Tall Tales and Proof of Shifting
Date Written: Mar 7, 2019, Updated Dec 7, 2025
It usually goes like this: You're minding your own business, when someone comes to you online and claims they can prove they can shift. Now, you're interested in seeing what this shifter has to offer you, and although it's online they sound pretty convincing so far. So you accept their offer, and they send a picture or two. They look real, and the person really believes what they say. You guess you have no choice but to believe them, right?
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Wrong. It's actually quite easy to make fake shifting pictures and claim it's really you. Sometimes you don't even need a photo-editing program to do so. How?
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Photoshop:
Photoshop pictures are pretty easily spotted. They might have strange digital artifacts, be blurry or have abnormal shading, or otherwise just not look right in comparison to the rest of the photo. Sometimes the digital artifacts ARE the shifting, as claimed and can be seen in the picture below. Various sects of the internet will try to claim that digital distortions are proof of shapeshifting, when this is simply not true.
Trust me, Barack Obama is not shapeshifting in this photo.
You can get free trials of photoshop for thirty days, enough time to claim a shifting method is working, and "fully shift" one day. KissingMidnight's photo was one such example.
KissingMidnight later came out and said the tail was made via photoshop.
However, it's not hard to see where the "tail" could have come from, as it's remarkably similar to some from the show (pictured below), and could be easily altered to look "real". Take note of the weird angle the photo is taken from in relation to the body, and the weird countershading on the side that has light coming in through a window.
Her tail is pretty similar to KissingMidnights...do you think she copied her?
Avians may also pull the same stunts, except in their case they will photoshop wings onto a clothed human body, often poorly and displaying the same shading and visual errors I've mentioned above.
Real-Life Fakes:
It is possible to fake a shifted photo without photoshop, through makeup and/or using what is online or real-life objects. For example, outside of photoshop a common trick that some like to use is to grab a picture from the internet, crop out any watermarks, and claim it's a photo their "friend" took. There are those who prowl the internet until they find a video, take a screenshot of it, and use it to claim they shifted, sometimes even making up a convincing story to go along with it. The rarity of the shifted form does not matter, I've seen people try and make up stories with rarer forms, such as a person who claimed this image (they cropped out the watermark) was of them and their friend, a leopard, in shifted form.
Why would you and your friend be fighting?
Usually a quick reverse image search or searching for the main subjects in the image (like searching "striped hyena and leopard" and going to google images) can reveal where the person took the image from, but sometimes you have to dig a little deeper and keep searching till you find the image.
It is possible to recreate effects that also look like a physical shift is incoming. You can make your veins appear by dousing your hands in really hot or cold water, tensing up, and taking a picture. Adding contacts to the eyes or altering the lighting of an area can make it look as if your eyes have changed color, especially if they are hazel in color. Others try to use makeup to add little touches to convince someone they're shifting, or put on fake nails to pretend their hand is partially shifting. Some people will actually use their pets and try to convince others they've shifted that way, by taking a picture of their dog or cat at an odd angle and trying to fool you into thinking that someone else took a picture of them mid shift. Others may take an odd looking but perfectly normal dog (such as a dog shedding) and try to claim it's them, and explain the abnormality away as what happens when a person shifts for the first time.
For example, this is a picture of my friend, who was shifting into a coyote for the first time. You can tell because he doesn't have a lot of fur on him, and his tail isn't too long yet.
No wait I lied, it's just a puppy with a sweater on. Credit to https://pikram.com/a_vizsla_named_dobby
Avians also tend to try something similar with bird wing costumes. They're easy to obtain or make, and they look disheveled and realistic enough that they can convince some people that this is just the way wings pop out at first.
Not an avian, but close enough.
This woman did not grow her wings, but she is modeling them for the Featherplace.
Dragon Eggs:
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While fairly rare, broody dragons have been known to try and pass off rocks or other gemstones as their own, claiming they're hatching or incubating a dragon's egg. These eggs are fairly easy to get online, and are covered with intricate patterns that can convince someone that there really is a dragon inside.
Some creators like Benswork do amazing work in this regard.
Black and Blue Veins:
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With the premiere of the show Wolfblood (a show where people can turn into werewolves called Wolfbloods) occasionally a shifter might claim to have black or blue veins, as Wolfbloods from the show before shifting. This is not a sign of shifting, and when not photoshop or video editing, might indicate a medical condition such as spider veins or chronic venous insufficiency. While this can also be replicated by poor circulation or temperature changes (and thus cause the temporary changes seen in some illegitimate shifters), it can also signal the start of a more serious medical condition, so it would not be wise to dismiss it as a sign of shifting.​
With the rise of filters and software editing, it's now become easier than ever for fake shifters to fool others.
Filters:
It's common enough for people looking to convince others of their magical powers or some "interdimensional shifters" to show proof by using a filter or other image distortion software. These filters can make a person appear to be moving slower than they are, or warping in and out of reality.
With video editing apps like Capcut, it's easy to make yourself look like you're breaking the laws of reality.
Can't Show You My Face:
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Another genre of images I've seen come from dubious or illegitimate shifters has been dark, nearly indecipherable images of the shifter shifting in a dark room. These shifters usually claim they shift in the darkness to protect their identity, often claiming that the proof is enough to convince anyone.
Dark, heavily edited images similar to these will often be used as proof to try and convince someone that the subject in them is really shifting. Eyeshine and bared teeth might be present, if even visible.
In reality, this "proof" is illegitimate, and their claims usually don't make sense - why show a photo at all, if you're going to make it so hard to decipher? If you care about privacy, why show a photo at all? If you care about proving it more than your privacy, there are other ways to assure privacy (such as putting on a mask, or shifting in a way where only the body part in question is seen). The darkness obfuscates the reality of their shift - that they may have put in fake fangs to make their teeth look sharp, or contacts to replicate eyeshine. If you wanted to prove shifting, you would not try to prove it in a dark room.
There is no shortage of dark eerie shifter-like pictures online.
Note:
These kind of deceptive tactics are not unique to any one community, but certain types tend to be more prevalent in certain subgroups and altered depending on what is possible and available for most of them. For example, avians are unlikely to claim a pet's wings are their own, but they may try to claim that the fallen-out feathers are theirs, despite a quick Google search on bird feathers eliminating that possibility. Usually people actively trying to become shifters, avians, or mermaids (as opposed to shifters who just shift one day and/or are waiting to shift) tend to be more desperate, more obsessed with their kind, and can access the things needed to fake a shifting photo more easily.
How can I tell if a person is legitimate, then?
Outside of meeting them in person, the only other way would be to see if what they're saying makes sense, and is physically, logically possible and seems right. That doesn't guarantee they're telling the truth, but it can help you get close. Are they claiming to shift into a huge animal and defy physics, or are they in line with current scientific understanding? Are they constantly on the run from other people (yet oddly enough have access to technology?) or are they just living their lives? Is their information only accessible to them and a select few, or can anyone access it given time and money?
Does their story change when you question them over and over? Do they get angry when people rightfully wonder how they did a particular thing? Is the way they claim to shift at odds with what the community says is most likely for a shift? Do they just want attention, or do they seem to want more? Those who make extravagant claims, get angry over something they claimed and "proved", and cannot keep their story consistent are most likely lying and looking for attention or trying to get at something you have. Be cautious, wary, and trust your logic and intuition when everything else fails.