INSTAGRAM / UN: st33lchains

[codicies]

Comments

UN: suns_and_roses

[sol_annoyance]

Where does the chocolate begin and the cat end?

I'm also guessing that's not a real cat??? Actually, less guess and more I'm hoping that's not a real cat

[Will's not a vet, but if that's a real cat and not something alien/monster-like, poor kitty looks like it's very sick.]

UN: Sleeper

[definecat]

[This response is a perfectly healthy pose of the same strange cat in the classic statue cat pose, but apparently smiling for the camera.]

[sol_annoyance]

[Definitely not a normal cat, which Will is grateful for. It means he doesn't have to call animal control.]

Aw, but you're cute! In a kind of vaguely eldritch way

[definecat]

I would say more Lovecraftian, since eldritch has roots in the same word as elven. But I usually just say it depends on how you define cat.

This cat is definitely a real being.

[sol_annoyance]

[... Will's come to the sudden epiphany that it says a lot about his life that a cat that can use technology to communicate is almost expected, if not completely normal.]

I think if cat's good for you, then it's good for me! Lovecraftian or otherwise

Sleeper is your name? Do you have a gender?

[definecat]

Sleeper is my name, yes, and no, my kind have no need for gender as anything more than an affectation, so I choose to use they/them pronouns.

Perhaps if I were in a long-term partnership like my parent, I might choose to share my partner's gender, but as I am not, it seems unnecessary.

[sol_annoyance]

I'll keep that in mind, then! It's nice to meet you, Sleeper. I'm Will

Who's your parent, if you don't mind my asking?

[definecat]

My parent is called Venom. I also have a brother, Dylan. He's mostly human, but we don't count that against him.

[sol_annoyance]

Very kind of you! I like being half-human, but I can get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, so to speak. Are you technically the older sibling or is that Dylan?

[definecat]

I find humans tend to overcomplicate things. But they're good company, too.

I am younger, but definitely more mature. By my kind's reckoning, I am adult, despite having only been spawned fairly recently.

[sol_annoyance]

I like to think most of us do our best to be good company

Huh. I'll admit, that's a strange dynamic to have, but if it's working for you guys, who am I to judge?

[Considering his Dad had been in the body of a teenage mortal barely older than Will....]

[definecat]

The internet is very good at judging. Every post I've made has scores of people arguing that I am obviously fake and no cat exists, it's just photoshopped to look like there is one with weird markings.

[sol_annoyance]

I've really only heard about the internet being judgmental, personally. I didn't have much access to it. But it's pretty obvious to me that you exist. Still a weird existential question to ask about a talking/typing cat

[definecat]

Clearly it's a conspiracy. Or it's some kind of performance art piece, like the vloggers who use digital avatars.

[sol_annoyance]

I'd buy a conspiracy theory. Those will never die in popularity. It's almost tempting to see if you could spread a couple around and see what sticks

Also, vloggers with digital avatars? How does that work?

[Is it an alien, Lovecraftian cat that's going to get Will into V-Tubers. Is it, really.]

[definecat]

Well, you can do skins on a lot of voice chat programs. Some are better than others. These days, with the right software, you can have a fully digitally animated figure that mirrors your expressions in pretty much real time.

And because I don't actually have fur unless I want to, the assumption is that whoever's making the videos and pictures doesn't have enough processor to handle it. At least if you don't believe that the cat is an actual physical being.

[sol_annoyance]

That sounds pretty cool! I might have to check that out

Wow. So either they assume you have so much fur that it's breaking the camera or you just don't exist? I wouldn't be surprised if sociology or philosophy professors started using you as material for their courses as some weird case study

[definecat]

Also the idea that animals can't talk is pretty ingrained, so my responding to messages makes them assume there must be a human involved.

I think it's more of a reflection of human nature than mine. I can look like anything I please, and I like being a cat. Much better than a wolf, or trying to create a proper human semblance.

[sol_annoyance]

That makes sense. I've seen weirder, ironically, so I'm probably in the minority

I'm fond of wolves, but cats are objectively and definitively the best, it's true

[Maybe he can convince Nico to adopt a pet skeleton cat.]

[definecat]

Besides, what most people expect of a cat are the kinds of things I'd do, anyway. We're working on some pet-shaming memes to post later. Just have to find the right ones for Dylan.

[sol_annoyance]

Pet-shaming? Actually, no, don't tell me. I think that one might be better explained as an example

[definecat]

I believe it mostly has to do with the fact that humans project the idea that animals feel regret for actions their human housemate finds improper onto their pets. I actually read a study where they found the stance in dogs that humans read as apology or shame is nearly always a response to the current tone of voice of the human, not a correlation with the fact that they just got caught doing something like eating out of the trash can.

[sol_annoyance]

That makes sense. They're pretty sensitive to that, kind of like how horses are

UN: st33lchains

[codicies]

If it looks like a cat, walks like a cat, and is tangible & can be petted like a cat, isn't that enough?

[sol_annoyance]

Depends, does it act like a cat? That's the real deciding factor

Other than the fact that said probable cat is not dead by chocolate