#i think leaving it at 'he's a friendly monster and Kira's friend!' is the perfect place to leave it at

[mokeonn]

I think that the 2010's media landscape of Buzzfeed articles about plotholes in disney movies, Cinemasins critiques, and Watchmojo Top Ten scenes in movies that make no sense has truely ruined a lot of media. People are afraid that their work will be torn down if they dare leave a single thing up in the air, if they dare ask their audience to suspend their disbelief.

All too often nowadays I see stories (especially fantasy), take the time to explain how every small aspect of the world works and how it all logically makes sense. The constant time stopped to explain why an event happened, how this object works, or why this is important to the characters. It's just really not needed and it honestly makes a lot of stories worse.

I am of the opinion that the best stories truly just drop you into their world and explain nothing. They just take you through the story of this world and you just have to accept it and continue on. "When he became king, the land became barren." I don't want the story to stop and explain why this is, or how it happened, I want us to move on so we can just assume that the king has such rancid vibes that everything died.

[godoftrashandmisfortune]

So, I watched the Death Note movie.

I have an unpopular opinion for you: I actually liked it.

Now, before you jump to my throat with this, hear me out for a sec.

I’m a huge DN fan, as you probably know if you’ve been following me for a while. I’ve read the manga and watched the anime several times and in several languages. I’ve watched about every live adaptation, including fan-made material. I cosplay. I write fan fic and opinion essays. I draw fan art. I roleplay. Blah, blah, blah.

So yes, I take my shit quite seriously, and I could hardly explain how much DN has changed my life. Then why the hell did I like Netflix’s adaptation?

1)    I knew, from the very moment I found out Netflix would make an American adaptation, that it wouldn’t be really Death Note. It’s miraculous enough that Ryuk and the Death Note exist at all. Yes, I was pissed at the beginning, but I decided I wouldn’t watch this movie as a hardcore fan, but as a regular person watching just any film. Guys, we all knew it wouldn’t be loyal to the source material. That doesn’t make it into a terrible movie by itself. Just… don’t think about it as an adaptation, but as a completely different story with vaguely similar character names.

2)    And that’s actually alright, given that Netflix never meant to target us unconditional DN lovers. The creators knew we’d all watch it, at least to properly hate it, anyway. This movie is aimed at people who probably never got in deep touch with the series before and are just looking for some entertainment. So yes, the plot has been twisted beyond reason, but you should at least admit that, if you all weren’t DN fans, you would’ve found it interesting, to say the least.

3)    N’s DN is a gross, unforgiveable White-wash, and we can all agree on that. But in terms of business, the decision wasn’t all that bad. I’ll take my mother as an example here. I tried to introduce her to the series before, several times. But ever since her lil’ girl became this weird weeb writing now, she sort of rejects anime and Japanese culture in general (I know. She’s a monster. She’s also a racist, a homophobe and damn I could keep on going forever. Unfortunately, there are lots of people like here out there). However, when I told her Netflix would make a live, American adaptation, she was actually thrilled. “Now that it’s not all cartoonish I can actually enjoy the story!”, she said. Be honest: how many people out there reject anime without even giving it a try, just because it’s “Japanese cartoons” and it’s “weird”? N’s DN is WhiteTM trash. But it’s still a good business. Sorry.

4)    About characterization:

Light Turner. Edgy as fuck? Overreacting? Take a chill pill? What the hell happened to cunning, sociopathic prodigy Light Yagami? “This isn’t good. I actually like him”, said a friend of mine while watching the movie. God, I was upset. This isn’t the Light we all wanted so bad to see at all.

Or is he? That ending, for Kira’s sake. Friendly reminder that Light Turner cold-bloodedly wrote Mia Sutton’s name on the Death Note, and even specified how she, while falling to her death, would rip that one page from the Note, which would eventually be burnt down. He literally sacrificed Mia to save himself and even planned a few days ahead so he’d brush off the police’s suspicions and get the Note back in one shot. All of it written in detail in the Death Note, everything executed with impeccable acting skills to match his smarts. He fooled Mia into believing him to be that naïve, way-too-emotional boy, to the bitter end. He looked at her in the eyes with devastation as she fell to the death he had staged for her. If that’s not the sociopathic manipulative piece of crap we all know and love, then I don’t know what it is. And if he managed to pull that off, then I can’t say for sure he didn’t pretend to be a naïve, stupid boy from the very beginning. As to Nat Wolff’s abilities as an actor, I think he did an amazing job with what he was given. He’s super expressive, and managed to bring to life a very complex character.

Mia Sutton. Bitch! Manipulative as fuck. What the actual hell. But! Misa Amane had always been reckless when it came to using her power as the Second Kira. She makes rash decisions and cares little about anything and anyone, herself included. Also, she’s ready to do anything, and kill anyone, to get Light’s attention and monopolize him. It’s only natural that Mia doesn’t quietly sit and watch while the Light Turner she fell for fades away, because Misa would do something about it. You all guys said you were pissed at Misa for being so stupid, then why hate Mia? In the end, she remained true to Light. She loved him for real. And the only reason why she snatched the Note from him: because that was what Light specified she’d do! It wasn’t even a choice to begin with.

Have you ever wondered if, only maybe, ever since Mia suggested that they changed the world together, Light has been thinking of ways to get rid of her? I believe he manipulated her through and through, just as he fooled us all. I believed he wanted Mia to underestimate him. He wanted it all to culminate in her death, without ever looking like the bad guy himself (quite a Light Yagami thing to do, in my opinion). That’s why I think Ohba and Obata said they loved the adaptation; because they could see beyond the façade, while we all easily fell for it.

L. I have no words here. Lakeith Stanfield did a superb job at portraying L with all his quirky habits and characteristic speech, plus that more childish, Watari-deprived side of L we don’t get to see very often in the original series. Not to mention that perfect Japanese! In addition, the fact that the most intelligent character in the story, and one of the main and most loved parts, was given to a black actor is amazing. This deserves our approval. Stanfield’s job is about the only thing about N’s DN we can all agree was a good decision.

Watari. The only thing that pissed me off is that his name was actually just Watari. Otherwise, I freaking loved the man.

Ryuk. Superb. No negative comments whatsoever. Awesome choice of actors. Acceptable animation. All in all, that’s some good shit.

5)   About the movie as a cinematographic piece: It was quite good. The choice of music was excellent. In regards to lighting, color contrast, angles and shots, beautiful. Special effects were quite alright, and all in all it was very harmonic, visually-wise. And it sort of managed to compress lots of context in an hour and a half in a logical way. Some moments, like Light creepily walking into the dim-lit dining room or rolling his eyes white into their sockets will never leave my mind.

There’s much more I didn’t cover in this post, so if you find any holes in my arguments or have further doubts on topics I haven’t talked about, please get in touch with me, so we can properly discuss it.

Well, if this hasn’t been enough to convince you, feel free to keep on hating N’s DN. You can also clog my inbox with anon hate or tell me I’m an idiotic whiteTM trash for defending this piece of crap. I just needed to state my opinion. Who knows, I might have changed your perspective on the whole subject for the better.

By the way, the cosplayers on the picture above are @lassieonvalium as Light and me as L.

[farklelucas]

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” Scisaac please oh please

this ask is like two years old and i am sorry for this! the fic involves jealous isaac, flirty erica, and oblivious scott. totally au. told from erica’s pov.

always taking fic prompts

Erica sits down across the table from Allison and Lydia, who both just flick their eyebrows up at her. Ever since they started dating, they’ve become like a two-headed monster. Even Erica’s noticed, and she doesn’t exactly hang out with the cool kids. “Erica,” Lydia says coolly. “What can we do for you?”

“More like what can I do for us.” Allison blinks, now intrigued, and Lydia leans forward. “Listen. I know you have a betting pool going on when Lahey and McCall will get together.”

They glance at each other, and then back to Erica. “And how do you know that?” Allison asks.

Erica considers this for a moment. “Let’s just say a friend of a friend told me,” Erica says. She’s not technically lying. Cora came to her after Jackson had come to her, complaining about how Isaac was always mooning after Scott. Erica doesn’t know any of them particularly well, but she does like money.

“Anyway, since you two are the two-headed love monster, I’ve figure you have your bets hedged together, right?” They look at each other again, but Erica just keeps talking. “Well, I’ll tell you what. You add me in on one of your time slots, and I’ll have them together by then.”

Allison wrinkles her nose. “I don’t know,” she says, “isn’t that a little bit like cheating?”

Lydia glances desperately at Erica. Uh oh, One girlfriend’s already in, now she’s just gonna hook the other one. “I wouldn’t think of it as cheating,” she says. “I would think of it as hiring an independent contractor.”

There’s a pause. And then Allison shrugs. “Alright,” she says.

In seconds, Lydia’s taken out her phone and scrolled down her events calendar. “You’re added on for the week of November first,” she says. Erica begins a mental countdown in her head.

She smiles at both girls and, to her surprise, they smile back. “Pleasure doing business with you,” she says. Then she spins on her heel and heads toward the other side of the cafeteria.

–

September 23rd

Erica plops her things down next to Scott McCall’s in chemistry. He looks up and smiles warmly at her. “Hey,” she says. “Mind if I sit here?”

Of course he doesn’t mind. It’s Scott - Beacon Hill’s resident hunk with a heart of gold. He nods and clears away his stuff from her side of the table, giving her plenty of room to spread out her things. He turns to her and gives her a small wave. “I’m Scott,” he says.

“Oh, I know,” she says. Then she pretends to duck her head in embarrassment as he raises his eyebrows. “Sorry, I mean… I’m Erica.”

He grins. “It’s all good. Nice to meet you, Erica.”

She smiles as softly as she can. “Nice to meet you, Scott.”

Just then, Isaac Lahey busts in through the front door. He looks to Scott and smiles, waving a little. Scott beams and waves back. Erica just looks back and forth between them and, silently, thinks that this just might be easier than taking candy from a baby. To be determined, she supposes.

Then Isaac looks to her and frowns, tipping his head and furrowing his eyebrows. He finally makes his way to their table. “Hey,” he says. “I’m Isaac.”

“Nice to meet you,” she says. “I’m Erica.” Then she looks between the two of them, who seem to be communicating with simple glances. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you guys, like, a thing? Should I leave?”

They both immediately blush, ears and cheeks going red. “No, you’re fine,” Scott says. “We’re not a thing. We don’t have to sit together.”

“Yeah,” Isaac rushes to agree. “I’ll, uh, go sit with Kira.” He smiles at them both, a semi-strained smile, and heads back to go sit with Kira, whoever that is. Erica just smiles at Scott, who smiles back, and then the class begins.

–

September 30th

Erica has been sitting with Scott in chemistry for the past week, and now it’s time to put the next phase of her plan into action. She tells Cora and Boyd and Malia that she’s going to be skipping lunch for a while, then plants herself at the empty table nearest to the door. Most kids ignore the girl eating by herself.

Not Scott McCall.

Sure enough, about ten minutes into lunch she feels a hand on her shoulder. Scott smiles down at her. “Hey,” he says. “Erica. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she says, smiling sweetly. “I’m just eating lunch.”

Scott smiles, even though he’s quite genuine about it, and glances across the lunchroom. Allison, Lydia, and a few other people Erica doesn’t immediately recognize are there, laughing and talking. “Would you like to come sit with us?” he asks.

She bites her lip and looks to the table, trying her best to seem longing for human contact. “Will your friends be okay with it?” she asks.

She looks back to Scott, whose eyes are soft and pitying. “Of course,” he assures.

Hook, line, sinker.

Erica follows him back to his table. Scott stands at the head where, presumably, he sits. He clears his throat and they all immediately look up at them both. “Guys, this is Erica,” he says. “She’ll be sitting with us. Erica, this is… everyone.”

She chuckles lightly. “Hi,” she says. Allison and Lydia look at her with wide eyes, but thankfully say nothing. They would just be blowing their own money if they did, anyway.

He gestures to the empty seat to his right and she sits, spreading out her lunch.

Just as the first time, Isaac Lahey arrives a few moments later, this time with a petite Asian girl. They both look at Scott and then Erica, both seeming confused and disoriented. “Oh,” he says, blinking. “Hey, Erica.”

She smiles and waves. “Hi, Isaac.”

He frowns and sits at the other end of the table. Then she looks to Scott, who looks worried.

–

October 5th

Much of the same has been happening. Except now Erica has begun to slip in little things that will kickstart the whole volcanic meltdown she has planned for Isaac.

Little touches on Scott’s biceps, offering him her leftovers when she isn’t hungry, calling him ‘honey’ or ‘babe’ in a platonic way. It’s the little things that add up.

– 

October 16th

She’s afraid Isaac has begun to notice.

For instance, he’s reclaimed his seat at the lunch table. It began one day when he and Scott were sharing homework, and then it became an every day thing. And he’s definitely eyeing her seat in chemistry.

She only has a week or two to get them together, and she can’t help them if one of them keeps foiling her plans. She needs to do something and soon.

Lahey may be winning the battles, but the war will not be over so quickly.

–

October 21st

However, she doesn’t have time to do anything before Scott does it for her.

She closes her locker and he’s standing behind it, grinning that goofy and friendly grin he has for all his friends. “Hey!” he says. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m having a party at my house for Halloween.” He pauses and then adds, “You’re invited, obviously. I’m not just telling you to rub it in.”

She rolls her eyes, but fondly. Scott actually is a super sweet, dorky kid. She likes him. “Thanks,” she says. “That’s nice of you. When is it?”

“Oh, it’s on Halloween,” he says. “And it’s honestly not even much of a party, more of a movie night. The gang gets together and watches a bunch of scary movies.”

She pretends to wince. “Oh, gosh, I don’t like scary movies all that much.” This is a lie. She loves scary movies. She’s seen every Scream movie ever produced at least three times. “They’re, you know. Pretty scary.”

“Well, I hear that’s why they’re called that,” Scott teases. Erica snorts. “But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll sit next to you the whole time. That way Stiles won’t be a dick and creep you out or anything.”

That’s actually really sweet of him. She grins. “I would love to come.”

Then… she feels it. The opportunity to advance. She glances up the hallway to see Isaac staring right at them, a weird kind of fury on his face. She spins back to Scott. “Hey, there’s something on your face,” she says abruptly. “Can I get it?”

He barely has a confirmation out of his mouth before she reaches up and cups his face with her hand. She rubs her thumb on the invisible smudge on his face a few times and then lets go. “Got it,” she says.

He smiles. “Thanks,” he says. Then he heads off in the other direction.

–

October 31st

When Erica shows up to Scott’s Halloween-costume-movie-viewing party, no one else is there but her and Scott. Which is perfect - exactly how she planned it. She helps Scott set up and picks some of the movies. (She insists on Scream, even though she’s supposedly afraid of scary movies. So she’s a fan, sue her.)

Lydia, Allison, and Kira arrive next. Danny and Stiles are right behind them. Then Liam, then Jackson, and finally Isaac. Isaac, fittingly enough, is dressed in a toga like the Greek God he is. But he’s too late. Erica is already sitting on the two-person couch next to Scott, her hand on his thigh, halfway through the bowl of popcorn. He looks absolutely furious.

They watch three movies, and Erica screams (along with Kira) at all the appropriate times to convince everyone of her horror. She clings onto Scott and even buries her face into his shoulder at one point. Her old drama teacher would have given her an ‘A’ for this one.

–

November 1st

There’s some rustling and a dull thud. Then silence. Suddenly, voices - they’re slightly strained, but you can still just make out what they’re saying.

“I just… I don’t trust her.”

“Why not? She’s so sweet and super nice. Isaac, I think you’d like her if you gave her a chance.”

“I don’t see why I should. She’s always all over you. It’s Scott, Scott, Scott.”

“She doesn’t have a lot of friends and she trusts me.”

“Yeah, well, if she’s never given us a chance, why should I give her one?”

A lengthy pause. You can hear someone’s breathing, deliberately quieted.

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

An even lengthier pause. “No.”

“You totally are!”

“Well, should I not be? She doesn’t know we’re together. No one does.”

“Isaac, do you even know how much I love you?” No response. “Would it make you feel better if we told all of our friends today?”

“… Today? At, like, lunch?”

“Yeah. I’ll even tell Erica myself. How’s that sound?”

“… Okay.”

The recording cuts off.

Allison and Lydia stare down at the recorder in total disbelief. Erica smirks at them. “Looks like my work here is done,” she says.

“They’ve been dating this whole time?” Allison murmurs. “How did none of us know?”

“They’re very sneaky,” Erica says. “It was hard finding them this morning. In the autobiographical section of BHHS library. Exhausting.” She picks up her backpack and smiles. “See you at lunch, girls. I’ll be expecting my third of the cut.” And then she walks off, on her way to third period.