A Question About Shape-shifting

[SpaceGod]

So... Shape-shifting. While not exactly a goal of mine, it seems interesting nonetheless to me. I'm not going to stretch this out too much this time around, and I'm gonna get right to the point. What does it feel like to be in a different form? Say for instance you become a spider-- does it feel 'natural' to have all those legs and move around with them? Or, if you get wings, a limb humans don't even have-- does it feel different, or do you just feel like you normally do?

[lucidbunnie]

In dreams you are shape shifting even as a humanoid. There were times I had over 5 fingers on a hand and I was able to move them. Sometimes fingers sprouting from fingers. It should be somewhat similar. As for non-humanoids, I very rarely try to shape shift into a non-humanoid, especially things like spiders. They are scary... However, I had grown wings and flew. I had non-lucids where I was embodying animal bodies as well. All I can say is it's unique and surreal, but at the same time it feels natural.

[LeaningKarst]

My only experimentation with shape-shifting in lucid dreams has been with wings. Flying with them wasn’t natural the first couple times—partly because I had to figure out how to move them, partly because I was trying to flap them too much when they were more suitable for gliding. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a bit of my motor cortex dedicated to them, just like the muscles I actually have. So yeah, the whole thing was very naturalistic. But I’m not sure how much of that came from the fact that I’d worked with birds and knew quite a bit about the aerodynamics of bird flight going into it, and so I had to accommodate those expectations to make it work. I definitely think that’s the reason the wings are so big: deep down, I know what the weight to surface area ratio would have to be to get airborne, and I've got to make it look plausible to myself.

[Charles3]

I had a few dreams where I was in another form. Once, I was a mouse. Another time I was a plant. But nothing too intensive in morphing. Have you ever read Animorphs? The author describes lots of "shape shifting" from the first person perspective. They are all available online for free here: Richard's Animorphs Forum - Animorphs eBooks (if one link doesn't work try another) From book 5: Spoiler for from books: Fortunately, I have other abilities. It had been a while since I had done this particular morph, but as I concentrated, I could feel it coming back. I slipped into the opening of the alley and hid in the shadow of a very smelly Dumpster. The first thing that happened was the fur. It sprouted quickly from my arms and legs and all down my body. Thick, rough, ragged, black fur. It grew long on my arms and back and head. It was shorter everywhere else. My jaw bulged forward. I could hear the bones in my jaw grind as they stretched and the nonhuman DNA changed my body. Morphing doesn't hurt. It creeps you out some times, but it doesn't hurt. And as morphs go, this one wasn't bad. I mean, I still got to keep all my usual arms and legs and stuff. Not like when I morphed into an osprey. Or a dolphin. I mean, when I was a dolphin, I was breathing through a hole in the back of my neck. With this morph I had arms, as usual. Only they were a lot bigger. A lot bigger. My legs bent forward. My shoulders grew so massive it was like having a couple of pigs sitting on my back. I also had an enormous round belly and a leathery chest. My face was a black, bulging, rubbery mask, and my eyes were practically invisible beneath my heavy brow. I had become a gorilla. Now, here's the thing about gorillas. They are the sweetest animals around. If you leave them alone they will mostly just sit and eat leaves all day. And that's all the gorilla mind really wanted to do right then - eat some leaves, maybe a nice piece of fruit. But I was in that head, too, along with the gorilla's instincts. And I had decided to teach those punks a little lesson. See, now that I was in that gorilla body, I weighed four hundred pounds. And I was mighty strong. How strong? Let me put it this way. Compared to a gorilla, a human being is made out of toothpicks. I wasn't just twice as strong as a man, I was maybe four, five, six times stronger. Also this is from a long lecture but the part relevant to shape shifting is just this minute or two. I think this guy has personally done lots of morphing in what he calls "the phase" so it could be helpfull https://youtu.be/YQjAIlFZWWc?t=1405

[Charles3]

Here's another tip I thought of for shape shifting just now. Listen to audio of that animals sounds. Youtube has audio of many animal's sounds that you can listen to in the back ground. This might help with communicating with other such animals. I'm trying to listen to some dolphin sounds now to see if it helps. This is untested but I felt like indulging myself by posting the theory.

[splodeymissile]

The few times I have shape-shifted, I have had to remind myself periodically about my new form, else I gradually return to human without realising it. As for what it feels like, again, I need to focus on it in order to keep it going, but its like an induced phantom limb sensation. Doesn't matter if its wings or extra arms, it feels like I'm only halfway feeling it. Admittedly, that could be down to my imagination or lack thereof.