(no subject)
CHARACTER NAME:
Nate "Near" Rivers
AGE:
19
BIRTHDATE:
August 24th
FACTION:
Neutral
PERSONALITY:
How many stories can you remember the fourth sentence of? How many stories allow you to remember anything past the amazing opening line, or the shocking conclusion, or hte sudden revelation half-way through? Even though it's right there, so easy to find and giving you a tidbit of the mood or the setting or the main character, do you ever remember it specifically as a stand alone part of the story? The fact of the matter is that no one really does, not even Near, not even though it is his lot in life.
As it is, there is no way to truly understand, or gain a glimpse of how the fourth sentence, how Near, affects anything without looking at him through the lense of another moment, another player in the story. Take for example what we learn by looking at who Near is in relation to Wammy, the equivalent of a minor but loveable character in a story. In this light we are presented with a cautious young boy, as bright as his coloring pale. THis situation shows a very stoney Near, seemingly strong of spirit, strong of mind, and yet not all that strong of determination. A child who cares for solving problems, yes, but what else is there? The repeated 'thwick thwick' of puzzle piece is the only thing that really hints at the existance of Near in this case. After all, it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, the naughty child that gets the attention. Well, the attention other than praise, which only goes do far in developing even brilliant young minds. Yet few of these things remain evident in Near without Whammy or his placeholder of Roger, and without them around Near is just a quiet boy, intelligent yes, but only focused on his puzzles.
What then, of L, who is as similar to the stunning conclusion to a good story as Wammy is to a loveable minor character? Through this inclusion we can see more of what Near is, or has the potential to be. It is to be like L that Near seems to desire, to the point of a silent obsession. Some might have you believe that he held a dislike for the great detective, but this is not true. L is the closest to being someone important to Near as there will ever be. The great detective gave the bored child, too great for simple dreams, something to resolve to be, or at least a goal to achieve. Thus begins the great game, the attempts to become the great L himself. It started with emulation, attempting to recreate behaviors, attitudes, mannerisms of the detective. From there it evolved to his own style. Yes, Near has his quirks, but all are derived from the original, poor copies of the greater pinnicle. But at least Near had purpose. He would be hte best, overcoming L, becoming successor to the legacy, becoming greater than it. But here there is flaw with Near, in that he could never truly become like his mentor, already too cold and too far gone from any aspect of humanity that lent understanding to L. Near built his basis for success on hard and cruel logic, completely abandoning even small traces of humanity in his investigative tactics, outside of the few quirks that he reserved for himself.
Mello though, like that moment in a story where everything unexpectedly changes, was the one who created a manipulative Near, whether he ever knew it or not. Yes, L's methods did occasionally include such tactics, but never to the levels Near came to rely upon. It was the emotional and unreasonable 'rival' that Near would come to credit this to, and the brief bits of emotion he displayed. The blond was volatile, dangerous, and unpredictable even to Near sometimes. Mello was an uncontrolled variable throughout Near's younger years, a presence he could not free himself of. Where Near found his logic and reason would do him no good, Mello would bully through on sheer will and emotion, even if the answers he came up with were illogical. This was L's other heir, a person Near could not understand even in the end. But Near did come to understand that his own methods could not solve everything, and he could not replicate that which would give Mello an edge in the situation. THus Near began to use Mello agaisnt himself, manipulating his rival in first small and then increasingly larger tasks. By the time Mello was no longer around to use Near had nearly perfected his technique. (Though he'd never admit to Mello that he was being used, because that would imply Near needed him, which Near did not).
While it may seem like a leap to be made, Near even gained something from Matt, from that series of inconsequential things that is actually the catalyst for the shocking change of Mello. Just as a few unkind circumstances leads a boulder to fall from a dangerous perch, so did Matt lead Near to his eventual role. The first to speak to Near among all the children had been Matt (granted it was because a battery he'd been tossing around and that had been meant for his games had rolled next to Near), and shortly after that Mello had appeared. Thus had come the first 'fight' of many between rivals, all for want of a battery. Without that little push who knows where Near would have gone with his genius, if he would have cared for being L's successor just so that he could prove he was superior to this stupidly emotional blond (not that he was competing or anything).
Then there was Light Yagami, the one who vanquished the mighty L. From this one, the opening line of a great and epic story that knows not the end it brings about, Near almost learned humanity. Almost. Unfortunately the parts of humanity learned from the corrupted man were hardly things worthy of L's legacy. To catch the killer Near had to be like the killer, think like him, understand the lack of morality, and throw away some of his own to better understand and predict his for. In the end the manipulate learned from Mello and perfected from Light lead to the untimely ending of his personal rival, and while he almost truly won in the game, it had come to consume him.
So where is Near without any of these things to describe him? What is the fourth sentence without other things to describe it? It's a boy so plain that vanilla finds him bland, clad only in white, so pale that even colored lights look like they could stain him. You get a child who delights more in toys completely under his control than being around people. Someone who eats what is set before him and doesn't ask because he's busy creating a city from his toys. All you have is a child who sits odd and twirls his hair when thinking and doesn't really talk. There is nothing interesting here without something else to act upon Near. He is a robot with responses programmed in but nothing to respond to.
Thus, when all is said and done, when there is no devious criminal to chase, no great mystery to solve, no rival to trample or hero to emulate, all Near is and all Near can be is just a little boy playing with toys, without a purpose of his own, unable to understand the first thing about growing up and living life.
And that, that is all Near will ever be.
HISTORY:
-Orphaned and brought soon afterwards to Wammy's House orphanage.
-Trained to become a successor to the detective L.
-Nothing really memorable about time in orphanage, except a puzzle he really liked.
-A case arises with a certain Light Yagami, and while L didn't need help, Near took the warning given by his mentor and prepared for his own study of the suspicious man.
-After a bit of study Near himself decided to fully investigate, and encouraged certain actions of another involved party to gain information and an edge over Light.
-While L and other parties managed to become removed from the situation because of a few poor choices, Near has remained steadfast in his pursuit of victory.
WRITING SAMPLE:
The room he watches from is dark but for the glow of computer screens and the glow of light on bright white. By this meager light a great empire is growing, a city built of cards and dice and peopled by finger puppets that look oddly like real people. Or at least as like real people as the artist could crudely convey. Slowly arises a new tower or skyscraper in the weak blue light and the greater white. It grows greater and greater until at last... A toy robot smashes through a major load bearing wall and it all topples in, burying all the little puppets but one, shielded by the placement of the robot. Cards and dice are left where they lay as the great white untangles itself and rises. The light of the monitors grows as the white approaches, looking for something, always looking, always waiting but finding nothing of interest. In the end it doesn't see what it wants and moves away from the computer banks, shuffling off to find somewhere to sleep. It seemed like the only logical response to the fac tthat there was nothing else to do without the others around and with very little that could possibly be done against Yagami until other plans came to fruition.
Sometimes even great detectives need to sleep if only from boredom.