Traits and Lore
Sweetshifters are a magical species from outer space. They have the ability to 'shift' between their natural, feral form—called a sweetling—and a humanoid form to blend in on earth. Some have completely integrated with human society, while others are only temporary visitors - but one thing’s for certain: there's nothing they love more than sugar! So much so, that they travel to our planet just to have a taste.
They have much greater energy requirements than humans, so they need to take in as much sugar as they can to replenish it - but, because they're shapeshifters, their DNA is unstable and the sweets they eat affect their appearance. From their hair to their eyes to their clothes and more, different treats will change the way they look.
There's no approval process for Sweetshifters, and anyone can make one without an MYO or asking for permission! Just make sure they follow the traits here and the rules of the species, then submit them to the world... and you're done! :D
Anatomy of a Sweetshifter:
2.) Dessert traits from all the sweets they eat, the look of which affects their unstable DNA.
3.) Animal ears & tail, usually but not always matching (IE, cat ears with a dog tail is perfectly acceptable)
4.) Alien antenna, can be any shape at the end. They have a slightly squishy, gummy texture and are incredibly sensitive. Crushing them between your fingers would be tantamount to torture.
5.) They don't have fingernails in their humanoid form OR paw pads in their sweetling form, but some may wear press-on nails or have colorful markings to emulate them.
6.) Optionally, they can have halo-like rings around their tail or other body parts which come in a variety of shapes.
SWEETLINGS
Sweetlings are soft, squishy, and fit in the palm of your hand like plush toys. In this form, they not only conserve energy by staying small, but they look cute while doing it, too!
HUMANOIDS
Maintaining a humanoid form takes more energy and therefore more sugar. They can hide their ears, tails, and even antenna if necessary, but this is exhausting to do for long periods and therefore impractical.
MIRRORING
Because they're shapeshifters, they may take on traits resembling those they're close to, such as height or hair length. They don't notice they're doing this, so it's embarrassing to have pointed out.
IMPRINTING
Sweetshifters are social creatures that can make friends with ease, but most have one person they're closest to—typically whoever fed them first. They imprint onto them and seek them out when stressed.
COLORATION
Sweetshifters can come in any color! Their skin can be human or non-human tones, their hair can come in bright unnatural colors, and they can even have patterns and markings all over their body.
MUTATION
Sometimes, sweets corrupt their DNA, causing a body part to be replaced by sweets entirely—or just partially, changing the texture to something akin to syrup. This isn't common, nor does it hurt.