farla | (no subject)

D: Why you do this????

And a more general, community-minded D: to the steadily worsening saga of Fanlib.

Finally, getting around to posting the final review reply of horrified lulz. Mostly just for the section I bolded, as that was about the most WTFy thing I saw in the whole month, but the rest is pretty out there too.

While I do not see these supposed holes that you keep pointing out in my
story, i would like to point out a few crucial things for you anyway:

One, I am in college Biology, and I BELONG to a high school Robotics team.
Don't try to tell me things I don't already know.

(This in response to ["After all, there could be no brain without emotion."

Basic biology would like to have a few words with you. Also, all of robotics research ever.]
So if you're ever wondering why America is in a recession? It's because this is the kind of thing that passes for learning in the country. The biologists think brain = emotion and the economists think pyramid schemes are a viable long-term planning strategy because Egypt was a great empire. No wonder everyone wants to hire Indians.)

Two, apparently the spelling rules are violated by every other author of
Pokemon FanFics based upon your methods.

Three, I only mention Mew3's pronunciation...twice. And if I COULD raise it
with the carat symbol, I would, that is the FanFiction site's problem, not
mine.

Four, Teleportation is not an exact science, some people will write that you
can Teleport huge distances while I write that you can only go so far. It's an
open subject, make of it what you will.

Okay, now, that's the petty differences out of the way. Now onto the meat of
the contradiction:

Giovanni is not OOC, Giovanni has always been an egomaniac who wants to rule
the world with his army of superPokemon. Yes, I WILL continue to violate that
spelling rule. And based upon what I've read of these types of
boss/businessmen, they like to appear smarter than their own scientists even,
if in reality, they are not.

And you need to do your type-checking homework, little girl. The combination
of Dark and Steel- Steel is the strongest of almost all the types, even
Dragon, since Dragon-types can still be hurt more by physical, Normal-type
attacks. Dark is the strongest of the "mind types" including the triad it
forms with Psychic and Ghost (the triad being that these types are most often
paired with each other), and as a matter of fact, the Dark type is actually
not affected very well by Psychic. If Giovanni wants something stronger than
Mewtwo, that's the type he'll need. And since Mew3 is being engineered, it is
fully possible for him to have Psychic abilities and powers (hence the
levitating) while still retaining the Dark type owing to Dark's close relation
with Psychic, AND Mewtwo's DNA being used to make him. The steel is also due
to the genetic manipulation, and because it is bionic.

On the subject of being emotionless, as well as souless, and on top of that,
self-aware and showing likes/dislikes: It was stated Mew3 was NOT angry or
happy with his likes and dislikes, he simply had preferences. Even when his
mind was fractured due to pain, he still showed no anger after the
transformation, it was all based upon a twisted objective and purpose. Being
self-aware was NOT the problem for Giovanni, Mew3 did state loyalty- just
don't ever do something as stupid as point a gun at my head again. After all,
when Mewtwo initially broke loose and attacked, it was due to his emotions-
anger at the scientists, anger at Giovanni, it was all anger. Mew3 was not
angry, he simply was.

And really, a monstrosity that so easily killed without any effort at all,
YOU wouldn't be running in the opposite direction?

The soul mentioning was how to prove Mewtwo was different than Mew3, how he
beat the monster even though they were of similar origins. He believe he was
"born" because he has the power to feel. Mew3 was created, not born, because
he cannot feel. He lacks a MORAL COMPASS.

And there we are, I have no single-handedly explained myself in ways most
basic Pokemon fans would agree with.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

banzaisebastian.livejournal.com

I'd really hate to argue with you because you're one of the few intelligent reviewers on that site (let alone one with the balls to actually give negative reviews at all), but I'd have to agree with the subject on capitalization (mistakenly called "spelling" by our lovely author) rules. The thing is that there's actually two camps of thought: the smaller one that agrees with you in saying you don't capitalize them (unless serving as actual names, such as Team Rocket's meowth actually being named Meowth) because they're common nouns and the larger one that argues that you should because they're trademarks. On the one hand, yes, in most cases, they're used as common nouns, so that makes grammatical sense that can't really be argued against. On the other, you also wouldn't fail to capitalize trademarked common nouns in phrases like "I'm drinking a Coke" or "I'm eating a Big Mac" or "I'm putting on a pair of Nikes." So, saying "I'm training a Pikachu," in a sense, could possibly be correct simply because you're acknowledging the trademark.

Of course, the latter camp also fails to actually argue it that way in most cases, opting for "the majority does it" mentality. (This is usually the second reason why I don't bother to point that out when I review: because it happens so often it's practically its own convention.) Still, it's a justification in saying that it's not always true that names in the Pokémon franchise need to be capitalized.

Other responses:

1. He's right in saying that teleportation isn't an exact science, but the reason why is because it doesn't exist. I find it hilarious that he's throwing around scientific credentials but fails to realize that the concept of teleportation is purely science-fiction -- a speculation at most but not supportable by current science. The concept of teleportation assumes the suspension of real-life physics, for one, because it usually involves the break down and conversion of matter into forms of energy, data, or absolute nothingness in one place and instantaneous travel (i.e., ignoring temporal physics) to another. As far as I know, no actual science can explain what happens in between, so if the author decides it's limited, he could. On the other hand, he also can't possibly say that he's come up with a scientific theory as to why it happens like that without first explaining how it happens first. (As in, if he wants it to be limited teleportation, I say it's an interesting idea. He's just arguing for it the wrong way.)

2. As someone who's studied the types extensively for her own fanfiction, I can most assuredly say that Steel sucks offensively. Defensively, yeah, it's got a lot of things going for it, but still, his typing logic is all over the place.
2a. Which means to say I agree with your rant about how using Dark for a Pokémon like this makes no sense. (Arguably, if Giovanni wanted specifically a Pokémon strong enough to defeat Mewtwo, he'd probably go for a Dark-type, yes, because Game Freak admitted they just threw in the type to make Psychic less godly than it had been in RBY. Still, it's by no means the strongest mental type, either, particularly because Ghost has a lot more resistances and immunities, and Dark-types get their asses handed to them by types the other specials laugh at. Like Bug.)

3. I don't know, but the quote at the top seems like backwards logic. And second off, you're right. Someone's apparently not much of a biochemist, either, else they'd know about the various processes in various parts of the body that result in substances that, regardless of moral compass, stimulate the brain to experience emotions. Mmm. Adrenaline.
3a. Mewtwo also considered himself to be created -- which is fact, as he was made in a laboratory in all versions except the RBY/FrLg diaries where Mew decides to get pregnant. After all, the angst Mewtwo has a tendency to pull? Because he's angsting over the fact that he wasn't born but instead fabricated in a lab by man.

So, yeah, I guess in a sense, I'm saying he tried, but I don't think most fans would agree with his logic. Rather, I think he could have possibly been justified in certain areas, but he just didn't explain himself well.

From:

farla.livejournal.com

Right, except that capitalization rules are supposed to apply only when you're referring to something with an actual company. Thus, you can say you're training your Pikachu in your GameboyAdvance Pokemon FireRed game - the characters, though, don't have any company that owns the rights to pokemon or pikachu. Just as, if there's Zappo brand of electric pokemon food, it gets capitalized even though there's no real copyright for the brand. The reason I argue against it in particular is that it tends to add in yet another layer of unclearness - there have been multiple times when capitalizing it like that makes it unclear if the author means a pokemon, a pokemon nickname, or a bunch of pokemon. (And, a couple times, unclear if a misspelling is meant to be a nickname of that pokemon, not a misspelling of the species name.)

The teleportation wasn't a distance argument at all - there's a blockage in the tunnel, and the story says their only choice is to move the dirt with telekinesis or teleport to the surface. My response is "And they can't just teleport past the block because...?" If the story had said that there was some limit on teleportation and the tunnels exceeded it while the distance from there to the surface didn't, that'd have addressed the problem fine. The problem is, they very obviously didn't think any of this out, they just wanted Mewtwo to have to fight Mew3 and didn't have any set reasoning behind that.

Similarly, I said that dark/steel is a great type combo for fighting Mewtwo (abet redundant, but if the idea is cyborg Mewtwo, then it makes sense for it to be part steel), it's just that the pokemon never uses anything but psychic abilities (constantly using telepathy and levitating), is called a clone (?) and then gets hit by a single (mental!) psychic attack which is far more damaging than either of them expected and triggers a nasty chain reaction that nearly disables it in one go, as if this dark/steel is unusually weak to psychic moves.

Basically, half of the reply is arguing at right angles to what I said, and then getting that part wrong too. I mean, telling me I'm dumb because the "Dark type is actually not affected very well by Psychic" in response to a review saying I can understand they used dark since it's immune?

From:

banzaisebastian.livejournal.com

With the teleportation thing, yeah, mostly, that's what I'm making fun of in my response above. Basically, if he wants limited teleportation, I'm fine with that idea. It's just that I find it ridiculous that he tried to throw credentials in your face without considering first that what he's talking about is purely science-fiction anyway and second that he hasn't really explained the how part of things. (I guess he hadn't really explained the why part, either, but I feel as if there really can't be a why that contradicts the "norm" for the depiction of this sort of thing if there's no how.)

(As a note, could I just point out that while he's raping science-fiction, he's also explicitly blowing off the Laws of Robotics? Not that this has anything to do with anything. I'm just saying that, dammit, there are no good science-fiction fics in this fandom, and there's so much potential for it. Yeah, it's not setting out to be one, but still.)

Also, yeah, it's a great type combo, but as you've pointed out in your review (and here), the story uses a core concept (Mew clone with all the powers of Mew) that doesn't make sense for the Dark type, despite his response that it's necessary. The fact that he wanted this thing to be resistant to psychic attacks but still had Mewtwo blast the crap out of it with one got to me too, and that's not touching the part about how this screws with basic genetics. (On the other hand, so what else is new with Pokémon's idea of genetics anyway?)

I'm also inclined to agree with you concerning the Steel typing being redundant. So, basically, the type would have made sense to sic on Mewtwo. Even the idea of a Psychic/Steel, as you've suggested. I just don't think it would've worked for this story to begin with. Which I suppose you were getting at in your review as well.

From:

charizamdc.livejournal.com

You know what I find funny? When people try to use their rather laughable academic credentials to silence an argument.

From:

farla.livejournal.com

Even more funny is where people try to use their academic SCIENCE credentials for an argument involving what has a soul.

Because the soul is such a well-known scientifically validated property.