Blood and Sugar
Cast, Plot Re-cap, and Clarification
Morgan Blackthorne
Morgan is the lead character of this story.
She is highly intelligent and posseses deductive capabilities close to L's, but is highly impulsive and is often conquered by her irrational emotions rather than logic. She is notoriously self-centered and egotistical. She is very sexually attractive, and has a special "gravity" towards people. Her sexual nature is key to one of the main themes of this story, which is the role of sex in society. You'll find here that sex is used for blackmail, leverage and personal gain. Her sensuality is both a great strength and weakness.
Early in the story, she was rather immature and badly impulsive which damaged her relationships and credibility (such as her affair with Near) but later begins to grow up and desire a more emotionally satisfying relationship (her marriage to Mello)
Her marriage to Mello was, however, initially a tool to avoid death by Raito's hand. If you read between the lines, after being assaulted in the Hotel by him, it's easy to assume he had her name written in the Notebook. But he had no way of knowing that by her marriage to Mello, her name had changed and the Notebook was then ineffective.
Later, she learns to appreciate the devotion and protection Mello offers, and the true passion their relationship has.
Morgan met L while attending University when she was 17 and he was 18. The next couple of chapters will detail the history and complexities of her relationship with L.
Sawyer Lee Fennely a.k.a "Sylvia"
Sawyer is a new main character I've added to the mix. She was a ward of Whammy's House in Winchester before it was destroyed.
She was a love interest of Near before Near left to work on the Kira case. They had a brief, innocent relationship (they were both quite young at the time) but she was ultimately rejected. She finds further insult when she discovers Near had tried to court Morgan.
Sawyer, being a Whammy kid, is extremely bright. Unlike Morgan, she is distant and calculating, but has a jealous streak. She uses emotional manipulation to her advantage. She tries to use sex as an influence like Morgan does, but does not have the same allure and is ultimately very naïve about the subject.
Sawyer and Morgan will become enemies, and one will destroy the other.
Mitchell Blackthorne
Mitch is Morgan's older brother, killed by Kira after he was falsely accused of molesting a child. He was a social worker. He was very kind and nurturing by nature. In the next couple of chapters, he will appear. He acted as a guardian and confidant to Morgan, providing her guidance and structure that she lacked.
Laure Lawliet "L"
"Laure" is a first name I invented for L, it is not part of the canon.
L is not in the story very much because the story begins with his last day alive.
L was in a long term relationship with Morgan for 6 years prior to the story. At first, both being in college and while L was on hiatus from being a detective, they have an amusing, light-hearted courtship. But when they graduate, and L goes back to his old life, he finds dealing with a woman with a similar personality to him (passive aggressive, egotistical, and self-centered) immensely frustrating. Morgan will not desist in trying to find out what L does for a living, and is smart enough to start piecing it together. He finds it impossible to protect her from the truth, and is forced to compromise to her and give in to a desire of hers (which will be revealed in the next couple of chapters)
Mihael Keehl "Mello"
Mello, like in the canon, is highly aggressive and competitive.
However, instead of letting him die like he did in Death Note, I diverged from the canon and saved his life.
Mello encounters Morgan as a pre-teen when she accompanies L on a holiday visit to Whammy's House. Mello's rebellious streak is relatable to her and befriends him, providing him with love and compassion he was deprived of as a child. When he grows up, he begins to have feelings for her which emotionally tortures him. He feels an overwhelming desire to possess and protect her. His devotion to her is only matched by his desire to win.
Mello, throughout the canon is plagued by the want to be better than Near. When he learns of Morgan's infidelity with Near, is crushed and temporarily separates from her, forcing her to stay with Near for several weeks. This was his effort to push her to make a conscious decision about their marriage, instead of passively accepting whatever comes. Morgan leaves Near and returns to Mello. Despite the shattered trust, Mello decides to reconcile with her because he finally had a victory against Near. He fathers a child with her, named Noëlle.
Later on, after taking in and subsequently detaining Sawyer, he begins to question how he views his wife and the reality of what she truly is.
Nate River "Near"
Near, like in the canon, is cold. He enjoys puzzles and mind games. He attempts to court Morgan as a game but is ultimately unsuccessful. He manages to seduce her into one sexual encounter but cannot make her fall for him, despite his clever flirtation and manipulation.
He is killed in an explosion of a Romanian prison where he had imprisoned Mello. He is declared brain dead in a hospital (this was intentional for its cruel irony) and his heart is donated to Morgan after her heart spontaneously fails due to having her name written in the Death Note. Before he dies, he suddenly realizes his life has been devoid of emotional satisfaction and begs Morgan to confess love for him, whether or not it was true, just to have one moment of true love in his life.
Raito "Light" Yagami
I referred to Light by his Japanese name to make the cultural differences a little more realistic.
In the canon, Raito manipulated and used women as pawns in his game. He's obviously an egomaniacal sociopath. I played to this greatly and brought his misogyny to light. He hates women who don't do what he says. He takes Morgan as a great insult, because she didn't follow his orders and had a hand in his loss to Near. He sees women as inferior and stupid, like Misa Amane. Even though Takada had more common sense, she was still manipulated all too easily.
HOW MORGAN SURVIVES THE DEATH NOTE:
In case it wasn't clear in the story, I will explain how she dodges death.
The name switch
After her assault by Raito, he has her name written in the notebook as insurance that she dies. At this point she's under the radar and completely invisible to the task force, so her death wouldn't necessarily convict Raito. But right before this happens, she marries Mello and changes her last name to his, and Raito does not know this.
Heart of a Shinigami
Morgan finds a locket that her brother lost some years ago. It's a special item that Shinigami possess that can grant a human invincibility from the Death Note, (including their name and lifespan being hidden) and also allows a human to visit Muu (Nothingness, the place a soul goes when the person dies) and retrieve a soul of someone who has only recently died. It only works with those whose bodies have not decomposed, which is why L could not be revived. Also, the shinigami can sense a human presence in Muu. The Heart was necessary to add because otherwise, Mello and Morgan would be too easy to kill by Raito as a shinigami.
Pregnancy
The Death Note does not work on people under the age of 780 days. Moreover, any cause of death that would cause another person to die would not work and the person would just die of a heart attack. Because Noëlle was a fetus at the time, she couldn't be killed by the Death Note, so Morgan had to give birth first. It bought enough time to find a medical intervention. Morgan's heart was not beating for a period of time, and she was technically dead for a while. Because of Near's heart, she was able to fulfill the requirements of "death" (no beating heart) but still survive.
Another Death Note rule
The way Mello and Morgan have survived so long with Raito as a shinigami is because shinigami can only hunt human prey for 82 hours at a time. As long as they stay hidden or carry the Heart with them during travel, they are safe. Raito or any other shinigami cannot find them in through the hole in the shinigami world because although he knows their names, he's never had the eyes before and has never seen their lifespans.
"Why is Morgan a slut?"
This is something I've been asked a few times. At first glance, all the sex seems a little trashy. But this story, aside from being a fan-fiction written for entertainment, is also a commentary on sex in society and misogyny. Death Note had some rather sexist undertones in my opinion. I'm sort of pointing them out here.
That's the end of the re-cap and explanation. If you have any questions, leave a review and I'll address them later on. The next couple of chapters, as I said before, will provide the history of L and Morgan's relationship, and will help set up the plot to the last part of the story. There's only one arc left, so this 4 year labor of love will be wrapping up soon.