Writing Seminar: Building a Scene

It's been a while since I gave a blog post on writing, and after some discussions with a fellow author, I came to realize how good an idea it was to discuss what is probably one of the most intensive, and yet important, things when it comes to actually writing your story. That very thing is scene building. In this case, how to craft a scene and write it so that it's a great representation of your mind to the viewer.

So, with that, I hope this is an informative post for you.

Misconceptions and What You Can Do To Fix Them

There's a virus in the Pokémon Anime community. It's rather unfortunate, and it's rather unsettling. Left untreated, it will lead to a horrible disease known as "SM Perfection Acceptance". To this end, one must clear up this virus before it spreads too far and allows people to impose their 100% Acceptance rate on the newest season of the Pokémon Anime.

What is this virus, you ask? Why, it's simple.

It's called "Misconceptions about Pokémon XY".

But Epicocity, you've already covered XY? Why are you talking about it again? Because people are really, really stupid. I wish there was a nicer to way to put this, but there isn't. When it comes to XY, people are dumb as bricks. If literally any other series were to do it, it'd probably be praised, but since it's XY, you know, gotta hate it. Deep? Nah. XY is shallow!

These misconceptions have created something very, very dark in the community, and it's time to set the record straight. "But you're just an XY fanboy!" I'm a fan, yes, but I can also think, which is something that appears to be in short supply in the community today because people are really dumb.

So, as a public service announcement, let's go!

Rewriting the Aether Arc

The Aether Arc was a mess in the Sun and Moon anime.

Yes, I said it. Yes, I'm going to be attacked for this by rabid fans that can't see how it failed on a narrative level. Do I have my justifications for it, though? Absolutely.

I could probably spend quite a bit of time going over all the places it ultimately failed, but I'll save that for what will ultimately be my comprehensive and liberally scathing review of that portion of the series (no, I still haven't re-watched for Part 2. Busy, thanks). So, instead, what this will dive into is how to rewrite the entire arc, within parameters of course. Hopefully I can make it at least a little better. Though, do be warned, it's all text.

So, let's begin.

Review of the Series: Pokémon Sun and Moon Part 1: Alola!

Alola! And welcome to my newest review series. That's right, I'm reviewing the current series of the Pokémon anime, Sun and Moon! Now, I know a lot of people had wanted me to review Diamond and Pearl, but that's a massive investment of time, so instead, I can sink my teeth into this series and offer my, as usual, in-depth analysis of the series.

Now, of course, most people know my current opinion of the anime (hint: it skews negative), and while I'm not promising to be objective, what I am promising to do is take a fair look at the Sun and Moon series (further referred to as SM), see what it did well, and what just doesn't fly in the long run. This will include comparisons to past series, my own viewpoint and that good dash of dissecting and analysis that people seemed to like in my XY review.

That said, this will still be different as, of course, the series is not finished, so I can't take a full look at what's to come in the series. Further, I will really be taking each part as the official Pocket Monsters Fansubs comes out, given they have the most accurate subs. However, I will endeavor to work with the knowledge I have at the time of each writing.

Without further ado, let's begin!

How Pokémon XY Could Have Been Better

Hey there and hello! As you may know, I recently finished my review of the entire XY series in a rather comprehensive fashion. Really, while I had some gripes with it, on the whole, I praised and analyzed the storytelling of the entire series. I really do find it to be the best series of Pokemon. However, that is not to say for a second that the series is without its flaws.

To that end, I'll be sharing my own opinion on how XY could have been improved from how amazing it already was. Yes, this means I won't be taking what I view are some nonsensical comments or suggestions from the community at large. To that end, I'll be discussing three separate categories: 1) things that could have been done with the same number of episodes, 2) things that could have been done with more episodes, and 3) things that I would have liked to see, but also turned out great in the original product.

That's said, let's get to it, and hopefully not be as long as before.

Review of the Series: Pokémon XY Final Part: And to Our Own Way

Hey and hello one final time! We've come a long way, but now we're approaching the end of this XY review series. As always, I continue to hope that you've enjoyed it up to this point, as within this part, we'll be covering the final acts of the series, from the Kalos League, to the crisis and beyond. To note, I will not be discussing the specials that aired after XYZ 47 on account of them having little to no impact on the actual plot.

So, last time we saw Ash overcome the demons building inside of him. He had wanted to grow stronger and win all the time, similar to Alain. In the process, he began to forget that he's doing this with his Pokémon. Once he'd realized that, striving to work together with them, he and Greninja perfected the Ash-Greninja form and won their final badge. Meanwhile, Alain earned his own eight badges to take part in the League. Their similarities and differences are about to collide...

So, let's settle ourselves into this final part (and boy, is it a long one)!

Review of the Series: Pokémon XY Part 7: Ash-Greninja

Well, hello there! We're back again for another part of my review of the XY series, and probably the most important one at that! Well...one of the most important. After all, we're diving into what is probably one of the generally best-received arcs of the XY series and talking about it in an analytical fashion. Lots of connections to be made here.

Last time, we covered the opening of the XYZ series, from Team Flare's enigmatic and brutal introduction to the end of Serena's journey to partake in the Master Class. In particular, the spark was lit as Ash and Greninja began to synchronize with one another, all to set them up for this arc alone...well, and what lays beyond.

It is here that we will begin (a long and picture-filled) Part 7! Read on!