I grew up in a society that knew nothing of shapeshifting. People in Ohio in the United States of America on St. James believed that biology was god given destiny. Even before I discovered the power of Shapeshifting, I changed my shape albeit by hiring a surgeon.
Unbeknownst to me, I first shape shifted at a very early age. Cornelian children who feel loved and accepted sometimes shift to resemble the people who raise them. My appearance shifted to make me look differently from the people who raised me for the opposite reason. I grew up thinking that I was Asian. I was never Asian.
Race is a social construct based on form. When shape can change then race becomes a choice. Biological sex becomes a choice. Species becomes a choice. Every physical aspect that defines us becomes a choice.
Shapeshifting isn’t limited to Cornelians. Shadows can be shapeshifted and exceptional Shadows can develop a degree of shapeshifring ability. Shapeshift is an extremely democratic power in that respect.
Sufficiently skilled shapeshifting can reverse the effects of aging. This is one of the few ways to share immortality with Shadow individuals. Shapeshifting can’t prevent death, but it can make death much less likely.
Shapeshifting takes every seemingly fixed aspect of biology and makes it mutable. More than that it makes each and every such aspect a choice. Our choices can define us physically as well aa metaphysically.
The shapeshifters I know of have primarily used the ability to survive, to heal, for combat, and for convenience. Nothing wrong with any of those things, but they represent only a small fraction of the potential of shapeshifting.
Do our forms define us? Does changing those forms redefine us? Will spending time in alien forms alienate us from humanity or connect us in new ways? To what extent can people adjust to new forms and the new ways of living that they bring? Which new ways are worth trying? Which are worth living? What changes are ethical to make, even with a volunteer?
Shapeshifting changes everything.