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Writing Demons as civilized, and Humans as Cultural-Borrowers

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punkreader Since: Dec, 1969
#1: Mar 22nd 2011 at 10:13:00 AM

I'm not sure if this falls under Our Demons Are Different, but for an Inuyasha Fanfiction (that started out as a FixFic, but turned into more of a Taking A Closer Look At The Culture And Underdeveloped Characters Using History And Mythology thing), it's what I've decided to do. It was hinted at in the Canon that demons (or some, anyway) might actually be very sophisticated, and not the mindless, violent brutes that the humans automatically assume. I find this endlessly interesting, and decided to develop it as part of the world.

As part of this, I've written the civilized Yōkai as being very prim and proper - basically, an expanded and longer-lasting version of Heian-era court and values. The humans are the cultural borrowers, taking what they see from the Yōkai - the humans' technological lack causes the Yōkai to underestimate the group as a whole (leading the demons to simply ignore them and most prefer to keep out of "vermin human" affairs entirely). The humans eventually catch up, and take over. Fast forward to the modern era, and there is a complete reversal in the dynamics: humans are in control, while demons are virtually nonexistent or in hiding.

The demons (and their hundreds and hundreds of species) have a complicated court system and castes within species groups, further deliniated within. I decided to have it be (and I know that this is a red flag to some) the basis for the humans' shogunal system, except more complicated and with more friction-creating "moving parts" and factions.

What do you think? Do you like the idea? If you have any criticism for me, I'd love to hear it!

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#2: Mar 22nd 2011 at 10:36:59 AM

Sounds interesting, with demons as a Deadly Decadent Court and humans as The Savage Indian. I'd flip it around a little — you mention technological achievement, but I'd say that the demons initially dismissed humanity because of their lack of individual power. Even a mook demon is still an order of magnitude more badass than a typical human, so humans are obviously inferior to demons, right? It would be once technology starts kicking in that the tables are turned; a peasant with nothing more deadly than farming impliments (which, admittedly, can be pretty deadly) isn't a threat, but a modern soldier with an assault rifle and body armor is more than a match for most demons.

That said, I don't know jack about Japanese history, so I can't really comment on anything about that.

edited 22nd Mar '11 10:37:46 AM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
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