I feel like maybe we don't talk about envision/envisage shifts enough because they're the type of shift I feel are asked about most often.
So I don't know who needs to hear this but you may experience envision/envisage shifts if you have times where when envisioning yourself 'in your minds eye' you only see your type or a mix of your type and current body and find it difficult or impossible to see anything but. This may or not also involve a change in perception of visible body parts as if there were a mental 'overlay' on top of what can be physically seen. This may or may not involve getting involuntary 'mental pictures' of your current self as you go about other activities. These can be in conjuction with mental shifts, phantom limbs etc
While some seem more common than others, there are actually MANY types of shifts in our alterhuman, nonhuman, otherhuman, etc. communities. I will mention all the ones I know, but feel free to add to my list!
I have already published a French version of this post, today I present to you the English version! (and I'm sorry for my quite bad English, I use often Google translation)
Happy reading!𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼
The mental shift
is one of the most well-known shifts in our community. During a mental shift, the individual's mentality becomes more or less like that of his type.
If the individual's type is an animal, for example, he may begin to think in a more animalistic way, relying even more on his instincts.
The phantom shift
is also one of the most well-known shifts. During this shift, the individual feels one or more body parts of their type, in addition to or superimposed on their body. These members can be tails, whiskers, snouts, fins, feathers, beaks, pads, shells, additional or different legs, etc. This sensation can vary depending on the individual.
Some will describe it as feeling like the member is actually there, and some will feel it as an energy, as if their soul is "protruding" from their body.
This part of the body is not visible.
Some people experience "phantom pain", such as getting their phantom wings stuck in a door, for exemple.
The perception shift
changes the individual's perception to bring it closer to that of his type. It can influence the way he sees himself, or the way he sees the world around him. (not to be confused with mental shift!)
The sensory shift
alters the perception of one or more senses (hearing, smell, sight, touch, and/or even taste), to be closer to those of its type. This does not really give superpowers, but rather focuses the shifter on some of his senses, distracting him from others.
There are several subcategories of sensory shift, such as auditory shift, olfactory shift, etc.
The cameo shift
can be quite strange, especially for those who are not used to it. A cameo shift is when you shift into something, someone, a creature, etc. but that one does not identify as this one. A cameo shift can appear in any form of shift.
Example: A unicorn otherkith experiences a unicorn ghost shift, this shift is a ghost cameo shift, because this individual does not identify as a unicorn.
An average human can experience this type of shift.
The koita shift
is often considered a subcategory of the cameo shift (the few times it is discussed). A koita shift is a shift triggered by looking at an animal/creature/etc. that one does not identify with. This shift can be triggered by looking at a visual medium (an image, a video), or by looking directly at this one/this.
Like the cameo shift, it can appear in every possible shift form.
The emotionnal shift
is a shift (of any form) caused by an emotion (often intense).
The space shift
is a shift quite well known to conceptkins, voidkins, elementkins, or even musickins. During a space shift, the individual has the sensation of filling a space, just like their type.
Example: A water elementkin swims in the ocean, it feels like it stretches as far as the eye can see as the water around it.
The aura shift
During this shift an individual's aura changes to become more in line with that of their type. This shift is often spiritual, but can also be explained/experienced psychologically.
The bilocation shift
The individual feels as if he is in two places at once. He will see the vision of his type at the same time as that of his body, and/or will feel the environment of his two locations at the same time.
The astral shift
is most often voluntary, and difficult to trigger. It is a shift often considered spiritual, but can be explained psychologically. During this shift, the individual's soul leaves his physical body and then transforms into or is his type. It is a kind of astral travel.
The dream shift
is a shift experienced in a dream, a dream where one is one's type or a dream where one transforms into one's type. This shift can be a memory from a past life.
The feral shift
is a shift experienced most often by clinical zooanthropes (clinical lycanthropes, clinical cinantropes, ect) where they involuntarily lose control of their body, where their animal part takes over.
These shifts can be dangerous because the individual may be frightened by the human world around him and act in a way that puts himself in danger, or can attempt to do things that their human body cannot do.
Some beings don't remember what happened during this shift after experiencing it.
The basercal shift
is the same as feral shift, but voluntary.
The shadow shift
is a shift most often caused by an optical illusion or a small hallucination. It is when an individual's shadow changes to become more or less like that of their type.
The miror shift
is a shift similar to the shadow shift, but with a mirror. It is when an individual's reflection changes to become more or less like that of their type.
physical shift (or P-shift)
is a shift caused by delusions and hallucinations. It is when an individual thinks they are or thinks they can transform into their type. The transformation can be complete or partial, and can be painful.
The soulrip shift
is often described as an extremely painful experience. When individual has a soulrip shift, they feel as though their soul or the essence of their type is being violently torn from their body. It can manifest in various forms, including phantom shifts, mental shifts, spiritual shifts, shadow shifts, or other types of shifts.
Example: a mental soulrip shift may involve overwhelming thoughts and emotions related to the feeling of losing one's identity or core essence. This can cause panic, fear, and/or existential distress.
Exemple 2: During a phantom soulrip shift, an individual may feel as though their phantom limbs are being forcibly ripped from their physical body.
[the following was written during a mental shift and has now been copypasted a few times because of sharing it in a few different places. context wasn't originally added but anything in brackets () are notes added here specifically]
Shift. Dunno of what but happened immediately upon entering (bed) room again after a thought of harpy kintype. Think was a mental shift. Still in it a bit maybe (have since had the shift seem to end not long after this was originally written). The quads came naturally as part of the shift mentality (this said from that we don't do quadrobics much anymore usually in part due to low space). May have been more than one type shifted, had a brief moment that felt very dog, trying to chase my tail, or my legs in this case since no phantom limbs with this one. Briefly fangs but they're a frequent one. Was (a) fun (I don't think this was quite the right word) little animalistic moment (it was certainly an animalistic moment though yes) and I don't think I care what type it was a shift of (maybe do, maybe don't, probably wouldn't be able to figure it out clearly anyways if I tried to).
Still thinking about the shift I experienced Wednesday night. It was a paleo shift. Velociraptor was my first thought but I’m still doing research and I did have some prey drive when hearing the evening insects chirping, there’s a lot of dinosaurs with physical features that could match what I was feeling.
I started inside, walking and then running around my house. I was on the balls of my feet, leaned forward, with my arms tucked in the dinosaur pose and my fingers curled like talons. I experimented a bit with vocalizations.
Then I went in to my balcony, it was a bit hazy but still clear enough to see the sky. Now I always enjoy star gazing, but something felt completely different seeing them in the state I was in.
So I went outside. I explored around my apartment complex, I wanted to go into the wooded patch next to us but unfortunately there’s a lot of litter and broken glass back there. So I headed down the street.
It was late enough at night that there weren't other pedestrians and only a few cars. I spent awhile just walking around, viewing my street through fresh eyes. Everything felt so different, the way the stink of the city burned in my nose, the way it felt to look at the stars, the feeling of the breeze, the noises I paid attention to, it was amazing! Obviously my sense can’t actually change, even though id like that, but I certainly experienced everything through a new perspective. I even found some new trinkets for my nest as well!
If you have any questions about alter/nonhumanity, feel free to ask me! I often see people hesitating to ask bloggers questions, and ultimately not doing so because they are afraid of disturbing them...
I want to tell you that you won't bother me at all! On the contrary, I love answering questions (and so do many bloggers)!
On the other paw, I am not very educated on the subject of physical alter/nonhumans and plural systems (I at least know the definitions and some other stuff), although I support them. I don't want to spread misinformation about these two great communities.
how would u describe envisage shifts? how do I know when it’s an envisage shift or just me purposefully imagining myself with certain features? does it have to be involuntary?
Well, it's important to note that I'm not the one who coined 'envisage shifts' though I'm sorry to say I can't direct you to who did. So I can only give my opinion.
And in my opinion, envisage shifts can be induced voluntarily and can occur involuntarily too. That being said, the involuntary shifts will be the easiest to recognise as you didn't 'choose' to envision them.
The difference between just imagining and a voluntary envisage shift then? I think it's a matter of strength. Just using your imagination to picture yourself as your 'type will take more effort to create and maintain, whilst if you induce a shift it will just stick with you for a while and not require you to think about it as much to keep it there. It might in fact be difficult to voluntarily end it!
I'm sorry I don't really have anything insightful to say!
