Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object.
_Wikipedia
Your stapler is a shapeshifter. Why do you think they call it Swingline...that's just insider shapeshifter vernacular.
Why might you shapeshift into the form of an inanimate object? And how do I know my stapler isn't a shapeshifter?
Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object.
_Wikipedia