Gah, that was brutal. I was cringing when Mello publicly humiliated Near with the leash.

I guess all I can get from that is that Mello wants Near to be human, dragged to his level. He doesn't even aspire to be perfect; he just tries to obliterate such a thing in Near. I wonder if it's really from his inferiority complex, or if it's because he truly believes such a thing is utter blasphemy to his mind's construction.

If human was all that he wanted Near to be, perhaps he loved him, and wished he felt the same. Maybe it was just a wish that made him so cruel--a longing.

But if suffering was all that he wished to inflict, then perhaps he hated him. Perhaps he despised being second, and flawed and everything that would spawn such suffused image of realized suffering upon his rival. Who could be monstrous and childish enough to equate such a sin as penance?

And then, finally, if he was so absorbed in Near, to the point where permeation into his mind was allowed to such an extent, he could just be hopelessly obsessed. Mello wouldn't have worked so hard to beat him, hurt him, and prove his worth otherwise. He never just worked hard to ignore him, though. He never focused on meeting his goals without Near. It could be a mix of admiration, desperation, and altogether the inability to look away from the tormentor of Mello's mind.

Personally, I believe he was obsessed. But your story makes it ambiguous enough to suppose either of the possibilities... His thoughts aren't really revealed.

It's interesting to note Near's compliance, too--why would he let Mello do those things to him with little struggle? Does he feel he deserves it, or does he want it, perhaps? Mello's attention--his humanity?

There are a lot of unanswered questions about Near and Mello's relationship (interesting as it is), and your oneshot explores a rather morbid pairing of their inescapable feelings.

...I don't know what to say, except that I loved that story. o__o

now isnt this just deliciously intoxicating? and BRUTAL. i havent read very many MxN fics but the ones i HAVE read are pretty much the same. this, though... this is absolutely amazing. i know a lot of times with hatefics people generally go soft at the end, mix it up with some underlying tenderness. i liked the fact that you didnt go that route at all. this is twisted and aggressive and painful, all the way up until the end. im also generally not a fan of first person perspective by any means, and i initially thought looking into near's head would be potentially boring and detatched, but his almost-methodical approach to everything happening is eloquent and beautiful! just like your other fic (which i adore, probably way more than what is healthy), this is written so breathtakingly well. thank you for sharing, and i hope to see more DN fanfiction from you in the future! you're definitely going in my favorite authors section, RIGHTY NOW.

Hey babes.
First of all, as much as you know I love you and your work, this is only a small amount of myself feeling like I should reveiw for something I was supposed to proof read and did a real shit face job of it (in my defense, there wasn't alot of stuff to fix. None, actually). No, I've read this thing and I have stuff to say about it because I am more open minded and imaginitive then half the little yaoi obsessors on this fandom. Yeah, I said it, and I don't even like Death Note.
However, I know it very well, as an un-fan should It is wrong to hate without proper information from both sides of the arguement. First I'd like to say how ammazed I am that you could take such unoriginal, flat and unimaginative, 'sandpaper' and unexamined characters and build something so beautifully, brutally thought provoking around them, as well as get into the mind set of one of them and make him walk right off the computer screen. That is a rare gift, which not a lot of people (certainly not many on this fandom or many fandoms these days) possess. It just blows my mind.
Secondly I must agree with Chamyl. Even on other fandoms even the hate sex stories get soft at the end and it's like, well, fucking pick one! But this... you have the ability to pick one, dearie. This was raw and painful and bloody real the whole way through, never slipped a notch, just kept going up and up. I enjoyed just the sickness of it all. It was like mental sex and candy for the pyscho's carving soul, and I really loved it. It was like some kind of hybrid injection. Just... god, you could really sink your teeth into it, it was solid, you could bounce off it, it left you thinking. And I mean, you know I'm not one for the show, but it even got my DN juices flowing.
And I can just see how much heart and finger work you put into this. I mean, for one thing, my fics always have spelling errors I see none here. And It was just so... as always your descriptive prowess and creative, curiousity-boosted thoughts just leave the reader with something they can't describe (hence my rambling) but can definietly feel and taste on their skin and tongue.
I know you say you like crit and are always sure there's something not qute good enough about your writing, but this is just... god, there is no such thing as perfect, but this is just this side of it. Flawless, ingenius. There is nothing to criticise or give advice on. Its just... like a piece of detached heaven. Or hell, whichever XD. IN all it's strange, frightening wrongness (which I adore) there is nothing wrong with this fic. It's pure gold in one fandom that really needs it.
And that's all DB has at the moment.

interesting.

uum, small question, what did mello carve into near's back? And will it scar?

Wow, this really is intense...
Surely this is not the conventional MxN, I think it's pretty original... Even the "hate-sex" fics that I read, always turned out into something sweet and tender.
This stayed raw from the start to the very end.
I really liked Near's thoughts, you really got into his mind... If he was in this kind of situation.
Good job, I liked it!