Dear Dr. Shields,
You said you’d keep anything I emailed to you secret, so that I could tell you anything. Mark talked to you yesterday, and he said you made him feel better. Well, I’m going to try, because I need to talk to someone but I can’t talk to anyone here about this. And anything I send home will be seen by everyone.
First let me teach a few things. It is important that you keep this secret until we are ready to make it public. Else there is danger for me and for others like me who might come to your world in the future.
“Bug-pony” is not a good translation for what my species is. A better word is “changeling”. We change. Our magic lets us look like ponies, or other people, or even things. We can be anything.
This is important because, until a few years ago, we used our change to steal the love we eat. We were hated and feared, and the ponies were right to hate and fear us. We were not their friends. We lived by draining them of their love and other good emotions- by taking away part of who they were.
I’m not sorry about that. We did what we had to to survive. But in those times we were so hungry that we acted like monsters. Sometimes we lost control. A really hungry changeling is DANGER.
Then our queen came up with the brilliant plan of the space race. Now ponies still suspect us, but some respect us and even love us for what we are. We don’t need to steal love anymore. We get enough love to be healthy without hurting any ponies at all.
Until I came to Mars.
The crew know there’s a problem. Three times a day they give me a bit of their love. My reserves were low for a while, but they’re slowly climbing again. The holes in my body have closed up almost to where they were when we crashed.
But I’m hungryer than ever before, and I don’t know why. All Changelings are always hungry a little, but this is different. I’m getting lots of love, but something is missing.
It’s not so bad in the cave. I work on the farm in the cave and feel almost at home. But when I leave the cave I am afraid. I know what changelings do when we go feed-crazy. I am afraid I will hurt my friends, especially Mark, who does not know what I really am.
I do not want to hurt my friends. But I don’t know what I can do to stop it. And you’re the only person I can tell this, because if I tell anyone else they will be afraid too, and they won’t be able to feed me anymore, and things will get bad very fast.
There is one thing you can do. Watch the messages from the others. If you see these things it might mean I am overeating, and you need to warn the others.
Watch Mark most of all. He doesn’t know. If I tell him he won’t love me anymore. The others know and keep watch over each other and me, but Mark is the tastiest and most giving. If I break, I probably go for him first. If this happens, tell everyone you need to everything. I hope it doesn't happen. I don't want it to happen.
I feel better now, knowing you will watch and warn if something is wrong. Please don’t tell anyone else. Humans will need to know someday, but we need to do it careful or else all humans will hate all changelings.
I will delete this from Mark’s computer once I send it.
Thank you, Irene.
Dragonfly
Dear Dragonfly,
Read this privately, and then delete it if you want to keep it secret.
I did promise to keep your email confidential, and so I will. But this is information NASA needs. More importantly, this is information Mark needs.
I understand your species was forced to live as a parasite on others. I'm guessing you have major problems trusting others. But it’s absolutely vital that crew members trust one another, and right now Mark is part of your crew. The longer you wait before telling him, the more you risk destroying that trust, especially if your fears of losing control of yourself are justified.
Your fear is valid. You are not wrong to be worried about your friends. In fact, being concerned for your friends speaks well of you as a person. The question now is, what are you going to do to deal with that fear and its causes? Here is the advice I can give from a hundred million miles away.
You should also talk to the others from your world about your problem. I’m a human from a world that doesn’t know what magic is. Nothing here eats love. Nothing here changes shapes back and forth like you say you can. I can’t tell you if you’re going to turn into an animal suddenly without warning. But I think the fact that you’re watching yourself for the possibility is a good sign.
I think you underestimate your fellow crew and how valuable you are to them. Trust pays. Seriously consider telling them what you told me. I think you’ll find that they love you more for it, not less. And one of them might have a solution for your problem.
Irene Shields, Ph. D.
Project Ares Chief Psychologist
Love the bug.
Do it.
Observer effects suck. You cant talk about the problem without making it worse.
I do prefer the headcanon of changling holes indicating hunger.
Hmm. Is Mars hate poisoning love bug?
Oh crud.
Its Nine Nines all over again.
You know, if you go by the show and they are getting enough love freely, they should all be showing the signs of changing into the new forms the show has.
Thorax was. It wasn't exactly happening volunterily.
8802085
I have no clue what that is supposed to be. Assuming it's not meaningless clutter, I think Fimfiction ate your formatting, because it is unrecognizable as anything resembling art, ASCII or otherwise.
8802109
Yep. You got it right. FIMfiction formatting ruined my day. Here's the original image (Slight relation to the newest chapter)
pre00.deviantart.net/dc71/th/pre/i/2013/003/8/6/new_year_changeling_by_zimvader42-d5qazta.png
8802101
That's been axed in Changeling Space Program.
8802121
Not entirely. Some of them are starting to get the shiny wings, but they likely won't transform fully.
But I’m hungryer than ever before, and I don’t know why. All Changelings are always hungry a little, but this is different. I’m getting lots of love, but something is missing.
The problem seems evident: He needs something besides love. In order to look for a solution, he should eat something else. Either other emotions, or even normal food might do the trick. My bet is for the normal food.
A good response from Dr. Shields. I hope she's right about Mark.
Does Dragonfly consider the word "changeling" itself to be giving away too much? Or will NASA use that term going forward?
I have a suspicion that Mark's reaction won't be what she expects. He's an uber-nerd, and Dragonfly has no idea how many awesome shapeshifting characters he's grown up reading about. She's worried he's going to freak out, while his thought process, sitting there in stunned amazement, is going to be: Holy crap, she's a shapeshifter? Like Mystique? That ... Is so COOL!
I have an inkling she'll be a lot more nourished after she tells him.
8802139
All three ideas have merit; Hateful planet, dying of isolation, and biological response to isolation. Question is, which of those is a red herring according to the author? I suspect the biological response to isolation is the least likely to happen. The second one, dying of isolation, could be happening. Even changelings with the deepest of deep cover can still contact other changelings. Dragonfly is totally isolated. The unknown is what happens to a changeling that cannot contact any hive? Will she attempt to make one (pretend?) with the rest of the crew as a stopgap till the real thing presents itself?
8802080
I think it's the lack of magic. Dragonfly notes she feels more comfortable in the cave, where there is a very low magic field thanks to the growing plants. Without magic to burn, she gets hungry all the faster.
8802155
Fans often underestimate how terrific changelings can be.
Remember the original concept in mythology? An impostor posing as a child under a glamour facade, coddled by the parents while the real son or daughter, who had been spirited away by the fae, remained as slave/pet/tithe to hell/etc..
In real life, this belief has been explained as a supersticious self-justification for the infanticide of ill, deformed and disabled children. But imagine for a moment that it could be true; that you child or beloved one has been kidnapped and replaced by an alien magical shapeshifter who feeds on your love.
This is what the reveal of changelings can usher over the human world: Capgras delusion turned into proper paranoia.
8802198
No underestimation at all. Again, Mark's perspective. This is the guy who makes jokes about Aquaman and cracks wise about everything, in a society such as today's where the idea of a shapeshifter is played for both negative and positive storytelling. Changelings in myth and folklore (as well as any shapeshifter) were played for absolute horror and fear.
Nowadays? Shapeshifter Romance is a massively successful subgenre of Romance, effectively a mainstream part of the Romance genre itself. Culturally the idea of shapeshifters being good and bad is widely accepted, whereas 100 years ago it was seen as purely bad.
Edit: Wrong punctuation.
8802198 Certainly that's why Dragonfly is afraid to tell humans in general. But I think Viking is right about Mark's reaction.
Okay, now you got me worried about muh lovebug...
8802144
The missing ingredient is magic. That's why she feels better in the cave farm, because the plants are generating a magic field, as all life does.
Dragonfly has unwittingly discovered that Changelings cannot properly live in a magic poor environment.
In which Dragonfly accidentally becomes the Changeling Queen of Mars.
Or maybe it's just that she's having trouble with the low-magic environment. I know which idea I prefer, though.
Looking forward to Watney's reaction to the reveal.
I got the impression he was feeling radiation or something. I dont think the thermoisotopic generator would register as DEATH otherwise.
Not enough data.
8802233 I'm guessing that changelings require magic to metabolise love energy then. I'm surprised that they can't use some of the magic they generate from the love to metabolise more love.
8801586
That's exactly what I was joking about.
Doesn't he? I thought it was established a couple dozen chapters ago that Dragonfly is an emotivore, and that if Mark finds himself unable to think of anything besides her, that's a problem caused by overfeeding.
Found it:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/396744/50/the-maretian/sol-89
I’d been so used to the bug not eating that I asked. It didn’t take long to realize Dragonfly didn’t want to talk about it, but this time I insisted on straight answers, and I got them.
It turns out Dragonfly is actually the most magical creature in this Hab. She doesn’t eat food, except for a few scraps here and there and some water. She lives on- you will not believe this- she lives on love. Now I understand why she acts so puppy-like around me: she thinks she has to in order to get enough to eat.
Apparently it’s dangerous when a bug-pony takes too much emotional food from one subject too fast, and Dragonfly doesn’t want to knock me on my ass by overeating. She also said if I find myself feeling tired or “not-want-do-nothing-at-all” (depressed), that’s a warning sign. Ditto with bells on if I find myself unable to think of anything except her.
Well. So Dragonfly is a soul-sucker, and the ponies now know the English word for “parasite”. Good educational moment all around, then.
8802218
Could you give me some examples of said positive shapeshifter novels? I haven't heard of any before . Unless you count animorphs.
8802258
He could have been referring to the fact that mark does not know about all the dangers, or what happens when a changeling becomes too hungry.
Though I would fully expect Mark to understand and help Dragonfly with her problem.
8802272
Speaking of Shapeshifters, how about Odo from ST: DS9?
Where the rest of his race is trying to conquer the Alpha Quadrant....
Yeah. Bad example.
Or Stat Trek The Undiscovered County, where the Shapeshifters kisses Kirk and helps them escape the ice planet.
Who then immediately tries to kill Kirk so she can replace him.....
Yeah. Another bad example.
Yeah, the most Alien friendly franchise Earth has, really paints most Changelings/ Shapeshifters in a bad light.
8802185
This is my take away as well.
Don't worry, Dragonfly. Your fellow friendly Changeling, Odo, is rooting for you.
m.popkey.co/764975/6j4qk.gif
8802080
Sic Starlight onto the problem. With the knowing participation of everyone else? Dragonfly is not a true parasite because her sapience, empathetic abilities, and cooperative friendship brings as much to the gestalt as her natural engineering ability.
8802327
Yeah, better hide the goa'uld from her, who share almost all of those qualities. Keep Dragonfly away from Stargate.
Wait. Chrysalis pretty much is a goa'uld!
8802272
Absolutely! On mobile now, but here's a sampling ...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_1_20?k=shapeshifter+romance&sprefix=shapeshifter+romance&crid=2Y3OZ5UF3JIDT
Over 30.000 results. And you can find usually two or more shapeshifter romance books in any top twenty romance sellers.
But even then, outside of Romance, shapeshifting characters for good and bad have become very popular. Werewolf fiction, for instance, has moved away from horror and towards action and hero werewolves, rather than villains. Werecats and other firms have jumped to popularity.
They're when prevalent in popular YA fiction. Fablehaven, for example, has a dragon side character who can shapeshift and is a helpful protagonist (and almost a love interest).
Crud, not YA, but Dragon's Ring stars a shapeshifting dragon trickster who serves as a love interest for the other main character.
Yeah, super popular. Mystique went from a villain to an anti-hero and even a heroine in some versions because of public response.
8802342
But is still a canon villian when it comes to the comics. The bread and butter of Marvel.
8802248
Perhaps they never had to do it on purpose thanks to the ubiquitous magic field of Equis.
That's why it simply never occured to Dragonly.
8802018
Sadly, true.
...then we'll just have to troll him worse then. Xp
8802377
and that make things worst and worst and worst, you can't win at trolls there is a never-ending win to them. hell even when they go to jail they still some how pull out a win
Soon Dragonfly will mutate into The Thing or whatever...
8802386
They'll call it quits eventually, either out of boredom or annoyance. Xd
8802392
true but think about it..... this is alines here and the troll who can pised them off the most is going to be the king of trolls to be the 1st.
there going all at them now at this ponit, there most likely board trolling each other but alines..... that open new ways to troll them like no other
Kinda curious how she figured out the correct word is changeling. She'd have needed to look at the cultural history of that word to know to use it over, for example, the more neutral shapeshifter.
8802120
It also truncated it. When I copy-pasted the "art" into my copy of gVim (any monospace text editor will do) and then dragged the width until the image resolved itself, it stopped maybe 1/4 of the way down that picture.
I fear for firefly.
8802335
Yet the Tok'ra are symbiotes, despite being biologically the same species.
8802436
Yeah... that's due to the character limit on these here comment boxes, and yes they do indeed have a limit (Source: The Comment)
Update: YES. IT HAS BEEN DONE. THE "ART" HAS BEEN DELETED. HALLELUJAH.
If this is what you call "fluff" then Idk what to say to you man because this was a very good chapter. Just damn... poor Dragonfly. Idk if I'm reading to much into it, but was the implication here that she's saying the crew should put her down if she goes feral? Because if so then fuuuuuuck.
I can't help but feel Dr. Shields is taking a very big risk with one of her unofficial patients. Her insistence that Dragonfly trust her crewmembers to tell them everything is understandable from a human point of view, but she has no idea how love feeding works. Telling Dragonfly that everything will be fine is a bit premature under these circumstances, and if it does go horribly wrong then this isn't a problem that can be solved by the people involved just keeping their minds on the task and working together despite their biases and grudges. If this goes wrong, Dragonfly is without a food source.
I mean it could go all swimmingly and maybe even better than swimmingly, but the fact that if this goes wrong it essentially means starvation for Dragonfly makes me wonder why Dr. Shields so insistently pushed for this.
Whoah. We've had hints that something wasn't right with Dragonfly, but this is intense.
8802258
8802285
Mark doesn't know Dragonfly is a shapeshifter. One could argue that's not the biggest thing, but it's a pretty big one.