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Number Seven
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Link to FF.net
Rating: M
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iyfic_contest Week 162 | Evil
Based upon: Most Evil
I don't know why, but lately I've been having good ideas that aren't expandable due to a word limit...and when I don't have a word count to fuss with, I can't think of anything I consider halfway decent *sigh*
Oh, well. Welcome to the dark recesses of my mind! How did I come up with this doozy, LOL? Well, it was quite the journey, because this piece did not start out this way! I was actually intending to do a little psychological profile of Sesshoumaru, but then I started thinking...is he really evil? He's a lot of things, but I'm not sure I'd put him in the same category of fucked-up as, say, Naraku (who was just way too easy for this prompt, I think).
Then I started wondering, what exactly is evil? Could I take this another direction, and make some sort of comedic effort, with a "kukuku, that's so eeeeeeevil!" punchline? Unfortunately my wit isn't that sharp :-/ so it was back to the drawing board. I really wanted to participate in this week's contest, so when I finally came home for the day, I started looking around for inspiration.
Back in the States, there's this cable channel called Investigation Discovery, which is your basic crime!tv channel. They show documentary series on court cases, forensics, etc. One of about five channels with such shows, but the only one home to Most Evil, which was based on this 22-point scale written by a forensic psychologist. Not that I have a love of serial killers or anything, but I'm always interested in my fellow researchers' work, dissembled for pop culture or otherwise.
Psychopathy is a very tough thing to describe, but I find this scale pretty interesting, and a good starting point for discussions of evil (which is what it was intended for, ha). As I was watching the clips on the website (linked above for your convenience!) an idea started to form in my mind...
I generally abhor first-person stories, but this sort of necessitated one to preserve the 'twist' of the pairing. I have Hojo killing Kagome in a fit of jealous/bitter rage, which would place him at approximately #7 on the Most Evil Scale -- hence the title of the piece.
Does it work? I think so, but it would've been nice to have a bit more room to delve into the background...since I don't, I'll lend you my notebook and give you some sketchy details:
This is a post-manga world, with the derivation that Kagome couldn't get back to the feudal era. She's never quite been able to let go of her friends, or her torch for Inuyasha, but she's survived as best she can. She graduated high school, went to university, married Hojo and generally had a decent life.
Hojo, in this alternate reality universe, has always been in love with Kagome and was overjoyed to finally have his dreams come true re: marriage. But he's not as dumb or obtuse as we're led to believe during the manga; he's more of a sociopath. He knows that his wife doesn't love him, and he bitterly resents it.
25 years later, he guns her down one day in cold blood, makes it look like a suicide, and gets away with murder. Sweet angelic face, supreme personal confidence and all :)
Twisted? Hopefully! Dark? Definitely...definitely not a place I want to go, or continue along the path to, in my own mind. I blame a combination of stress from school, the approach of Halloween and its associated dark thoughts, and a resparking of interest in a "hobby" field (for me) of psychology.
Link to FF.net
Rating: M
Inspiration:
iyfic_contest Week 162 | EvilBased upon: Most Evil
I don't know why, but lately I've been having good ideas that aren't expandable due to a word limit...and when I don't have a word count to fuss with, I can't think of anything I consider halfway decent *sigh*
Oh, well. Welcome to the dark recesses of my mind! How did I come up with this doozy, LOL? Well, it was quite the journey, because this piece did not start out this way! I was actually intending to do a little psychological profile of Sesshoumaru, but then I started thinking...is he really evil? He's a lot of things, but I'm not sure I'd put him in the same category of fucked-up as, say, Naraku (who was just way too easy for this prompt, I think).
Then I started wondering, what exactly is evil? Could I take this another direction, and make some sort of comedic effort, with a "kukuku, that's so eeeeeeevil!" punchline? Unfortunately my wit isn't that sharp :-/ so it was back to the drawing board. I really wanted to participate in this week's contest, so when I finally came home for the day, I started looking around for inspiration.
Back in the States, there's this cable channel called Investigation Discovery, which is your basic crime!tv channel. They show documentary series on court cases, forensics, etc. One of about five channels with such shows, but the only one home to Most Evil, which was based on this 22-point scale written by a forensic psychologist. Not that I have a love of serial killers or anything, but I'm always interested in my fellow researchers' work, dissembled for pop culture or otherwise.
Psychopathy is a very tough thing to describe, but I find this scale pretty interesting, and a good starting point for discussions of evil (which is what it was intended for, ha). As I was watching the clips on the website (linked above for your convenience!) an idea started to form in my mind...
I generally abhor first-person stories, but this sort of necessitated one to preserve the 'twist' of the pairing. I have Hojo killing Kagome in a fit of jealous/bitter rage, which would place him at approximately #7 on the Most Evil Scale -- hence the title of the piece.
Does it work? I think so, but it would've been nice to have a bit more room to delve into the background...since I don't, I'll lend you my notebook and give you some sketchy details:
This is a post-manga world, with the derivation that Kagome couldn't get back to the feudal era. She's never quite been able to let go of her friends, or her torch for Inuyasha, but she's survived as best she can. She graduated high school, went to university, married Hojo and generally had a decent life.
Hojo, in this alternate reality universe, has always been in love with Kagome and was overjoyed to finally have his dreams come true re: marriage. But he's not as dumb or obtuse as we're led to believe during the manga; he's more of a sociopath. He knows that his wife doesn't love him, and he bitterly resents it.
25 years later, he guns her down one day in cold blood, makes it look like a suicide, and gets away with murder. Sweet angelic face, supreme personal confidence and all :)
Twisted? Hopefully! Dark? Definitely...definitely not a place I want to go, or continue along the path to, in my own mind. I blame a combination of stress from school, the approach of Halloween and its associated dark thoughts, and a resparking of interest in a "hobby" field (for me) of psychology.
no subject
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Strangely enough, though, writing this was like a bit of catharsis. I wrote the draft, made myself some dinner and did some other things, and felt quite light and happy during said activities, before coming back to edit & post.
So maybe that's the key, letting our evil stress out in small doses, LOL.
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girlfriends what she wanted in a man she was obviously describing Hojo. When
the Jewel offered her a chance to lead an ordinary life, the boy friend she was offered was Hojo. Yet she went back to Inuyasha. It is no wonder that Hojo
would feel rejected (Though in the anime and manga she comments on how much confidence he has that eventually they will be together and wishes that Inuyasha had the confidence to tell her what he felt).
You really should stop watching this show. It is giving you evil ideas.
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Well there's only so much you can say in 250 words. If this was a longer prompt (even just 400-500) I could've worked in more hints to the background I designed as I wrote. As it is, there is enough hint that the situation is applicable to many sorts of backstories. This is just the one I had in mind when I was writing it.
Your analysis of the canon backstory for the Hojo/Kagome relationship is, as usual, spot on :) It is those exact feelings and emotions I was trying to invoke. Only, instead of an innocent, confident spin on his behavior, I used a more sinister one - sociopathy.
You really should stop watching this show. It is giving you evil ideas.
I assume you mean Most Evil, heh. The unfortunate thing about it is -- all the cases used to compile this scale are true. It's sick when some people are capable of...