Date First Written: October 2018; Date Last Updated: February 2021
Our Experiences With Cameo Shifting
Defining Cameo Shifting
Cameo shifting is when an individual experiences a shift of a nonhuman animal that is different than the species they identify as. The kind of shift itself can be any other kind of shift (dream, phantom, mental, or otherwise). Experience of cameo shifts can vary from rare to common among individual people. Also, the intensity of the shift and the length of time the shift lasts can vary as well from person to person. Finally, the nonhuman animal or being the person shifts into can be a common subject for a cameo shift for an individual or a person can never have a have cameo shift of the same nonhuman species twice. Cameo shifts occur for any number of reasons or causes and even just be seemingly random with no explanation for why it happened and why this or that species was involved. For some examples of cameo shifting: a wolf therian experiencing cameo shifts of phantom wings off and on, and a leopard therian experiencing a random mental shifts of a horse once.
Shifting doesn't make someone a therian just as nor does not experiencing shifting mean someone is not a therian. While shifting generally comes naturally as part of the package of being a therianthrope, anyone (even if they are not otherkin) is capable of shifting. It is fairly common for young and/or newer people to the community to mistake cameo shifts for a theriotype. It is also common for non-therians to question or conclude they are therians due to experiencing shifts though they do not identify as the nonhuman animals involved. It is for this reason the therianthrope community so highly recommends members do not jump to concluding a therioype solely based on shifts (especially only on a few shifts) alone. Even shifts with the same species that happen more than once doesn't necessarily indicate a theriotype given people experiencing cameo shifts from the same animal over and over is not unheard of.
Introduction To Our Cameo Shifts
Cameo shifts are actually ironically the only proper distinctive "shift" we still experience, as all our other experiences (relating to mentality, phantom limbs, dreams, etc) are of such a constant and so unchanging nature. While other kinds of shifting is caused by our individual species identities, cameo shifts are not. For most other people the cause of cameo shifting is usually unknown, for us we are well aware of the most common cause for our cameo shifts. For us, our cameo shifts are almost always caused by our multiplicity. When cameo shifting occurs for us it is almost always is in relation to fronting or the front in some way (Fronting mean being in control of the body and front meaning the direct awareness of the world around our body.) In fact, something like 98-99% of the time our experiences with cameo shifts are caused by fellow headmates. The most common ways our multiplicity leads to cameo shifts is either from experience bleed-over between people cofronting (two or more people controlling the body at the same time) or due to an aftereffect right after switching control of our physical body. A less common situation with our cameo shifts involves what happens when either to many people are cofronting at once or whomever is fronting is uncertain of who they are for some reason or another.
Cameo Shifts Caused By Recent Switching
Cameo shifts because two people recently switched is fairly common and is one of the most common cause of cameo shifts for us. This kind of cameo shift for us occurs when one person has changed over control of our physical to another person in our body (an act called switching) but some of the experiences of the person letting go of control of our physical body remains for the person coming into front to experience for of belief amount of time while they settle in. This experiences feels sort of like an after image of sorts. It is sort of like an impression of what the last fronter was experiencing while they had been fronting. This after-effect usually deals some aspect of the animal instincts the past fronter lives with and/or experiencing the fading feeling of past fronter's phantom body. Cameo shifts from resent switching tend to be fleeting experiences usually only lasts anywhere from a few seconds to only a few minutes, but this kind of cameo shift lasting closer to an hour has happened once or twice before over the years. This cause of a cameo shift is fairly common among our multiple system as it tends to happen at some point every day or so depending on how often we switch any given day. It doesn’t happen every time we switch, but it is a pretty common occurrence though it doesn’t last long.
Cameo shifting is when an individual experiences a shift of a nonhuman animal that is different than the species they identify as. The kind of shift itself can be any other kind of shift (dream, phantom, mental, or otherwise). Experience of cameo shifts can vary from rare to common among individual people. Also, the intensity of the shift and the length of time the shift lasts can vary as well from person to person. Finally, the nonhuman animal or being the person shifts into can be a common subject for a cameo shift for an individual or a person can never have a have cameo shift of the same nonhuman species twice. Cameo shifts occur for any number of reasons or causes and even just be seemingly random with no explanation for why it happened and why this or that species was involved. For some examples of cameo shifting: a wolf therian experiencing cameo shifts of phantom wings off and on, and a leopard therian experiencing a random mental shifts of a horse once.
Shifting doesn't make someone a therian just as nor does not experiencing shifting mean someone is not a therian. While shifting generally comes naturally as part of the package of being a therianthrope, anyone (even if they are not otherkin) is capable of shifting. It is fairly common for young and/or newer people to the community to mistake cameo shifts for a theriotype. It is also common for non-therians to question or conclude they are therians due to experiencing shifts though they do not identify as the nonhuman animals involved. It is for this reason the therianthrope community so highly recommends members do not jump to concluding a therioype solely based on shifts (especially only on a few shifts) alone. Even shifts with the same species that happen more than once doesn't necessarily indicate a theriotype given people experiencing cameo shifts from the same animal over and over is not unheard of.
Introduction To Our Cameo Shifts
Cameo shifts are actually ironically the only proper distinctive "shift" we still experience, as all our other experiences (relating to mentality, phantom limbs, dreams, etc) are of such a constant and so unchanging nature. While other kinds of shifting is caused by our individual species identities, cameo shifts are not. For most other people the cause of cameo shifting is usually unknown, for us we are well aware of the most common cause for our cameo shifts. For us, our cameo shifts are almost always caused by our multiplicity. When cameo shifting occurs for us it is almost always is in relation to fronting or the front in some way (Fronting mean being in control of the body and front meaning the direct awareness of the world around our body.) In fact, something like 98-99% of the time our experiences with cameo shifts are caused by fellow headmates. The most common ways our multiplicity leads to cameo shifts is either from experience bleed-over between people cofronting (two or more people controlling the body at the same time) or due to an aftereffect right after switching control of our physical body. A less common situation with our cameo shifts involves what happens when either to many people are cofronting at once or whomever is fronting is uncertain of who they are for some reason or another.
Cameo Shifts Caused By Recent Switching
Cameo shifts because two people recently switched is fairly common and is one of the most common cause of cameo shifts for us. This kind of cameo shift for us occurs when one person has changed over control of our physical to another person in our body (an act called switching) but some of the experiences of the person letting go of control of our physical body remains for the person coming into front to experience for of belief amount of time while they settle in. This experiences feels sort of like an after image of sorts. It is sort of like an impression of what the last fronter was experiencing while they had been fronting. This after-effect usually deals some aspect of the animal instincts the past fronter lives with and/or experiencing the fading feeling of past fronter's phantom body. Cameo shifts from resent switching tend to be fleeting experiences usually only lasts anywhere from a few seconds to only a few minutes, but this kind of cameo shift lasting closer to an hour has happened once or twice before over the years. This cause of a cameo shift is fairly common among our multiple system as it tends to happen at some point every day or so depending on how often we switch any given day. It doesn’t happen every time we switch, but it is a pretty common occurrence though it doesn’t last long.
Experience Example Exhibition: Sky Singer takes control of the body from Earth Listener. As Earth Listener moves away from front and Sky Singer settles in, Sky Singer continues to feel Earth Listener’s phantom body vaguely. He feels our physical body but instead of his phantom body he still feels the shape of a large wolf-like canid in the same place as our phantom body. Second after switching control, the phantom body of Earth Listener subsides as Sky Singer feels his phantom body manifest. Sky Singer rather quickly only feels our system’s physical body and his phantom body with no hint of Earth Listener’s phantom body remaining anymore.
Experience Example Exhibition: Galatea / White-As-Milk is leaving front while Ereigo / Velvet Whiskers is taking over. As Ereigo / Velvet Whiskers settles in she has the faint foreign experience of feeling light and fleet footed as well as feeling warier of being hunted. She feels as if she is momentarily standing in the pawprints of another animal very different than own. She still feels her felinity but it is momentarily overshadowed by something different. The feeling begins to fade rather quickly. In less than a minute the feeling has gone.
Cameo Shifts Caused By Cofronting
The other common way of experiencing a cameo shift in our system is during the act of confronting. Cofronting being when two or more people in a system are sharing control of the physical body at the same time (sometimes equally, sometimes with one or more people being the one mainly in control). If cameo shifts from switching is the most common way to have such a shift, cameo shifts caused from confronting is the most common way to have cameo shifts that can potentially last the longest. The act of two or more people sharing control of our physical body can lead to each of those people confronting either experiencing the other's nonhuman experiences as well and/or being very aware of the details of their current state. How much this "bleed-over" can occur, and thus how strongly it is experienced, varies greatly depending on who is involved, how well they mess together, and just how things fall in that frame of time.
A common experience of bleed-over is where those cofronting end up feeling their fellow's phantom body overlapping their own phantom body. So for those cofronting together they may not only experience their own constant phantom body overlapping our physical body, but they may also feel each other's phantom body overlaying as well to some extent or another. This overlay may be less vivid as their own phantom body or may be as vivid as their own. Normally, cameo shifts of each other's phantom bodies are less vivid than our own phantom body's. Very, very rarely those confronting may have their phantom bodies combine into a hybrid beast of some sort. The reason why this sometimes occurs isn’t known. A less common, but still fairly common thing to bleed-over while cofronting is instincts or other nonhuman mindsets. These kinds of cameo shifts caused by confronting tend to be fairly shallow with another’ person’s instincts not overriding or outshining a person’s own way of thinking. We’ve never experienced cameo sensory shifts, cameo dream shifts, cameo bilocation shifts, or cameo journey shifts. Cameo shifts do not happen every time people in our system share front, but it does occur fairly often while cofronting. Also how long theexperience of a cameo shift caused by confronting lasts is limited by how long confronting lasts. These kinds of cameo shifts don’t last longer than the confronting lasts.
The other common way of experiencing a cameo shift in our system is during the act of confronting. Cofronting being when two or more people in a system are sharing control of the physical body at the same time (sometimes equally, sometimes with one or more people being the one mainly in control). If cameo shifts from switching is the most common way to have such a shift, cameo shifts caused from confronting is the most common way to have cameo shifts that can potentially last the longest. The act of two or more people sharing control of our physical body can lead to each of those people confronting either experiencing the other's nonhuman experiences as well and/or being very aware of the details of their current state. How much this "bleed-over" can occur, and thus how strongly it is experienced, varies greatly depending on who is involved, how well they mess together, and just how things fall in that frame of time.
A common experience of bleed-over is where those cofronting end up feeling their fellow's phantom body overlapping their own phantom body. So for those cofronting together they may not only experience their own constant phantom body overlapping our physical body, but they may also feel each other's phantom body overlaying as well to some extent or another. This overlay may be less vivid as their own phantom body or may be as vivid as their own. Normally, cameo shifts of each other's phantom bodies are less vivid than our own phantom body's. Very, very rarely those confronting may have their phantom bodies combine into a hybrid beast of some sort. The reason why this sometimes occurs isn’t known. A less common, but still fairly common thing to bleed-over while cofronting is instincts or other nonhuman mindsets. These kinds of cameo shifts caused by confronting tend to be fairly shallow with another’ person’s instincts not overriding or outshining a person’s own way of thinking. We’ve never experienced cameo sensory shifts, cameo dream shifts, cameo bilocation shifts, or cameo journey shifts. Cameo shifts do not happen every time people in our system share front, but it does occur fairly often while cofronting. Also how long theexperience of a cameo shift caused by confronting lasts is limited by how long confronting lasts. These kinds of cameo shifts don’t last longer than the confronting lasts.
Experience Example Exhibition: Grizzly Ears is fronting. One-White-Sock comes toward front but rather than asking for Grizzly Ears to switch with him, he simply arrives to confront with him. They begin sharing equal control over the physical body as they walk to work. As they go, One-White-Sock feels a hint of an alien prey drive while seeing a squirrel slowly run across the sidewalk to another tree. Grizzly Ears, of course, also had his prey drive activate but didn’t flitch forward the impulse to act on it. Together they walk to our work without any incident.
Experience Example Exhibition: Earth Listener and Ocean Watcher come to front together to confront. As they settle into awareness of the physical body rather than feeling their usual phantom bodies they instead feel the animal body of hybrid creature than has creatures of both an aelurodon, a frilled shark, and a blue glaucus. Their collective phantom body has the general shape of a wolf but the tail ends in a frilled shark’s caudal fin and along with fur are fills, fins, and cerata. They experience this hybrid phantom body until Ocean Watcher leaves front sometime later. Once hie walks away from front, Earth Listener’s phantom body takes on its normal wolf-like shape.
Cameo Shifts Caused By Blurriness
While not a widely used plural term (that we’re aware of) “being blurry” is what we call it when there is an uncertainty of who the person fronting even is. Being blurry means whomever is fronting is experiencing some dissociation and is having issues with identity confusion. A common symptom of this being the fronter not knowing their own name, their gender, their species, or any other personal information that would reveal who they are. There is no amnesia present, just identity confusion. We do not experience blurriness often but when it does but it is not severe our body might produce the phantom body of our chimera mascot overlaying our physical body. The reason for this isn’t fully known but our guess is that our brain is so used to creating a phantom body of some shape that just came up the our chimera as a blank slate. (When our dissociation is too severe, we lose awareness of a phantom body altogether.) As being blurry is not super effective we do not experience a chimera phantom body cameo shift often.
While not a widely used plural term (that we’re aware of) “being blurry” is what we call it when there is an uncertainty of who the person fronting even is. Being blurry means whomever is fronting is experiencing some dissociation and is having issues with identity confusion. A common symptom of this being the fronter not knowing their own name, their gender, their species, or any other personal information that would reveal who they are. There is no amnesia present, just identity confusion. We do not experience blurriness often but when it does but it is not severe our body might produce the phantom body of our chimera mascot overlaying our physical body. The reason for this isn’t fully known but our guess is that our brain is so used to creating a phantom body of some shape that just came up the our chimera as a blank slate. (When our dissociation is too severe, we lose awareness of a phantom body altogether.) As being blurry is not super effective we do not experience a chimera phantom body cameo shift often.
Experience Example Exhibition: Our system finds ourselves unsure of who is fronting. No name comes to mind when asking "Who am I?" A mental fog clouds everything. Everything is a hazy, a blur. A phantom body still overlays our body. It is shaped like our chimera mascot. A beast with an Asiatic lion front half, a black boer goat back half with a goats heading to the lion's left, and the spine and tail of the beast being an emerald tree boa with the snake's head as the tail tip. This phantom body remains as we remain blurry for some time.
Non-plurality Caused Cameo Shifts
The times one of us has had a cameo shift not at all caused by our multiplicity is pretty rare. They just don’t happen to terribly often. Maybe once every few months. As is common with cameo shifts normally, there causes isn't really well known. We only know of a few things that seem to make cameo shifts occur more often. Probably one the more common non-plurality caused cameo shifts are those caused by empathy while reading a novel with animal characters or watching a documentary. However, we've had non-plurality caused cameo shifts not due to this as well. When cameo shifts occur, the most common kind is of the phantom variety. Other than that, dreams of being a species other than our actual species is the only other way we can have a non-plurality related cameo shift; however, due to the extremely flexible nature of dreams we don't really note them. While they are indeed cameo dream shifts, they just are very forgettable.
The times one of us has had a cameo shift not at all caused by our multiplicity is pretty rare. They just don’t happen to terribly often. Maybe once every few months. As is common with cameo shifts normally, there causes isn't really well known. We only know of a few things that seem to make cameo shifts occur more often. Probably one the more common non-plurality caused cameo shifts are those caused by empathy while reading a novel with animal characters or watching a documentary. However, we've had non-plurality caused cameo shifts not due to this as well. When cameo shifts occur, the most common kind is of the phantom variety. Other than that, dreams of being a species other than our actual species is the only other way we can have a non-plurality related cameo shift; however, due to the extremely flexible nature of dreams we don't really note them. While they are indeed cameo dream shifts, they just are very forgettable.
Experience Example Exhibition: Earth Listener is reading Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davis and comes to a section in which the author goes on to focus on the antlers of one of red deer characters. As she reads she notices a random addition to her phantom body. On top of the head of her phantom body is a pair of red deer antlers still in velvet. She feels their weight. She shakes her head but they do not subside. She continues to feel them for some hours before they disappear while she is not thinking about them. Leaving her phantom body as it normally is.
Conclusion
That is how our multiple system experiences what we can safely call cameo shifts. For us, cameo shifting are still an interesting part of our experiences for everyone in our multiple system. By their nature, cameo shifts are not part of our own personal therianthropy, but instead they are usually a taste into someone else's personal therianthropy in our multiple system. Such an experience would not be possible if we were singlets. Our plurality and our therianthropy effect each other in many different ways. Our relationship with cameo shifting is just a strong example of one of the many things that shows the influence these states of being have over each. Because of this, our cameo shifts are often a means of insight into each other's experiences and state of being. Each other’s personal nonhumanity.
That is how our multiple system experiences what we can safely call cameo shifts. For us, cameo shifting are still an interesting part of our experiences for everyone in our multiple system. By their nature, cameo shifts are not part of our own personal therianthropy, but instead they are usually a taste into someone else's personal therianthropy in our multiple system. Such an experience would not be possible if we were singlets. Our plurality and our therianthropy effect each other in many different ways. Our relationship with cameo shifting is just a strong example of one of the many things that shows the influence these states of being have over each. Because of this, our cameo shifts are often a means of insight into each other's experiences and state of being. Each other’s personal nonhumanity.