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Pannic2014-03-01 22:25:59

So like the original fic, Project Horizons always opens with a quote. This one is a "Step Three: Profit" joke. Oh dear. Still, as long as he doesn't repeat it it won't be as bad as that "you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup" line(s) from the original.

So our merry band of uneasy-peasies makes their way, Glory explaining some more stuff to them before the chapter (off-screen exposition. That's new.). And then they arrive at Hoofington.

And you know, this is actually really cool.

This is really, really good. So many fanfics read like glorified screenplays, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as we get good dialogue and character-building, but I just love this description of Hoofington. Somber and Kkat both have an incredible knack for descriptive visuals that I really think helps their fics stand out as much as they do. It helps build an atmosphere and a real sense of place. From just this paragraph I get a neat impression of Hoofington as a foreboding, ominous, at yet strangely colorful place.

So they approach, and find that there's actually a fee to enter. And then there's a bit that kind of strains credibility.

How do they recognize her? Much less already hero-worship her? Is it the Pipbuck? Whatever. The mare at the door is skeptical, but Blackjack is able to charm her way through the gates.

You know, I imagine this part could have very easily come off annoying, yet… it isn't. Not to me, anyway. I guess that's the difference that comes with actually being interested in the characters and how they interact.

But you know, after the angst in the last chapter, the tone seems to have lightened up a bit and we're getting some fun interactions between the characters. It's actually pretty neat.

Of course, now I'm enjoying myself, so something is bound to go wrong. But until then, someone suggested that I make a note of the time when Blackjack seems to take an almost sexual interest in guns and weapons. For example:

You know, in the story I'm writing, a character gives a speech about how guns are essentially dick stand-ins. I can't help but think of that now. I'm not sure why.

Also, it occurs to me that Blackjack doesn't seem particularly less murder-happy than Littlepip at this point of the story so far. Sure, she isn't going to gun down enemies who she doesn't consider a threat anymore, but last chapter did have her pretty much saying she was going to go after some raiders for fun. Weird.

So they enter Hoofington and it's a veritable slice of Wasteland life.

So this is gonna be, like, the central setting of Project Horizons, and one can't help but draw a comparison with Tenpony Tower from the original. Tenpony Tower was sort of a cushy place that was, for most of the story, essentially a safe zone for the protagonists. Not to belittle it at all, 'cause that lent itself very well to breather segments where the story could focus more on interactions and character-building and less on terrible action scenes.

Then they come across Megamart, and meet the manager, who thanks them for clearing out the raiders who how been sacking their caravans. Gives Blackjack a bagful of caps as a reward.

Huh. Blackjack seems to kinda just be a generically humble hero protagonist thing. Littlepip 2.0, I guess. It seems a step back after her very good introduction in chapter 1. Well, I guess that's what character development is for.

Anyway, five hundred caps. Blackjack suggests they get something to eat and maybe they'll run into Enclave dudes. Glory says that won't happen, 'cause the place is restricted.

So Blackjack asks a bit about if they can do anything about encrypted data files, which is way out of her price range. Oops.

I'm gonna stop going back and forth every few sentences to say what happens. I'll come back when I have something to make fun of.

Ah, here we go: Blackjack immediately asks how she can get ten thousand caps. The mare proceeds to talk about the kinds of jobs available, including bounty hunting!

Subtle!

So Blackjack takes a visit to a shady doctor for a patch-up and a rad cleansing and he calls her Security and I am really going to come to hate this nickname, aren't I? Good to see that Somber is staying true to Homage's character by making her just as annoying as she was in the original.

There's a bit about P-21 and Glory being surprised at the sight of her being naked. I'm not sure why. Ponies don't normally wear clothes…

They figure that ten thousand caps is a lot of money, so Glory suggests they just go to the Enclave skyport, where they could just crack it for free. Blackjack, mindful that the Enclave has received mixed reviews, is hesitant. Then she asks about Rainbow Dash.

Huh. So trying to flesh out the Enclave POV. Neat.

Of course, Glory isn't going to say anything else about living life in the clouds. 'cause it's classified. Blackjack monologues to the reader a bit about how her trying to make friends as per Watcher's advice is a little tricky.

P-21 takes a look at the bulletin board and looks up the job, is somewhat weirded out that most of them involve murder. And "defiling." However, they settle on collecting radscorpion glands. Like a quest from the video game.

BAM! A reference to Fallout 1 and Fallout: New Vegas! So deft!

Also, Blackjack doesn't know what a scorpion is. Low INT.

So they settle on three quests that don't involve murder: harvest radscorpion glands, salvage some computer parts, and shoo off some squatters. Who wants to bet something goes really wrong?

Yep. One scene transition later and they're being chased by a horde of radscorpions. I'll admit it's kinda funny. I'd probably be laughing if this were earlier in the day.

This is an action scene, so we can largely disregard it.

I should like to make this a point in the story's favor: too often, I find that fanfic authors are afraid to have their characters fuck up (particularly in some Harry Potter fanfics I could mention). This story isn't afraid to do that. Of course, that does run the risk of having the character fuck up so much they lose audience sympathy, but many authors can't even work up the courage to have their protagonists fail once in a while. So good for that, even if it does go to the opposite extreme.

Anyway, back to our action scene.

Blackjack will not forget her fuck-ups. Nor will she allow us to forget them, either.

So anyway, Blackjack goes nuts and guns down the last of the radscorpions. Glory, however, is stung.

Faced with a problem she can't solve through violence, she proceeds to get extremely frustrated. Fuck, she really is just like Littlepip.

Glory, however, can synthesize and antidote, provided she has a gland, a healing potion, and access to a laboratory.

…she's the party medic. Oh, fuck, she really is Velvet Remedy 2.0.

So off they go in search of a lab. Scene change.

If she starts using a shotgun as a dildo I'm quitting.

More action scenes with robots. They get upstairs, but Glory is fading fast. Effective scene mixing serious stuff with black comedy and fun banter from Blackjack. Glory manages to slur some instructions about how to make it, which P-21 is able to piece together, though he expresses doubts about Glory's intentions, what with a "no more weapons" thing she slurs in her delirium. And then we get character-building!

P-21, we see, is our cold pragmatist. Unlike Calamity, however, he isn't an annoying douchebag.

And how does our heroine respond?

I had to double-check to make sure that these characters weren't just standing around while doing this. P-21 is making the antidote thing, I guess. Seems like not the best time for this kind of chat… he might need to concentrate.

P-21 seems to be warming up to her awful fast, given that just the other day he shot her in the back. Then again, I misread that line as meaning they were a millimeter apart from being friends, as opposed to being a millimeter closer to being friends.

So Blackjack leaves P-21 to take care of Glory's antidote problem while she goes off to shoot at things that register as red on her EFS. She also gets to test out new ammo types, which I find amusing to read about, for some bizarre reason. I guess it makes sense… she's got a serious gun fetish, so fixating on ammunition isn't much of a stretch. She finds the skeleton of the research lead, along with his unique gun. She's gonna dig a grave for this one, too, isn't she? Well, after she's done puzzling over the bullethole in his skull, which apparently melted a hole through both the dude's skull and the wall behind him.

So Glory gets her antidote and P-21 does lockpicking. Yeah, Blackjack didn't inherit the lockpicking, hacking, or sneaking skills that Littlepip had. Those went to P-21. Blackjack just took the guns.

Glory breaks down a little and talks a bit about Enclave life.

Oh dear. Glory's beginning to seem interesting.

You may recall that way back when I was discussing the original story, I noticed that the members of team protagonist didn't seem to have much in the way of lives outside of the immediate plot, with the exception of SteelHooves, what with Littlepip and Velvet's backgrounds being largely immaterial, and Calamity having burned all of his bridges prior to the start of the story.

Blackjack and P-21 both have that "fish out of water" characteristic that makes them better suited as audience surrogates, but doesn't help to ground the setting. Glory, however, seems to actually have shit going on in her life during and prior to the events of the story. Suffice it to say that there's probably shit that's gonna be revealed. No doubt this is some kinda significant foreshadowing, like Glory was working on a superweapon or something.

Of course, that's all she's saying. Protocol. Doesn't want to make trouble with her family.

So Blackjack leaves Glory alone with her thoughts and goes to talk to P-21. This really is just like in Knights of the Old Republic when between major quests I'd just go down the checklist of party members what I need to talk to.

Not something I'd expect to see on a name plaque...

No backstory character quests here, though, as she sits down to read some terminals!

Person who wrote these did everything in initials. P.P., T.B., B (no period, odd), G.B., P.H., P.S., S.S., O.M.G., R.O.F.L.M.A.O., you get the idea.

Gee. This guy sure seems important and mysterious. Who could he beeeeeee?

Then he refers to "Four Leaf" without initials. Okay.

The dude's incredibly full of himself and disdains his work on bullets, but apparently his bullets are very special. Gee. I wonder if that has anything to do with that hole in the wall by the skull with the hole in its head.

But yeah. In a very sad turn, we find that the guy killed himself, leaving a last note for Four Leaf.

Wow. That was actually pretty good. Usually I completely don't care about these things.

So Glory delivers some exposition on the Ministry of Wartime Technology, which worked with a number of these companies, including Ironshod Firearms. And whaddya know, it turns out that Hoofington was central to the war research stuff!

Well, Somber sure does know how to build up a mystique around his city, even if we haven't seen a whole lot of it yet. But that's the joy of implications, isn't it?

That's chapter 5 of Project Horizons, a nice little break from these terrible Harry Potter stories I'm reading. Suffice to say that there's one interpretation of Lily Evans I know of that's a fucking cunt.

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