Chapter 8: Exo-Shifting and Illusion Shifting
Eranoth laughed to himself as he looked over the topics of the chapter he was actively typing. "One is like changing your cloths the other isn't even technically shapeshifting, it is simply making others perceive you are, well mostly..."
"Let's start with Exo-shifting. First and foremost, this form of shapeshifting is usually considered one of the 'safest' forms of shapeshifting as there are no changes to your existence (Identity, soul, etc) through this method."
"Exo-shifting is usually performed by placing another object onto yourself. Remember my earlier chapter about thief-shifting and the skinwalker? The skinwalker's thief shifting also falls under this category."
"However, let us discuss a more manageable version of this without getting so dark. In The Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask, Link undergoes quite a bit of Exo-shifting. Through the use of soul infused masks, he is able to change his outward appearance to a deku-shrub, a goron, a zora, and some sort of angry demon god.
When the game first begins, the exo-shifting traps poor link into the body that overlaps him. This can make a good character motivator. But know that if used improperly it can also give off a feeling of doom and lead a character to give up on any chance of returning to normal. In the game, they introduce a quest to save the character from their trapped state in order to motivate them into action.
Later, after the trap is over, he gains the ability to remove the masks on his own. Many have issue with this type of 'mask removal because it is essentially taking off your face. In other stories that use this type of shifting, many times it is a time based transformation that will automatically end after a certain duration of time."
"Exo-shifting does not have to be masks. It can be any sort of overlap shifting. Take the 90s-early 2000s cartoon Ben 10. He gains a special watch that allows him to shapeshift into various aliens. If you watch how the transformations take place, it is putting on the shell of the alien with a portion of the mental instincts attached so he can control his new body easier.
The most dangerous part of exo-shifting is the fact that familiarity is almost always at 0% unless some sort of instinct is introduced. If instinct is introduced, that mental shift can sometimes influence later actions on a subtle level especially if you use the same transformation repeatedly."
Alchemical shifting is not exo-shifting. Alchemy changes the state of being rather than changes the cloths temporary or not.
Whoo! Now to talk about the not really shapeshifting but often used power of illusions! As well as one of the few ways to actually have a shapeshifting effect caused by illusions.
"Illusion-shifting as the name clearly states is the use of illusions to 'shift'. Illusion-shifting is a bit more complex than just casting a simple illusion. You have to use the power of illusion to trick the other senses as well."
"Illusions rely heavily on the power of belief. The mind is very complex and has an interesting quirk. IF you 100% believe you have been hit by something, it will have hit you even if it doesn't exist. Illusions can't replicate a physical form, however it can be used to touch the nerves of the eyes, eardrums, nose, skin, and tongue. By doing so you are replicating a full sensation of the object. An illusion can hit you and it will hurt because it feels real.
To explain the illusion concept a bit more clearly I will use a non-shifting example. An illusion sword comes into contact with a person. Their nerves respond to it because that is how illusion magic functions. If they believe the sword is real, it will 'cut them'. Or more accurately their body will harm itself because it thinks it was harmed by an external source.
Most Illusion shifting is mealy using the above trick to cause the viewer to perceive something as it is not."
"And now we switch to the opposite side of illusion shifting. This is actually a very mean illusion. This drastically messes with the mind of the victim.
Targeted Illusion shifting. Illusionist uses illusion to target all 5 (or 5+ Senses) of a target and surrounding bystanders. That target falls under the illusion their body is undergoing a transformation. Sadly, this cannot be used on oneself because your knowledge of it being an illusion from the start will ruin the effect.
If the illusionist can convince the brain of the target they are truly undergoing the transformation, the victim's mind and body will respond accordingly.
Example, illusionist targets a person and uses an illusion to make that person see, hear, feel, etc transforming into a werewolf. In the person's panic, if the illusion can convince the brain the transformation is real, the victim will actually physically transform into a werewolf.
This type of illusion shifting is not easy to pull off. And usually requires convicting more than just the victim the transformation is real. The illusionist has to pay attention to a large number of details to maintain the illusion. If the victim speaks because their face has changed, the illusionist has to change what everyone hears coming out of their mouth. If someone hits their tail, the sense of touch has to register heavily enough to convince the brain the tail is real.
As the illusion nears the conclusion of the transformation there is a whole lot less to worry about as the victim's physical body has matched the transformation.
If the victim becomes aware of the illusion mid-transformation the mind and body will revert because the power of belief no longer holds it there.
However, if the transformation completes or the illusion ends and the victim remains unaware for a time, the effects stay. Learning that it was originally an illusion will no longer force snap them back as they are also aware their transformation was also real. In some cases, the illusionist can even end the illusion early and the body will keep transforming because the belief becomes that strong.
A bit of warning though if you use this type of shifting.
1:The mind and soul will end up clashing with the new body unless they experience something else to get their mind and soul to harmonize.
2:This type of shapeshifting is typically harmful to the target and not usually used to help others. However there are always exceptions.
3: Applying hypnosis during this process will increase the speed of the transformation and can also cause the mind to adapt to the new body faster. Hypnosis puts the sub-conscious and the conscious brains at the same speed or suppressing the conscious brain allowing the target to become more susceptible to the influence of illusions.
Well, that's it for today. Hopefully I have written enough of this to get my brain to focus on my actual stories again. Good luck everyone!
© J Eranoth
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Eranoth
Eranoth Welp, off to write other things now. Hope this lore chapter was insightful. As i mentioned before, i will work on this when I don't have the inspiration for other stories. Good luck fellow authors!
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