enough mind to feel threatened or insecure by the authenticity of Matsuda's nature. I think that an argument could be made in the reverse, that Matsuda may see his uncanny self in Light; but since in his naïveté he doesn't realize this until the very end, it isn't something that everypresently haunts him until after the story is finished. And although Matsuda has somewhat of a fixation with Light, it isn't to a level of obsession, and there is no spiritual or supernatural bond between them.

However Matsuda and Mikami both have a similar ironic perception of Light in that they both idolize him, while themselves being the authentic versions of what Light tries to be in splitting himself between "Light Yagami" and "Kira". I think it's very interesting that they have no connection narratively, despite being in a very similar position to Light as Mello & Near are to L.

[mello-in-random-places]

Mello in a park

[jessaerys]

if i'm being totally honest part of the reason why m-ttm-llo gets on my nerves (well it gets on my nerves in a fun angry dopamine hit kind of way. i love getting mad about it the stakes are SO low and a girl’s gotta get their hatearade somewhere) is because i AM a void-cigarettes-sex-drugs-cars-violence girlie. it's my hardboiled inner monologue i have a phd in griminess i love to write characters smoking seventeen cigarettes in the rain and shoving guns inside mouths phallically. so it's not like i don't GET the appeal because i do. it's incredibly easy to write, it’s universally sexy, it is flexible and forgiving — grittiness comes pre-packaged with a veneer of depth because (well we don’t have time to get into the history of american media). unfortunately underneath all of the fanon heavy lifting it is all aesthetic dust bunnies without substance when half the ship is an original character (matt is whatever you want him to be and the usual characterization of ‘just some guy’ appeals to the quintessential teenage boy next door who’s a bit witty trope to counterbalance mello's, well, everything) and the other half of the ship is more often than not wildly mischaracterized because if we know one thing from canon is that mello’s life revolves around beating near. our blessed understanding of mello's place in the narrative vs their barbarous creative liberties. like! what about black vs white what about being two halves of the same thing what about together we can surpass him. what about my brother broke my rib one morning and gave me half his orange in the evening. what about the machiavellian seedy underworld disgraced heir in all of his grimy fucked up fallen-from-grace streetsmart glory lifting his eyes up to a cold sterile skyscraper that fades into the clouds and the pristine boyking held prisoner within it wanting nothing but to stain the throne his entire world revolves around with his ugly fierce humanity; to break into the prince's tower and grind his face in the dirt, to free him, defile him. what about having known a boy only to be blinded years later by the knifeedge divine wrath of a naturalborn godkiller instead, pointing a gun at him anyway. look at me, why won’t you look at me. what about i don’t know where you end and i begin. what about then i guess i’m going to have to do it, what about the point where mello becomes aware of his place in the narrative and runs towards it to the bitter end. what about the relentless adversary turned unholy disciple by the festering devotion he could not excise. turned dirty-handed enforcer paving the way for the godtouched oracle to accomplish what neither of them ever could on their own and in that way finding release and grace. the softness and despair of adding up to a greater whole and yet both dying for it, one in body, the other in spirit. what about cain and abel. stick figure violence what! about! cain! and! abel! where was i going with this post it got wildly out of hand. oh yeah stream i'm your man by mitski on itunes

[linnea-ancalime]

absolutely obsessed with this panel currently

"...!" what a reaction to seeing mello show up unexpectedly. on top of like. his face. i dont have words or deep analysis here im just rotating this panel in my mind like im defrosting it in the microwave

[neallo]

trick or treat!!!👻

HI sorry i'm so late!! here is your treat :3c

“I can’t keep doing this. Seriously— I’m at my limit.”

L, perched on his spinning office chair in the way which is peculiar to him alone, nibbles on his thumbnail and drifts slowly to the left. At the last moment, he grabs the desk, preventing himself from rotating past the point of no return.

“So you’ve said,” he comments blandly. “Many times now, actually. Yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and, if memory serves, several days before that, also. And yet you have persisted.” He smiles. “Perhaps you underestimate yourself?”

Mello scrubs his left hand over his face. He tries to use his right as little as possible these days. “No, it’s— it’s just not livable.”

“Evidence would suggest otherwise. You are notably quite alive.”

“It interferes with me eating. Sleeping. Getting dressed? It’s a nightmare. And when I’m in the bathroom, I have to angle my wrist close enough to the door, otherwise—”

“Otherwise my hand is bludgeoned against the bottom of the steel door,” Near says, presenting the faintly-bruised backside of his hand for L to inspect. “Also, I am forced to sit on the ground, or else be knocked over.”

“Sitting on the ground is typical for you,” L notes. “I don’t think that’s especially taxing.” 

“I don’t like being on the ground outside of bathrooms. It isn’t sanitary.” 

Before L can retort, Mello cuts in. “You don’t know what it’s like,” he says, desperation leaking into his tone. “He rolls onto the floor in the middle of the night. It almost dislocated my shoulder once.”

“Almost?” L says, unimpressed. Then: “I am well aware of the logistical difficulties and personal indignities associated with being handcuffed to another person long-term. I was chained to Kira for ninety-seven days, mind you. You have been in the same situation with Near for—” he glances to the calendar— “two and a half weeks.”

“But you did that for the case,” says Mello. “This is—”

“This is to teach the two of you how to work with one another,” L interrupts. “I remain unconvinced that you’ve mastered that skill. Now, if you’ll excuse me—” he makes a shooing motion— “I have many important matters to attend to.” 

[margonika00]

💀How to recognize Kira. Matsuda was watching all this on Sakura TV.

🤲Dirty hands, ink stains.

👁️👁 strange red eyes.

📸 The photo shows a vague silhouette in the background. There may also be dark spots.

3/4

[jessaerys]

near death note moodboard

[jessaerys]

ZERO NOTES? YOU DON'T LIKE NEAR DEATHNOTE? BIG EYES STUPID BODY ???

[takethstoyrgrave]

wammys

[kiyomitakada]

[grelldyke]

Some fem DN designs :3

I may make the rest of the task force idk

[vengeflies]

they dont tell u this about death note but if u get to the second half and take a particular interest in the wammys side of things ur doomed. its over. thats how it gets you

[rizmette]

Is anyone still into meronia ? Dropping this and i'll probably be disappearing again for another year or two lol

[skara-skoot]

FIRST POST

ft. mello and near idk

[biscuit-o]

Near and Mello on Tumblr tagging posts that make them think of the other

[biscuit-o]

What I mean with this post is that: If they were theoretically let to freely roam the enormous wild internet and gather a collection of art pieces that remind them of their significant other... what would they choose? What does it say about their relationship?

[biscuit-o]

My vision, roughly:

[blondiest]

in the tags or replies pls tell me what your favorite deathnote rarepair is :-)

i am obsessed w rarepairs and i wanna know what all is out there that i have not heard of or thought of yet. and when i say rarepair i do not mean "ship that is not as popular as lawlight but still has 500+ fics on AO3." i am talking about the kind of ships that have less than 100 fics on AO3 [if you filter out things where it's the background ship] -- ideally, actually, the ships that have less than 25 fics to their name total. this doesn't have to be something you've written or made art for or even posted about -- just something you find fun or appealing.

[bookwormbynight]

Why have we as a top L/bottom Light fandom decided that L has sexual experience??? Like we can all agree that Light is 1000% a virgin I feel like we got sufficient nudges from canon for that but literally nothing in the source material suggests that L has any more experience at all we all just Wanted him to lmao

[bookwormbynight]

Tbh that line has always bothered me too but not the fact that it exists - the way it's treated by the fandom. Every time I see that line come up someone has L acting like he has no idea that he's legitimately being a sexual being, which... like... everyone following me knows that he's way too self-aware for that shit right. That's wildly out of character.

In the anime, just from the way the dub actor performed the line, I've never minded it. He's not realizing he's being a perv or whatever (because honestly I don't think he's getting any sexual satisfaction out of her torture... if anything he's really frustrated from the lack of results at that point lol). It's just that he's baffled that Misa is accusing him of THAT when he knows she KNOWS she was arrested by the police. Pervert is synonymous with stalker to L in that line. It's some kind of "weird" explanation Misa has come up with to understand the situation, when to L, it looks like blatant denial/possibly insanity in a way he didn't predict.

I can't speak for the way it was portrayed in the manga because I haven't read that volume in a hot second lol.