>>42448652
>wtf
You'd hate it with a passion.
>>42449489
>The correct play was never caring about her in the first place.
If the author wanted us to do that, he wouldn't have set her up to be her own parallel plotline.
>I'll try to be more mean and upset next time.
Where do you think we are?
>>42449576
>I'm only semi-joking when I call it AiE.
The sad part is that Voltaire's portrayal felt *more* self-indulgent and generic the longer it went on.
>allowed them to develop a close friends without turning it into ship
I'll concede that my brain may be rotted at this time by shipfaggotry, so I likely read too deeply into it.
>It was also so much better than the "fight" in the finale
This is true, but it can't exactly replace a bad climax when there's no conflict.
>anti-worldbuilding campaign
Having an elaborate world built up is well and good, but its portrayal should be subtle, even minimalist when it comes to loredumps and historical accounts. And why should I care what the author finds fun if I (the ultimate arbiter of quality) dislike the product?
>but the epilogues themselves were good enough
Admittedly also true, but I still didn't bother going through his 6k words of footnotes.
>>42449809
>he was first and foremost a political activist
He wasn't a philosopher proper (the meaning of "philosophe" to my knowledge is more of a public intellectual), but his interesting quality is still his rhetorical skill. In fact, that makes it all the more necessary for him to have challenging opponents to spar with in order to show off his talents. One problem with the story is that it treats him too much like a philosopher, as if his ideas are so profound and revolutionary that they spread by themselves instead of needing to be championed with fiery speeches and biting satire. We get far too little of the fire and the biting, and too much of the "wow V man, you're so right, why didn't *I* realise that mudponies don't like being second-class citizens?"
>That's why he's great!
Picrel. Have you never argued with someone who's *so* clever that they have to be right about everything and never concede an inch (and are mocking and flippant the whole time)? Yeah, don't answer that. This could easily be a case of "in text form, he's cool, but irl, he'd be insufferable".
>an immature one
But she's ruled the country (much more directly) for 700 years already! You don't do that without developing some emotional maturity, or discipline at the very least. You say this like she's been a filly wearing a mask for centuries, and that was even likely true in the beginning, but you don't go that long without the mask becoming a part of you to some extent. Even if she's never had a real friend after Luna, Celestia should still have a keen sense of duty and royal decorum to uphold, and she discards all of it too quickly.