Shifting Stress

Shifting stress is a condition experienced by individuals who are under the Curse of Metamor when they push their shapeshifting abilities too far for too long. The Curse works constantly to return its victim to his/her new dominant form. In theriomorphs, this is the fullmorph form; in androgynes, it is the opposite of the individual's born sex; in pedomorphs, it is a childhood form of 3-4 years of age. Cursed individuals can take on some intermediate forms indefinitely, but returning to a form too close to their original, un-Cursed form carries consequences if they do it for too long.


Definition

Whenever a Cursed individual takes advantage of Kyia's modifications to the Curse, pushing his or her form beyond the usual limits, it causes a subtle strain on the body, called shifting stress. The sensation is barely noticeable at first, but after 8-12 hours it develops into a notable feeling of fatigue. The more dramatic the departure beyond the Curse's original limits, the greater the strain, so (for example) a theriomorph who becomes fully human will accrue strain faster than one who simply uses an anthro form with more human characteristics than usual.

Recovery

The only way to recover from shifting stress is to return to the body's dominant form and spend an amount of time in that form that is at least equal to the amount of time that the limits of the Curse were exceeded. Thus, an androgyne who spends eight hours at work in his original masculine form will have to spend at least eight hours in her dominant female form before she will be able to shift again. Likewise, a wolf-morph who becomes fully human for twelve hours will then have to spend at least twelve hours as a fullmorph wolf. The Cursed individual must not shift away from the dominant form during recovery, even to assume a form that is within the normal bounds of the Curse; doing so will halt the recovery process, and is extremely difficult and painful to do in any case. For practical purposes, except in a dire emergency, assume that a Cursed individual is unable to shift away from the dominant form until the shifting stress has been paid off.

Control

Within limits, a Cursed person has control over when he or she switches back to the dominant form. Most people can endure shifting stress for up to 12 hours with little trouble, which is long enough for most purposes. Up to 18 hours can also be done by most, but with increasing discomfort and fatigue. Beyond that, the effects are similar to the effects of going without sleep. Few people can last more than 24 hours without losing control and switching back involuntarily (though spies who make use of their alternate forms for extended intelligence operations can be trained to last up to 72 hours).

Side Effects

In all cases, a person reverting to his or her dominant form after a period of shifting stress will find that the behavioral tendencies associated with that form are more intense and harder to resist.

Theriomorphs will find their bestial instincts governing their behavior, as logical, conscious thought becomes difficult.

Androgynes will feel an increased need for sex, and a general lowering of inhibitions about sexual activity.

Pedomorphs will lapse into temper tantrums or periods of simple, childish play, and will find adult speech patterns or focusing on any extended task to be more difficult.

The strength of these impulses increases geometrically as the period of shifting stress lengthens: anyone reverting back to his or her dominant form after more than 24 hours will be essentially unable to function in polite, civilized society until the recovery period is completed (though, in certain settings, an androgyne in this condition could be enormously popular).

Coping with shifting stress

An individual who never ventures beyond the normal limits of the Curse will never experience shifting stress, and may assume any form within those limits for any length of time desired. Because of this, many theriomorphs choose to spend the vast majority of time in their anthro forms, which allow them to function reasonably well in human society without the inconvenient down-time associated with shifting stress. In contrast, androgynes usually alternate between highly masculine and highly feminine forms, building up small amounts of shifting stress and then paying it off while the effects on their libidos are still mild enough to be controlled. Some have taken this practice to an extreme, wearing loose-fitting (or enchanted) clothing and switching between forms dozens of times in a single day. On the Street, and among young people of all social strata, this is known as hot-swapping — a metaphor drawn from modern computer technology, which allows "accessories" to be swapped in and out quickly and easily. Pedomorphs vary between these two methods, often living as 14-year-olds most of the time and switching to adult forms (for as brief a time as possible) when a larger, stronger body frame is required.

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