Thoughts on the finale · 11:07pm Oct 10th, 2016
Obviously enough, this is going to have spoilers for anyone who didn't watch the early UK broadcast of the final two episodes.
But just in case that's not obvious enough:
BIGTIME SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 25 AND 26 AHEAD YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Yeah, that should do it.
So! I'm very glad I gave in and watched them early, rather than trying to hold out and wait for the US airing. The only for-sure spoiler I had gotten when they aired was the changelings were involved, and I knew that if changelings were involved, there was no way I was going to avoid all the spoilers. Given how big some things were, I think I made the right call.
First off, some minor stuff. Changelings do live in a hive, but it's more of a termite-style above-ground hive than an ant-style below-ground hive. While I'd mostly gone with underground hives before, the Sky/Nictis setting did have the hive with some above-ground elements in the forms of the exterior spires, so I guess there's a little similarity. Not a huge deal either way, but noted. Also, an above-ground hive does make for better visuals in a show.
The interior has the kind of underground twisting-and-turning aesthetic I had imagined, only with the addition of the whole place changing. Interesting! I also was quite happy to see that the interior made lots of use of vertical spaces, which seem quite fitting for a species where every (grown) member can fly.
I still love Chrysalis. She knows how to make an entrance, that's for sure. Still needs to work on her exits, but at least she left under her own power this time. I hope she makes a return appearance slightly faster than she did after her last defeat. Also, I'm quite happy with her rejecting Starlight's offering of peace.
Which finally leads us to the biggest moment of the finale.
I'll admit, my first reaction on seeing Thorax's change was pretty much:
So the changelings, well, changed. They're colorful now. It was a bit of a disappointment. After all, before they had that cool black thing going on. But the more I thought on it, the more superficial that seemed to me, especially for a species that can, presumably, still change. They're still clearly insectoid, with the bug-wings, the hard lines to suggest segmentation or plating, etc. They even gained elytra! It's just that they're now going with a colorful-bug motif instead of a black-bug motif, and this is probably the closest they can get to such colors without it clashing harshly with the palette of the show.
They lost the cool, kinda-alien glossy black appearance that made them stand out from ponies, and that I fell in love with. They also lost their holes, fangs, and head-frills, but gained a good deal of variety; in addition to varying in colors, you've got different horns (Including none!), the neck-gem things, etc. It even looks like some might not have wings, though we haven't seen much of the "new" changelings to call it for sure. And, as much as I like the idea of the black, kinda-alien changelings mingling with ponies, and all the complications that might have (Plus the whole book/cover thing), they're still fairly alien in comparison to ponies.
I'm a little disappointed that the original changeling look is gone (Or at least, relegated to any who remain following Chrysalis), but I'm okay with this. It's not the way I would have gone, but I'm not going to pretend like this is the "worst thing ever". Exterior appearance is pretty superficial when it comes to changelings, and I think it would be rather shallow of me if my primary interest in changelings as a species was in their appearance. Especially when talking about a species of shapeshifters.
So the more I think about it, the more surprised I am that there seems to be a huge amount of talk about their appearance, but I've seen virtually nothing on a subject that seems far, far more significant to them: changelings, or at least the changed 'lings, no longer need to feed on love. The hunger that Thorax said they always felt, one of the two most significant parts of what a changeling is, is gone. A changeling that shares love no longer needs to feed on it, and that's pretty huge. Again, it's definitely not how I'd have done it (It removes a huge amount of delicious drama, for one! See: pretty much everything I've written). But, while I feel like it's a lot of lost potential, I can't really say it's a horrible change. They are still shapeshifters (At least, they better be! 
), and still distinctly not like regular ponies. And while they've lost one of the big things that could drive stories and conflict, we've also now got a new ally to Equestria, and the prospect of lots of conflict and drama over whatever Chrysalis chooses to do next.
So... I guess I'm okay with it. I'm not thrilled at any of the changes, but I'm not ragequitting the fandom because something turned out less awesome than I hoped. In fact... I'm somewhat cautiously optimistic about it all. I'm curious to see where this goes.
(Edit: Forgot to say, while there have been many cases of individuals and even groups very quickly changing their ways after a quick speech, and sometimes very abruptly, I think this is one of the cases where it's most justified. It wasn't just some quick speech. It was a changeling earning enough love to completely smack down their queen, freeing himself from the hunger that had always plagued them, and undergoing a physical transformation as a result of it all that's clearly different from their usual shapeshifting. After a demonstration like that, I'm not really surprised that others would give it a try!)
And that brings us to the big question: how does this affect Fallout: Equestria - The Chrysalis?
Well, in short, it doesn't.
There isn't any way to fit these developments into the ongoing story, and let's face it, if any of the post-Chrysalis hives were going to experience the change from freely sharing love, it was Queen Ephema's. She loved her children. Whisper loved her sisters. Whisper also cared for the ponies she befriended. If changelings in that setting were able to undergo the same change that we saw in the finale, she would have been one of the new 'lings before the story even started. Sure, it'd be fairly easy to go back, change her color, fill in the holes, and go from there, but like I said, that's all fairly superficial.
The really big change would be the lack of feeding on love. That's been a big factor throughout the story. In the early days, she was struggling to get enough to sustain her. She forcibly drained Starlight just to survive. It's been a limiter on her expenditure of magic. It's had a serious effect on relationships, both serving as a wedge to cause problems (Starlight discovering that Whisper had been feeding on her) and as a way for them to become closer (Starlight talking about her own mother specifically so Whisper could feed on that love). It was even Whisper's job before the war. And there's more to come.
It's not a small element that can be casually changed. It is, essentially, one of the supporting structures the story is built upon. I could change it, but it would weaken the story as a whole (And quite badly so, I think). More would have to change to create a solid story, so much so that I would no longer be telling the same story. The Whisper of that story would not be the Whisper of this story.
Fortunately, I've always held to the idea of "locking in" the canon at the point the story starts. Later elements introduced in the show can be added in if they fit, but the only truth that needs to be followed is that already presented by the show when the story started. Fallout: Equestria shows this quite clearly itself, as it was started during season one, and ended in the middle of season two. Elements that were introduced later on could be added in if they fit, such as the mention of Discord, but it would be silly to go back and rewrite the whole thing to account for Twilight later gaining wings.
So while I don't have a problem with what happened in the show, I won't--I could say, can't--incorporate it into my story.
And I'm okay with that. 
What I have to say about the new form?
Tad overdone, but not like I'll be using it in any stories. Also something interesting about the McGuffin Throne... Pretty much all magic was stopped, even natural magic causing plant life going by how the kingdom looks. Something like that can't be very stable with how old it was unless it had some sort of outlet to bleed off that power.
A lot of people are decrying the change of the Changelings as having "ruined" the original, I like your more accommodating approach. Very glad you didn't flip the table. :)
Really, the Changelings that got hit by this were just the Changelings in one particular hive, and not all of them either - their Queen escaped and there were plenty who were out on missions (the ones impersonating all the princesses and their friends, for example). There'll be plenty more of the black glossy lovebugs. And the "you've just got to give love!" vulnerability can be easily nerfed with a few minor ideas if you want to *keep* them around. They only transformed after Throax, who had been *soaking in the Crystal Heart for months*, sprayed his tainted love all over everyone. Maybe that catalyst is necessary for the process.
I feel that Thorax worded this poorly. He said that he stopped feeling hungry once he was surrounded by friends, which means that living normally and sharing love was enough to satiate his hunger. The changelings from the hive transformed once they started sharing love with each other, so it's kind of like love now flows through the hive like blood flows through a body, instead of before where every changeling hoarded their tiny stash of love.
Presumably if a changeling were alone they'd still have to feed on love, and would starve if they ran out. So Whisper would still be in danger of starving in the near-loveless Wasteland.
Well, I have to say, you seem a lot more accepting of this change than I was. At least it's not going to affect your current writing, but I never feared it would, since even before the finale it was clear that you were going for your own canon. And while I'm not quite able to convince myself to accept this... mutation as something that happened, I've managed to circumvent that by treating the show as part of a mythology about "Equestria", with numerous, conflicting tales, and no way to tell how accurate any single one, or aspect thereof, is. That way, I can still look forward to new tales from the show writers without having that ruined for me.
...it still hurts though. We will never see the adorabugs in the show ever again. Especially Thorax was such a cutie. He will be missed. And dear Goddesses I hope they do something about the design if they ever appear again, because while I've seen decent fanart of it, it does not work in the artstyle of the show. We shall see.
Honestly, I've somewhat been smashing my head against a rock about all this. Just when I get an idea for a brand new changeling story, all this new information comes in and throws a big wrench in it. I admit the stuff about feeding on love is not something I have done much about in my original story, but honestly that was more of me just trying to find my own head canon on the changelings. The new look on the other hand is not something I'm entirely willing to incorporate, partially cause of my own dislike of it(I absolutely loved the original design and the new one is just.....ehhhh).
I have to be honest that while I have been wanting to see the changelings reappear on the show and as something more than just a stereotypical race villain race, which to me is NOT something that belongs in the show's themes, a number of the new facts that appeared could without a doubt be seen as messing with a number of head canons and stories. A lot of good changeling stories such as "Maternal Instinct", "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" and your own series of stories all had their own ideas about changeling culture and biology for a long time and all these changes to them could really turn these stories on their heads.
At the same time though, this is fanfiction after all and anything we write is going to be non-canon, so I suppose it doesn't matter too much if the writer doesn't want to bring in some the new stuff. It is my personal opinion that a writer writes, or usually should write, more for his or her own enjoyment than that of having to follow everything the show says happen. The show builds us a sandbox and we use that box to build our castles and we can chose how to build that castle. We can follow it to the letter if we want or go in a completely different way.
We can write about changelings resembling imperial japan (Maternal Instinct), we can have humans be an established species in Equestria kept as pets (Your Human and You), Celestia can be a nymphomaniac (Molestia), and Twilight can have Urdnot Wrex from Mass Effect as an assistant instead of Spike(Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant). Nothing is making us write in any particular way. No matter what kind of fanfiction we write, I don't see any way that it is going to mess with the show as long as it doesn't enter mainstream in a significant way. Fanfiction to me if by the fans, between the fans and for the fans.
Kinda going on a little here, but my point is that I don't see any real reason to follow the show exactly if you don't want to. Sure I may have to put up some disclaimers here and there for my future stories, but I personally won't let that stop me, and I'm glad to see one of my favorite writers do the same.
4250416 Crissy said that changelings always feel hunger and they can't still it. Also that love they will harvest will be her. So I think their love hunger similar to mana hunger of blood elf from the warcraft. Torment them but not kill.
Sorry if my English suck.
I agree with your decision on this. I strongly recommend against trying to change your in-progress story to accommodate the whims and revelations of Hasbro; that way lies madness.
Attempting to retcon The Chrysalis to fit with the show's changing canon would just create additional work for yourself, weaken the narrative, and likely bring in zero additional readers. It's a fantastic story as it is, one that you should be proud of, and the best thing that you can do for your readers is to continue to write more of it.
they are flutterponies... freaking flutterponies...
4250398
Yeah, we may well see some old-style changelings in the future, especially if Chrysalis tries to make good on her threats of revenge. Could be interesting!
Well, now I've got that song stuck in my head again. Also, man, there's a sentence to conjure some clop imagery.
4250416
I suppose it's not explicitly spelled out, but the dialogue seems pretty heavily balanced toward the "no need to feed" side. Thorax "just sort of forgot about the whole feeding thing", and Starlight said he didn't need to feed any more. Granted, he could have been passively absorbing some of the vast amounts of love all around him, and Starlight, being a second-hoof source, could have been wrong, so there's maybe some wiggle room, but I think the better money is on the writers intending for his hunger to be gone over trying to obfuscate or mislead people. So, as much as I think the love-feeding should have stayed, I think it's pretty safe to say it's gone.
Then again... needing to feed on love is about the most insignificant disadvantage ever if you're able to live openly in Equestria.
4250792
Oh yeah, absolutely. Incorporating elements that are introduced later but still fit in is one thing, but retconning to get things to fit in is rife with hazards. I could write a good story with the new information, but it would be a very different story from the one I have.
But it's not like this is really news to me. I knew from the moment I started to write about changelings that something I wrote would inevitably be contradicted by the show if they ever showed up again, but I'd much rather have changelings in the show than have my stories remain un-contradicted.
4250975
Eh, flutterponies were just ponies with diaphanous wings. The new changelings are at least still insectoid. As accepting as I'm willing to be of, erm, 'colorful' changelings, I would have been tempted to rage a bit if they had turned into more-or-less normal ponies, which was my immediate fear when I saw a pastel-colored, hole-free leg enter the frame!
4250370
Huh! I hadn't even considered that, but that's a neat idea. With how magic seems to be involved with so much of the world, that could make a good explanation for how barren the land is. I like it!
Eh. Fallout Equestria deviates at a much earlier point. No princess twilight could easily mean no princess changelings, seeing as it was starlight that made thorax go down that path. Also, i think the shiny changelings come mostly from a abundance of love, from ponies accepting the changelings, wich think still need to feed, seeing as thorax almost deaded when chrysalis sucked his love. i really like their wings and carapace though. the colourscheme... not so much. Honestly i could see that changelings splitting from chrysalis in a civil war being very different to canon not-chrysalis-changelings. They sharing love amongst themselves, but not amongst ponies and other hives could easily change hw they look. One more thing, its a AU fanfiction. its made to deviate from canon, so yeah, don´t be afraid to do it. If it doenst have a place don´t use it. its not like Hasbro´s secret police is going to get you( i hope). Also chrysalis coming from behind the pods was horryfing. Which means it would be great in a grim
derpdark setting like fallout equestria and fallout in general. imagine ghoul changelings crawling out of a vent doing that! I do hope they get a better colourscheme though. The design itself is really great though. They disntictively still look insect like, which i feel is very important.In the wasteland, it should be not any less convenient to feed on emotions. Others have to rely on food, that no one seems to produce, too.
Do they have a spell to convert backwards, stored magic into physical food? Would have been convenient.
my thoughts exactly on the plants. magic is found in everything in Equestria. so if it all gets absorbed... what will live? also... throw that stone into the ever free. it needs it! lmao
I wouldn't say the need to feed is gone, just the need to steal love is unnecessary. With a few friends a changeling can not only survive but thrive by sharing the love. While "The Chrysalis" is a lot more muted it does have the same thing going on.
I'm really happy your not changing anything about your story :) . Although I like the new style I really do prefer how they used to look
Late, but I obviously don't care. Anyways, I felt like their visual change was going against the shows values, cause they've said before on at least a few occasions (including Throax's episode
) to not judge a book by it's cover. Regardless of that I felt like their new color design could've been much better. Something more subtle, like changing their blue color to a different random one including a chance to stay blue, because it would keep the black part of the design I also liked and still allow diversity. And I definitely agree that it would be very disappointing for them to lose their shape shifting, especially if they're still going to be called changelings. It's not really something I'd flip tables over or leave the fandom for, I just feel like it's awkward in a few ways. On a better note, I do like that some of them lost their horns and maybe some of them lost their wings cause, again, diversity. And I do like that they lost their endless hunger.
As for your Nictisverse, I have a reasonably good idea on how to change the transformation's method for this universe to explain why it hasn't happened yet. I'm not planning on using it for my current story because I'm done writing the plans in detail but if I come up with enough material for a sequel that's at least a few chapters, it'll almost definitely be in that.
How would you do it then?
I know it's late I'm just interested. In all honesty I'm surprised there weren't more "Thorax"-es. Normally such changes happen because like the cartoons the little snowball rolls downhill to create a gigantic one. But this time it seemed abrupt. Like too abrupt. If I had a better example it would be like a dam breaking under pressure. It builds up then breaks in an instant.
5009932
Well, let's see. I probably would have kept the original designs just because I like them more, and it would avoid any potential (And likely entirely unintended) impression that "goodness" is somehow linked to appearance. I'd also keep the need to feed on love, because it was such a big deal to changelings before then, and I think it makes for a better "overcoming their evil nature". Instead of a sudden "we're all good and our species-defining hunger problem is solved", you get a longer period of changelings trying to adapt to the new mindset that they can earn love openly instead of stealing it. The hunger is still there, but they find a better way of sating it. I think it would make for a better "sharing love" than what happened in the show.
There's also the issue of how apparently no changeling ever felt love for anyone else, but I can cut them some slack given that Chrysalis probably would have stamped that out hard.
5010076
Ever played WoW? The changelings often remind me of the Blood Elves. The Evil changelings followed Kael'thas to corruption/evil ways and absorbed fel/demonic magic while their "kinder" brothers later re-embraced the light and how it sated their thirst for magic.
Anyway I am not sure that this would have worked with the explosion clash.