When You Wish You Had A Minute More.
Just came across a Death Note fic concept I noted down on my phone back in 2020: 'Fic where Light tries to get Naomi's real name by seducing/sleeping with her, whether to get her to trust him or to put himself in a position where he can get a look at her ID.'
This is a terrible idea, but I would absolutely read it. I just enjoy how easy it is to put Light in situations where he ends up having sex for practical reasons while going 'ugh, I'm above this.' Sometimes you have to do something slightly distasteful in pursuit of your pure and noble goal of committing several thousand murders.
Below the cut, I just ramble directionlessly about Light's character for a while, apparently? Like Jack Shephard, Light Yagami is a character I just want to study under a microscope.
I've said this before, but pride is Light's defining quality. He always thinks he's the most intelligent person in the room, which can lead him to underestimate others; this helps L to narrow down suspects early on, when Light hasn't yet realised how formidable an opponent he's facing. Light quickly becomes frustrated if this view of himself as comfortably above everyone else is challenged: for example, if someone outwits him or puts him on the back foot.
When Light outwits someone else, he likes to gloat about it. This can lead him to take unnecessary risks; for example, he outright tells Naomi that he's Kira in the knowledge that she's about to die.
(Side note: I would love to see a version of that scenario where he tells Naomi he's Kira, she doesn't die, he realises she's caught him out with another fake name, and he's suddenly faced with an 'oh, shit, do I have to kill her right here and now with my bare hands?' split-second decision. We never see it in canon, but it would be fascinating to see Light's response to a situation where he has to kill someone personally, physically, without the Death Note in hand. Would it haunt him? Would it make it harder for him to mentally separate himself from the murderers he's passing judgment on?)
Light's arrogance is probably the biggest threat to his plan, L excluded. But Light's arrogance is also the reason he came up with his plan in the first place; he aspires to position himself as a god because obviously, as the smartest person in the world, he's the most qualified to decide how everyone lives.
Light is charismatic and, at first glance, well liked by his peers, although I'd say he's actually more respected than liked. He doesn't really have friends, which is largely by choice. He'd probably make friends easily enough if he cared to try, but he is entirely uninterested in other people; everyone else is too far beneath him to be worth his time.
(Side note: while Light isn't really interested in his peers, I do think he genuinely loves his family. It's not an aspect of him that Death Note really dwells on, but it's a hint of warmth that I think adds an important and interesting dimension to a character who's largely very cold. There's a good post by on this subject over here, but be aware that it is extremely long, because there are people out there who like talking about Light Yagami even more than I do.)
I haven't seen the adaptation itself, but I found the trailer for Netflix's live-action Death Note adaptation extremely offputting because it made Light look shifty. No! Light is supposed to be the clean-cut, respectable teenager who no one would ever suspect! This is why, while I think most people were joking when they said Zac Efron should play Light Yagami in an American adaptation, it's actually kind of perfect casting.
I'm not a big Light/L shipper (Light/himself OTP), but I do think Light connects with L on a level he's not used to with his peers. L is infuriating, but he's also refreshing; he's someone Light can see as an equal, and I don't think Light has ever felt anyone could face him on even ground before.
In the Death Note musical track 'The Way It Ends', Light is triumphant over L's imminent death, but you can hear him go from mocking to wistful in the final line, as it hits him that L's death is a loss to him as well as a victory, and it's absolutely agonising.
Even if I wouldn't say I actively ship Light/L, incidentally, I firmly believe the following:
a) Light would absolutely seduce L if he thought it would advance his goals.
b) The only reason L wouldn't attempt to seduce Light for his own ends is that he knows it wouldn't work.
c) L would, however, offer sex to Light in order to analyse his reactions (I once wrote a fic about this, in fact!).
Around this point, I realised it was silly to attempt a full summary of Light's character when I last watched Death Note three years ago. (There is a solid risk I'm on the verge of a rewatch.) He's fun to talk about, though!
Why are all my favourite characters the absolute worst? I'm not complaining; I'm just curious.
This is a terrible idea, but I would absolutely read it. I just enjoy how easy it is to put Light in situations where he ends up having sex for practical reasons while going 'ugh, I'm above this.' Sometimes you have to do something slightly distasteful in pursuit of your pure and noble goal of committing several thousand murders.
Below the cut, I just ramble directionlessly about Light's character for a while, apparently? Like Jack Shephard, Light Yagami is a character I just want to study under a microscope.
I've said this before, but pride is Light's defining quality. He always thinks he's the most intelligent person in the room, which can lead him to underestimate others; this helps L to narrow down suspects early on, when Light hasn't yet realised how formidable an opponent he's facing. Light quickly becomes frustrated if this view of himself as comfortably above everyone else is challenged: for example, if someone outwits him or puts him on the back foot.
When Light outwits someone else, he likes to gloat about it. This can lead him to take unnecessary risks; for example, he outright tells Naomi that he's Kira in the knowledge that she's about to die.
(Side note: I would love to see a version of that scenario where he tells Naomi he's Kira, she doesn't die, he realises she's caught him out with another fake name, and he's suddenly faced with an 'oh, shit, do I have to kill her right here and now with my bare hands?' split-second decision. We never see it in canon, but it would be fascinating to see Light's response to a situation where he has to kill someone personally, physically, without the Death Note in hand. Would it haunt him? Would it make it harder for him to mentally separate himself from the murderers he's passing judgment on?)
Light's arrogance is probably the biggest threat to his plan, L excluded. But Light's arrogance is also the reason he came up with his plan in the first place; he aspires to position himself as a god because obviously, as the smartest person in the world, he's the most qualified to decide how everyone lives.
Light is charismatic and, at first glance, well liked by his peers, although I'd say he's actually more respected than liked. He doesn't really have friends, which is largely by choice. He'd probably make friends easily enough if he cared to try, but he is entirely uninterested in other people; everyone else is too far beneath him to be worth his time.
(Side note: while Light isn't really interested in his peers, I do think he genuinely loves his family. It's not an aspect of him that Death Note really dwells on, but it's a hint of warmth that I think adds an important and interesting dimension to a character who's largely very cold. There's a good post by on this subject over here, but be aware that it is extremely long, because there are people out there who like talking about Light Yagami even more than I do.)
I haven't seen the adaptation itself, but I found the trailer for Netflix's live-action Death Note adaptation extremely offputting because it made Light look shifty. No! Light is supposed to be the clean-cut, respectable teenager who no one would ever suspect! This is why, while I think most people were joking when they said Zac Efron should play Light Yagami in an American adaptation, it's actually kind of perfect casting.
I'm not a big Light/L shipper (Light/himself OTP), but I do think Light connects with L on a level he's not used to with his peers. L is infuriating, but he's also refreshing; he's someone Light can see as an equal, and I don't think Light has ever felt anyone could face him on even ground before.
In the Death Note musical track 'The Way It Ends', Light is triumphant over L's imminent death, but you can hear him go from mocking to wistful in the final line, as it hits him that L's death is a loss to him as well as a victory, and it's absolutely agonising.
Even if I wouldn't say I actively ship Light/L, incidentally, I firmly believe the following:
a) Light would absolutely seduce L if he thought it would advance his goals.
b) The only reason L wouldn't attempt to seduce Light for his own ends is that he knows it wouldn't work.
c) L would, however, offer sex to Light in order to analyse his reactions (I once wrote a fic about this, in fact!).
Around this point, I realised it was silly to attempt a full summary of Light's character when I last watched Death Note three years ago. (There is a solid risk I'm on the verge of a rewatch.) He's fun to talk about, though!
Why are all my favourite characters the absolute worst? I'm not complaining; I'm just curious.