#p-shifter

I've been noticing some confusion in the non-human community regarding physical shifting vs. other types of shifting? I don't know how, but hopefully this can help clear things up.

A phantom shift is the non-physical, tactile presence of a limb, body part, or other appendage. A therian or otherkin phantom shifting may experience nonhuman body parts that can be felt but (typically) not seen overlaid onto their physical human body; it is not a physical transformation. Usually other people cannot see or react to these limbs, and anytime a person does see or interact with them it will be in a metaphysical (spiritual) sense; they have no physical impact upon this world.

(Occasionally a person may report a phantom limb on their body as being more of an absence than a presence, this is normal.)

In contrast, a physical shift is a physical transformation into another form. A shifter physically shifting into another form may experience their physical human body violently or gradually reforming into something else. In a physical shift every part of the physical body has the potential to change, from the organs to the skin of the shifter; it is not an etheric change and people can see you transforming if you shift in front of them.

(Spiritual physical shifters exist, but usually these physical shifts can still be seen/perceived by others and still have effects on the physical body.)

Does the difference matter?

Yes! They're two different experiences, and feel different. Someone experiencing a phantom shift is likely not seeing or experiencing physical changes that lead them to believe they are shifting, and may not find relevant experiences in the physical shifter community. Someone who is experiencing intense physical shifts (organs moving, senses changing, bones shifting) may struggle to relate to someone who is only ever having phantom shifts that they cannot see but feel. They are two different experiences, and conflating the two is likely to lead to errors and problems in how people communicate these experiences.

Phantom shifting has never referred to physical shifting. Even in old community resources you can see there was a clear difference between the two. Phantom shifters were widely accepted, physical shifters were not due to the "impossibilities" of physical shifting. It was never used as a synonym between the two, nor did people ever really conflate them. (The only exception to this would be when some people would use "p-shift" to refer to phantom shift; in those situations it was never intended to refer to a physical shift and was usually quickly corrected or clarified.)

When physical shifters say they shift, do they mean a really vivid phantom shift? Do they believe physical shifting is impossible?

No. Most physical shifters mean it exactly as intended - a physical body change. We're not using it to refer to a phantom shift and, since I've seen this misconception stated: no we never used it because we "know it’s an impossible feat, they just don’t want to admit it"; when we're talking about physical shifts it's entirely literal. How far may be a matter of debate, but we are talking about shifts in this world, not the metaphysical one.

Why do I see some people describe what appear to be phantom shifts as physical shifts?

I've noticed that in the past, some (such as some clinical zoanthropes) would talk about their shifts and complain that they couldn't be seen by others, which might have spurred confusion? However, these people were still claiming a physical shift, still felt they were physically or genetically nonhuman, and still treated their limbs and/or body as if they were physically there. It wasn't simply a phantom shift, but experientially a physical shift they or others couldn't see. They still believed 100% they were genetically nonhuman, and that they maybe retained some nonhuman traits or had their true physical nature hidden from humans but that it was physically there. They still had physical effects from their shifts, such as physiological effects (intolerances to foods their species couldn't eat, shifting pains, etc.) or somatic shifts. Some also claimed that their limbs while invisible still affected this world (such as scratching a wall with their unseen claws and leaving actual claw marks on said wall). This is different from a therian/otherkin phantom shift which is generally acknowledged to not be physically there.

[Massive TW for Cults, Abuse(Including Digital SA, including COCSA), Delusions + Validation/Encouragement of Delusion, and probably more that I cannot for the life of me think of off the top of my head]

Hello, I'm Phoenix, but you can also call me Silverthorn. I've been in the nonhuman community since 2011-2013, and initially got my start in P-Shifter/Mythical communities, the ones of most note being ArdaErellon, GrowingWings4Life(usually just called Grow Wings.), and other adjacent webs.com forums.

I'll be documenting my experience with the community chronologically to the best of my ability, but do be aware that it may be a bit splotchy, as my memory of it all is a little janky due to the trauma and the fact this occured over 10 years ago now. It is of importance to note: I am neurodivergent, I speak from the perspective of someone who has been dealing with undiagnosed autism since childhood, which in turn, did influence my level of understanding of the world. My memory is also a little messed up due to dissociation from childhood trauma.

2011 - 2012: The Start - My start with P-Shifting began in 6th grade, when I was 11. I had met someone, who I will refer to here as Dragon. Dragon was my closest friend, however this was NOT a good thing. I had begun awakening to my inherent nonhumanity, but you know, when you're young, you'll believe in very fantastical things. Dragon was a P-Shifter, and I thought I was too. This is how our friendship really solidified. What easily could have been innocent schoolyard RP became grounds for abuse, manipulation, etc. Dragon convinced me that everyone hated us, and people would actively run away from me because where I went, she followed. Dragon was notoriously an asshole to others, but she used this to convince me that everyone hated me.

2013-2015: Aka "The Peak". 2013 is when I entered the online P-Shifter scene. Now, I had read websites and guides on p-shifting prior to this, but this is when I actually got INVOLVED so to speak. After reading some of the Maximum Ride books, I began experiencing phantom shifts of wings, which in turn lead to me joining GrowingWings4Life (colloquially known as Grow Wings), a forum on webs.com for Avians and other mythicals. I, obviously, began attempting to grow wings. This is where I met my flock. I've named two of them here before, but for the sake of this post I will be using stand in names. I also got my first scoliosis dx at age 13, during a school evaluation. This will come up again in another section of this post.

Aqua was the first one I met, she was basically a sister to me. She was honestly the first REAL friend I had, to the point where we called eachother sis. It was through her where we met the rest of our flock, albeit most of them would separate except for Red. Red was another one of the flock, unlike the other key members (Julio and Cailen. I WILL namedrop them for the bullshit they did. Julio was 18, and I don't remember Cailen's age but I do believe she was older than me, Aqua, and Red. I think maybe 18 but I'm not Positive.), he was also 13, like Aqua and I.

Julio got kicked from the flock for trying to groom Aqua and I over kik (classic 2013 experience I know), and Cailen went separate ways after a breakup with Red (she did some HORRIFIC things to him, which I will not disclose here other than it being SA) Things with the flock started out good at first, I mean why wouldn't it? Of course, we also learned about Awtok. We genuinely believed in them, and in part, were responsible for bringing knowledge of Awtok to Grow Wings out of sheer FEAR for everyone's saftey. Awtok's chokehold on our flock specifically remained.

Enter G32: Another school friend of mine, and self-professed Keyblade master. Though not an avian and p-shifter like the rest of us, he was part of our flock. I do fully blame myself and take responsibility for getting him involved with the flock + the consequences of doing so. He got involved the summer of 2014, but I had known him prior, and trusted him. G32 was someone we went to for advice and whatnot. In a way, despite Red and I being the leaders of the flock (when we started dating in 2014), I'd consider G32 to be the one pulling everyone's strings.

It was through G32, that Red became convinced he was a monster. Again, wont go into full details but this lead him to spiral into full on delusions. I remember him texting me in a state of extreme distress one night because he had "seen" his "true form" in the mirror. Looking back, this was clearly a hallucination. He ended up having MULTIPLE experiences like this. Now, he had been having some experiences akin to this prior to G32's claims about Red's true nature, but it was only after those that things got as bad as they did, such as full on berseker shifts for what his species was. (According to G32 the species was like an offshoot of the heartless from Kingdom Hearts.)

G32 also, on multiple occasions, forged messages from AWTOK, usually through 3DS swapnote, and then also forged messages from other "keyblade masters" who got involved with the flock via fake phone numbers.

Back to Red, because of the sheer amount of abuse he went through, ended up repeating the cycle of abuse with me. What he did to me was not ok. He had, through Cailen's abuse, become to believe he was possessed by a succubus who was Cailen. This began his manipulation of me, going so far as for this "possession" to lead to basically the Succubus threatening to leave me if I did not engage in sexual text-rp/sexting with Red as a way to prove my love & devotion. It eventually stopped, though i cannot remember what caused it to stop. Again, we both were 14 and severely mentally ill. I DO NOT HOLD THIS AGAINST HIM, AND I FORGIVE HIM FOR THIS. WE BOTH WERE VICTIMS.

Now, Red was VERY remorseful of what had happened, though we never actually talked about it or mentioned it after that, though I wish we did. It pretty much was him just apologizing but not specifying the incident (most because I told him not to), and me not actually letting him confess to what had happened. I wish I would have let him speak, but I was a scared child. Like I said, looking back now, and not out of a place of hurt, I can recognize he and I were both victims of abuse.

Come 2015, shit with G32 really hit the fan. From forging messages from other keyblade wielders turning against the flock, threatening to kill us for being traitors by aligning ourselves with Red, and the like, to then, when we stood up for ourselves, claiming it was all fake and a lie he spun, and then back to threatening us with the keyblade wielders after. It got to a point where it almost became a physical altercation on school grounds the following day. It was after this that things fell apart. The flock stuck together but ultimately separated, with the last I've heard from any of them being in 2016.

2016 & Onward: 2016 I still held onto some P-Shifting beliefs, but had begun to break away from them. It was really only come 2018 that I had fully recognized the nature of my beliefs were steeped in delusion, albeit the occasional relapse into p-shifter thoughts does occur to this day. I'd be lying if I'd said I haven't attempted to p-shift despite knowing and accepting it's impossible.

Now, other things not in this timeline that did happen, but I didn't feel were as interwoven with my flock experience:

ArdaErellon - when GrowWings went down, this kinda became one of the main sites people went to. It's not up anymore but I do remember the admin, Tinnuwen, asking people for their IRL locations, like addresses and whatnot, in order to open portals near them so they could travel to the realm of ArdaErellon.

Razgriz Pack & Other Cyberpacks - I got involved with a cyberpack when I was 13, when I didn't want much to do with them they threatened to send their other werewolves after me lol. I Don't remember if it was Razgriz or a different pack that I was involved in, mostly because I didn't spend much time around them.

Why I'm Making This Post:

I make this post because I've seen a resurgence in the P-Shifter & Mythical communities. Moreso, I've seen this become accepted and welcomed into the alterhuman community, which poses a SIGNIFICANT threat to the saftey and wellbeing of others. I've seen people ACTIVELY encouraging and validating delusions of Clinical Lycanthropes/Zoanthropes, claiming that it is harmless. IT IS NOT, I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE.

My wing delusions were encouraged, and we avians took any criticism of our attempts as threats and people just wanting to be assholes. Because of the repeated validation of my "physical" wing growth, i actively avoided getting treatment for my scoliosis for over 2 years. Like i said earlier in this post, during an exam at school, they felt my spine was curved. However, because I fully believed I was growing wings, I REFUSED to let my family take me to the doctor, refused to let them get x-rays of me, for fear that they'd discover my wings, because I was a terrified CHILD. This lead to my spine becoming so severely curved that I was at risk of my lungs collapsing. I fear to see what would have happened to me had I not eventually gotten surgery in 2015. The point is, the beliefs involved with subcultures such as p-shifters, holotheres, mythicals, etc. is inherently harmful. The denial to accept ones biological humanity, and the laws of physics that come with it, is a saftey risk. When people speak out about their experiences, they get dogpiled by the physical therian community, and victim blamed. When we explain why these things are harmful, we get accused of a whole slew of things, such as trying to make humans like us, or bring ableist by saying that encouraging delusion is harmful.

Me, Red, and Aqua should NOT have had to live out our teen years in fear of AWTOK, in fear of uncontrollable shifts, in fear of hunters, etc. We should have been able to have our formative teen years be normal. My friend Sundew, also known as @aesthetikins , was there when I was going through all of this, as we met in highschool. E knows first hand the amount of damage this stuff did to me, as again, e was there when it happened.

I welcome the growing acceptance of "weird" or "scary" folk in the nonhuman and alterhuman communities: the factkin, the object- and conceptkin and of course, physical nonhumans. I myself am a werewolf holothere, most of our system are holotheres and I interact with other physical nonhumans on a regular basis.

But recently, I have been observing a push towards the acceptance and "reclaim" of the word p-shifter/p-shifting - and this is worrying me. I want to write an elaborate post, shedding light on the roots and origins of this term and why I think it isn't a good choice to label yourself this way. I will back my claims up as good as I can, but there are quite obviously no studies on this and the general amount of archived sources is also quite low, because it is in the nature of toxic and manipulative behaviour to happen in the privacy of (long gone) servers or in DMs. So, I will have to resort to use personal experiences and anecdotes as my main sources - that's not ideal, I am aware.

Also, two things before you reblog, comment or otherwise agree/disagree with me: 1) none of this is at all about the validity and subjective realness of individual experiences, only about this specific term being used; and 2) please make sure you read this carefully and wholly. If I find you just try to twist my words, I will just ignore and block you. I also mean exactly what I say, there is no need to look for an "undertone" or "hidden opinions".

All of my sources will be linked at the end in chronological order of usage. Footnotes are numbered in [brackets], scroll to the end to find them.

1) Roots, original usage and meaning

Pinpointing the exact time at which the term was coined is pretty much impossible, but the earliest mentions I found go back to the early 2000s - namely, there is Swiftpaws Real guide to P-shifting from 2004 which mentions the term p-shifting in a way that suggests it has been more or less widely known at that time. Acoording to the alterhuman wiki, the term originated alongside the therian-community in the early 2000s, even on the same website as they did (but it doesn't mention which website that was). Based on what I've observed with my own eyes on this website [1] and backed up by various forum posts I found, the term p-shifting always referred to those who claimed the following things: 1) They have literal, tangible, objectively Real [2] physical shapeshifting abilities, 2) they do not experience delusions at all [3]. Finding old posts by p-shifters is almost impossible, I know a lot of blogs no longer exist, so I have to go off my memory here and also what @a-dragons-journal (hope you don't mind the ping!) has talked about on their blog many times, but I also know that a lot of them claimed to be able to teach others how to shift [4], which usually resulted in pack-like structures, with a few elite leaders who also functioned as "teachers". Another claim I have seen many times is how they had to prepare for a "war" or straight-up "the end of the world", but I have to admit, the last few points are not something every p-shifter I've seen talks about.

To hopefully provide some solid proof, have qoutes from a few self-proclaimed p-shifters:

by @/thefirstfamilypack: "We are not people with lycanthropy [CLCZ], we are actual physical shifters. This is a totally different community than those who have clinical lycanthropy or mentally "identify" with someone that's not "human" such as otherkins. We never claimed to be that, that's a whole different thing." "If you don't have the genes for it then sorry you're not a shifter."

by @/h-micideinthemirror (apparently deactivated, found a reblog of a post by them): "I'm so fucking tired of seeing therians talk shit about actual nonhumans [...] I'm not delusional [...] I'm just a person, who happens to be a wolf."

by @/harloqui: "However, I 100% agree with the message towards delusional alterhumans. [...] What shifters can do you cannot [...]"

by @/stonedlycanthrope (as a reply to an ask about how they knew they aren't experiencing delsusions): "I had 2 friends tell me the exact same thing [...] I had shifted in my sleep and [...] she stepped on my tail trying to get over me is what she told me." -> this is exactly what I mean when I say they make claims their shifting is Real.

There are so so many more, just go to thefirstfamilypack's blog and dive deeper from there. What you will find is the exact same rethoric I talked about, over and over again: "We are ACTUAL nonhumans, we are NOT delusional, we can ACTUALLY shift, etc etc" - I hope you also noticed the casual arrogancy towards otherkin and therians.

In conclusion: p-shifting originally referred to tangible, Real physical shifting, while vocally, aggressively excluding delusional folk and looking down on them (and otherkin as well).

I might add more on how exactly folk were hurt in these packs later on, but currently don't have the energy for that. I believe outlining the inherently probelmatic stances of the og shifter communities should be enough to support my point for the time being.

2) Why you can't reclaim the term

Now let's get to the actual point of this post - the push towards reclaiming the term p-shifter. By definition, reclaiming a term describes "a word that was at one time pejorative but has been brought back into acceptable usage, usually starting within its original target, i.e. the communities that were pejoratively described by that word [...]" - in simpler terms, the community that was originally negatively targeted by the term in question can reclaim it by using it in positive way to describe themselves. This is by definition not possible with the term p-shifter: in order for delusional folk to reclaim this term, it would have had to be a deragatory word to describe delusional folk, which it never was. Yes, the community looked down on delusional people, but the term itself actively excluded CLCZ and similar beings. Generally speaking, the term was never a slur used for anyone, it was always a positive and self-choosen term, created by the community for themselves. You cannot reclaim this term by definition.

"But what if we just change the definition to something positive, so anyone can use it?"

That is not a good idea for several reasons. I want to specifically quote @/a-dragons-journal and @who-is-page (hope you don't mind the ping!) for this one:

a-dragons-journal: "[...]using the word is still making it sound like you're making a physical claim. [...] This is admittedly not the best parallel [...] but it's a little like trying to "reclaim" the word TERF by changing it to mean something somehwat similar but ultimately different, and then being surprised people assume you're a transphobe and treat you as such."

who-is-page: "[...] You can't erase the history of the term [...] and the ways in which it's been used (and, most importantly, continues to be used!) to hurt others. [...] You can't reclaim [...] the terms "anti-otherkin", or the zeta symbol [...] because they're still being used by the cummunities who originally coined them to mean what they were intended to mean. [...] There is no way to seperate the people who are 'reclaiming' it and those who are just... Using it. [...] Also, thinking more on it, it's kind of fucked up for someone to try and steal another communitie's terms and forcibly redefine them? Like, we critcize that all the time in the otherkin and therian communities, and that's not exactly a one-way street. [...]"

Please take the time to fully read both of the posts, I have linked them below with everything else!

But they both really get the point accross in my opinion.

I hope now anyone can see why anyone should be wary of those who use p-shifter as a term: either they are completely unaware of the terms history and thus, should really do more research before advocating for the usage of a term they know nothing about. Or, and that's the worse option, they are aware of everything I listed above and either secretly agree with it, or just don't care. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be associated with beings who advocate for a term that has an inherently harmful, ableist history and is STILL actively used in that way.

Calling me ableist for refusing to accept the usage of this term is absolutely pathetic.

P-shifters have harmed and continue to harm delusional folk, spit down on them, disrespect them and put themselves above them. Why on EARTH would advocating for the usage and acceptance of this term be a positive thing? How would that help?

It won't.

------------------------------------

Footnotes

[1] I joined the community roughly in 2016, most of the posts I saw back then on p-shifters and by p-shifters were from around that or a few years older.

[2] When I write "Real" or "Reality" with a capital R, I am referring to the shared reality all people experience. Unlike subjective reality, you (technically) need to provide proof to claims you make that refer to Reality.

[3] Moreso, they often held very ableistic beliefs, spitting down on "the crazy ones", aka. folk with delusions. They put themselves above them, claiming they were "actually shapeshifting" and not "just delusional".

[4] The rest usually claimed it was based on DNA. I don't know percantages on this, but from what I have seen, I would say at least half of them claimed to be able to teach (or claimed they learned from someone, which supports the same stance from a different pov).

Sources

Hello anon! Looooong post blow cut :)

I USED TO BE SAMAGII

🂭 ,,, hello ! my name is ace, i use he/it, im 17, an im an irl chuunibyou !!

i have multiple magical things going on, including being the aeon of creation, a physical nonhuman / shapeshifter, a puella magi (i contracted with Madokami on 6/13/25), and a deity in my home realm !

i practice chaos magick, physical spell casting, etc on and off, and also practice aerokinesis and similar things.

im the host of a did system, am nonhuman (mentally + physically), queer, trans (genderqueer + ftm), and am physically and mentally disabled !

my main / biggest kins are wolf and eastern dragon (though i do have others), and these aspects of who i am impact me greatly. afaik, these are the only two things i can physically shift into, and not completely, but who knows for sure ! :)

i am also an incarnate of both fire and chaos. i dont consider these kins as i am not Fully Them, but rather, pieces of them.

🂭 ,,, tags

#𝄞 maybe its a dream - maybe nothing else is real .. // this tag is for all posts related to irl magical hero stuff !!

#𖤐 even though i was born from a colored star .. // this tag is for all posts related to pcp, chaos magick, astral projection, shifting, manifestation, and general paganism / magick as well !!

#✞ misfortune is a gift - really - like a bouquet of splendid flowers .. // this tag is for all vent posts !!

#☆ it feels like somethings gonna happen ; a premonition .. // this tag is for informational posts about pcp, paganism, chaos magick, witchcraft, astral projection, and irl magical hero topics !!

#✘ long pointed wings with scars run beneath the skin .. // this tag is for any asks i answer !!

#𖦹 dig deep beneath your filling - theres an animal waiting that must come out .. // this tag is for journal entries !!

#❤︎ a large queue was formed at it - where everyone continues on with a smile .. // this tag is for queued posts !!

#꒰੭ i wake up to a call - put my frilly outfit on now .. // this tag is for reblogs !!

#✦ my ribs opened up - made room for beating hearts .. // this tag is for my questions about irl magical heroing, pop culture paganism and magick, chaos magick, astral projection, shifting, manifestation, general paganism / magick, etc etc. !!

#ꔫ are you going to curse the blue sky - and wish for stormy weather ? .. // this tag is for my witch logs !!

#✐hands together - fingers blue - from this position i pray to you .. // this tag is for adventure logs !!

#☠︎︎ heaven is a grinning face with not a trace of shame .. // this tag is for non-witch battle logs !!

#⚝ i have existed for years - but very little has changed .. // this tag is for posts about being a demigod !!

#🃜 if i were any older i would act my age .. // this tag is on all of my posts !!