#Deep Dive notes

[zimthandmade]

Just one more to go!! 👏

Flat 1 | Matt's flat

----- My other socials Commission Info Let's drink some Ko-Fi! 🍵

[pokimoko]

The fact that Main-verse Ooo is as good and as kind as it is (relative to the other universes shown so far, at least, it's obviously not perfect) all because of the same character that starts off as the OG series' antagonist, the person we were made to see as the bad guy (albeit an often ineffectual one) for several seasons, is making me lose my mind.

Imagine finding out the guy you spent your childhood beating up and saving princesses from is in fact a driving catalyst behind you being able to exist, and not only exist but also live in a world that knows what kindness is. All because that man, the same man who you've witnessed do terrible things, once met a little girl and taught her how to be good.

Simon's story really shows us that even if you lose your way and forget how it is to be good yourself, the world keeps the memory for you. That act of love Simon showed Marcy by protecting her and seeing her as more than the monster she thought herself to be created ripples upon ripples, small at first but eventually enough to help give their wreckage of a world—a world that easily could have been forsaken, its goodness overlooked because of its inhospitable remains—a chance to grow into something beautiful. Because of those very same ripples Simon created, the people of Ooo grew up in a world where they know enough about kindness that they were able and willing to spare the 'bad guy' some, to see beyond the wreckage and allow him to grow too.

In saving Marceline, Simon helped to not only to save the world, but also himself.

[guthrie-odonto]

If I had a nickel for every time a main, titular character became a kaiju because mental Chernobyl event (the “rampage” didn’t even have any casualties), I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice

Not complaining. Kaiju are cool and also with kaiju symbolizing everything from atomic hubris to cultural turmoil to climate change, it’s about time the genre started tackling psychological issues in its allegory

[justkillingthyme]

Ever since I saw the pupils getting small/invisible in that des sprite it makes me think about descole just having cat eyes. I think if you have his mask off you’d be able to tell when he’s in Desmond mode vs Descole mode based on that lol.

Layton out doing something with Desmond post the games for some reason and Layton has to keep an eye on Desmond bc if something sets him off Layton has to grab his arm before Des pulls out a sword and stabs the person and the eyes are his main indicator

You get it you get it. Shakes your hand. Descole cat slit pupils beloved he’s so. Yeah. Thinks about Targent for like 2 seconds and he’s so gone. Unintentionally cooked hard here it was meant to just be a sketch

He’s silly I think about him a lot

[empressofthewind]

Progression of Near's Character Design

a timeline of all the various changes over the course of manga, plus the C-Kira and A-Kira one-shots :)

#1 - Wammy's House (age 13)

there is only one scene that takes place at Wammy's House, and it’s split across chapters 59 and 61.

the first time we see Near, we only get these side views of him, so it's difficult to comment much on the details of his shirt. however, he looks to be wearing oversized pyjamas. his pants don't seem to be cuffed at the bottom, and there is obvious stitching on the side. his hair is quite short and slightly wavy. this is the only scene in the manga in which he isn't wearing socks.

in chapter 61, his pants are now cuffed at the bottom, in contrast to chapter 59. in this panel, we also get to see his shirt, which is a white button-down with the top button left open. his sleeves are also cuffed and the buttons are undone.

#2 - Meeting the President (age 17)

from chapter 60, the only time in which Near is 17.

in this scene, his outfit looks similar to the one we see him in at Wammy's House, but his button-down shirt is open, revealing an undershirt which did not seem to be present in his previous outfit. his hair appears to be longer.

from this panel, we can also see that his pants are cuffed again, and he is now wearing white socks.

#3 - Mafia Arc (age 18)

this era covers chapters 60-71. after that, he is absent from the story until chapter 75.

the buttons of his shirt are now done up, and in chapter 64, he still appears to be wearing his undershirt beneath it. his hair loses its texture during this period. the design of his pants is fairly inconsistent throughout this arc, regularly alternating between cuffed and uncuffed. he loses the undershirt in chapter 67.

#4 - Near vs Light Arc Part 1 (age 18)

this covers chapter 75 - 79.

in chapter 75, his shirt has a notched collar, a change only seen in this chapter and the warehouse scene. i’ve included a panel from chapter 64 (left) for comparison.

once again, his undershirt is missing, and the texture has returned to his hair. there is also a very subtle change in the design of his nose - it’s rounded and upturned here, whereas earlier in the manga, it has more of a sharp point. it stays rounded from this point onwards.

his shirt changes yet again in chapter 75 here, where a random pocket appears - something that is only present in this panel and another one before it, and never pops up again.

chapters 76-79 show him with his previous collar style and uncuffed pants. the undershirt does not make an appearance in these chapters.

#5 - SPK Raid (age 18)

this part takes place in chapter 80.

this isn't a design choice so much as a plot-necessitated outfit change, but i have to mention his riot squad uniform here as it's the only outfit he wears in the manga that is distinctly different from his usual white pyjamas. i also find it absolutely hilarious how he is a) a foot or so shorter than everyone else on his team, and b) carrying six toys in his arms, and supposedly manages to blend in just fine. (he can’t have been TOO efficient though, because he only has five toys when they get to their new base 😔)

#5 - Near vs Light Arc Part 2 (age 18)

this covers chapters 81-100.

the undershirt has returned! this is present in all chapters during this period except 91.

it looks to me like his hair gets progressively straighter. the panel above (from chapter 93) is one of the clearest examples - comparing this to the picture of him in the president's office from chapter 60, there's definitely less of a distinct wave. his hair just follows the curve of his head.

his pants are uncuffed in every chapter during this arc except 97. the rest of his design features remain quite consistent.

#6 - Ending Scenes (ages 18-19)

this covers chapters 101-108.

the only major change here is that he wears the L mask in chapters 101 and 102 - which, much like his outfit during the raid, is a deliberate choice rather than a minor and potentially random variation in his design. his shirt has a notched collar again and his pants are uncuffed, both of which remain consistent throughout the entire warehouse scene.

despite chapter 108 taking place a year after the main timeline, there are no notable changes in his design.

#7 - C-Kira One-Shot (age 21)

the most notable change here is his hair. it's longer, and in this panel in particular, appears to curl at the ends.

interestingly, in the flashback to Wammy's House, his design also carries this change - the longer hair and slightly curled ends. it’s extremely difficult to tell, but it looks like he may be wearing socks here, which he wasn't when we originally saw him at Wammy's House.

#8 - A-Kira One-Shot (age 27)

once again, his design here has some very notable changes. his hair is much longer, reaching his waist, and has a very obvious wave, with the shorter pieces at the top curling outwards. he appears to be wearing a dark vest over the top of his button-down shirt. the A-Kira one-shot is the only canon text in which he is never shown smiling.

his outfit changes once again here, reverting back to his button-down from canon. it appears that he has grown taller, as his pants no longer reach his ankles. the wave in his hair is even more apparent in this panel. this is also the first time since chapter 61 of the manga where he is not wearing socks.

[crtstormie]

If Val still abuses Vox like stated in the old lore, would he and Angel be able to relate? 

Tw: discussions of abuse

If you weren’t back in the early days of the fandom, back then we barely knew anything about Vox. All we knew was a few limited and obvious things like he was an entertainment overlord and one of the three Vees. 

However, one of the things we later learned about him in a livestream is that him and Val are in some sort of relationship and that Val is obviously abusive towards him. 

This was a part of the old lore and while I’m sure Val can get violent from time to time, it seems from episode two that this new idea of Vox has a lot of control over Val’s anger and wouldn’t really allow him to crack or break his screen.

But back then we didn’t know this. Remember when we thought Val would be the leader of the Vees? 

Considering that we also still thought the Voxtagram stories a were canon and Val is shown to break Vox’s screen often, we had a very different interpretation of him.

And with the popularity of amazing fan song ‘eyes on me’ from paranoid dj that also shows their relationship as abusive at the end of the video, this was all we thought their relationship would be like. (Ok but honestly eyes on me is amazing I listen to it like every week) 

Now, how did this relate to angeldust? 

We knew a lot more about Angeldust because he is part of the main cast, and when addict released the show was making it very obvious that Val was his boss, abuser, and that hurts and affects him daily.

When the show released we get a sneak peak of how manipulative Val is in episode 2 when he convinces Angel to come to the studio, but it is the worst in the infamous episode.

This episode’s entire theme is about Val and just how horrible he treats Angel and has no regards for his feelings, body, or well being.

I could go into more detail on just how bad Val is to Angel, but that’s a sensitive topic that’s been discussed to death already.

But as we see at the end of ‘poison,’ Vox gives Angel a look that I can only describe as smug jealousy. 

Which Vox, I love you, but that is disgusting.

In this frame it’s shown to us that Vox is jealous of Angel because Val focuses a lot of his time on Angel and not him, but… Angel is literally getting raped without his consent? 

Vox may be Val’s on and off boyfriend, but he’s very aware of what Val does to his employees, especially Angel. It’s part of why he works with him.

But comparing someone who youre partly letting get abused in your workplace by you’re friend and work partner to jealously because they are getting abused and beat by that person daily to be jealous of because Angel spends more time with Val than he gets to? 

I’m sorry Vox, but that sickens me to an extreme level.

Of course I could just be reading to far into that one frame, but in the context of the show Vox is an egotistical overlord who is already shown to not care for his own employees. So why would he care about what Val does to his?… except when they are the source of his anger and time.

Now, theoretically, let’s say that in the new lore Val is still abusive to Vox at times. Ignoring how close they were in the finale song in episode 8. 

Val is poison to everyone around him, even the people he’s the closest to.

Would Vox and Angel be able to bond over this? I say no.

Angel is a sinner, which is on the lower part of the class system in hell. It’s normalized that someone like him can be treated however it applies to a contract they signed.

There’s no sympathy for him by others except when they care for him and what it makes Angel do to himself (Husk) or when they know just what goes down in that studio (Charlie) 

But I highly doubt Angel and Vox are any sense of close.

Vox mainly works on his floor, and Angel works in the studio. They obviously have met and vox still has that.. *ew* resentment to Angel, but that’s really it.

Now, vox on the other hand, is a powerful level who is on the same level, if not more powerful that Valentino because he’s the leader of the Vees. 

Even if Val abuses him sometimes, he’s probably… into that. 

Look at that waist and tell me that man isn’t a bottom, you get the point.

Val and Vox’s story hasn’t been told to us yet, but by using background information like a old picture of them from presumably the 70’s and how close they seem, I theorize they met a little after Val died and teamed up to become more powerful. They were a little attracted to one another, but it never did and still isn’t official, even if they look and act gay as hell. (Heh) 

So Vox is on the same level as Val and has been close to him for 50+ years. They’ve had plenty of good moments, even if they are both awful people.

Oh yeah, let’s talk about that.

Since Vox is also on the same level as Val, he still is a awful person as well see in episode 2,4, and 8. (His appearances) 

Even if he Dosent sexually assault his employees, he still treats them horribly, as does Velvette. I assume this is common practice for overlords to treat their souls poorly, but it’s still not a good practice. I feel bad for the fish guy who had to make angelic security on the spot, he looks as stressed as me.

He hypnotizes people into trusting him and buying his technology, which is just evil businessman behavior. Someone said he reminds them of lord business from the LEGO movie, and I see it.

He is also very petty towards Alastor in almost every way, immediately trying to brainwash his audience to not listen to him.

I’m not saying being petty is a sign of being a awful person, but for Vox it contributes.

There’s the… look in episode 4, which I’ve already discussed, but it’s important to note that Vox is in Val’s studio DURING Val shooting and mistreating his stars.

If he regularly does this is then he is more than aware of what Val does to his employees and only gives them disgusted stares back. Like all he sees in them is what Val sees, useless whores for content.

Which is obviously not good lmao

And then in episode 8 (and partly episode 6 if you look into it) 

Vox is shown to have spying technology all over the city which is how he regulates his users behavior. He uses this tech to spy on alastor and the others and make fun of them like he’s watching football. 

At the end of the episode, we see him happily dancing with Valentino and Tounge kissing him, showing us even more that they’re in love in their own sick twisted evil way.

Angel on the other hand, is shown to be better. 

He’s in a hotel for redemption and throughout the season we see him slowly kicking his old habits like self destruction, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, distancing himself, etc. 

(With the help of Husky ofc huskerdust for life) 

And by the end of the season we see Angel being a lot more genuine to the others in the hotel and I only imagine he gets better once they find out it’s possible to be redeemed.

Vox is not shown to want to be morally better in the slightest, if not worse. 

He wants to one up Alastor, he wants to take over hell with the other Vees, and he will do it however he wants because he’s a cartoon supervillain. 

I’m not going to touch on what I Think of Val and Vox as a ship in this but what I will say is that Vox is a cartoon supervillain, doing things that even though horrible in the universe are just seen as goofy to us viewers.

Val on the other hand is scarily realistic, a abuser who manipulates his victims and forces them to have sex for his own benefits. I think that’s the main thing that sets me off for them, even if they are evilly perfect for each other. (So I’m gonna steal vox from Val) 

Vox is in a much different position with Val than Angel is, equal to if not above him while Angel is very below him. We see Angel stand up to him in episode 6, but I just know he was beaten the hell out of the next day and broken even further.

Vox would belittle him, so the only way I see the two even talking genuinely is if Angel starts it.

This isn’t like Angel and Husk, where they’re both washed up losers who are going through situations similar enough to bond, there’s an extreme power imbalance that wouldn’t make it as meaningful as Angel and husk’s talk.

There’s an amazing comic, I’ll add it below, but it’s actually what got me thinking about this topic.

If Vox comes out with his screen cracked after Angel was also hurt just to yell at the other becuase he’s ruining their image, then I see this potentially working.

They could share a sweet line like Angel showing concern for Vox’s cracked screen considering that’s his face and it must feel like having you’re skull cracked open. Angel has probably been driven to that level before.

However I have this one image in my head.

If Vox and Angel are both slightly talking and then they both say, “Val can be… rough.” 

I think that perfectly shows how different the two’s situations are with him.

Vox would say it all horny with a tint of love to his voice, while Angel would say it actually despaired and quiet. They see Val’s actions differently because they are affected differently by it.

Vox isn’t scared of Val because he is on the same level as him, and I think that’s the main reason to why they wouldn’t kconnect.

Besides, both Vox and Angel are either too egotistical or have too many walls up to have a legit conversation about Val without knowing each other at all.

If anything Vox is only a contribute to why Val focuses on Angel so much, their relationship is toxic af and we see in ep 2 that Val likes to get a reaction out of Vox. It’s sick and twisted but I wouldn’t put it against him to do something like that.

So, in conclusion I don’t think Angel and Vox would be able to relate to each other because their situations and relationships with Val are so different, even if Val lets it out on Vox time to time his main target is Angel. Angel gets hurt almost every day and I’d say Vox only gets hurt every couple months on a really bad day.

We know a lot of the lore has changed since the pilot and the Voxtahram stories most of these claims come from arent even canon, so I probably just ranted about nothing.

Regardless Thank you for reading, and goodnight. If you have any genuine thoughts about this feel free to share in the comments and reblogs, I’m curious.

[good-beans]

I really liked that the Jailbreak mix showed the mvs on an old TV. Sleek, advanced tech is usually associated with such breaches of privacy, so it was cool to imagine prying into someone's worst memories/thoughts using low-tech methods...

I wrote the lyrics out, made the gifs myself, and edited pics from here: X X X X X

[arealtrashact]

Do you have a favorite Elvis song? Or an album?👀👀

Why oh why would you ask me such an impossible question !

If you're twisting my arm.......... I'd say American Trilogy. The last minute of his 'Aloha' rendition of it never fails to give me chills. There really is no word to describe it other than EPIC.

[rorystr]

Do you support Tim and Alex kissing??????

yes, i actually have throughly thought out alex gets redeemed after entry 86 au that goes in depth into what i think their relationship would be and its flaws and fun stuff like that. I did not intend for it to be gay but my friend made a timlex joke and i Realized.

so oops? i mean even if i HATED it id be a hypocrite i mean i have an au where they live in the same house.....so like yknow (i think timlex as a whole is HILARIOUS btw. they hate each other so much but like when does hate turn into homoerotic glaring yknow) ((also sorry for responding to this so late originally i was gonna draw something as an answer but i kept getting lazy and putting it off SO I HOPE THIS SUFFICES...)

[kitkatsudon]

A brief foray into the military ranks of TKEM characters…

It’s no secret that our favourite boys from the Kingdom of Corea have a history in the military - but apart from Gon being bottom of his class in the Naval Academy (as confirmed by Choi Gitae in Ep4), what else do we know? As with every tiny detail that sparks my interest in this show, I took it upon myself to find out, and gave myself a headache in the process. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Lee Jihun:

I’m starting with him because he’s the only one I could find a concrete answer for, thanks to him being from a universe very similar to ours. Though we only see him very briefly in Ep16, from that short scene we can glean a little bit of information about what he was doing:

To find his rank, one needs only to look at his epaulettes. You can see that his are black, with three gold stripes: two thick ones, with a thin stripe in the middle. This identifies his rank as follows:

He’s a Soryeong, which is the equivalent rank to a Lieutenant Commander.

However, what I find perhaps more interesting for Jihun is this badge he’s wearing:

Though it’s blurry when you zoom in, I’m pretty sure it’s this one:

You heard it here first, folks. Lee Jihun is a Navy SEAL. They didn’t have to include this detail - you’d probably have to be quite familiar with the military to recognise it straight away, and I doubt that even most Korean fans would be able to recognise it, because I can tell you for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to recognise the equivalent for my own country. Someone on the production team decided this, and I want to give them a big kiss on the mouth, because now it’s confirmed that the sweet little Jihun we saw grew up to be totally badass after his abusive father passed away. I sincerely hope that it was a good life that led him to joining this branch of the military, and not some combination of horrible factors that pushed him into joining one of the most intense and dangerous branches… hm. I’m not going to dwell on that, actually. You can all make your own conclusions here.

Now… to the Kingdom. *sigh.* This is where things start to get more vague and confusing. I’m going to start with ranks first, and then go onto what they were doing as one big section because, spoiler alert, I haven’t got any sort of concrete idea.

Lee Gon:

His rank is easiest to determine, because Choi Gitae says it explicitly when they met at his father’s funeral in Ep4. I cross-referenced this with the closed-caption Korean subtitles, and everything adds up nicely: though he’s the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces in the Kingdom, thanks to his position as the monarch, while he was actually serving, he rose to the rank of Daewi, or Lieutenant - the highest rank of the junior officers - before leaving the navy.

Jo Yeong:

When we see Yeong in his navy uniform in Ep6, this is what we can see:

Once again, that same pattern emerges on his epaulettes of two thick stripes surrounding a thin stripe - he’s a Soryeong, a Lieutenant Commander. This means that Yeong ranked one rank higher than Gon before he left the navy, which is something that brings me quite a lot of joy.

However, something I like even more than that is Yeong’s current title, as the leader of the Royal Guard. We all know him and love him as Captain Jo, but in Korean he’s referred to as 조영 대장 - Jo Yeong Daejang. This is what Gon calls him in the iconic “Are you having fun, Captain Jo?” and you can also see that title of Daejang on his character page on the official TKEM website. On WordReference, this is what happens if I search for 대장:

Ignoring the results about other things, it doesn’t seem to mean “Captain” explicitly, it’s more like a general kind of leader title. His rank isn’t necessarily “Captain,” it’s whatever Daejang is equivalent to. So… how good is a Daejang? Looking at the South Korean armed forces, in the army, air force, and marine corps, Daejang is equivalent to General, and in the navy, Daejang is equivalent to Admiral. To put this into context a little better, the only rank in the South Korean navy higher than Daejang is Wonsu, and this rank only exists on paper and has never been given to any officer of the South Korean armed forces. To achieve this rank of Wonsu, you’re appointed from the rank of Daejang when you have “distinguished achievements.”

In conclusion: Yeong has an incredibly high rank in the armed forces, second only really to Gon himself, assuming no one from the Kingdom has ever been appointed the rank of Wonsu either. However… there’s a first time for everything, and though I’m only speculating and of course could never say anything for sure, if anyone was going to get those distinguished achievements needed to be a Wonsu, it would be our Jo Yeong Daejang.

Choi Gitae:

I’m including him briefly because I have a bone to pick with the subtitles. In English, he’s Captain Choi. In Korean, Gon refers to him as Hamjang, which, as far as I can tell, doesn’t exist in the South Korean navy of our universe. In the Korean subtitles in Ep4, he’s named as 최 소령, Choi Soryeong, and he’s just… he’s not that. Let’s take a look at some pictures:

The epaulettes on the first picture and the star badge on the second tell us that his rank should be this:

He’s a Junjang, equivalent to a Rear Admiral (lower half). Not a Captain, and not a Lieutenant Commander. As for the Hamjang/Junjang disparity, I’m going to suggest that Hamjang is the Kingdom of Corea’s equivalent to the Republic’s Junjang.

So, what was everyone doing in the navy?

The only clue we have is a badge:

This is from Yeong’s uniform, but in Ep6 Choi Gitae was wearing the same, and Gon was wearing a gold version of it. However, for the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out what it is! The design seems to be that of a ship sailing through the waters, but that just gives ✨navy✨ in a general sense. Browsing google images, I’ve noticed the same golden badge that Gon wears on other high ranking members of the South Korean navy, so maybe it signifies a high rank? Or maybe it just means that the wearer is in the navy? I don’t know! I can’t work it out! What it tells us at least is, if Yeong isn’t wearing a “specialised” badge like Jihun… it’s unlikely that he served in any kind of special forces… which I feel is a piece of information that might break some hearts in the fandom as their headcanons shatter into pieces. I’m disappointed too, because when I saw Yeong’s badge without paying attention to any of the other characters, I thought that the two shapes on the sides looked a little like submariner dolphins, so I’ve spent half a year or so thinking that’s what Yeong did in the navy, before I realised that Gon and Choi Gitae had the exact same badge.

So, if anyone has been bothered enough to read this far and also happens to be a Korean military buff, I would love you forever if you could tell me exactly what this badge means, and whether it gives us any indication of what Yeong or Gon or anyone else was doing in the navy. However, maybe it’s good that it’s unclear, because that leaves fic writers plenty of room to wonder about what Gon and Yeong were doing in the military - whether they were doing different things, strengthening their bond as best bros doing the same thing, and if you’re on the same side of this fandom as me, whether they were repressing some big feelings at seeing each other in their military uniforms, or whether they were engaging in certain activities that are maybe stereotypical of sailors cooped together on the same boat without women to spend their nights with… there’s plenty of room for interpretation :D

[galwednesday]

This week's deep dive rec is Slate's Slow Burn: The L.A. Riots podcast, hosted by Joel Anderson, which is a great example of how long-form reporting can give context to complex social and historical events:

In 1992, a jury failed to convict the four Los Angeles police officers who’d been captured on videotape beating Rodney King. The city erupted into fire and chaos—the culmination of decades of unchecked police abuse and racial injustice. For the sixth season of Slate’s Slow Burn, Joel Anderson returns to explore the people and events behind the biggest civil disturbance in American history—a story that’s still playing out today.

[bvnga-aprikot]

guess who went down a rabbit hole and got this stupid man stuck in my head

[greyias]

I was today year's old when I discovered that if you unequip your instruments, you can whistle for the perform action.

[empressofthewind]

I made a comprehensive list of every time Mello and Near interact/mention each other/think about each other in the manga (minus a few brief mentions because they didn’t feel notable enough; things like Near saying that Light wants him and Mello dead, etc). I compiled this for my own reference, but I figured someone else might find it useful so here it is!

Chapter 59

-         Mello walks past a room at Wammy’s House where Near is sitting and appears to look in

-         Mello and Near are called into Roger’s office and informed of L’s death

 Chapter 60

-         Mello thinks about how much he wants to beat Near, establishing their rivalry and Mello’s primary motivation throughout the mafia arc

 Chapter 61

-         Continuation of Roger’s office scene

-         There is a flashback where Mello receives a paper graded less than Near’s and glances back to see a crowd of students admiring Near’s score

-         Mello hands L’s role over to Near

-         Near is quite willing to work with Mello and looks sad, or perhaps a little annoyed, when he leaves

 Chapter 62

-         Near pulls Mello’s photo out of… where exactly?? His shirt???

 Chapter 63

-         Near says “it might be better if the notebook moves from the hands of the Japanese police into someone else’s possession”. I find this line interesting because the context suggests that he wants Mello to get the notebook; he’s talking about how he’s going to let L, who he sees as incompetent, deal with the kidnapping, i.e., he assumes L will fail to negotiate and the Death Note will be handed over to the mafia, so the line suggests that this could be a good thing (or at least the lesser of two evils, in which the mafia having the Death Note is more favourable than the task force having the Death Note). Maybe Near assumes that Mello acquiring the Death Note will result in the SPK ultimately getting more information about it, which isn’t technically wrong, but there is the intermediate step that many of his employees will be killed... there is no indication that he predicted that, though

 Chapter 64

-         Near looks like he’s smiling each time Mello outsmarts Light. Per my previous ramble, this could be another sign that he wants Mello to acquire the Death Note and is excited that Light is failing to prevent this. Alternatively, he finds it funny that Light is so incompetent. Or a combination of the two.

 Chapter 65

-         Near interrogates Mr Yagami about whether Mello was eating chocolate, and sort of compliments his plan by describing it as “elaborate”

 Chapter 66

-         Mello kills most of the SPK’s members

-         Near tells Light about Mello

-         The task force receives the drawings of Mello and Near, in addition to information about Wammy’s House

 Chapter 67

-         Near tells Light he is going to capture Mello and tries to explain Mello’s thought process behind sparing Chief Yagami and certain members of the SPK – it’s clear he understands Mello’s psyche in depth, and also feels that he is one of the people who matters to Mello (“Kira, you and L are all just people standing in his way”), though obviously not in a positive way

-         Near states that “Mello isn’t stupid”

 Chapter 68

-         Mello requests that the president tell him all the SPK’s movements, meanwhile Near tries to track Mello

 Chapter 75

-         Near mentions Mello when discussing the fact that the task force joined up with Kira

-         He says the words “Luckily, Mello escaped”, suggesting that he is happy Mello survived. There are several ways to interpret this. A) He believes Mello will cooperate with him at some point, which is also supported in chapter 76. B) He believes Mello has the knowledge and skills to track down Kira on his own (and to Near, either of them catching Kira is a victory). C) He did not want Mello to die for sentimental reasons. Mello is someone he grew up with and canonically, he likes and cares about Mello. I could realistically believe that Kira aside, Near was just glad that Mello lived

 Chapter 76

-         Light says, “Near would probably believe Mello” and damn right he would

-         Near once again analyses Mello’s thought process and basically implies that he needs Mello in order to progress through the case. He asks his team to give Mello all their information if they come into contact with him

-         Mello thinks about Near whilst an attractive woman showers in front of him

-         Mello visits Near’s headquarters in his classic dramatic fashion and Near welcomes him

 Chapter 77

-         Near defends Mello when Gevanni and Rester act wary of him

-         Near compliments Mello’s achievements in the case thus far, which Mello misinterprets as Near using him as a tool

-         Near gives back Mello’s photo (once again, pulling it out of his shirt) in exchange for information

-         “Dear Mello” is written on the back of the photo which indicates to Mello that Near always intended to give it back and wasn’t just holding it for future blackmail or with some other malicious intent

-         Mello gives his iconic “I’ll be waiting for you” line

 Chapter 78

-         Near lies to the task force about the circumstances of Mello’s visit

-         Light tries to convince Near that Mello is lying to him, but Near doesn’t even entertain the notion

-         Near says “I believe Mello over a Shinigami”

-         Near volunteers to write Mello’s name in the Death Note, expecting the task force to say no

 Chapter 79

-         Mello sends Mogi to the SPK headquarters and tells Near he’s good at interrogating; Near is impressed with Mello’s plans

-         Near justifies Mello’s questionable actions to Mogi

-         Near’s hideout gets raided two days later whilst Mello is still on the phone, which suggests that they’ve been working together to interrogate Mogi for those two days (or they’ve at least been in contact with each other)

-         Light proposes that Mello was responsible for the attack which Near doesn’t buy for a second

 Chapter 80

-         Near tells Mello that he’s going to escape from the SPK building

-         Mello looks annoyed when the raid happens – it could be because his plan was interrupted, or some rare semblance of concern for Near’s wellbeing (I am firmly of the belief that he never wanted Near to get hurt or die, even if it was just because a victory by default is not a victory in his eyes), or it could also be related the fact that Near is discarding a very large portion of a fortune that Mello was a potential heir to

 Chapter 82

-         Near explains Mello’s thought process in detail to Aizawa with the context of their upbringing at Wammy’s House

 Chapter 83

-         Near asks Lidner to give Mello information about the case, except that Light is L as he has faith that Mello will also reach that conclusion – presumably, if Mello independently identifies Light as the prime suspect, it would strengthen his conviction

-         Mello correctly assumes that Near wanted Lidner to give him all his information, but does a lot of mental gymnastics to convince himself that they’re just doing favours for one another rather than outright working together

 Chapter 85

-         Mello tries to guess what Near was thinking when he gave Mello information, nothing particularly notable but it’s interesting that they both have a good understanding of one another and their thought processes/working styles

 Chapter 86

-         Continuation of Mello pondering Near’s intentions in giving him information. Interesting to note that he doesn’t come across as angry at all when he thinks about Near – the interaction in chapter 77 was tense but it really feels like he mellows out after that (pun intended)

 Chapter 90

-         Near mentions that Mello is a wanted criminal, and that he “lets his emotions control him”

 Chapter 94

-         This is the first time Near’s finger puppets are shown, and Mello’s puppet is positioned next to his in the collection. They seem to be arranged by organisation (so the SPK’s puppets are together, the task force’s puppets are together, and Near and Mello’s are side-by-side in the middle)

 Chapter 99

-         Near is frustrated by Mello interfering, and asks Lidner to stop him “at all costs” – this is one of the few times that Near seems genuinely angry in the manga

-         Near mentions that Mello wouldn’t respond if he contacted him

 Chapter 100

-         There isn’t much shown of Near’s reaction to Mello’s death (even his facial expressions are hidden) and he is very quick to cut Lidner off when she’s about to mention him

 Chapter 103

-         Near retrieves Mello’s puppet and gives him credit for the victory. His eyes are obscured in these panels

 Chapter 104

-         Near goes into detail about why he owes the victory to Mello, and explains that he has always believed the two of them could only surpass L together rather than alone

-         Lidner mentions that in her last conversation with Mello, he said “I guess I’m going to have to do it”, and when he’s shown, he looks very sombre – Near doesn’t believe he thought far ahead enough to know that the notebook in Near’s possession was fake, but there is an implication that the act of kidnapping Takada was done in an effort to assist Near, rather than surpass him as was his goal in the beginning

-         Mello’s eyes are obscured in the panel that’s shown of him, and Near’s eyes are obscured most of the time whilst he’s talking about Mello – this doesn’t necessarily mean anything but it makes them look sad. I find it hard to believe this wasn’t deliberate

 Chapter 108

-         Near is shown eating a bar of chocolate

[rosykims]

fuck it *unbalds your dread wolf*

[thatoneluckybee]

Tell me about your OCs! (if you have any)

Good grief I have many an oc… I’ve spoken vaguely about my mains online BUT I keep it vague for privacy stuff lol. The main set are from a story me and a close friend began IRL years ago that was all but abandoned after the pandemic. They aren’t really into it anymore so essentially I’ve been given free reign over them. However… I have no set plan on what we’re gonna do. We both love art so we’ve considered making it into like a webcomic or a book but neither of us know. It’s just this series stuck in my head. I keep things vague with them love in case we ever do get around to making this a real published thing (also because I am… 60% sure said friend has a tumblr and Do Not Want Them To Find Me.)