Changeling Purists' Support Thread

Or, alternatively, the ‘Changedling Venting Thread’.
 
A thread for people who miss the original changelings – their color scheme, personally, general looks, etc – and need someplace to vent in peace.

’Member when changelings looked awesome and adorable – not to mention aesthetically pleasing? I ’member.

I feel the crux of the issue is that this change radically goes against what the changelings were designed for at a meta level, them being ugly beasts in the guise of something pretty or a loved one. Essentially, the whole “Changedling” malarkey removes what makes the Changelings special and basically makes them buglike Crystal Ponies.

@The Toaster Repair Pony  
Additionally, the color scheme of the new ones clash horribly as a whole and their personalities did a complete 180 way too fast. There was no indication the changelings were against Chrysalis – in fact, the opposite seemed the case. Not to mention the ghastly color gradient on Thorax. shivers

@Eeveeinheat  
So Thorax forced the Lings to change and had the gall to call Chrysalis a tyrant?  
Ant calling the termite black here.

@The Toaster Repair Pony  
Any ideas as to why they changed their tune so quickly? Usually, the people who advocate for the changedlings claim that chysalis must have secretly hid the ability to share love. But that doesn’t make any sense. All it would take is one changeling to try, and they will turn into changedlings. Nothing about this makes sense.

To be honest this doesn’t bother me that much; it is a kid’s show. But yikes the color scheme at first glance was so garish.
 
At the same time it strikes me as being as silly and kinda nasty as the whole ‘attractive zombie’ thing. I.e., the zombie can be redeemed and made ‘human’ again – if they look like a person. Specifically, like an attractive person. They look ugly? Better put one in his rotting brainpan just to be safe.
 
Or more simply: if you’re not ‘cute’, it’s not worth wasting any time treating you like a person.
 
I also don’t for one second believe this is what the people on the show intended. This is just a case of a nerd over-analyzing things.
 
But then I have a LOT of problems with the modern depiction of zombies in film and books and how they’re handled which don’t belong here.

@Background Pony #1E1A  
I know that’s not what they intended, but it’s still pretty hard to not get a bad racial vibe from the whole way it was done. “Oh you look dark and scary well you can’t possibly be good”, y’know? They look and act so different now that it just screams to me “looks and race determine if you’re ‘good’ or not”, which is kind of depressing to me. :/
 
Honestly though my real complaint is how they took away everything appealing about them. They were the best looking and coolest creatures in the show, and now they’re these dumb hippy slightly-more-alien-looking crystal ponies :(
 
I know people defend the change because “before they were suffering but now they’re not”, but that’s only because it was forcibly written that way. I can’t be the only one who thinks their change to being good guys would habe been so much more meaningful if they didn’t change their entire appearance, personality, behavior, and lore, right? Like, I wish we’d gotten more sparkly-wing changelings like Thorax in the finale. That looked so cool. :(
 
I guess you could say I’m not a fan of the new ones and am praying they bring back the old ones somehow.

I think the new designs grew on me for two main reasons.
 
A. I associate them with Thorax, who’s quickly become one of my fav characters in recent memory.
 
B. I never really thought the changelings were all that special to begin with. To me they were just ok.

To elaborate on myself. I also think it’s worth noting that Pharynx’s design is never once mentioned by the other changelings. They are afraid of him because he ACTS like a dick head. That’s what’s scary. Not his design.
 
Also, the show was not defending the changelings acting like hippies. IT’s either played for laughs, or the changelings are shown to be angry and petty beneath their actions. That was kinda the message of the episode. The changelings had gone too far in one direction and needed someone more serious like Pharynx to keep them on their toes.

@Badumsquish  
Sparkly true-form Thorax was awesome. I was so excited to see what he turned into… and then I was crushed.
 
Considering that half of my fics are about changelings, you can probably guess why it hurt me so deeply.

@Background Pony #476D  
If you didn’t think changelings were special in the first place, you don’t really have a horse in this race. So of course you didn’t mind the change.

I’ll never like Thorax. Trash character. Pharynx is slightly better, but only because I like his attitude.

@gingerninja666  
Also, I really don’t think your view will get you anywhere here…

@Eeveeinheat  

I respectfully disagree. I think it actually makes perfect sense. Consider the problem you mentioned. All it would take is one changeling sharing love, and the problem would resolve itself. Yet, why would any changeling have tried to share love? As Thorax revealed in the season 6 finale, changelings are always hungry.  

Queen Chrysalis confirms this herself a little later on.  

So right away, we have a possible answer to the question. With every changeling in a constant state of love starvation, it’s very likely most have never even considered sharing what little love they get. Add to that a leader who herself spreads the idea that their hunger simply can’t be satisfied (either because she doesn’t know or, more likely, because she has other, more nefarious plans), and you have all the makings of an environment where no changeling has ever given love to anyone else.
 
Now on another point, the fact that they likely have never shared love doesn’t mean they are unaware they can do so. In the reveal of her plan Chrysalis mentions that her drones will store love and return it to her. This clearly indicates they are aware of some means of transferring it, but, as before, this is not love freely given. Chrysalis is there to empower and enrich herself arguably at the hive’s expense), and so it falls into a different category than the love freely given to and shared with Thorax.
 
And finally, as to why were they so quick to change their tune? Ignoring for a moment the fact that the episode “To Change a Changeling” makes it clear Thorax has been working for a while to convince others to join his side (indicating some holdouts amongst the crowd), the possibility of not being perpetually empty inside seems like a fairly strong motivator.

@Background Pony #C93C  
Man, why are Changedling defenders coming in here?

I’m asking because this is clearly a thread where no one really wants to argue. It’s specifically for people who miss the old forms. I mean you have a right to post in here, I can’t tell you not to but does it really make sense to come into an “X Appreciation Thread” and try to argue against people who are trying to APPRECIATE something? In this case the old Changelings and how they functioned?

I’m asking because this is clearly a thread where no one really wants to argue. It’s specifically for people who miss the old forms. I mean you have a right to post in here, I can’t tell you not to but does it really make sense to come into an “X Appreciation Thread” and try to argue against people who are trying to APPRECIATE something? In this case the old Changelings and how they functioned?

Damn double post..I can’t fix that.

They’ve been Equestria’d, which is to say, they’re now pretty and of no threat whatsoever to the pony races, let alone the rest of the world.
 
I’m sure sense can be made of the evolutionary path their race has taken, that Chrysalis has been preventing her race from evolving by forcing them into not being able to see the obvious trigger for their transformation, maybe even having to purge hives that did so accidentally. Still, all I see here is lost potential, another “evil” race that turned out to be begging to be redeemed deep inside. DHX is gonna play with Chrysalis around a bit, have her be a somewhat recurring villain, but it’s obvious she’s eventually gonna follow suit.
 
So basically, changedlings are just a symptom of a bigger problem: the show’s inability to have deeper worldbuilding than “Colorful Ponies > All”.

@Background Pony #9975  

Well, the question was asked, and my post doesn’t really have anything to do with opinions on their appearance. I was responding mainly to the question of why it seems like they had a sudden personality change, and the issue of whether them not knowing they could share love makes sense. I tend to think of those issues as separate from the aesthetic aspect of the conversation, and consistent across all of their appearances in the show, which is why I thought it would be ok to respond. I mean, I’d like to believe you can think the explanation makes sense and still be nostalgic for their old forms.
 
But perhaps I have overstepped, and I apologize if you see it that way. Honestly, I didn’t come here looking to start an argument. I was curious, and that one point just happened to be a particular issue I’ve put a lot of thought into elsewhere and wanted to offer my thoughts on here.

@Poison Trail
 
I unsubscribed from this thread because I realized what the background pony said was right. This isn’t a thread for me, but on that specific point you mentioned.
 
Wasn’t the moral of To Change a Changeling kinda that Pharynx was right all along? The person who mainly stood for what the old hive represented. The colourful ponies in that episode mostly only made the situation worse, and their initial reaction of “Kick out the one who’s different” was proven to be wrong.

@Poison Trail  
Or she might perish or end up like Tirek

@Background Pony #9975  
Changedling defenders confuse me, honestly. I will never understand their viewpoint, no matter how much I try. It’s just a case of completely different preferences in what constitutes good design and ghastly design.

@Eeveeinheat  
What bothers me most is Thorax’s backstory and how he took over. To me it’s no better than what Chrysalis did to them. They’re still following the biggest Changeling and doing what he tells them to do. Conform or get left in the cold. By the way, AFAIK none of this was implied until season six with one episode to set up Thorax and suddenly he’s king in the finale. Complete ass.
 
With that said, it’s probably the only way Chrys will stay relevant.
 
To add, nothing implied Chrysalis was a terrible leader and mother (look, I personally think she birthed all of the Changelings in her hive). I mean, her plans were terrible because there was some massive hole in them simply because she’s the villain and destined to fail, especially in this show. That you can argue, but she was the only villain with actual goddamn plans until Starlight came along. Give her some credit on that at least.