( video )

[garotted]

[ when the feed opens up, it is to a small black cat with heterochromia (one eye brown, the other a bright gold). depending on where you live, he might even be a familiar black cat. ]

Hey. [ oh and he talks. ] Figured I should get this out of the way, since I'm.. here, I guess, for the time being. [ an ear flicks, and he settles, getting comfortable and crossing his paws. ] Anyway, I'm Alex, and I got here.. recently. [ alex fierro: he of the frustratingly vague and casually suspicious nature. ] Norse demigod here, so if one of you Asgardian lot feels some strange seidr on the air or whatever, hi, that's me.

[ he blinks mildly, head tilting as he considers the video feed. what else, what else.. oh! ]

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I'm not always a cat. .. Sometimes I'm a flamingo. Or a dragon. Also I'm genderfluid, so don't be a dick about it and I'll give you my pronouns. [ a significant pause. ] They're he/him today if you're wondering. That's it, thanks.

Comments

text, s.uris

[stantheman]

[ Stan chooses to text his response because he needs time to figure out what to say and how to say it and mostly he's pretty sure his confusion and inability to really understand all of the message and discomfort with being faced with more not normal things would show and that'd be rude and make for a bad impression.

He's too curious to leave this well enough alone, though. ]

Hi. I'm Stan.

What does genderfluid mean?

[ A thirteen year old son of a rabbi from the 80s is going to have no idea. ]

What exactly is a demigod and why are you a cat...?

[garotted]

[ huh. text, is it? ]

Hi Stan. [ back home, he'd normally flip people the bird for asking this. it's not his fucking job to educate people, after all. but it's different here, when there are people from all over the multiverse, and from different times, too. for all he knows, stan is from the 1500s, or some world where they have no concept of gender at all.

start simple, though. ]

Genderfluid means that my gender changes; sometimes I'm male, sometimes I'm female. Some genderqueer people prefer gender-neutral pronouns, or to use specific gendered pronouns. I prefer he/him when I'm a guy, or she/her when I'm a girl. [ a beat, curling a paw briefly over his ear, tail sweeping around his haunches. ] My body doesn't always match my gender, either, so please don't just assume because you think I look more physically male or female that day.

[ moving on-- ] Being a demigod means you're the child of a god and a human. And is there a reason I shouldn't be a cat?

Audio

[stantheman]

[ He switches to audio now that he's pretty sure he won't say anything too dumb. He's not really gotten used to the idea of video chatting yet. Even audio and texting is quite new but video it makes him nervous to have to worry about what his face looks like while he's talking about and if his room has anything out of place or some such.

Now that he's on audio it's probably clear that he's a kid. ]

Oh. That's a lot. [ He hopes that's not rude but he's never really imagined anything like that before and he's not sure how it works but the cat looks kind of annoyed so he doesn't ask any more clarifying questions. Maybe he can find a book about it later. ]

I guess not. Sorry I was just curious.

[garotted]

[ .. ah. alex's attitude softens considerably hearing a voice that young. is anyone looking after him, or is he alone here? gods. ]

It can be a lot when you're new to thinking of people that way, but it's really not as complicated as it sounds, I promise. [ a thoughtful pause. ] All you really have to do is remember to refer to me as he when I tell you I'm a he, and she when I tell you I'm a she. Not too tough, yeah? And if you have more questions about it, we can sit down and talk about it sometime.

I'm not mad. I'm a little curious, too, actually. Do you not like cats?

[stantheman]

[ Stan wants to comprehend it and while in words it feels simple but actually understanding it still seems beyond it but the other's willingness to talk to him about it sometime he feels a welling of relief that he could get more information. ]

I'll do my best but it would be nice to talk about it sometime. I was going to try and find a book...

[ He probably will anyway. He likes to read. ]

It's not that I don't like cats! I never had one or anything but there were strays that were nice back home... But none of them ever talked at me before.

[garotted]

I appreciate someone willing to take the initiative to research it on their own. If I find a book on it before we get to talk, I'll send it your way.

[ he makes a noise that sounds surprisingly amused for all that he's currently a cat right now. ] No, most cats don't talk, I imagine. Hang on, maybe this'll be easier for you. [ he stands, stretching lazily and trotting away a few steps. there's a kind of shimmer that crosses his fur, and the next moment, he's a green-haired teenager with the same heterochromia.

he makes a ta-da! gesture with his hands, smiling. ]

Better?

[stantheman]

I'd appreciate that. I like to learn and understand things.

[ Especially things that don't feel natural to him and make him uncomfortable. If he doesn't learn about them they just stick in the back of his mind unsettled and menacing.

The whole change from the cat to the person that's now there he furrows his brow, confused even though the other had sort of explained it already and his voice would sound a tad perplexed. It's another thing to really see it and to know for sure that cat hadn't been just some elaborate puppet or something. ]

You can do these things because your a demigod? [ It's easier talking to a human though. ]