The chronicles of Project Horizons : Chapter 13 · 5:57pm Nov 4th, 2018
How can I call this kind of chapter where I am both happy to have been right regarding the obvious abuse that this telekinetic bullet was going to have and sad that the Enclave are now back to essentially be sky nazis like they were in Fallout:Equestria ? This chapter isn't really one that stands out, it's a "business as usual" kind of chapter where our precious Blackjack is able to see the Enclave for the true scum they are unlike Glory and where she... well, more on the rest in a moment.
Let's go.
Let's start with how the Enclave is described and the general revelation of Glory's past. I don't like how the Enclave is portrayed like some snakes that just want to "protect pegasi" and yet are acting like the least trustable faction possible. Yes, I understand that the Enclave really have no business helping the degenerates of the surface, I get that. However, it is not presented as a conflict of philosophy, it's reduced to "Us pegasi don't want to help the surface so we'll have to stage a whole charade to make Morning Glory a traitor to her own race." It makes them so unambiguously evil even Finders are more honorable. How better would it have been if the Enclave were simply the kind of Faction that were all about themselves without being evil. Hell, we could even have some explanations about what they actually stands for rather than "We have the kind Volunteer Corps and the Evil Government who wants to get rid off the nice politician.
It's not a strict negative in the sense that it is just a version that I don't like and I still haven't read the whole thing but I would have preferred a bit more subtlety rather than the "Look they have a mutilated Dashite in their basement !" or "Look at how they are branding her like some kind of assholes !" In any other story, I might have given it a pass but in a FO:E story where EVERY villain looks the same, I would have preferred if their cruelty was expressed in a different manner. Hell, why not have a character simply ask : "Why should we help the surface ? Out of the kindness of our heart ? Is that really you think we should do, the strong helping the weak simply because they are strong ? What is that slave mentality ? The strong should be the subordinate of the weak because the weak suffer ans loathe their weakness ? Everything in this world is about gains and losses and from my point of view, we lose more than we gain in helping you."
This story desperately needs antagonists that can't be considered "Evil incarnate" without any room for discussion. In any case that's my take on manichean factions. I hope that this chapter is not telling of the whole faction.
As for Glory being the daughter of a high politician, I have nothing to say about it. I'm curious to see where this will go and how it'll shape Glory in the chapter to come because for now, she just sounds like a Disney Princess : a gentle soul trying to do her best and show her kingdom that there is value in helping others. It's not a criticism, I'm just curious to see if our branded princess will have some evolution now that she was effectively thrown out of the sky and her home.
Now, let's talk about Blackjack, her uncanny intuition, her telekinetic bullet and Trottenheimer's folly. Blackjack showcased what I would call "Hero's intuition" where she was sure and certain that the Enclave were assholes despite even Glory hiding some things from her. Here, it is a bit of a trickery since most people who played the game or read FO:E knows for a fact that Enclave are supremacist assholes (even if PH tried to flesh them out a little bit). What this does is that it makes so it's impossible to see them as anything but cruel and/or misguided assholes and with that... BJ is authorized unconsciously to do whatever she wants to them.
I talked about it regarding the "killing while singing" section of one of my earlier blogposts but Blackjack has reverted hard to her former self. Now, if an enemy is deemed evil or dangerous, she isn't just going to kill them, she's going to be extra.... creepy about it. She used a raider eating her hostage alive to get some information from her, she tore pegasi apart with her bare hooves under the influence of drugs and she all around killed gruesomely her enemies. What I'm trying to point out isn't that she shouldn't kill, especially when endangered, I'm trying to say that, for a character who has a whole dilemma over killing people to the point of having internal monologues with a representation of Death playing poker, it comes as a bit jarring to have both her angst over the death of a slaver and yet be extremely gruesome in her kills a day or two later.
Case in points : the rescue of Glory. I have NO ISSUE with her going berserk to save her friend and doing what needs to be done but she bathed in the blood and guts of the Enclave ponies she killed and it's not even an issue for her ? It's the first time that she took drug ever and she triple shot herself with a mix of three different drugs that made her forget what she did ? Aside from the fact that she could have killed Glory while trying to rescue her in her fury, she doesn't seem at all shaken by the chemical mix that just had. Not yet at least but this scene was incredibly strange : she drugged herself, killed the menace and the scene went on with even a bit of a quip on how she was covered in guts.
Let me completely clear : from this point on, if Blackjack goes all angsty over killing people, I'm going to be pissed. I'll of course respect the context of the angst but this fiction cannot for the life of it be consistent with BJ's progression regarding her take on killing. If she is fine with killing enemies gruesomely and not even mentioning it, I'll have far less patience for such hypocritical angst.
As for the telekinetic bullet (or the fact that no one thinks that they should perhaps search her for weapons. For fuck sake, she had Trottenheimer's Folly and a Silver Bullet in her bag and no one felt the need to take it away from her ?), it exactly went how I feared it'll go : it's a "I win" button in close range. Especially since she can use S.A.T.S for it. And since it gained an upgrade I can only be more worried at how powerful an addition it's going to be. The worst would be to be able to snipe people with it.
As for the battle scene, nothing to say aside from our BJ having a gun so powerful, it's essentially a railgun.
Closing thoughts : Business as usual. I hope P-21 will be freed in the next chapter. We need to get a move on.
I refer you to:
4963720
Let me counter that it is the philosophy of only one character and I won't extend it to the whole Enclave. My offer was a deeper and colder approach for the whole Enclave. The quote you provided is more of a "Fuck you, deal with your stuff alone. I have my little comfort and I don't want to risk my life for your sorry ass."
My offer shows a deep determination based on intent. This character's remark is more about her helping people she doesn't care about for no reason other than another pegasus' decision. Besides, we really reverted to sky nazis with the secret headquarters dealing with the gentle VC.