"I'm a lot more than I look like, and a lot less. I'm someone different to everyone else. I'm them and not them. I'm me and not me. Oh, I can change what I look like, and I can moan and complain, but I'm always wrestling against the unseen everything that pushes and pulls and tries to squish me into the shape it pleases. I've just gotten very good at wiggling around that squishening."

He sighs, then frowns, then smiles.

"Would you want to be a whole bird, or a man with bird hands? I can do both!"