4/7/2007 (Shinobu's Entry)

I am a Kitsune Spirit that comes from Japan (I am a fox). My name is Shinobu. The deity of rice, Oinari sama, sent me to America to study and analyze modern human culture. These last six months, I have assumed the role of a Japanese exchange student and tricked people into believing I’m something I’m not by performing the magic of “Kitsune-Tsuki” (= Possession by Fox). The entity I possessed is known as Remi and she was fully aware of being possessed, but couldn’t do anything about it because, in actuality, she sold her soul to me for this research. That was very accommodating!
The day I met Remi, she had no idea what she should do for her practicum project, a requirement her school imposes on students before they can graduate. She kept thinking how she should never have chosen sixth college out of all the other colleges at UCSD because the school requires so much out of their students before they are viewed as accomplished and are allowed to go out into the “real world.”
Having detected Remi’s thoughts and desires when I arrived in America, I decided to make her an offer to allow me to posses her and in return help her with her practicum project. It was obvious to me that she was too lazy to think of something all on her own that was related to culture, art and technology (this was the assigned criteria for completing her practicum).
She agreed to it without any hesitation because she wanted her life to be less complicated and stressful. All she wanted to do was graduate and get the hell out of school so she could perhaps travel and experience a bit of life for a time. I told her that she would be sacrificing her life to me for about half a year without any payment whatsoever. I also made a promise that I would allow her to regain control of her life and her being, when my research was over. She seemed to have no qualms about our agreement. She thought it would be easy, like breathing...
Of course the one thing I didn’t tell her is that the magic we Kitsune are endowed with is so powerful that when we possess a human entity it is possible that the experience can push them over the edge and drive them insane.
There were many times when Remi would become extremely disoriented and did not understand what was going on. She would also, at times, realize what I was doing and snap out of the magic hold I had over her and try to purge herself of me because I was doing things that she would never, in her right mind, do. This is when I realized that humans do not like to be controlled and they tend to become depressed or feel uncomfortable when forced to act like someone they’re not (unless they are an actor or perhaps a lawyer).
Anyways, back to the main topic of my research.
By using Remi’s body I was able to access a completely new environment. One that is rich with so many different types of subcultures. This interesting space was inside what I can only describe as a magical box, which projected many things. On one side it displayed images and also had a gateway where humans were afforded the means to become nomadic, explore their alter egos or even become pirates. This was something that caught my attention and was unmistakably a great place to conduct my research on humans because it was extremely easy to access. I had so many questions to be answered and tests I wanted to conduct in order to discern what kind of people chose to access such an environment.
These were just a few of the questions I had before entering this space and deciding to fabricate an identity.

1. How can someone actually trust another entity in a two dimensional realm if they have never had contact in the three dimensional realm?
2. Would they trust someone enough to give out personal information pertinent to their true location?
3. How far could I take my fabricated identity before people within this space began to doubt who or what I was?
4. Would humans still believe me when I revealed my true identity?

I fabricated the entity Kitsune.Suzuki and acted as a human being. Then I tried to merge myself into both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional environments. Some doubted her identity, but the majority believed she had integrity. Kitsune.Suzuki was meant to look like an animated character. Then I decided to make vlogs on “Youtube” about modern life in America living with a “host family”. Kitsune.Suzuki made available both an English as well as a Japanese journal. These journals were accessible to virtually anyone. The better part of both the journal entries discussed the differences related to culture, so I could research how humans felt about Kitsune.Suzuki’s opinion.
Kitsune.Suzuki also created an account on “Myspace” and soon after found that some people added her to their network list. However, what I, Shinobu, wanted were real friends who would become “characters” of my fictional space while Kitsune.Suzuki merged with their reality. It was essential to pique their interest in my character so I could gain more knowledge about cultural differences. Some became highly interested in Kitsune.Suzuki. Some have fallen in love and sent marriage proposals via e-mail. Some would provide their phone numbers, request money or ask questions that were sexual in nature. This was all done without their knowing that I was documenting everything they sent. Many of them would, without hesitation, give out personal data including their three-dimensional location. Most astounding was their lack fear of getting involved in something when the consequences cannot be predetermined.

Observations:
1. They become addicted to anything that is new or fabricated.
2. The more special effects are introduced, the more it appears to entertain them.
3. They have difficulty differentiating what is real and what is merely fabricated.

At times Remi would snap out of the catatonic state I had invoked on her and I would experience some resulting feelings of guilt. She thought what I was doing was wrong, but I only wanted to portray my interpretation of the truth about humans. I had to calm her down and advise her that humans could be fabricating themselves in any dimension just as I was.
The bottom line is that we argued a lot through our symbolic yet unnatural and slightly uncomfortable collaboration. Even so, as a result of this experience, something interesting happened. We were able to create a dynamic collaboration research project with humans.
Some knew about Remi’s practicum and some didn’t, but they all ended up becoming incorporated into our version of Kitsune folklore, where everyone becomes a Kitsune.
So right now, I believe it is imperative to display what direction our future is taking.
To celebrate human culture, I plan to create an Inari shrine where “characters” from our fabricated story would meet in the three dimensional realm. I am very interested to find out how many of these entities would attend when they have to face reality.