The Journal of an Ovalisk

[Ninian]

I wasn't sure when to unveil this work of mine. It started on a whim one day, and eventually writing in it got very addictive for me. It follows the life of a young Ovalisk named Kate Icing as she makes her way in her new world. She views cultures, emotions, people, and beliefs with the simple but wise brain of one of the infamous Egg Children. Writing for her has been very therapeutic for me, and very much a learning experience.

If you don't know what an Ovalisk is, let me fill you in. They had a role on MSF for the last year and a half, and have had an entire regulation in IRC made explicitly for them. Essentially, they're a race of innocent young women who are descended from snakes that have a lot of physical traits in common with anime girls. And they grow their numbers primarily through assimilating humanity. If you touch one, and you do not apply some sort of antidote quickly, you will very rapidly become one of them yourself. Your memories will be washed away for the most part, and you become a new version of yourself... with a smile and a giggle in all likelihood. Furthermore, Ovalisks seem unable to understand the idea that some Humans wouldn't WANT to become one of them -- the assumption being that you're delirious from something they percieve you lack and want to help you anyway.

Some of them are boys. However, they're a vast minority. They result of very specific individuals. If you do not meet the following criteria, you'd become a female Ovalisk and your mind would be wiped enough to make it work.

-- You're a gay male
-- You're a woman who idealizes gay males (yaoi fangirls, your days are way numbered)
-- You're a man trapped in a woman's body

And one more I'm not going to list because it's definitely not something I want to go into detail about. It's not PG-13. Trust me, the last one you do not meet. Hopefully you don't.

Kate will even respond to commentaries left in her journal if she has something useful to say. By default, all comments are screened unless she lists you as a Friend. Why or when she adds Friends to her list I'm keeping to myself.

Also, there is a story right here on MSF by Kougetsu (one of the mods) about a young man who's facing a chance to unleash the Ovalisks on his own world. It's called "Commiting Cuteicide". Very adorable yet frightening read.

Kate's journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/kate_icing

"Commiting Cuteicide": http://www.magicalsailorfuku.net/Submis ... icide.html

[Ninian]

Also note that since it's a blog, the latest entries are listed first, so you'll need to really go back some if you want to read the whole thing.

EDIT: Another remark I want to make is that despite the tone of the journal, I don't really agree with what she says. I don't disagree with her either, but her attitude is one of the Ovalisk culture.

[Musashi]

So even a guy who very much prefers to be male would end up a girl anyway?

[Ninian]

Yes.

[Musashi]

So no matter how much they'd prefer to be male, they still HAVE to be a girl? Mrf..

What about bisexuals? What do they end up as?

[Ninian]

And yes. No matter what.

Bisexuals are rarely split down the middle. Whichever side is greater, I suppose.

[Musashi]

That doesn't seem very fair. But they're your creation, so whatever ya want.

*shrug* Jus' wondering.

[Ninian]

Yea... *nods*

I just have the role of the observer. I neither support nor oppose them, though there is no doubt they think they're doing right.

Thank you for taking interest.

[Musashi]

It just doesn't seem right to force someone to be something they'd rather not be... they're already makin' 'em an Ovalisk, so they could at least let those that would much prefer to be male to stay that way. And the girl Ovies seem to like the boy ones, so why not have more?

The journal is pretty interesting, though. I like hearin' about the boys... XD;;

[Ninian]

No... by a lot of morals, no it doesn't seem right. At least their memories more or less take a huge wipe so they can at least enjoy it. Whether this erases the person behind the memories is also a murky question. As for having more boys around... well, the Tiresians (leaders) can help some girls turn into males for purposes of breeding. Once Humans have more or less gone effictively extinct, that's kind of the only way they're gonna reproduce. I suppose in theory that an Ovalisk that completely digs up her Old Life and decides she'd be happier as a boy could petition the Tiresians to change her.

And yeah, they love the boys. There isn't a whole lot of man-hate in Kate's journal. Actually, really none. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

[Musashi]

It'd be easier to just let 'em be boys in the first place, though... some people might be more willing to accept the Ovalisk thing that way. Having a choice is always good.

But I guess what I think doesn't matter much. *Shrug* It won't change anything.

They seem less scary after reading the journal. But the lack of fairness is still kind of a turnoff.

Jus' my opinion, don't take it personally or anything...

[Sophia Anieri]

One question I have.

You originally compared being touched by an Ovalisk to having your soul painfully ripped apart and reassembled to conform to a "cute" template. There is no hint of this in Kate's journal. Has this portion of the setting been discarded, or is it simply not understood or emphasized by the protagonist of your story?

[Ninian]

Again... fairness is an ethics question, and ethics tend to get blurred between cultures, especially between species. To be honest, I have no idea why they're almost all girls. Biologically it makes no sense. But maybe I'll find out someday? There is a lot about them I just cannot seem to grasp, and it has partially do with my being Human just as they seem baffled by really abstract ethics or other things unnatural to the logical, reptilian Ovalisk brain.

She isn't really intended to make them less scary. In fact, in some ways, they're more frightening than ever.

I wish I could satisfy your questions better than this. I just don't know.

[Ninian]

One question I have.

You originally compared being touched by an Ovalisk to having your soul painfully ripped apart and reassembled to conform to a "cute" template. There is no hint of this in Kate's journal. Has this portion of the setting been discarded, or is it simply not understood or emphasized by the protagonist of your story?

It's very much still there. The pain aspect I did slightly nerf, but that's about it. It's still a frightening process. She just doesn't see it that way, nor does she seem to understand why it terrifies people.

[Cutey Kerina]

*hugs sis* thanks for making a story journal, especiall I'm glad that it gives you such cheer to put yourself in Kate's head. Particularly I'm glad because it inspired me to make a fiction journal of my own ^^ *snuggles*