Post by comma on Mar 23, 2010 10:05:30 GMT 7
Yeah, I numbered it because there could be more of these in the future. Al and Akino, as much as they hate each other, have started working together to develop rabid death note plot bunnies to sic on me. As much as he hates Shinigami, Al finds death notes fascinating, and as much as Akino hates Al, he finds my reactions to rabit plot bunnies amusing -_-'
So.
Thoughts
It is, as the rules of the death note say, inevitable that a person whose name is written in a death note will die, and that writing the name of a person on the death note with the intent of killing them ONLY for the sake of killing, will add to the life of the Shinigami. However, I have noticed some very, very, small and insignificant holes in this idea that probably only someone as obsessive as me might have noticed.
For instance, there could be a situation involving two Shinigami, or even a human and a shinigami, perhaps two humans. One writes the name of the victim and the cause as “murder” with no other specifications — you can’t specify who murders whom, as both people would then die, which also reminds me of earlier speculations I had about what might happen if someone would write something like this:
Name (first last) Murder
Stabbed to death at (time of death) by best friend.
Would it indeed be the person that this person considers their best friend, who stabs them to death? Or is this even a plausible cause of murder, if the “best friend” specified isn’t someone who would ever commit murder? It seems to me, based on evidence from the “suicide” cause of death rule, that if “any person is capable of killing themselves,” any person is also therefore capable of killing another. Most people even think about both things at some point in time in their lives, and as long as the thought is there in their mind, then it is very possible that the death note would recognize them as capable. Some psychologists believe that any person is capable of murder/suicide, and therefore the death note would probably believe the same thing.
Now, back to the situation itself.
For the case of convenience, we will use two shinigami and a human, who we will call Jack.
Jack is a child at the time, or perhaps a teenager, with quite a few years ahead of him. This makes him a god target for a Shinigami in desperate need of extra life as he is about to die (though death is more of a relative term when it comes to Shinigami). Let's say that this near-death Shinigami decides to write Jack’s name in his death note, with the cause of death as murder
(and thinking about it, this would work—in one Death Note volume, Light used the Death Note to cause someone to be stabbed to death, so the death note does at least work for less specific murder).
Another Shinigami in the shinigami world, however, has developed some sort of emotional attachment to this Jack, whether viewing them in a maternal/paternal way or, as in the case of Gelus and Misa, has fallen in love. This Shinigami sees that Jack is going to be murdered and kills the murderer before he has a chance to kill Jack.
The murderer and the second Shinigami, therefore, would both die, as a Shinigami dies when it kills with the intent of saving another. However, this situation is a bit more intricate than the case of Misa or Gelus.
Jack’s life span was set to have at least another fifty years, and he was going to die early because of another Shinigami looking to get life—Misa’s lifespan was already running short naturally, but Jack’s wasn’t in this case. When a shinigami writes a name in the death note, he/she will receive more years for this. However, the person they were intending to kill avoided being killed because of another Shinigami. The remaining life of the Shinigami that died, as well as the life they would have received from the murderer in any other situation, would go to Jack in a normal situation. So, where does the life that the first Shinigami should receive for writing a name in his death note come from?
Furthermore, because Jack avoided death by Shinigami, does this do anything for him? Is there some knowing in the back of his mind that he was supposed to die, that he shouldn’t be alive, that might drive him mad, or does he perhaps gain some sort of ability from it? Because the second shinigami’s notebook wouldn’t necessarily go to him (it was just courtesy in the case of Rem that she delivered Gelus’ notebook to Misa), he probably wouldn’t get a death note. It was just a one in a million chance in Misa’s case, it seems. So it’s hard to say, based on Misa, whether or not Jack would know he was about to die because of the difference in their cases.
Misa, on the one hand, was going to die naturally, and avoided it. Also, she was informed shortly thereafter that she was supposed to die. It therefore will never be known, if she hadn’t met Rem, if she would have known that she was about to die, or known later that she wasn't supposed to be alive. Jack, on the other, was going to be killed by a Shinigami, avoided it, and never met a Shinigami afterwards. What would his thoughts be on the matter, and, more importantly, how much would he know?
And because he avoided death by shinigami, again, there might be some sort of difference in the case all together with him. Perhaps it makes him immune to death notes, or only to the shinigami that originally tried to kill him. Perhaps it causes him to gain the ability, because he came so close to death, to see death—the meaning of this could vary in a number of ways.
One, maybe he gains the ability to see Shinigami, maybe only while they’re about to kill while in the human world. Two, maybe he gains the ability to foretell death—he can foreshadow it, through dreams or perhaps just knowing. Three, maybe he gains the ability to foretell the death of those about to be killed by a death note—or maybe only that particular shinigami’s death note. He might gain the eyes of the shinigami (a deal that can be made by a human with a death note and the original shinigami-owner of that note), having seen death himself up close and personal as he did. The possibilities are truly endless, as a situation such as this isn’t ever defined in canon.
And back to the case of Shinigami one, who tried to kill Jack in the first place. He has to get life from somewhere, and he can just as easily kill someone else, but the question remains—will he or will he not get life particularly from writing Jack’s name in the notebook? Even though Jack didn’t die, it was stated that Shinigami get life from writing a name in the notebook, the remaining life of that human. Maybe the life that Jack received from Shinigami two would be split between Jack and Shinigami one, or perhaps not—maybe it’s an exception to the rule simply because Jack didn’t die.
Thinking about it, what if this is the case of Beyond Birthday of the LA BB Murders? He’s had the Shinigami eyes for as long as he could remember, but how long was that, really? Most people can’t remember as far back as when they were born, or very far before they were four. The death note will have no effect on children under the age of two (more or less—there are a specific amount of days on the human calendar that are the determining factor), so if this happened while Beyond was two, he could have gained the Shinigami eyes from the entire deal. Because he was so young, the thought that he was supposed to be dead might have faded with time, but the after effects of this knowledge might still be present in his current madness. Part of it is because of the fact that he can see when everyone is going to die, of course—that would bother most people if they didn’t know why. However, the knowledge buried somewhere deep in his subconscious that he isn’t actually supposed to be alive could contribute to it. It would explain his reckless actions as a murderer, valuing the idea of stumping L more than his own life—as though he knew in the back of his mind that he wasn’t supposed to be alive anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
I will definitely think about all of this a bit more, probably until I develop it into a fanfiction, but until then, it will just remain here for me to look over whenever I need to and add to.
So.
Thoughts
It is, as the rules of the death note say, inevitable that a person whose name is written in a death note will die, and that writing the name of a person on the death note with the intent of killing them ONLY for the sake of killing, will add to the life of the Shinigami. However, I have noticed some very, very, small and insignificant holes in this idea that probably only someone as obsessive as me might have noticed.
For instance, there could be a situation involving two Shinigami, or even a human and a shinigami, perhaps two humans. One writes the name of the victim and the cause as “murder” with no other specifications — you can’t specify who murders whom, as both people would then die, which also reminds me of earlier speculations I had about what might happen if someone would write something like this:
Name (first last) Murder
Stabbed to death at (time of death) by best friend.
Would it indeed be the person that this person considers their best friend, who stabs them to death? Or is this even a plausible cause of murder, if the “best friend” specified isn’t someone who would ever commit murder? It seems to me, based on evidence from the “suicide” cause of death rule, that if “any person is capable of killing themselves,” any person is also therefore capable of killing another. Most people even think about both things at some point in time in their lives, and as long as the thought is there in their mind, then it is very possible that the death note would recognize them as capable. Some psychologists believe that any person is capable of murder/suicide, and therefore the death note would probably believe the same thing.
Now, back to the situation itself.
For the case of convenience, we will use two shinigami and a human, who we will call Jack.
Jack is a child at the time, or perhaps a teenager, with quite a few years ahead of him. This makes him a god target for a Shinigami in desperate need of extra life as he is about to die (though death is more of a relative term when it comes to Shinigami). Let's say that this near-death Shinigami decides to write Jack’s name in his death note, with the cause of death as murder
(and thinking about it, this would work—in one Death Note volume, Light used the Death Note to cause someone to be stabbed to death, so the death note does at least work for less specific murder).
Another Shinigami in the shinigami world, however, has developed some sort of emotional attachment to this Jack, whether viewing them in a maternal/paternal way or, as in the case of Gelus and Misa, has fallen in love. This Shinigami sees that Jack is going to be murdered and kills the murderer before he has a chance to kill Jack.
The murderer and the second Shinigami, therefore, would both die, as a Shinigami dies when it kills with the intent of saving another. However, this situation is a bit more intricate than the case of Misa or Gelus.
Jack’s life span was set to have at least another fifty years, and he was going to die early because of another Shinigami looking to get life—Misa’s lifespan was already running short naturally, but Jack’s wasn’t in this case. When a shinigami writes a name in the death note, he/she will receive more years for this. However, the person they were intending to kill avoided being killed because of another Shinigami. The remaining life of the Shinigami that died, as well as the life they would have received from the murderer in any other situation, would go to Jack in a normal situation. So, where does the life that the first Shinigami should receive for writing a name in his death note come from?
Furthermore, because Jack avoided death by Shinigami, does this do anything for him? Is there some knowing in the back of his mind that he was supposed to die, that he shouldn’t be alive, that might drive him mad, or does he perhaps gain some sort of ability from it? Because the second shinigami’s notebook wouldn’t necessarily go to him (it was just courtesy in the case of Rem that she delivered Gelus’ notebook to Misa), he probably wouldn’t get a death note. It was just a one in a million chance in Misa’s case, it seems. So it’s hard to say, based on Misa, whether or not Jack would know he was about to die because of the difference in their cases.
Misa, on the one hand, was going to die naturally, and avoided it. Also, she was informed shortly thereafter that she was supposed to die. It therefore will never be known, if she hadn’t met Rem, if she would have known that she was about to die, or known later that she wasn't supposed to be alive. Jack, on the other, was going to be killed by a Shinigami, avoided it, and never met a Shinigami afterwards. What would his thoughts be on the matter, and, more importantly, how much would he know?
And because he avoided death by shinigami, again, there might be some sort of difference in the case all together with him. Perhaps it makes him immune to death notes, or only to the shinigami that originally tried to kill him. Perhaps it causes him to gain the ability, because he came so close to death, to see death—the meaning of this could vary in a number of ways.
One, maybe he gains the ability to see Shinigami, maybe only while they’re about to kill while in the human world. Two, maybe he gains the ability to foretell death—he can foreshadow it, through dreams or perhaps just knowing. Three, maybe he gains the ability to foretell the death of those about to be killed by a death note—or maybe only that particular shinigami’s death note. He might gain the eyes of the shinigami (a deal that can be made by a human with a death note and the original shinigami-owner of that note), having seen death himself up close and personal as he did. The possibilities are truly endless, as a situation such as this isn’t ever defined in canon.
And back to the case of Shinigami one, who tried to kill Jack in the first place. He has to get life from somewhere, and he can just as easily kill someone else, but the question remains—will he or will he not get life particularly from writing Jack’s name in the notebook? Even though Jack didn’t die, it was stated that Shinigami get life from writing a name in the notebook, the remaining life of that human. Maybe the life that Jack received from Shinigami two would be split between Jack and Shinigami one, or perhaps not—maybe it’s an exception to the rule simply because Jack didn’t die.
Thinking about it, what if this is the case of Beyond Birthday of the LA BB Murders? He’s had the Shinigami eyes for as long as he could remember, but how long was that, really? Most people can’t remember as far back as when they were born, or very far before they were four. The death note will have no effect on children under the age of two (more or less—there are a specific amount of days on the human calendar that are the determining factor), so if this happened while Beyond was two, he could have gained the Shinigami eyes from the entire deal. Because he was so young, the thought that he was supposed to be dead might have faded with time, but the after effects of this knowledge might still be present in his current madness. Part of it is because of the fact that he can see when everyone is going to die, of course—that would bother most people if they didn’t know why. However, the knowledge buried somewhere deep in his subconscious that he isn’t actually supposed to be alive could contribute to it. It would explain his reckless actions as a murderer, valuing the idea of stumping L more than his own life—as though he knew in the back of his mind that he wasn’t supposed to be alive anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
I will definitely think about all of this a bit more, probably until I develop it into a fanfiction, but until then, it will just remain here for me to look over whenever I need to and add to.