[Near hadn't been at the top of the class due to any competitive nature on his part. Not that he's without a desire to win, but he'd just done his assignments as they'd been asked and he happened to wind up in first place. Every time. He's just that good. Mello had been the only one who could keep up, and that had impressed him.]
I was unaware that the fact that I have standards is so shocking.
[No, it's not a difficult position to understand; Near gives off every impression of not feeling anything at all. It's inaccurate, but not grievously so. He feels little and not enough to allow it to influence his decision-making when he does experience emotion.
[His cold proclamation about losing . . . he has since revised his opinion on L's final result. Even this is out of logic and not sentimentality. "If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle . . . you're just a loser." He'd come to learn that while L had indeed lost the game, he hadn't failed to solve the puzzle. Their mentor would have had a chillier reception if Near had still felt the same as he had the day they'd learned of his death.]
no subject
I was unaware that the fact that I have standards is so shocking.
[No, it's not a difficult position to understand; Near gives off every impression of not feeling anything at all. It's inaccurate, but not grievously so. He feels little and not enough to allow it to influence his decision-making when he does experience emotion.
[His cold proclamation about losing . . . he has since revised his opinion on L's final result. Even this is out of logic and not sentimentality. "If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle . . . you're just a loser." He'd come to learn that while L had indeed lost the game, he hadn't failed to solve the puzzle. Their mentor would have had a chillier reception if Near had still felt the same as he had the day they'd learned of his death.]