Were-Paradise

(Please note that the below is what has been noticed through observation and personal experience. Updated as of 5/8/2016.)

There are a lot of shapeshifters out there. Actually, as a general category, we're quite common, but not as common as we could be. A lot of this is due to the fact that there is actually not a lot of information out there when it comes to what we actually are, and how we function. Yes, there is information on how shapeshifters were portrayed in fiction, and what they were like, but besides that, most of the spotlight focuses on werewolves, and what they do. I can name fifty ways to become a werewolf, but good luck naming fifty ways to become a shapeshifter. Just a shapeshifter. A shapeshifter, but not a werewolf.

Shapeshifters have something different in them from weres. It's something, that allows them to have no limit when shifting, at least form-wise. I personally describe this as being a more "free-flowing" energy that is also erratic, so to speak. It's like having water in a stiff plastic bag.

This is why the shapeshifter I'm talking about probably has an easy time fitting in, while at the same time, is always different than anything it's trying to fit into. To use the moldable water container analogy, it's like having several containers with various liquids in it, and the water is in it's stiff plastic bag. It can mold and fit itself to look like what it needs to, but it will never entirely be like the other liquids in their containers.

And this is probably what makes a shapeshifter kind of "unbelivable" to some of the other shifter types. A werewolf has one form it tends to focus on. A shapehifter can have many, and with each form, even with the acknowledgement that the shifter has multiple forms, it tends to become "less" and less believable to others that so many forms are really being felt. And to the shapeshifter, it can feel annoying-you're one thing, only to suddenly become another, and another, and another, sometimes without your own consent. And when you do accept it, it can be worrisome, at times, to be someone with multiple forms in a place where most people have one form, and worry about people who may mistake you for a fake. (I personally have had to deal with the "no, only werewolves exist" or "no, you can't have another form, what, are you trying to become a hybrid/werewolf/dragon?" crowd on more than one occasion, and it irritates me every time.) It can be an irritation, but it seems to come with the territory.

Another thing I've noticed, from many shapeshifters, is that "gender" doesn't seem to really exist for us. We're beings which move from one thing to another, fluidly and effortlessly. Gender is something we have by nature, but usually we can handle being the other sex. We're not exactly set in stone when it comes to even that.

Shapeshifters probably have about the same amount of energy as any other kind of shifter. The main thing that differs with a shapeshifter is what they have the potential to become, and how it happens for them. Shapeshifters are not limited to a strict "animal" form-they have the very real potential to become things less commonly heard of, such as "humans" or "mythical creatures", or even chimeras of all of the forms they have. They're like a jack of all trades.

The only thing about being a shapeshifter that can make things hard is the constant changing and switching of forms. When you're born with one, it's easy to choose. When you're born with many, you have so many options, and so many things that you can become. You may focus on one form, only for the allure of another to call to you when shifting. You may want to shift into one of your forms, wolf...but then you see a bird outside, and then you feel like being one of them. Focus is key here.

Being a shapeshifter is a different road than being a were or certain other kinds of shifters. It has it's own positives and negatives, but it can be rewarding in the end.