Okay, so we know the Great Shift (95% of the population shifts one day)...
and we know of my silly idea, the Minor Shift (5% of the population shifts one day)...
but what if 100% of the population shifted bodies four times a year with the seasons?
I bring you, another classic tehswitcher dumb idea:
the Seasonal Shift.
Okay but really though, I just wanted to write about the
interesting dilemmas that would come from knowing your body
is temporary, what that would look like from a societal perspective, etc.
Hopefully more to come in this world.
Really interesting concept. The only note I would have is that technically this isn't body swap sense the people are staying in the same place. This is more like massive shapeshifting. Still, I can't wait to see what's next.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteYou know, the definition is all dependent on how you conceptualize this. I haven't revealed (because I'm still not sure... lol) what the process of the shifting is, but it could be that people switch bodies and those bodies switch positions, for example. I wouldn't call this body hopping or possession either, because in those examples I think of one mind taking precedence over another mind (thus, taking over a person's body). The reason I call it a "body swap" is because in a shapeshifting example one body is transforming into the other (and could thus create a copy of another body). In this and other body swapping scenarios, the two people's minds are being put into different bodies.
But that's just MY definition! I love hearing others though -- I figure in the end my "body swap" tag is pretty useless since almost all of my captions are tagged that way.
I understand. At the end of the day it's your blog and descison.
DeleteI just want to add that a body swap could technically be done through a shapeshift. For exemple, two people shapeshift into each other. The result would still be a body swap, because their body been swap.
DeleteMaybe it could be called 'body portaling' or 'body teleporting' instead of body swapping since the bodies both swap and teleport to their new location.
DeleteLove this discussion!
Delete"Body portaling" -- lol, now that's some fun stuff. I'll say, a lot of my Great Shift/Minor Shift captions use this body portaling thing. I think I've slipped and gone back and forth on whether they swap or portal (love using that as a verb).
And I agree on the shapeshifting argument too! I was going to provide that caveat to my definition. I think as long as the shapeshifting is completely linked and dependent on the other person's shapeshift, that would still be body swapping in the tehswitcher dictionary.
Lol, please feel free to use the term in your work if you like it!
DeleteRally cool idea!!! I’m excited to see where it goes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Davebob! You know, I had fun with it, and I'm also excited to see where it goes. I'm really hoping I dip into this and don't forget about it.
DeleteI personally just really like the forced, global pandemic of it all. I think it could bring up a variety of reactions, which I think makes it an alright caption theme.
Very cool! But what about parents, babies, families? I hope people keep the same age...
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to say that this is NOT the case Arbarano!
DeleteThat's part of the (sad) fun of reading some of these Shift stories, I think. I mean, imagine being stuck in a baby's body for 3 months -- honestly, that might actually be a kind of nice break now that I think about it... hm...
"and we know of my silly idea, the Minor Shift (5% of the population shifts one day)..."
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that you were the one who invented the minor shift concept!
Personally, I actually prefer the minor shift over the great shift because it allows other characters, the non-shifted ones, to feel a bit more surprised / confused. It just creates a different social dynamic if only a small-minority of people have shifted.
Haha, yeah I believe I've got the oldest post on it and I indeed made up that name, but surely all I did was capitalize on what most of us old TG heads were thinking.
DeleteHere's my attempt at breaking it down psychologically:
I think the reason we like The Great Shift is the fact that life goes on but everyone knows about this worldwide event that happened. Kind of like COVID. It's a pandemic. You feel like your distress is somewhat known by the rest of the people around you, and that is ambivalently comforting and discomforting.
The Minor Shift takes that idea and makes it a bit horrifically ambivalent: Everyone knows it happened... but everyone forgot that it only afflicted a small population. Like the AIDS epidemic. It makes it feel more like this unseen label you're carrying on your back, that most people never have to think about.
The Seasonal Shift was really my thought about a perpetually, almost neverending pandemic. Analogously, this is something like... Global Warming, maybe. We're all aware it's happening and it's awful, but you kind of get used to it after a while. Unless you're a poor sap in California, Texas, or Florida, where you're suffering with the highs (e.g., getting a supermodel's body) and lows (e.g., getting an amputee's body).
TL;DR: It's my attempt at making light of the crappy situations we all deal with.
I realize I said "suffering with the highs" in my above post, but I really just meant how sometimes it feels nice getting a surprisingly hot day in winter, and other times you're getting an alarmingly cold day in winter, to match the global warming analogy.
Deleteyeah the breakdwon pretty much nails it. I loved Great Shift because it was just all out swapping insanity. The more swaps the better I always thought. But then over the years once Minor Shift was introduced it allowed for more intimate stories and how a small portion of the population are struggling.
Delete@tehswitcher,
Delete"The Minor Shift takes that idea and makes it a bit horrifically ambivalent: Everyone knows it happened... but everyone forgot that it only afflicted a small population. Like the AIDS epidemic. It makes it feel more like this unseen label you're carrying on your back, that most people never have to think about."
That's a great way to put it. If everyone has shifted then it can't be that much of a surprise when X realizes his friend has shifted because so has X. But the minor shift is different since there's an obvious implication: shifted people are now a unique minority of the population and the world presumably won't change too much to cater to them. Normal people are going to find them weird, interesting, frightening, fascinating, etc. They're going to receive every reaction imaginable and a lot of them might end up trying to 'blend in.'
@SwitchHitter, exactly my thoughts. The minor shift has an element of personal intimacy that the great shift doesn't & stories can more easily focus on individuals who are struggling with the changes - or at least aren't moving forward without a few hiccups.
Sometimes it's fun to read caps that are purely humorous / fun and other times a little bit of 'tension' or frustration on the part of the lead character can be fun. I've never liked stories that are overly dark or have tragic endings but a little bit of bittersweetness can be refreshing now & then.
I personally like the Minor Shift too. The Great Shift just makes things more complicated.
DeleteYeah Dana Westcott! You're right there with what I was thinking. (Again- love the discussion that broke out here!) What you mentioned about people's reactions being finding shifted folks interesting, frightening, etc. -- that is also really interesting to me. You're also pointing out all the wonderful ways people could write stories in the Minor Shift category.
DeleteTehswitcher - Really interesting idea. I like the body-morph, but into a person already existing somewhere in the world. I don't usually talk about current events, but with all the crazy from 2021 having to view the world from another point of view every three months might be what we need. Some understanding for other people and what they have to deal with and some empathy would be really nice right now. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Zapper
Thanks! You know, if I wasn't writing so many attractive women in my captions I would be having a really good time writing about how we need to see a variety of others' points of view.
DeleteI think this is an interesting concept. As is the different views people have expressed here on what body swaps are. I'm intrigued by the idea of going to bed and waking up in the same bed, yet as most likely a stranger. Are you wearing their clothes? Are you legally still you or are you now the person who you look like?
ReplyDeleteThat was always something that I pondered, with Great Shift and Minor Shift. Sure you now have the body of another person. So are you legally them now? or are you still yourself. I know this has been touched on in some aspects. Yet, it seems to be a case to case kinda thing.
Yeah, I'm not sure what people would end up doing if this legally happened in real life. If it was the Minor Shift, I wouldn't be surprised if it was very case by case, and in America, if local governments ended up handling these things in their own way (just look at the legislation on trans rights).
DeleteHowever, if it was a Great Shift, I could see it panning out differently. Honestly... you all are giving me such great ideas!
I would like this idea if it was more like changing into a different version of yourself on winter and summer.
ReplyDeleteBe male me during winter, to tolerate the cold but female me during summer, to have fun on the beach.
Different me, different outfits, different season