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Application for Save the Earth
Feb. 16th, 2014 06:23 pmOOC Information:
Name: Ari
Are you over 15? Yep.
Contact: Aribakke@gmail.com , as well as my plurk at www.plurk.com/DarkenedGenius
IC Information:
Name: Nate “Near” River/ Nathan River
Canon and medium: Death Note
Age: Near is 18 at the end of Death Note, and that is the same age that Nathan is.
Preincarnation Species: Human
Preincarnation Appearance: Despite being eighteen years old, it would be easy to mistake Near for a child. He’s small and slight, at five-foot-nothing and weighing a measily eighty-eight pounds. His habit of playing with toys while thinking only enhances the childish image.
Near has a pallid complexion and wild white hair, which just barely falls into his unsettling, grey eyes on his round, slightly boyish face. He rarely smiles, usually keeping a neutral, stoic expression. When he does smile, it’s usually when he’s just come to a conclusion or some breakthrough – and it’s really, really unsettling when he does. Almost everything about Near’s manner is rather unsettling.
He wears a consistent outfit of a white button-down top over a white T-shirt, and soft, white pants. The shirt and pants look a bit loose on him, and he wears the sleeves and top portion of the shirt unbuttoned. He wears socks, usually, but no shoes.
Any differences: Being an albino, Nathan has the same white hair and pallid skin as his preincarnation. His outfit is more variable, though he still prefers whites, and he doesn’t sit in that same strange way that Near does. As a result of malnourishment and abuse, he is at that same five-foot-nothing height as his predecessor.
Preincarnated History: Near is, depending on who you ask, the primary antagonist or the primary protagonist of the final major arc of Death Note, as well as being one of two major opponents to Light Yagami as Kira in the second half of the series.
A prodigy only slightly behind L, Near was raised in the orphanage called Wammy’s House, an orphanage for the gifted specifically made to train successors to L. Near was at the very top of his class, putting him at odds with Mello, the other favored successor, who was on top of the class until Near surpassed him. As a result, the two developed a rivalry, and were the only two children that were actually seriously considered to be the ones to actually succeed L.
But then L died before he could name a successor. The brilliant detective L, killed by his latest opponent, the mass murderer known to them only as "Kira", who claimed to be a sword of justice smiting criminals, killed the undefeated detective, L.
The authorities at Wammy’s House suggested the two work together to find L’s killer, but Mello refused. As Light Yagami had deleted all the data relating to the Kira case, Near had to gather the data from scratch.
Four years later, the young prodigy contacted Light Yagami who had assumed the title of L in L’s absence, calling himself “N”, and revealing that he was aware that the prior L had died. Near had formed a taskforce in conjunction with the United States government, called the Special Provision for Kira, or the SPK, and independent organization headed by Near and established to investigate Kira.
Near soon deduces that the second L is in fact Kira, but is unable to act immediately on it, as Mello, his old rival, had acquired the Death Note from the Japanese taskforce, and taken over the mafia. Mello used the Death Note to eliminate the entire SPK save for Near himself and three elite members.
Near and Light are actually forced to work together to defeat Mello, who escapes in an explosion, before confronting Near and the remaining members of the SPK. Light ends up blackmailing the President into officially disbanding the SPK, and sending his worshippers via proxies to raid their building. Fortunately for Near, he and his comerades escape using a plan that involves dumping millions of dollar bills off the top of the tower while they make their escape.
After identifying Mikami as Light's proxy and after Mello kidnaps Takada (which revealed Light's deception of having Mikami use a fake Death Note to lead Near on), Near was able to switch the real Death Note with his own fake version, which allowed him to set up a final confrontation which left Light exposed. Near claims neither he nor Mello could have surpassed L alone, but together they had done so by inadvertently working together. Near soon takes on L's name and keeps on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates.
Reincarnated History: Nathan River was born to a poorer family in the interior of Locke City. His father worked as a worker in construction, and gambled and drank all his money away. More than once, his father came home piss-drunk, mad with accusations of his mother’s perceived infidelity claiming “No son of mine would look like that freak.”
A genius prodigy, and an only child, Nathan was deeply affected by the violence his father inflicted on his mother. At a very young age, the wrongness of what his father did led him to have a strong sense of justice and an unwillingness to associate with people.
Of course, that unwillingness was intensified by the fact that no child in his entire peer group wanted to associate with him. His eerie, ghostlike appearance had something to do with that, though more of it had to do with Nathan’s complete inability to properly associate with people or express himself. Other children saw him as a freak, a creep – much the same way his father thought of him.
Nathan drew inward. “Friends” were something that happened to other people. “Family” was a word only having to do with biological relations, and had nothing to do with love whatsoever.
Nathan always got top marks in his class, and he always was involved in some club or other – usually the chess club, though occasionally the history or art club. Anything to stay away from home. Even a school that hated him was better than that hellhole that he was forced by convention to call his home.
At age eleven, something significant did happen. He met a young man named Lazarus Lawliet, aged seventeen. Nathan often used chess as an intellectual exercise, but the interest had dried up when none of the other children could beat him, nor could the teachers. At a meeting of his chess club, which he intended to be his last, Lazarus gave a presentation. Sure, the speech was itself haggard and uninspiring, but in the dark, dead eyes of the boy in front of him, Nathan saw a kindred soul. It was only natural to request a game.
Lazarus was the first person in an entire year that Nathan had lost to. In him, Nathan saw a kindred soul. One who understood things like he did. One who saw, instead of just looking.
It was then that the first echo took place. A flash of white, the letter L, in gothic font. A tall man, bending down to look at him, a messy mop of black hair on his head.
(More about that event is detailed here - http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046 )
Though he only knew Lazarus for a day, he never truly forgot him. Meeting him gave the hopeless child some hope that, someday, he could truly be thought of as himself. Not a prodigy, not a freak, just Nathan River.
Despite his genius, Nathan didn’t accelerate past grades. His parents didn’t care about his academic advancement, and so he progressed, getting top marks in everything, in his usual way.
For once, things were actually looking up. Sure, he was ostracized, but Nathan had purpose. He had intelligence, a strong sense of justice, and the knowledge that there were people out there like him. That he wasn’t a freak. Nathan thought, logically, the decision would be to become a police detective. Those who knew him during high school would describe one who, though his expressiveness was still virtually nil, a more social and generally content person than the mess he was in middle and elementary school.
He also never gave up his chess hobby. Even though he never entered a major tournament, it was a good way to calm and focus his mind when it needed calming and focusing.
Interestingly enough, Nathan graduated from his school salutatorian, rather than valedictorian. Many people think he did this deliberately to avoid having to give a speech in front of so many people. His social anxiety and difficulty expressing himself verbally hurt him there.
Regardless, he applied for a scholarship into Harvard, intent on using a criminal science degree to become a police detective. Once he received that, he returned to tell the good news to his parents…
And came home to his father, drunk, as he always was, his mother on the floor, reeling from another beating. Nathan tried to explain the scholarship, but his father took one look at it, and shouted that they didn’t have the money. That Nathan couldn’t make it to Harvard, or to any other college he’d applied to, for that matter.
Nathan was shaken to his very core. He’d always assumed he’d be able to get away when he was old enough, and here these people were telling him that he couldn’t go at all. That no matter what, they didn’t have the money to send “you damn freak” to college.
He snapped. For the first time in perhaps his entire life, Nathan actually raised his voice to his father. He accused him of sleeping around, of blowing all of their money on cash, of being a heartless monster who only cared about himself. A shouting match ensued, and Mr. River raised his fist to strike his son…
And stopped. A gaping wound had opened in his neck. He fell with a horrible sickening crunch. The life left his eyes, his last word cursing the ground that Nathan stood on.
And Nathan saw behind the corpse of his father, his mother, trembling, a bloody knife in his hands. She tried to explain, to rationalize, but Nathan didn’t want to listen. Whatever the reason, murder was murder. He grabbed his father’s wallet and ran. He didn’t care where, just anywhere that wasn’t there.
It was a panic attack. Nathan wasn’t thinking rationally or logically. He just ran and ran until his legs got tired and he couldn’t run anymore. He had nothing. Only the clothes on his back; the same pyjamas he was wearing when he received the message in the mail; and his father’s money.
He only had one thing to do. He recalled the memory of the L, of the tall man with messy black hair, that he’d received when he lost to Lazarus Lawliet.
He’d heard something on the news about a new private investigator. Lawliet. Could it be… There was only one choice. To seek out Lazarus Lawliet. He didn’t know why this compulsion had shown up, but he had no choice but to follow it.
First Echo: Nathan’s meeting with Lazarus and losing the chess game to him. Finally losing to someone he acknowledged as a superior. It brought back vivid memories; a letter L, in gothic font. A tall man, with a mop of black hair, looking down on him. The sense of respect, and admiration, somehow directed to Lazarus Lawliet.
More information is listed here - http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046
Preincarnation Personality: First and foremost, this cannot be stressed enough. Near is a genius. Connections and deductions come effortlessly to him that would be extremely difficult if not impossible for others. And despite his genius; or perhaps because of it, Near has extremely low social knowledge and has extreme difficulty connecting with people. He often makes blunt, tactless comments and can easily alienate people close to him with his off-putting attitude.
Ironically, Near also is largely codependent, as evidenced by the fact that, even at age eighteen, he asks Commander Rester to fly with him, as he’s never flown alone. One questions if he would be even capable as a detective without the support of the SPK.
His outward demeanor is extremely calm; even moreso than L. During the entire series, Near loses his cool exactly once; that is, when the agents of the SPK are killed in Mello’s purge. He always retains a stoic, neutral expression which, due to his unsettling eyes, resembles a glare.
He is somewhat devious, not being above tactics that others might see as illegal to get the job done. He values results over all else. To him, it is more important that dangerous criminals are locked up and the sprit of the law maintained, rather than the letter.
Near has a strong sense of right and wrong, separating him from L. When Light delivers his rant about being the “savior”, Near’s response is rather telling. “No. You're just a murderer, Light Yagami. And this notebook is the deadliest weapon in the history of mankind. You yielded to the power of the Shinigami and the notebook and you have confused yourself with a god. In the end, you're nothing more than a crazy serial killer. That's all you are. Nothing more, and nothing less.” This sentence says something very important about his character; unlike L, who is in this for the thrill of the hunt, and Mello, who is trying to prove himself, Near legitimately cares about doing the right thing.
Near has rather child-like interests and multiple quirks that indicate an undiagnosed personality disorder, most likely something on the autistic spectrum. He plays with toys while he’s thinking, and has a tendency to sit in a position others might think of as uncomfortable, because of his desire to emulate L.
Near has an extreme level of admiration for L as a detective, though less as a person. To Near, L is what he wants to become; a brilliant master detective locking up criminals the police can’t touch. However, upon finding out L’s real reason for doing what he did, he was disgusted. Near respects L’s ability and his career, but his amorality is rather troubling to him.
In addition, Near has a propensity for anonymity even greater than that of L's. He feels more secure behind a computer screen than he does in face-to-face communication, even when such anonymity is completely unnecessary. This is partly as a result of his training as a detective, as L had a similar method of obfuscation, but mostly simply one of Near's quirks.
Any differences: Nathan’s still not the most socially well-adjusted person, but his level of social issues are much lower and he’s actually capable of living on his own. Coming from that sort of abusive, unhealthy home, he had to learn fast how to survive on his own. He’s not good at social interaction, by any means, but he can function, which already puts him miles above Near in that sense. Nathan has almost none of the dependent tendencies his predecessor had; however, what he does have are an inherent dislike of being alone; ironic, in that he's not particularly socially capable.
The most significant deviation, however, is the fact that Nathan desires to become his own person. Coming from a background as he did, many people expected him to turn out a worthless bum like his father. Most notably, his mother fully expected him to start drinking, and that he’d end up bullying the other children, with his rather abrasive, at times, personality. Nathan hates being judged for where he comes from; part of the reason he became so successful in school was to spite his parents, who believed he would never amount to anything. He’s extremely driven to succeed in life due to that.
In regards to the childish tendency Near had towards his preference towards playing with toys, Nathan still has it, though to a much smaller degree. Most notably, he has a few toys that he attaches sentimental value to. Having his stuffed bear, Marco, close to him, gives him a bit of a sense of security. It's a small toy, easily concealed, with a torn ear. He doesn't usually carry it around, though, and he lost it when he ran away from home.
He’s also rather squeamish and dislikes violence, and has outright nervous breakdowns when blood is involved, as a result of his abusive past.
Abilities: Genius-level intellect: The most important thing that allowed Near to succeed against Kira was his genius-level intellect, which, though slightly lower than L’s, was still sharper than almost any other mind in the world.
Deductive Ability: Near started from complete scratch, and in four years managed to gather enough data to convince the United States Government that something was suspicious about the second L. In addition, he figures out that the second L is Kira extremely quickly.
Immense Resources: Near, both as head of the SPK and the third L, has enormous piles of money that he can use on a whim – as shown when he drops millions of dollars from a rooftop as a distraction.
Tech-savvy: Near’s a whiz at computer programming and is rather good at hacking to uncover secret information.
Master of Social Engineering: Near’s entire final plan revolved around social engineering and deception.
Photographic Memory: Near’s eye for details and level of memory is pretty clearly that of someone with an eidetic memory.
Multitasking Ability: His ability to focus on multiple screens at once and take in all the details shows his extremely good multitasking ability.
Ambidexterity: One time Near is shown stacking dice with one hand while playing darts with the other, indicating ambidexterity.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person: http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046
Roleplay Sample - Network:
[A video feed...sort of. The letter "N", in gothic font, on the screen, upon a white background.]
Hello.
[The voice is garbled]
Before you are annoyed at my lack of face, here, I prefer to remain anonymous. For now you may call me Near.
[Nathan smirks from behind the monitor.]
Regardless of whether or not you have heard of me, I have heard of you. I have some information that may be of use.
Namely, names and faces of members of recently awakened Numbers and leads on the man who is after your life. You can ignore this, certainly, but please, contact me when possible.
[Nathan logs off of the Network, twirling a strand of hair idly. If this person responded, for the first time, he could have a client.]
Additional Questions: One, actually. Is there a way for a character to access the network via video, but make it so that instead of his face, the letter "N" is shown?
Name: Ari
Are you over 15? Yep.
Contact: Aribakke@gmail.com , as well as my plurk at www.plurk.com/DarkenedGenius
IC Information:
Name: Nate “Near” River/ Nathan River
Canon and medium: Death Note
Age: Near is 18 at the end of Death Note, and that is the same age that Nathan is.
Preincarnation Species: Human
Preincarnation Appearance: Despite being eighteen years old, it would be easy to mistake Near for a child. He’s small and slight, at five-foot-nothing and weighing a measily eighty-eight pounds. His habit of playing with toys while thinking only enhances the childish image.
Near has a pallid complexion and wild white hair, which just barely falls into his unsettling, grey eyes on his round, slightly boyish face. He rarely smiles, usually keeping a neutral, stoic expression. When he does smile, it’s usually when he’s just come to a conclusion or some breakthrough – and it’s really, really unsettling when he does. Almost everything about Near’s manner is rather unsettling.
He wears a consistent outfit of a white button-down top over a white T-shirt, and soft, white pants. The shirt and pants look a bit loose on him, and he wears the sleeves and top portion of the shirt unbuttoned. He wears socks, usually, but no shoes.
Any differences: Being an albino, Nathan has the same white hair and pallid skin as his preincarnation. His outfit is more variable, though he still prefers whites, and he doesn’t sit in that same strange way that Near does. As a result of malnourishment and abuse, he is at that same five-foot-nothing height as his predecessor.
Preincarnated History: Near is, depending on who you ask, the primary antagonist or the primary protagonist of the final major arc of Death Note, as well as being one of two major opponents to Light Yagami as Kira in the second half of the series.
A prodigy only slightly behind L, Near was raised in the orphanage called Wammy’s House, an orphanage for the gifted specifically made to train successors to L. Near was at the very top of his class, putting him at odds with Mello, the other favored successor, who was on top of the class until Near surpassed him. As a result, the two developed a rivalry, and were the only two children that were actually seriously considered to be the ones to actually succeed L.
But then L died before he could name a successor. The brilliant detective L, killed by his latest opponent, the mass murderer known to them only as "Kira", who claimed to be a sword of justice smiting criminals, killed the undefeated detective, L.
The authorities at Wammy’s House suggested the two work together to find L’s killer, but Mello refused. As Light Yagami had deleted all the data relating to the Kira case, Near had to gather the data from scratch.
Four years later, the young prodigy contacted Light Yagami who had assumed the title of L in L’s absence, calling himself “N”, and revealing that he was aware that the prior L had died. Near had formed a taskforce in conjunction with the United States government, called the Special Provision for Kira, or the SPK, and independent organization headed by Near and established to investigate Kira.
Near soon deduces that the second L is in fact Kira, but is unable to act immediately on it, as Mello, his old rival, had acquired the Death Note from the Japanese taskforce, and taken over the mafia. Mello used the Death Note to eliminate the entire SPK save for Near himself and three elite members.
Near and Light are actually forced to work together to defeat Mello, who escapes in an explosion, before confronting Near and the remaining members of the SPK. Light ends up blackmailing the President into officially disbanding the SPK, and sending his worshippers via proxies to raid their building. Fortunately for Near, he and his comerades escape using a plan that involves dumping millions of dollar bills off the top of the tower while they make their escape.
After identifying Mikami as Light's proxy and after Mello kidnaps Takada (which revealed Light's deception of having Mikami use a fake Death Note to lead Near on), Near was able to switch the real Death Note with his own fake version, which allowed him to set up a final confrontation which left Light exposed. Near claims neither he nor Mello could have surpassed L alone, but together they had done so by inadvertently working together. Near soon takes on L's name and keeps on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates.
Reincarnated History: Nathan River was born to a poorer family in the interior of Locke City. His father worked as a worker in construction, and gambled and drank all his money away. More than once, his father came home piss-drunk, mad with accusations of his mother’s perceived infidelity claiming “No son of mine would look like that freak.”
A genius prodigy, and an only child, Nathan was deeply affected by the violence his father inflicted on his mother. At a very young age, the wrongness of what his father did led him to have a strong sense of justice and an unwillingness to associate with people.
Of course, that unwillingness was intensified by the fact that no child in his entire peer group wanted to associate with him. His eerie, ghostlike appearance had something to do with that, though more of it had to do with Nathan’s complete inability to properly associate with people or express himself. Other children saw him as a freak, a creep – much the same way his father thought of him.
Nathan drew inward. “Friends” were something that happened to other people. “Family” was a word only having to do with biological relations, and had nothing to do with love whatsoever.
Nathan always got top marks in his class, and he always was involved in some club or other – usually the chess club, though occasionally the history or art club. Anything to stay away from home. Even a school that hated him was better than that hellhole that he was forced by convention to call his home.
At age eleven, something significant did happen. He met a young man named Lazarus Lawliet, aged seventeen. Nathan often used chess as an intellectual exercise, but the interest had dried up when none of the other children could beat him, nor could the teachers. At a meeting of his chess club, which he intended to be his last, Lazarus gave a presentation. Sure, the speech was itself haggard and uninspiring, but in the dark, dead eyes of the boy in front of him, Nathan saw a kindred soul. It was only natural to request a game.
Lazarus was the first person in an entire year that Nathan had lost to. In him, Nathan saw a kindred soul. One who understood things like he did. One who saw, instead of just looking.
It was then that the first echo took place. A flash of white, the letter L, in gothic font. A tall man, bending down to look at him, a messy mop of black hair on his head.
(More about that event is detailed here - http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046 )
Though he only knew Lazarus for a day, he never truly forgot him. Meeting him gave the hopeless child some hope that, someday, he could truly be thought of as himself. Not a prodigy, not a freak, just Nathan River.
Despite his genius, Nathan didn’t accelerate past grades. His parents didn’t care about his academic advancement, and so he progressed, getting top marks in everything, in his usual way.
For once, things were actually looking up. Sure, he was ostracized, but Nathan had purpose. He had intelligence, a strong sense of justice, and the knowledge that there were people out there like him. That he wasn’t a freak. Nathan thought, logically, the decision would be to become a police detective. Those who knew him during high school would describe one who, though his expressiveness was still virtually nil, a more social and generally content person than the mess he was in middle and elementary school.
He also never gave up his chess hobby. Even though he never entered a major tournament, it was a good way to calm and focus his mind when it needed calming and focusing.
Interestingly enough, Nathan graduated from his school salutatorian, rather than valedictorian. Many people think he did this deliberately to avoid having to give a speech in front of so many people. His social anxiety and difficulty expressing himself verbally hurt him there.
Regardless, he applied for a scholarship into Harvard, intent on using a criminal science degree to become a police detective. Once he received that, he returned to tell the good news to his parents…
And came home to his father, drunk, as he always was, his mother on the floor, reeling from another beating. Nathan tried to explain the scholarship, but his father took one look at it, and shouted that they didn’t have the money. That Nathan couldn’t make it to Harvard, or to any other college he’d applied to, for that matter.
Nathan was shaken to his very core. He’d always assumed he’d be able to get away when he was old enough, and here these people were telling him that he couldn’t go at all. That no matter what, they didn’t have the money to send “you damn freak” to college.
He snapped. For the first time in perhaps his entire life, Nathan actually raised his voice to his father. He accused him of sleeping around, of blowing all of their money on cash, of being a heartless monster who only cared about himself. A shouting match ensued, and Mr. River raised his fist to strike his son…
And stopped. A gaping wound had opened in his neck. He fell with a horrible sickening crunch. The life left his eyes, his last word cursing the ground that Nathan stood on.
And Nathan saw behind the corpse of his father, his mother, trembling, a bloody knife in his hands. She tried to explain, to rationalize, but Nathan didn’t want to listen. Whatever the reason, murder was murder. He grabbed his father’s wallet and ran. He didn’t care where, just anywhere that wasn’t there.
It was a panic attack. Nathan wasn’t thinking rationally or logically. He just ran and ran until his legs got tired and he couldn’t run anymore. He had nothing. Only the clothes on his back; the same pyjamas he was wearing when he received the message in the mail; and his father’s money.
He only had one thing to do. He recalled the memory of the L, of the tall man with messy black hair, that he’d received when he lost to Lazarus Lawliet.
He’d heard something on the news about a new private investigator. Lawliet. Could it be… There was only one choice. To seek out Lazarus Lawliet. He didn’t know why this compulsion had shown up, but he had no choice but to follow it.
First Echo: Nathan’s meeting with Lazarus and losing the chess game to him. Finally losing to someone he acknowledged as a superior. It brought back vivid memories; a letter L, in gothic font. A tall man, with a mop of black hair, looking down on him. The sense of respect, and admiration, somehow directed to Lazarus Lawliet.
More information is listed here - http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046
Preincarnation Personality: First and foremost, this cannot be stressed enough. Near is a genius. Connections and deductions come effortlessly to him that would be extremely difficult if not impossible for others. And despite his genius; or perhaps because of it, Near has extremely low social knowledge and has extreme difficulty connecting with people. He often makes blunt, tactless comments and can easily alienate people close to him with his off-putting attitude.
Ironically, Near also is largely codependent, as evidenced by the fact that, even at age eighteen, he asks Commander Rester to fly with him, as he’s never flown alone. One questions if he would be even capable as a detective without the support of the SPK.
His outward demeanor is extremely calm; even moreso than L. During the entire series, Near loses his cool exactly once; that is, when the agents of the SPK are killed in Mello’s purge. He always retains a stoic, neutral expression which, due to his unsettling eyes, resembles a glare.
He is somewhat devious, not being above tactics that others might see as illegal to get the job done. He values results over all else. To him, it is more important that dangerous criminals are locked up and the sprit of the law maintained, rather than the letter.
Near has a strong sense of right and wrong, separating him from L. When Light delivers his rant about being the “savior”, Near’s response is rather telling. “No. You're just a murderer, Light Yagami. And this notebook is the deadliest weapon in the history of mankind. You yielded to the power of the Shinigami and the notebook and you have confused yourself with a god. In the end, you're nothing more than a crazy serial killer. That's all you are. Nothing more, and nothing less.” This sentence says something very important about his character; unlike L, who is in this for the thrill of the hunt, and Mello, who is trying to prove himself, Near legitimately cares about doing the right thing.
Near has rather child-like interests and multiple quirks that indicate an undiagnosed personality disorder, most likely something on the autistic spectrum. He plays with toys while he’s thinking, and has a tendency to sit in a position others might think of as uncomfortable, because of his desire to emulate L.
Near has an extreme level of admiration for L as a detective, though less as a person. To Near, L is what he wants to become; a brilliant master detective locking up criminals the police can’t touch. However, upon finding out L’s real reason for doing what he did, he was disgusted. Near respects L’s ability and his career, but his amorality is rather troubling to him.
In addition, Near has a propensity for anonymity even greater than that of L's. He feels more secure behind a computer screen than he does in face-to-face communication, even when such anonymity is completely unnecessary. This is partly as a result of his training as a detective, as L had a similar method of obfuscation, but mostly simply one of Near's quirks.
Any differences: Nathan’s still not the most socially well-adjusted person, but his level of social issues are much lower and he’s actually capable of living on his own. Coming from that sort of abusive, unhealthy home, he had to learn fast how to survive on his own. He’s not good at social interaction, by any means, but he can function, which already puts him miles above Near in that sense. Nathan has almost none of the dependent tendencies his predecessor had; however, what he does have are an inherent dislike of being alone; ironic, in that he's not particularly socially capable.
The most significant deviation, however, is the fact that Nathan desires to become his own person. Coming from a background as he did, many people expected him to turn out a worthless bum like his father. Most notably, his mother fully expected him to start drinking, and that he’d end up bullying the other children, with his rather abrasive, at times, personality. Nathan hates being judged for where he comes from; part of the reason he became so successful in school was to spite his parents, who believed he would never amount to anything. He’s extremely driven to succeed in life due to that.
In regards to the childish tendency Near had towards his preference towards playing with toys, Nathan still has it, though to a much smaller degree. Most notably, he has a few toys that he attaches sentimental value to. Having his stuffed bear, Marco, close to him, gives him a bit of a sense of security. It's a small toy, easily concealed, with a torn ear. He doesn't usually carry it around, though, and he lost it when he ran away from home.
He’s also rather squeamish and dislikes violence, and has outright nervous breakdowns when blood is involved, as a result of his abusive past.
Abilities: Genius-level intellect: The most important thing that allowed Near to succeed against Kira was his genius-level intellect, which, though slightly lower than L’s, was still sharper than almost any other mind in the world.
Deductive Ability: Near started from complete scratch, and in four years managed to gather enough data to convince the United States Government that something was suspicious about the second L. In addition, he figures out that the second L is Kira extremely quickly.
Immense Resources: Near, both as head of the SPK and the third L, has enormous piles of money that he can use on a whim – as shown when he drops millions of dollars from a rooftop as a distraction.
Tech-savvy: Near’s a whiz at computer programming and is rather good at hacking to uncover secret information.
Master of Social Engineering: Near’s entire final plan revolved around social engineering and deception.
Photographic Memory: Near’s eye for details and level of memory is pretty clearly that of someone with an eidetic memory.
Multitasking Ability: His ability to focus on multiple screens at once and take in all the details shows his extremely good multitasking ability.
Ambidexterity: One time Near is shown stacking dice with one hand while playing darts with the other, indicating ambidexterity.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person: http://lifebefore-l.dreamwidth.org/926.html?thread=6046
Roleplay Sample - Network:
[A video feed...sort of. The letter "N", in gothic font, on the screen, upon a white background.]
Hello.
[The voice is garbled]
Before you are annoyed at my lack of face, here, I prefer to remain anonymous. For now you may call me Near.
[Nathan smirks from behind the monitor.]
Regardless of whether or not you have heard of me, I have heard of you. I have some information that may be of use.
Namely, names and faces of members of recently awakened Numbers and leads on the man who is after your life. You can ignore this, certainly, but please, contact me when possible.
[Nathan logs off of the Network, twirling a strand of hair idly. If this person responded, for the first time, he could have a client.]
Additional Questions: One, actually. Is there a way for a character to access the network via video, but make it so that instead of his face, the letter "N" is shown?
