LIGHTNOVELONLINE Prelude pt.2 – Live Stream Follow-Up
The stream opened to the Really Strange Stuff logo, but that faded a moment later to reveal a tall slim sultry-looking catgirl. Her long jet-black hair hung down past her shoulders, while two tall black tufted feline ears stood up ontop of her head. Her almond-shaped eyes were a bright emerald green, and her tanned olive skin appeared flawless. She wore some subtle make-up, and the RSS logo on her black t-shirt was a little stretched and distorted by the swell of her chest.
"Hello folks," she smiled at the camera. "My name is Serenity Varela, and once again we're streaming live from the Really Strange Stuff world headquarters, just outside of Chicago."
The catgirl continued, "I'd like to remind you all that our friend Gorgonz-Hola is moderating the chat again this evening, and like last week he's got the big ban-hammer raised and ready."
After a glance off to the side at her tablet she commented, "I can see we've already got more than twice as many viewers with us tonight as we did last time, so I'm going to assume you've all seen last week's video? This should come as no surprise, but we're going to be discussing some of the same topics and themes as last week, by which I mean LGBTQ stuff. And of course we'll be talking about what actually went down here."
"Once again we have the amazing and capable Bailey operating the cameras," Serenity added. "She'll be taking care of all the technical stuff again too."
The catgirl paused for a sip of her drink, which as usual was being kept cool inside a Really Strange Stuff branded can coozie. Order yours today from the RSS merch shop!
The image finally panned to the right, where a second catgirl was sitting. She was noticeably shorter than Serenity, her figure was best described as petite and busty. Her multi-coloured hair was in a short pixie-cut, streaks of brown, orange, black, and white all sort of randomly mixed together in a chaotic but playful way. Her cat ears bore the same calico colours, as did her long sleek tail.
Her orange t-shirt also had the RSS logo across the front, but it was even more distorted as it stretched over her bountiful chest. Overall though, the calico host looked cute, where Serenity looked hot. The smaller catgirl also seemed a bit uneasy or nervous, as if she wasn't as comfortable yet in front of the camera, in contrast to the taller girl's calm cool relaxed style.
"Hi folks," the calico catgirl greeted the camera with an uneasy smile. "This is weird as all hells but we may as well get it out of the way, right? So I've decided to stick with the name Callie. I know Serenity just kind of pulled it out of her ass on the spur of the moment last week, but it fits. And it's not like I had anything else in mind."
She paused for a sip from her Really Strange Stuff branded coffee mug. Then she set the mug aside and addressed the camera, "Like my cohost said, shout-out to Bailey for taking care of all the technical stuff behind the scenes. And shout-out to Gorgonz-Hola for being our chat mod once again."
Serenity was looking at her tablet while Callie spoke, but the tall dark and sexy catgirl looked to the camera a moment later.
"You folks in the chat are correct," she said while her floofy tail twitched a bit next to her leg. "The energy level on the stream is different tonight. Obviously. It's been a hell of week my friends, for both Callie and I. Hopefully you can all understand that? Maybe next month things will be more familiar, but right now we're all still dealing with some pretty heavy stuff."
"Honestly folks," she added with a sigh, "The only reason we're doing a stream right now is that we promised to get back to you by the end of the week. None of us are really up for it ok? So please cut us some slack."
Callie was looking at her phone too as she added, "I can see Gorgonz-Hola's already had to boot a half dozen people from the chat, so let's make this clear ok? No hatred, no bigotry. If you're looking to spout off against trans people or gays or lesbians or anything like that, save us all the trouble and just go away. That kind of thing's not welcome here, and anyone spouting that crap will be asked to leave. And by asked, I mean swatted into the sun by the Gorgon's big ban-hammer."
"And to address the other question a bunch of you are asking," the calico catgirl continued, "No this is not a publicity stunt or a ploy to replace 'Keith and Chaz' with a couple new catgirl hosts. If you folks haven't actually seen last week's stream yet then go watch it and see for yourselves ok? We're the same people as always. Only difference is our names. And now we're catgirls."
Serenity nodded, "And that brings us to the first big talking point for tonight. A bunch of you already guessed last week, and this is obviously not breaking news anymore, but the fact is I'm trans."
The camera zoomed in on the tall sultry catgirl as she continued, "I was pretty much in egg mode for the last couple years, but a few months back I finally hatched. I figured myself out, realized I was trans, but I kind of panicked and stayed in the closet out of fear. I wasn't sure if my best friend and cohost would still accept me if I tried to transition. I wasn't sure if you folks would stick with the channel if you knew one of your hosts was trans. And I had no idea what my friends and family would think."
"And let's face it," she added with a sigh, "Some parts of the world aren't exactly friendly and accommodating to trans people. It's not too bad around here at the RSS world headquarters, but there's plenty of places not too far away where it's downright dangerous to be trans."
She paused for another sip of her drink then shrugged, "When we got the tip about Kid Chaos and the magic plushies I offered to do the undercover thing. And yeah, even though I've personally met and interviewed a couple catgirls when we were up in Canada I never actually believed this sort of thing could happen to me. Even after talking with Kid Chaos online, even after that box arrived in the mail, I still wasn't ready to believe it."
"Then last week happened," Serenity paused for a moment, and from her expression it seemed like she didn't know whether to laugh or frown. In the end it was a smile that won as she stated, "Not gonna lie, I'm incredibly happy. This is way more than anything I could have hoped for if I was brave enough to transition normally. I love how I look. Even the fuzzy ears and fluffy tail, it's all purrfect. No I'm not going to apologize for the pun."
She had another gulp of her drink then nodded, "So that's my big coming-out, about a week too late. My name is Serenity Varela. My pronouns are she-her, I'm trans, and I'm a girl. Now I'll throw it back to my cohost. Callie?"
The camera panned over to the left, where the smaller calico catgirl was sitting. She had her phone in one hand and her mug in the other, and the tip of her tail was twitching around next to her.
Callie blushed as she set her mug aside and addressed the camera, "So I don't exactly have a big coming-out speech. I'm not trans, I wasn't hoping to become a girl. Or a catgirl. Having said that, I'm not exactly suffering here. Yeah it's an adjustment, but I'm getting used to it. I owe a huge thanks to both Serenity and Bailey, for being so patient and so helpful over this past week."
"The bottom line is," she said with a grimace, "I'm the idiot who ignored all the warnings and triggered the enchanted plushies. Like Serenity said, we've met and interviewed real live catgirls. We know demi-humans are real. And we were told, warned, that those plushies would transform us. So what did I do? I fucked around and found out."
The calico catgirl hesitated a moment then shrugged, "I've spent the last what, ten years of my life trying to find proof of all the really strange shit that's out there. Magic, supernatural beings, cryptids, ghosts, the paranormal, you name it. You folks who've been with us for a while have seen it all, right? We've done ghost hunts, we've looked into ESP, tried to find evidence of magic, we've chased cryptids in the woods, and we finally got a break when we tracked those demi-humans down in Canada. We even met a real life gods-damned werewolf!"
"Last week I did something pretty stupid," she admitted. "But that meant we got proof of real magic right here on our stream. Now I'm living proof of the existence of demi-humans, same as Serenity. So like I said, it's an adjustment and everything? But it's worth it."
There was another pause like she was trying to remember if there was anything else she needed to say.
After a few moments the camera girl spoke up as she sort of stage-whispered, "Pronouns?"
"Oh right!" the calico nodded. "Thanks Bailey."
Then she focused on the camera again and stated, "So my new name is Callie Wilson, and I'm now a catgirl. I'm going with she-her pronouns from now on too. But like I said at the start of the stream, I'm still the same person I always was. So is Serenity. Yes we've both picked new names to go along with the new looks, but we're still going to be here bringing you all the really strange stuff you folks can handle."
That seemed to be the end of her little speech, as she picked up her coffee mug and had another sip of its contents. The camera panned back so both hosts were in the shot again, to reveal Serenity looking at her tablet screen once more.
The tall ravenette catgirl looked up at the camera as she said, "I've seen a whole lot of questions scroll by on the chat, maybe we can answer a few of them? One that a lot of you are asking is what's it like? Or what's it feel like?"
"I can't speak for Callie," she continued, "But personally I think it's amazing. I love my new body, and I'm grateful to Kid Chaos for sending those enchanted toys. She's a literal godsend for trans folks, getting an instant magical transition is honestly the best thing in the world."
After another glance at her tablet she added, "Actually changing, the magic part, that doesn't feel like anything. It's hard to explain but when it first happened I didn't even notice? Like it wasn't until Bailey was freaking out at us that I finally realized me and Callie had turned into cats? Then I was sort of shocked and startled."
"Being a cat is kind of nice too by the way," she smiled. "I've done it a half dozen times over the past week, it's pretty nice curling up on a chair in some sunlight."
Callie blushed as she agreed, "I was definitely freaked out at first, even though the note told us exactly what to expect? But I've done the same, turned myself into a kitty a few times since then. It's uh..."
Her voice trailed off as she looked past the camera while her cheeks got a bit brighter, "It's really nice curling up in my girlfriend's lap, and getting pets and scritches."
"You don't have to turn into a cat for that," Bailey's voice responded from behind the scenes. The camera girl sounded like she was smiling as she added, "You're a total sucker for headpats and ear scritches as a catgirl too."
Serenity was looking at her tablet again, then she leaned closer and whispered something to Callie. The calico catgirl made a face then rolled her eyes, before addressing the camera again.
"So a bunch of you are asking if Bailey and I are still together since I turned into a girl," she sighed. "That's kind of a personal question, and it's not really anyone else's business but ours."
Then Callie looked past the camera once more and asked, "Bailey? Why don't you come over here and join me and Serenity for a bit."
"Um, no thanks?" the camera girl responded in a shy voice.
"Yeah c'mon!" the calico catgirl insisted. "Just for a minute or two, it'll be good. Let the viewers see the pretty face that's behind all the hard work you put into this!"
It took a bit more encouragement before the third member of the team finally emerged from behind the camera. Like in her brief appearance the week before, she wore jeans and a hoodie. Her red hair was a little messy, and she nervously adjusted her glasses as she approached the two catgirls on the sofa.
Callie moved over closer to Serenity, so the petite calico was in the middle between the taller ravenette catgirl and the shy redhead. Bailey looked to be about average height, which meant she was definitely a few inches taller than the small catgirl who used to be her boyfriend. Even with the three of them seated the height differences were obvious. Serenity was clearly the tallest, and Callie the shortest by far.
"Ok folks," the small calico announced to the camera. "This is Bailey. I know you've seen glimpses of her before, but I think this is the first time she's officially joined us on the sofa as part of the stream."
Bailey nervously waved at the camera while her freckled cheeks grew another shade brighter red, "Hi folks."
Then Callie looked to the redhead and asked, "So what do you think? Should we answer that question?"
The camera girl grimaced and cringed slightly, then finally shrugged. "Like you said it's nobody's business but ours? But um, yeah. We're working things out. Callie's still the same person as before, same personality, same sense of humour, same passions and drive. Yes she looks different, but we're both adapting."
"Ok folks," Serenity spoke up in a firm voice. "I see Gorgonz-Hola's just booted another dozen or so people from the chat for homomisic bullshit, and a few more for general inappropriateness. I think that means it's time for us to wrap it up here."
Bailey took that as her cue to get back into position behind the scenes. She did give Callie a very quick hug though, before getting up and hurrying out of view off-camera.
Meanwhile the ravenette catgirl continued, "Me and Callie and Bailey are probably going to take a week or two off to finish sorting ourselves out and adjusting to these changes? Then Really Strange Stuff will be back, same as always. We'll be bringing you the strange, the weird, the unexplained stuff you've come to expect from us."
"Thanks for tuning in tonight folks," Callie added. "I know the streams last week and tonight have both been a little shorter than usual, but like Serenity said earlier we've been going through some stuff. Some, dare I say it, Really Strange Stuff."
The calico catgirl smiled as she added, "I'm a gods-damn catgirl folks! Can you believe it? Same with my buddy Serenity here! Like holy cow, right?!"
It almost felt like some of their old energy was starting to return at that point. Serenity smiled and raised up her can coozie in a toast, "Damn straight Callie. So once again, shout-outs to Bailey and Gorgonz-Hola for all their work behind the scenes. And shout-out to Kid Chaos, for giving me and Callie a taste of real honest-to-gods magic."
"Shout-out Bailey!" Callie agreed enthusiastically. "Shout-out to the Gorgon! And shout-out Kid Chaos! This is Callie and Serenity for Really Strange Stuff, and we'll see all you folks again real soon!"
