One-Track Mind is an Inuyasha fanfiction by Punkreader. Originally conceived around 2006, it was once author-admitted Schmuck Bait. As of this writing, it would appear that the work is to remain unpublished due to the author's seemingly perpetual Schedule Slips.
It has a Sandbox page, of which the author politely encourages use. The author also encourages others to edit this page in the interest of keeping its content objective. Edits made with this, or things like clarity and other traits found in good writing, in mind are greatly appreciated. She also greatly encourages readers of this page to add tropes based on what has been written or said about the work, or what they know - any and all tropes.
The main purpose of the work is to explore ideas, others, and the rest of the sprawling, culture-rich environment through the eyes and thoughts of different characters. Its main characters in the Perspective Flip are 4 characters from the Canon series (Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Kouga, and the otherwise unnamed and largely left blank "Inu no Taisho") and 3 Original Characters (Akiko, Mikami, and Inagi).
One-Track Mind is a Deconstruction of many of the elements and characters in InuYasha, as well as many of the social conventions and political environment of the setting.
Set in an expanded version of the InuYasha 'Verse, arguably a Fantasy Counterpart Culture, two distinct societies are evident, along with one caught awkwardly and unofficially in-between; a fourth connects all three, but being the spirit realm/afterlife/The Underworld, it integrates itself liberally and often into the realm of the living. These three civilizational spheres (in addition to the underworld) are:
- Human - The historical Medieval Japanese setting as it actually was - with people, and historical references abound. The humans are known for their prejudice and their lack of intelligence in their own affairs relative to Youkai society. The humans are Cultural Borrowers from the demons - they are pawns to the demons in an effort to maintain their control. During a lull in which no attention is paid them, however, due to massive internal conflict within the demonic arena, they make significant leaps and eventually overrun the supernatural. By the modern era, humans are dominant race, having driven Youkai and Oni into hiding or outright extinction.
- Youkai - includes Youkai, Oni, and those humans who are spiritually endowed. There are many, many different species and class/rank lines built upon them within this civilization. Those Youkai considered more civilized are typically capable of taking humanoid form at will, with those who cannot acting as servants (if they are intelligent) or Red Shirts (if they are not). The Youkai live, essentially, within a gigantic Decadent Court, controlled largely by "Inu no Taisho", who acts in the role of "shogun".
- Half-Breeds - while the most common form of Interspecies Romance takes place between Youkai and humans, half-Oni half-human hybrids exist, as do hybrids of two entirely nonhuman species (particularly Oni/Youkai).
- The Underworld - the page itself gives an accurate description that does not need rehashing, nor apparently did its use require any instances of Artistic Licensing by the author. It seems to have been used as-is within the work, with small allowances made for artifacts shown to affect it in the Canon.
Starting before the beginning of InuYasha, the story follows a young Akiko, Sesshomaru, and their father during her time at the latter's Decadent Court, filled with the delegates of various "civilized" Youkai and representatives for the humans. After the father's death, Akiko is promptly kicked out and left for dead. Hearing of a possible younger sibling, she sets off to find him. She does eventually, but decides to leave him alone, believeing him to rightly be able to fend for himself, quite young though he is.
After a Timeskip, the events leading up to and culminating the beginning of the Canon series take place (Inuyasha being shot by Kikyo, the Shikon Jewel being lost, and the village's world being thrown into undepicted chaos.) The aftermath of the death of the priestess, as well as the Fantastic Racism that follows as the villagers look for and find a scapegoat in his older sister due to their shared lust for power and respect, is examined from Akiko's point of view as InuYasha wrestles with his own demons in his sleep-death-suspension for the next 50 years.
Akiko, out of fear for her safety, goes into hiding, but feels guilty about leaving her younger brother's village defenseless for the time being. She cannot, however, stay near the village without a serious risk of being found and killed. To solve this problem, she follows an old story that her elder brother used to tell her to frighten her, of a demon witch known as Yama-uba
in the far western mountains who grants one's true desire, but exacts a horrible price - if she doesn't simply devour them. Upon discovering that the demon witch of the story is real, she makes a deal with her: being transformed into a human until she has experienced true contentment with her life; until then, the girl's demon powers are under Yama-uba's full control. They are to be returned with a caveat, which Akiko thinks will not occur: in her hour of greatest need, they will fail her. This is because the witch has kept a small amount - permanently - for herself, that Akiko cannot get back.
Without any job skills of which to speak, Akiko is left without prospects for a future. What she chooses to do next will influence her life forever after, for better or worse. What will she choose? Poverty and a hard, predictable path, or potential wealth, volatility, and a place in the world of moral taboos?
The story itself, as well as the various environs, species, and civilizations/parties within show examples of:
- Alternate Character Interpretation: In-story. A lot of it. Here are the apparent ACIs for the main Canon characters:
- Inuyasha: A misplaced, outcast young man burdened by knowledge of reputation which he does not want, but earned nonetheless. He is aware of his heritage, but dimly so - he, much to his elder brother's disgust, couldn't care less. Angry and distrustful, he seeks power in order to reforge his reputation and to earn the respect which he feels he is due. He wishes to be feared, and to attain the status his brother holds, even surpassing him in order to claim his own superiority. Though he was denied power, and has learned that there is more to life than just that, he still lusts for it, in some fashion. At times, it threatens those he cares for when his lust for power and his temper combine to shut out logic and reason. He drags his True Companions into dangerous situations (both to attain the power promised by the Jewel, which still lures him within his heart, though he hates to admit it, and to prove to others that he is powerful and just as worthy of the fearful respect his elder brother and father have/had.) He is still hotheaded and stubborn, and more selfish than he would like to admit.
- Kouga: Still in love with Kagome. When he takes Akiko as a wife, and she turns out to be one who will not obey his people's laws or even try to act socially acceptable by their standards, he is extremely resentful and angry. He does try to be a good husband, but finds it difficult given her obstinancy and his feeling cheated. Much to his chagrin, his temper often takes reign over his more reasonable side, blinding him to the fact that his wife is as miserable and angry as he. Given Kouga's young age, he is still emotionally immature, and this influences how he deals with the problems in his personal life. He is secretly unsure of his fitness for leadership and doubts the surity of his actions despite the strong, cocky, rules-by-an-iron-fist image he must keep outside of his private chambers. Akiko must play along as well, in order for the demon to retain his position as the Alpha and discourage challengers. He does try to love his wife, but he finds he cannot. His use of physical force disturbs him, even though he sees it as his only option for keeping his wife from destroying his public image and putting them both, and most especially their beloved daughter, in a very precarious position. Even when he does see her own misery, and wants to comfort her, he finds he is unable to do so - this bothers him a great deal. He loves Mizuki, the daughter he has with Akiko, but the young girl is very aware of the barely-hidden tension between her parents.
- Sesshomaru: A resentful elder brother who views his younger siblings as a scourge on his family, even though their conception was perfectly legal. Far from wanting their attention, or feeling neglected, because he was the only full demon offspring, he was pushed harder to surpass them in every possible way, and observed for himself their differences as a young man. Finding them weak and lacking, they earned his disrespect, as did his father's seeming inability to take respectable women as consorts (he took a peasant and then a fallen noblewoman, neither of which is...traditional.) They also earned their father's affection and closeness without any of the training or preparation he had undergone (he was raised like any traditional Japanese nobleman — distant, logical, and honor-/status-driven). They, by contrast, were not, being seen unfit for it (and the dignity that it would bestow) and that did more than just irk him. It disgusted him. By Sesshomaru's standards, such rough-hewn youth do not deserve the power they gained, nor that which they try to gain — they deserve to be disposed of, a favor to them as opposed to going through the world so unprepared and not having learnt their place.
- "Inu no Taisho" (Name of Hijema Sun): In-story.
- Ascended Extra: Mikami was originally a character in a one-shot lemon, which grew relatively popular for the author's work on another website. The author, seemingly in response, decided to make the relationship a part of the story, and gave her Character Development.
- Attempted Rape
- Babies Make Everything Better: Subverted — while the child is loved, her parents are also very stressed and sleep-deprived trying to take care of her, and the baby is both the cause of and a contributing factor in their marriage problems. They do, however, try to rise to the occasion, but are limited in some capacities due to their own immaturity.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: With Akiko and Yama-uba.
- Berserk Button:
- Imply that Akiko is inferior at your own risk...
- Also, mention Inagi's ex-wife around him, or otherwise try to refute his opinion — you'll likely end up a bloody, crunchy mess.
- Blatant Lies
- Body Horror
- Challenging the Chief: What Kouga, as current Alpha, is trying to discourage.
- Come to Gawk
- Destructive Romance
- Determinator: Several, but most notably: Akiko, Kouga, Inuyasha, Inagi, and Sun.
- Dysfunction Junction
- Earn Your Happy Ending
- Enforced Cold War: Between Akiko and Inagi.
- Eye Scream: Akiko loses both eyes, but at different times. They don't magically grow back.
- Foreshadowing
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Inagi. He started out as a low-ranking demon, and then a position of power became attainable; he took it - combined with the fact that he's a sociopath, the power and control over others he suddenly had — which he'd been trying to enforce anyway — went to his head.
- A God Am I:
- Inagi.
- Sun, to a degree.
- Gorn: A large amount — enough that it seems to be Author Appeal.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Apparently inverted: the author seems to be trying use as little Japanese as possible.
- Groin Attack
- Honor-Related Abuse: Occurs for both Mikami and Akiko.
- Jidaigeki: The basic setting.
- Masquerade: For several characters. For Akiko and Kouga in particular, it leads to...
- The Masochism Tango: They are very aware of their state of affairs, but they must both keep a calm, cooperative, cohesive appearance.
- Our Demons Are Different: The author appears to be attempting to invoke this with the development of a complicated, race-as-class-based Youkai society that is on a separate level from the humans. It may have been inspired by the Inuyasha fanfiction The White Dog and the real-life Japanese court of the Heian era.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: How most of the cast behaves, but especially notable in that this is how both Akiko and Inagi justify their actions against the other.
- Perspective Flip
- Poor Communication Kills: Often and messily.
- Porn with Plot
- Primal Fear
- Sadistic Choice: Presented by Inagi several times to Akiko when she attempts to challenge him, usually in the form of, "Give me/Do X or I'll tell your husband about your prostitution." He also uses Mizuki as a bargaining chip frequently, much to her distress. The author appears to enjoy these, as they show up in a few places throughout the work.
- Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: Most of the human world is Level 3, while Miko appear to be Level 4. The majority of the Youkai world seems to shift between 4 and 5, depending on the individual. The Wolf-Demon Tribes seem to hold at Level 3, even when it comes to the Alpha's wife, who is officially second only to her husband, but is in reality second to every adult male there. With some characters, of all species, Level 2 is their evident mindset.
- Unwanted Spouse: Akiko and Kouga are this to each other.
- Volleying Insults
Sources and Acknowledgements
The author would, at this time, like to give due credit to the various sources and people she has used as reference. Some shall be seen multiple times, in recognition of their contribution to multiple areas. Those sources are:
History
- Handbook To Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan by William E. Deal. 2005.
- The various Journal entries of Deviant M-Skirvin
- What Life Was Like: Among Samurai and Shoguns by Time Life Books - part of the What Life Was Like series. 1999. [1]
- The History of Japan by Louis G. Perez - part of the The Greenwood Histories of Modern Nations series. 1998.
- Japan: A Concise History by Milton W. Meyer. Third edition. 1993.
- The Costume Museum - The Rebirth of The Tale of Genji
Culture
- Picking Bones from Ash by Marie Mutsuki Mockett. 2009. [2]
- The various Journal entries of Deviant M-Skirvin
- What Life Was Like: Among Samurai and Shoguns by Time Life Books - part of the What Life Was Like series. 1999. [3]
- The Japanese Mind by Robert Christopher
- Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai by Michael Dylan Foster
- Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinishu of Taira Shigesuke by Thomas Cleary; translated by Oscar Ratti
InuYasha Canon
- The various Journal entries of Deviant M-Skirvin
- FAQs related to the characters Sesshomaru and Kagura by Soojinyeh
- The first Inuyasha artbook (which was lost in February-ish 2010) That link was the closest thing the author could find to it that was in English. It is not the artbook that she remembers having, but it seems to be close enough to suffice.
- The manga series itself, of course.
- The translated Inuyasha Manga Profiles
- The Inuyasha Companion
Inspiration and Ideas
- Becky Tailweaver's The White Dog
- Hentai Jane's March Winds
- Spirited Away
- Princess Mononoke
- Millennium Actress
- Many, many people.
