Native and Body Morphogenic Psychology

The Physiology and Psychology of Form

Most characters, NPC and PC alike, have human as their base form. Even if you change your base form though, you are still human. You still have a brain, a heart, liver, etc. Depending on your form you might have some extra things too, such as venom sacs, a tail, or a tauric body. However, despite any extras, all characters are still humans in DNA and general physiology. Assuming you still have human as your base form, this is the form you feel most comfortable in. A character not in their base form would feel some level of discomfort from it. The level of which, of course, depends upon the character. Anywhere from a feeling similar to having a shirt on that is half a size too small, to much greater forms of discomfort and unease-- the feeling of skin crawling, that one's body is not their own, or a disharmony between conscious thoughts and unconscious ones. This would, of course, go away when you become your base form.

Native and becoming Native

The most common meaning of the term "Native" is when nanites have altered your physiology and psychology so that another form is your base form. This can be done by going to The Mall and buying the Nativizer. Using it will set whatever form (or combination of forms) you are currently in as your native form. It can also be used to reset or clear a native form. There is also the Discount Nativizer, though it is very random, and the Targeted Nativizer which lets you set a single part native to the form it is in. You can also become native by using the 'wnative' command while in someone's womb when they have the Maternal Bond item, but more on that later.

While native, it should be noted that you will have a tendency to revert to your native form whenever something attempts to change your form, regardless of whether you're currently in your native form or not. The nanite reprogramming of your mind and physiology redirects any incoming changes toward what is 'correct' for you. This starts at a base chance of 50%, but a Native Resistance Adjuster can change how often this happens, or a Native Suppressor can stop it entirely for a short time.

It should be noted that Being Native means something different to the Prometheans. They use the term to refer to those who have given in to the nanites and become feral.

Effects of being in a Form

Each form has its own tendencies, urges, and instincts added to it. The best way to get to know these is to read its victory and defeat messages. As an exmaple, Female Husky tends to be hornier than others, Feral Wolfess tends to be more blood thirsty and more dominant, and Cow Girl tends to be more nurturing. While these tendencies and urges exist, the level to which they affect the PC differs, and of course there are differences in NPCs as well. A person whom detests sex, who is in the form of a Female Husky wouldn't instantly become a slut, but would now have conflicting feelings. Logically, they don't want any sex what so ever, while their body is telling them that they do. How does this conflict manifest in the character? Be creative! Perhaps every time a sexual urge or thought sneaks in, it angers them? Or depresses them? Maybe it drives them to work, so they are distracted from it? And of course, the perk Self Control would lessen the impacts here of.

Heat

Heat is a binary effect attached to forms. It is either there, or it is not there. There are various perks, items, and abilities to both induce and ignore heat. While someone is in heat though, their body is more powerfully telling them that, not only do they want sex, but they need to get pregnant. This causes some involuntary actions by the PC or the NPC, as outlined in the heat messages. These messages however are vague for a reason, permitting the player to specify exactly how strongly that action happens. As an example, the message 'Your breasts feel so sensitive, body taut with lust.' which others see as, '(Player) places a hand absently on (pronoun)'s chest, rubbing thoughtlessly.' could have various meanings. Does your character lightly rub, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth and curse their heat, then go on with their day? Does your character start gripping and messaging their breasts as they continue trying to do what they were doing a moment ago? Does your character stop what they were doing, rip off any clothes that they have, and start manhandling their breasts while screaming to be fucked? The extent of what this message means is up to you! Its existence is not.

Other Mental and Body Effects

Rut

Rut is like heat, but for males and is a shifting scale. The lower the number, the less the rut is effecting you. The higher it is, the more it is effecting you. It is entirely opt in, and should not be acquired unless you want to have a character who basically doesn't have complete control over their boner. The messages, like heat, are intentionally vague, and up to the player on exactly how they play out to that character.

Ovulation

Ovulation is basically heat that continues on after you have been seeded. The body is still calling out for more. This effect tends to be stronger than the base heat itself though. This is also entirely opt in.

Newborn and WNative

This is entirely different breed of effect. Using the WNative command is to give a character over to another character as their child. The player still controls that character, but considers the character whom they are in to be their mother in every way. Even if it is pointed out how contradictory that is, or down right impossible, such a character still believes that whomever they are last WNatived to is their mother. This also gives them a native form, and all the benefits and negatives there of. This is entirely In Character, and should not be used to simply get a native form.

Difficulties in Shape Shifting

It is an interesting thing to note that the first time in a new form might cause some issues. Adjusting from a two legged to a four legged form, or to a serpentine or tauric form for the first time will cause some issues. As an example, someone born after P-Day and as a Fox Taur. They would be entirely used to walking around as a taur. Having the humanoid upper body, and feral fox lower body. Sometime later, they are turned into a Fox Boy! It would take a while to get used to the fact that that tauric back half is no longer there. Likely resulting in said now Fox Boy to fall over a few times while they figured it out. However, if a character has had that body configuration before, it is like riding a bicycle. Just takes a moment to remember how everything works.

FAQ

Q: What if I don't want to have a character who is in heat/rut/etc?

A: There are various ways to not have to worry about heat. As rut is entirely opt in, if you don't want it, you should not pick it up. Most of our other such effects are also opt in. As for heat, you could pick up a SUCK or its Nanomagic double. You could be in a form that doesn't have heat, or at least have a groin that doesn't have heat. You could use Birth Controls to manage your heat, or pick up the perk Cyclic Heat to have it less often, or Sterile or Cold Fish to not have it at all. Finally, there is the Bastet skill Infertility that makes you immune to all such effects while it is on. Also, someone could logically ignore most of everything about heat, rut, etc with a high willpower score.

Q: What about Lust? How does that work?

A: Lust is an effect of the Uber Fox ability Lustful Musk and Ixchel Jaguar Ixchel Aura. Except for having a high willpower the Bastet Skill Infertility, or Dusk Dragon's Serenity, there isn't much that can be done about it from a character standpoint. If you are in a casual RP and don't want to be involved in Lust effects, you should ask politely for the Uber Fox or Ixchel Jaguar player to please not use it. It is also generally bad form in a casual RP to use such abilities when there are players around who do not want you to.

Q: If I haven't gotten a native form, does that mean Human is my native form?

A: Not at all. If you have no native form changing your base form, then your base form is human. Having a native form means that you have used some specific situation or item to alter your nanites such that both physically and mentally you recognize another form as what is 'true' or 'correct' for you, and that due to this, the nanites tend to agree. If you have no native form, then you cannot shift into your base form (which would always be human) and you have nothing pulling at your form to cause you to change in a specific way (though other effects, such as perks, may cause other transformation situations).