Matsuda headcannons: uhh part one - Work and empathy
-This part is gon be abt my hcs abt what Matsuda worked as prior to the task force and how it affected him, I also do not know much about police work so it could be inaccurate
-I may create a separate post for silly headcannons that are less serious but I’m not sure
-None of these will be nsfw
-with these headcannon posts, I don’t know if people will stick around so I’ll also include the process to a drawing I’m working on (It’s also Matsuda surprise surprise)
Matsuda art jingle jingle 👀👀 pay attention
- I head cannon that Matsuda was trained at the Metropolitan prefectural police academy, and worked within the bomb disposal riot police unit for a couple of months. I thought of this because of the scenes of Matsuda getting down and almost covering his ears everytime he thought he was going to die. I think that people in the academy are trained to get down if a bomb explodes. Because of Matsuda working with explosives, he always imagined that his death would be caused by one. So when light screams that the Shinigami is going kill all of them, he reacts the same way he would if a bomb exploded, even though they aren’t in that situation.
-When they were infiltrating Mellos base and the bombs were set off, Matsuda didn’t get the time to react and he was fully convinced that it was the end for him. One of his biggest fears is to be killed while on the field, and it had come true. Or so he thought. If my memory serves me correct, Aizawa asked Matsuda SPECIFICALLY if he was ok after the explosion, and I think someone else said “I don’t think so” I’m not sure who said that. I imagine Matsuda lying unresponsive on the ground either because of the pain of his injuries, or because he’s rethinking his entire life
- Matsuda was moved over to the Special Assaults Team (SAT), because people there are directly recruited from Riot police units. Out of all the roles in the Special assaults team, I think Matsu would most likely be a sniper since he’s a sharp shooter. The SAT typically deal with hostage situations, hijackings, and responding to terror threats. I think Matsuda would be the youngest on the team, in his early twenties. They usually wait for instructions before taking action, but as we know from Matsuda hes very VERY impulsive. But I think that impulsivity, in some cases, saves people. In the last episode Matsuda saved Near from light by shooting him when no else was quick enough to act, I feel like in the SAT he would have a few of moments like that. Not waiting for further instructions, and taking matters into your own hands is reckless and could end really badly, but it usually doesn’t because he’s still able to evaluate what will happen despite acting quickly. Also I think that he would have witnessed his coworkers die while on the job, at least once. Im sure Ukita brought back memories. Being in the SAT just made him even more afraid of death.
- Matsuda is somewhat deaf. Turns out working with explosives and guns doesnt give you the best hearing. Of course they have ear protection working in the field, but hearing can still be damaged by change in air pressure. It becomes an issue when people try to call him from across the room because he won’t hear them, and his bad hearing also results in him speaking louder than he needs to most of the time.
-Matsuda was promoted to being a detective by Soichiro. Matsuda knew about Soichiro because hes the literal CHIEF of the NPA, and Soichiro had observed that Matsu is skilled in fighting. It would be good to have someone like that on the team since the majority of detectives aren’t as strong in defending besides some minor training. Part of the reason why he brought Matsu to the detective force is also because of how young he is, it would be tragic for him to die early while doing something so risky. Bringing him into the detective unit would be safer for him, although it is still police work it is better than the SAT for sure.
-I think this kind of explains Matsuda’s lack of intellect, he Isnt stupid but he clearly isnt as analytical as other characters, and thats because he wasn’t technically trained for detective work. I think Soichiro would announce that a new member would be joining them, and that it’s someone that worked for and performed well within the riot police and SAT. The rest of the task force is imagining someone professional, serious, and disciplined. after all the SAT is a carefully selected specialized unit, this person must be really cool. And then the person that walks through the door is a baby faced mf with a goofy ahh smile. Soichiro did not want Matsuda on the Kira case after Ukita’s death, he moved him over to the detectives to keep him safe, and the Kira case is the most dangerous case they could be working on. But Soichiro knows he can’t force Matsuda out of it though (unless he messed up big time or something), and if he wants to stay that is ultimately his choice.
Matsuda art jingle jingle,,,,,
My reasonings as to why Matsuda empathizes with Kira
- I’m sure you can figure out what I’ll put in this section based on what I have said earlier but oh wellll
- The main reason that Matsuda empathizes and sympathizes with Kira and their followers is because of his time in the SAT, since he had to kill criminals in the past as a last resort. In those instances, he got to see what kind of of people they were. Lying, selfish, and malicious monsters that carefully planned and organized ways to hurt honest people, all for their own benefit or pleasure. Matsuda had begun to generalize all criminals as that overtime. Obviously that isn’t true, but it’s difficult to believe otherwise when you’ve seen the worst of the worst.
- Matsuda thought that maybe Kira isn’t that different from someone like him, and compares many of his past actions to Kira’s since they were almost doing the same thing. I think at the beginning, Matsuda would feel guilty taking the life of another despite what they did, but after years of being on the team, he gradually stopped extending his empathy to them. He doesn’t feel anything while getting rid of criminals but his apathy towards them makes him feel like a terrible person, and it would send him spiraling. Matsuda has a very strong sense of justice, maybe Kira has same ideals, maybe Kira is doing this for the betterment of society, and not for the selfish, childish reasons that L thinks he’s doing it for. He could be a well meaning officer thats taking it upon himself to cleanse the world of the rotten ones, since one of things that the task force knows about Kira is that he’s related to the NPA.
- Because Matsuda closely associates himself with Kira , what people say about Kira also impacts his perception of himself. Murder is still murder. Does it matter if one kill is seen as deserved and another is seen as heinous? He has killed criminals, Kira kills criminals, that makes him no better than Kira in his eyes. The only difference to Matsuda, is that he’s doing it under law enforcement, and Kira is a vigilante. To him it’d be hypocritical to criticize Kira for something he’d also done. Though of course this comparison is illogical, none of his actions could be equated to Kira’s, but this way of thinking feels fitting for Matsuda. When others talk about Kira and how he should be punished or even executed, Matsuda wonders wether or not he deserves the same fate. His conflicting views of kira, also affects the way he views himself too.
- It’s always considered more ideal if no one dies in hijacking’s and hostage situations, that includes the perpetrator. But I’m sure Matsuda couldn’t help but think that those people would be better off dead, no one would be hurt by their actions again, they’ll never get the chance to redeem themselves, and they don’t deserve redemption. His role in the police force requires him to physically deal with and observe the damage all up close, when you have to directly see what criminals had done to victims, it’s hard to think of them as human at all. Often as a police officer you see the effect and not the cause. You’ll never know why they acted like that or if their actions were justified. It’s far easier to judge and punish someone you don’t know the background of, it’s easier to kill off people you don’t truly know. But it was different with light.
- Matsuda had known him for several years. That made it so much more difficult to even stand up to him, and see him for what he actually was. They’ve bonded over the case, their shared experiences, grieving over the chief, they were closer than the others in the task force. Now he’s witnessing that same person spout all of his reasonings for committing atrocities, and how he’s justified in what he did because it was for the greater good. Even if it came at the cost of L or his own father. Light really didn’t have any remorse. The last confrontation destroyed Matsuda’s views on two different figures at the same time, Kira and light. He thought of Kira as a selfless, well intentioned person that went about things in the wrong way, he thought of light as a diligent and righteous individual, both perceptions were shattered. They turned out to be everything he despised.
Phew quite a lot to get through,,,, If you guys want more let me know! Because I do have more,,, I will be posting the rest of the art process with the other hcs, that is if I make more.
Lord I hope there are no typos,, I love writing Matsuda because he’s very similar to me
