The chronicles of Project Horizons : chapter 30

This chapter is a bit uneventful but I'll try to talk about two important things that I think can help Project Horizons improve. Yes, the fiction is done and I cannot change it but it is interesting to see why this chapter fails in some aspects and where there are strengths that could and should have been expanded upon in order to create something really different. So yes, while some things pissed me off, I'll be far more calm in this blogpost.

Let's go !

I'd like to study first the whole thing about the death fake-out of Glory and explain why it simply does not work in the context of this fiction. I'm not trying to say that people cannot possibly be engaged in this fake-out, I imagine most readers were. However, Glory being possibly dead is kind of a running gag at this point, the first fake-out we had was back in chapter 7 and several scenes tried to essentially make Glory a damsel in distress that is time and time again saved by Blackjack. What I'm trying to say is that patterns are starting to show themselves quite clearly in Somber's writing and I identified him to be a kind of torture addict, meaning that he will prefer to inflict tons of horrible wounds on someone rather than kill them. That's why Blackjack is currently the way she is, for example.

As such, when Somber tries to make us believe that the romantic interest of our heroine died from a fall, it is important to understand that, if you understood his way of writing, that it is impossible for you to believe in such a daring move. In any other story, killing Glory could have been a great way to make our heroin learn humility and actually think through her actions. However, since Somber wrote BJ to be this emotional wreck that contemplates suicide each time she stubs her pinkie toe, killing Glory would have only just meant that she would try, again, to kill herself. As such, she couldn't die and if she has to die, she has to die purposefully.

Most people won't see the patterns I'm talking about and honestly, you're not supposed to, I'm simply not as engaged in the story to be swept off of my feet by the prospects of Glory dying not even a third into the story. That's why I personally found this fake-out to be unfortunately very transparent and even without purpose except cheap drama because this "death" didn't even last long enough for some interesting character development to be done.

That's another thing, this fake-out could have been really well done in the sense that even if I know she isn't dead, this knowledge doesn't extend to the characters in universe. As such, it could have been interesting to see how the death of Glory makes the balance of the group shift. How would they react to one of their friend dying because of BJ's reckless behavior or because of how inherently dangerous her quest is. Yes, she constantly whine that she doesn't want her friends to be in danger but you know what BJ also doesn't do ?

She doesn't lead them with all the gravitas that her role implies.

If you understand the weight of your role Blackjack, you should also learn responsibilities. You don't want your partners to die ? Then learn to use their strengths during combat, listen to their advices, try alternative routes to deal with an issue besides running and gunning. You don't act as someone wanting to take responsibility for the group you're leading, you act as if you didn't want to be their babysitter and that makes the whole difference. When you want to protect something precious to you, you don't act like a doofus. You show purposeful discussions, you show a chemistry between you and the other members of the group and above all thing you have to nurture the idea that YOU CAN RECEIVE advices. So far, you've just done as you damn wanted, got people killed when your stupid plan didn't work and your friends were too... weak to actually tell you to not do it.

You have to create Unity. Not a Hierachy.

So, back on the chapter, let's skip until after she realizes Glory is alive. So we learn all about Lighthooves and his plan. To sum it up, according to him, there are tensions brewing in the Enclave where Neighvarro are very close to attack Thunderhead because of how the Volunteer Corps are changing the mind of the public away from a will to put money into the military. According to him, every 30 years or so a menace is fabricated by the government that only the military can take care of in order to continue to feed the lie about the Enclave's true nature as a police state. His goal so far was to make Neighvarro cease to see Thunderhead as a good casus belli.

He also defends that Thunderhead is the Elite of the Enclave, the only one with an actual interest in the future and a way to avoid the inevitability of the SPP towers being destroyed sooner or later by time and decay.

While I really appreciate that Somber created a villain that is not totally black and white in his approach, a really nice change in comparison to FO:E's antagonists, I also have to mention that there is an obvious... failure in logic in his discourse that shows that he couldn't care less about the stability of the Enclave and is actually a Thunderhead supremacist that simply knows that they would be destroyed by Neighvarro. Here's a quote :

I would happily… gladly… support the VC’s aims… but only after Neighvarro’s forces are eliminated. We’ve been carefully, systematically, undermining them for years, but unfortunately I doubt that we will be ready within my lifetime.

Eliminated ? Systematically undermining them ? Does that sounds like he wants to keep the Enclave united ? No, it's simply a political ploy to avoid Thunderhead changing hooves and if he had the power to beat Neighvarro, he would do so (hence his talisman gathering and the invention of the plague that could affect pegasi since Thunderhead control the food market). He tries to make himself sounds like a protector of the people, knowing full well that will appeal to Glory's stupid sense of duty and loyalty. On that level, I can respect his skill in manipulation even if he is a bit obvious. I am genuinely intrigued by what this character will do and hopefully, he is a bit more layered than "just a Thunderhead supremacist". At least, he is a good manipulator.

Side note : The comment about Spike leaving his cave "for the first in recorded history" shows real bad manner on the part of Somber. You really didn't have to emphasize that. Especially since you essentially stole a character moment from the original. In any case moving on.

However, the decision of Lighthooves to let BJ go is... kind of dubious to me. What if she meets pegasi of Neighvarro that feeds her another story about the Enclave (Oops, she already did) ? Are you sure she'll be less of an inconvenience to you ? She doesn't like you at all and it wouldn't be very hard for her to turncoat and the argument about "the unexpected can be the best decision" is utterly dumb. Unexpected doesn't mean uncontrolled or unsupervised, it simply means unexpected. Here, you're essentially letting the survival of your whole operation rests on the shoulders of luck... Also, our friend BJ did already show that gratefulness wasn't one of her few qualities.

Now, onto EC-1101. It is dumb. Like excessively dumb. It's a megaspell that gives the one carrying a level of power equal to that of a Princess, so no matter who has it, they can unlock any top secret file. I thought the whole shabang of this file was to be cast and then simply gave the authorization in the next in line. Who would have accepted to create a fucking MASTER KEY for everything (we all know who created EC-1101, let's not kid ourselves). It's essentially a huge "Fuck you, I can overrule your decision" plot device. In any case, Steelpony was decrypted thanks to EC-1101.

And now, let's talk about the sex scene. The BDSM scene. First, I like to point out that just like Pip, there is a Dom/Sub relationship and, surprise, the heroin is the Sub, just like Pip. That aside... a BDSM scene, really ? I mean, for fuck sake, let's talk about the context : BJ just learned about Glory being alive and she's an emotional wreck, so is Glory. Why not make a tender moment between the two ? Something sensual and full of love exploring sex in a much more meaningful way than a kink exhibition. I am not a huge fan of that kind of sex scene because they have no purpose. What ? Am I supposed to analyze it like "Oh, I get it, it's all about trust !".

No, it's not. It's about pleasure and honestly, Somber, if you can't make those scenes meaningful and purposeful, don't put them in. For all the shit I give FO:E at least I didn't have to sit through the sex scenes they had... just the constant references to them. Furthermore, I am starting to get really uncomfortable about the fact that the ages of the character were never specified. BJ can't be more than 20 and since Glory is much younge, we could go in a creepy territory that I don't want to think about.

Furthermore, we learn that the one who gave the advice about BDSM to Glory... is her sister Dusk when BJ went to search for her a few chapters back. Let me get this straight : Dusk, who hates BJ, during a scene where Glory was contemplating suicide, was feeling worthless and was an emotional wreck... was given the advice to play with the masochistic tendency of Blackjack... in a BDSM manner. Somber, are you really that eager to make all of your scenes that ridiculous ? Why not simply say that she had an interest for this sort of thing even before meeting her ? I mean reading porn is quite common. Moving on...

We learn that the true HQ of the MoA was in Hoofington... because of course it is. Kkat made the HQ back in Canterlot a warehouse and so instead of having a secret decentralized HQ, it was in Hoofington, because Somber is just dying to make everything in FO:E about his story if he can. In any case, there's something I didn't quite understand :

“But... but you branded Glory,” I pointed out. “Burned off her cutie mark and… and…”

“We did what we had to. Would you prefer a war?” she asked bluntly. Point taken.

You didn't have to brand her... at all. It's not like you showed her to all of the Enclave to show how much of a criminal she was, you even forged a confession. That part, the branding, was a pointless display of cruelty that served no actual purpose. Again, if no one sees her brand in the Enclave, it cannot have any political weight. The fact that BJ is so easily mute after such an obvious lie is amusing. Especially when she says that war is a stupid thing because, and I quote :

War. It made my stomach clench. Was there anything… ever… more stupid and wasteful than war? It’d destroyed the world! You’d think that would have been enough. But here we were, two centuries later, and we still had situations where group A and group B had a problem and couldn’t think of any better way out of it than killing each other!

I won't expand on it. Coming from her of all ponies is simply rich.

We have a whole scene with Watcher discussing with BJ about who could possibly be this strange entity that tried to kill her and her friends twice. I don't like the fact that Spike is suggesting that there could have been more Maneframes that no one knew about when... the one in the Gardens of Equestria and the SPP are also technically Maneframe no one really knew about or used during the war. Somber, please don't be retarded, focus on making new interesting stuff instead of hijacking and bending the main story to make it say "Well actually, there was another Maneframe in Hoofington"

Then we have the whole pipe section that is kinda dumb, especially when the plan ends with Glory and BJ floating while the tank is filling itself in water... How does BJ floats exactly with her armor, braces and the like ? Something Somber rightfully pointed out but who still thinks that you can wear heavy armor and still remains on the surface while the water rises ? Sure.

Then we have a whole scene with Finders Keepers, the dad of Usury, Bottlecap and Caprice. He is a pretty chill dude whose goal in life is to pillage and trade stuff. He also tries... to seduce BJ who looks anything but like a beauty prize, especially after her little fun in the pipes. We learn that Dawn created the rift by marrying the Glory's dad and that everyone went their merry way. We also learn that... the Hoof is simply making the items in places respawn and that's spooky. Honestly, the reason has to be quite good because my head spins at the idea of essentially a potential of infinite resources, ammo and the likes.

Then we have a whole scene about a tumor being extremely big in BJ's eyesock need to be removed and of course, Glory can just treat it in the middle of nowhere without it going to infect itself. In any case, it'll be removed and we have the right to a memory orb that tells us that... Goldie put a child in Fluttershy, how surprising, and he also collected a strange piece of metal that tries to kill pony when submitted to a potent enough force. Quite the strange thing and of course, Goldenblood doesn't flinch when the metal rod simply murder a pony. Because villains don't care about death.

Also, Usury was there, shoveling brahmin shit. She tried to kill BJ but since she is still going to die of cancer, she didn't and BJ only feels pity for her. Yeah, let's kill a whole settlement because they are forced to slavery by their environment and a fucking market that incentivizes such practices but not about the former ringleader of such a slave market. She's just a filly after all that basically means she is absolved of all her sins past and future.

The chapter ends with Glory and BJ seeing their friends having slave collars (except Scotch Tape) and being escorted by a full unit of Steel Rangers !

Before I close this blogpost, I want to talk about something central : characters. Somber visibly had a personal experience with depression and suicide and I don't blame it for him and it's even brave to write about it, using what you know to make this more relatable to people going through similar things. Somber is capable to write characters that aren't balls of angst but he only does it for side characters and as such all of his protagonists end up feeling the same. They all are angsty, they all cry at the drop of a hat, they all have tamper tantrums that causes the death of people and they all have dark pasts. PH would be a much better story if character like Lighthooves or Keeper had been in the main roster, or at least the same kind of character.

For me, Somber didn't focus enough on variety of the main cast, too focus to exorcise his own insecurites through the main team, leaving only few instances of actually interesting characters.

Closing thoughts : Still not great. Let us hope for the future to be better.