Now and Forever...Itsumademo... - Chapter 21C

[unare_haineko]

Title: Now and Forever…いつまでも…

Author: Unare Haineko

Pairing: [Juntoshi] Matsumoto Jun x Ohno Satoshi

Rating:  R-ish, but NC-17 for this chapter

Summary: [Revised] Three years after the ending of ‘Kodoku kara Umareta Ai’ (which you can read here), we have Juntoshi trying to raise their son Ayumu while the demons from the dark shadows that

Comments

Analyses & Commentary, Chapter 21, Section 2, part 4

[mmestrange]

It is a sign that Nino is trying to piece together why Daisuke had to go under the knife, change his surname and all that to be someone else. He believes he can crack that puzzle, he can get at whoever is trying to screw him over and do him in. It’s a rather cunning and cold way of going about this and it does play on Daisuke’s emotions. When readers finally realise this (if they realise this), they will cry foul and say that Nino is being a heartless bastard. This amuses me because truffle is really quite selfish and nihilistic in his personal philosophy. Moreover, to his credit, Nino actually warns Daisuke from the outset that he is selfish whenever the boy claims he’s being nice, kind and good. Basically, the things that Nino told Reiya in the chapter where the sex addict host raped him still hold true. I can’t find the English words to summarise Nino’s personal nihilistic philosophy, so I will do it in Latin:
Qui jacet in terra, non habet unde cadat.
In me consumpsit vires fortuna nocendo,
Nil superset ut jam possit obese magis.

This quote from Thomas Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy translates into, “When one is lying on the ground (has one’s face smashed into the ground), one cannot possibly fall or be smashed any further. Fortune has exhausted everything it can do to hurt me (because it has already beaten me, used me, hit me and smashed me into the ground into little pieces), and accordingly, there is nothing more that can possibly hurt/harm make things any worse than they already are.” Put into context, this means Nino is dangerous not because he is selfish and nihilistic, but because he is a man with nothing else to lose. As an strategist will tell you, battling against someone who has been kicked about, shunted aside and crumpled to the point where they have nothing left to lose, they are dangerous. They are dangerous because such people have no pressure points with which to squeeze or blackmail or hold against them. And this is exactly Nino’s situation. And in cases like these, using might never works. One must use cunning, and Nino does not disappoint.

A final question before I close my observations on this section:

(03) From the description of Nino’s entrance into the scene, he is mentally rather than physically exhausted. It is more than work woes running around in his head. What happened that he’s mentally drained instead of physically tired from a day at work? Where was Nino after work and before he went home? Did he find out something? If so, what? Did what he see or learn or figure out or uncover have anything to do with the split-second decision he made to seduce Daisuke and wear down the boy’s defenses?

[NB -- More commentary to come. I'm slowly working through things.]

Re: Analyses & Commentary, Chapter 21, Section 2, part 4

[unare_haineko]

Ah, only you would notice (or maybe you're the only one who would point out XDD) the perhaps not so subtle change in perspective from omniscient to Daisuke/Jun-POV. I was wondering if changing from omniscient to third-person character POV so often was annoying for readers. But I decided not to change it since I didn't really feel like offering Nino & Ohno's thoughts just yet. It's like the potatoes in the stew, put them in too early and they lose their impact as they disintegrate. I don't want the soup to thicken; I want their thoughts to stand on their own.

As for the Nino-Daisuke dynamics, it was a shorter section, but a very important turning point for dear Kazu. There was indeed physical consummation of the "change" in their relationship (but I did not feel it was necessary to spell it out for readers--who knows if they even made the connection though. There's no feedback aside from you, so I don't know what my readers are thinking). Also, you hit it right on the nail on Daisuke's loyalty for precisely the reasons I had in mind. Feeling unappreciated and undervalued go such a long way in motivating people to act on their dissatisfaction...

Kei does tell Miyazono he's not volunteering anything, but you are right that he does volunteer quite a bit. This is intentional of course (on my part, not Kei's). Kei thinks he's in control, but Miyazono is just biding his time. Miyazono, like my lovely Isabelle, likes to do some of the research himself. By expressing interest in some things of lesser importance in the grand scheme of things more than others and feigning lack of interest in others despite being extremely interested, Miyazono can investigate at his leisure while keeping Kei from discovering what Miyazono's true intentions are. Don't you just love the man? XDDD

And in response to selfish, calculating Nino. You are absolutely right, my sweet. I was wondering if a reader (other than you) was going to call me on this cruel development. Since no one has tried to flame me for it, I'm sure at least one person will cry foul when Nino's intentions become more obvious. I loved the Thomas Kyd reference, btw. I was thinking about my blood orange chocolates when I read it. Trying to hurt Nino to bleed him for our chocolates would be pointless, wouldn't it? I mean, the whole reason why we love chocolates made from Ma-chan's blood is because there's so much anguish and torture that must go on in order to obtain the blood, right? With Nino there's nothing to enhance the flavor of the blood--no Sho-chan to harvest it in the most painful way possible either. *cackle*

Re: Analyses & Commentary, Chapter 21, Section 2, part 4

[mmestrange]

Ah... Miyazono truly has a mind like Plato and a form like mortal sin. You always make me fall a little more in love with him. *smirk*

I am glad my dissection did not awry in the Nino-Daisuke section. There is actually a fair bit going on there. Fear not, the cudgels and "how could Nino be so cruel" will surface later from readers when you make things more explicit. I, however, am very proud of the truffle. Now that Daisuke has been "turned" so to speak, things will get interesting on that front vis-a-vis Iago. I await to see what else you have up your sleeves.

Re: Analyses & Commentary, Chapter 21, Section 2, part 4

[unare_haineko]

This is nothing new, but I always have to snigger as I scroll down to read the rest of the commentary. A string of smirking Roy Mustangs smack dab in the middle of the analyses--only you are allowed to use that icon XDDD