Since a demon's appearance is just a cover (I think?) if, say a female demon (do demons actually have gender?) were to acquire a male's role, would the demon appear male in that cover?
this is only tangentially related to "How would a demonic pact for home, and deceased wife and child work?"
Generally, Demons are above the concept of Gender. Some choose to stick with the gender of their first Cover, but others switch regularly. Depending on the way the Cover was acquired, it will usually decide upon the gender of the demon while using that Cover. Soul Pacts that are triggered to form new Covers are the primary way that gender will come pre-determined.
Patchwork Covers are a little more ambiguous. While it is possible for a pact to include a concept like "gender", it's significantly more confusing as to how that would affect the pact-taker. I would generally rule that the Demon chooses the gender when (s)he does the initial compilation of the Cover.
I think that the story Thnetosis in Demon: Interface demonstrates how Covers work wonderfully. I highly recommend this story if you want to understand a Demon getting Burned and how it can attain new Covers, including a demonstration of the question I asked here.
This is all spoilers for the story, of course.
Charlotte gives up her job at Starbucks and her ex-girlfriend Robin. “I hope you decide to be a dude in your new life. It’s really going to confuse Robin and all of her shitty friends if she has an ex-boyfriend all of a sudden, but it’ll serve her right.”
[...]
“I live with my two cats in Mr. and Mrs. Caruthers’ basement apartment,” he says, “and I work in the coffee shop on Grand and 15th. Everyone knows me at the Silver Spurs, where I have a beer and watch baseball at least two evenings a week. I once dated a lesbian named Robin Small. My name is Abraham, but you can all call me Abe. My friends call me Abe.”
He opens his eyes and smiled at Cole. “And I have the bizarre habit of leaping into Lake Erie on the coldest day of the year. Yes...this will do. It’s a bit scattered, but it will definitely do.”
Cole smiles, Charlotte starts laughing, and Alex, finally, lets himself slump down to the
I think it's worth noting that for Robin, there is probably no "all of a sudden", and it'll probably have been written off as a "phase", or something. This is never clarified in the story.
