The Quest Blog
COMMENTARY DONE
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09/22/2019: Commentary: chapter 75
The Final Stretch - Chapter 75: Mewtwo²Finally, the commentary on chapter 75! In definitely the fic's longest commentary (I'm sorry), I ramble a lot about my intentions with everything, scenes that I thought up in 2005 or 2006 with very important pivotal bits that didn't come about until spontaneously during NaNo 2012 or even during editing in 2017/2018, the bits that are Very self-indulgent, why Chaletwo is a good Preserver, and a little taste of Mew's self-loathing (but more on that in probably the entirety of the chapter 76 commentary).
09/15/2019: Commentary: chapter 74
Chapter 74: Unraveling (commentary)This week, I comment on the calm before the storm chapter, where I talk about the ways in which May is not okay, the ways in which Chaletwo desperately tries to pretend everything is okay, and the ways in which Mark cannot make himself think about what if everything won't be okay. That and the many ways in which the draft of this chapter was really bad, and the many ways in which I planned to end the fic as a kid that were very silly.
09/08/2019: Commentary: chapter 73
Chapter 73: Recuperation (commentary)In this chapter, May has a breakdown, Mark is a good, and I tell you about the flight attendant who inspired Nurse Joy, my previous plans to kill off both Floatzel and Weavile, the slight nod to Rainteicune, Chaletwo ruining a scene until Mark shut him up, and a lot of rambling about May's emotional state.
09/01/2019: Commentary: chapter 72
The Final Stretch - Chapter 72: Rick (commentary)This week, the chapter I spent all of NaNo up to this point looking forward to, wherein I traumatize May as she makes a flailing attempt to do the right thing.
08/25/2019: Commentary: chapter 71
The Final Stretch - Chapter 71: Shattered (commentary)We enter the deeply nostalgic last five-chapter arc of the fic with the chapter most drastically different from its draft thus far, where an amicable split-up turns into an explosive confrontation, May feels so much worse (so much worse), I get to finally write a ventilation break-in scene after not including one in chapter 10, and we read a diary so that I can remind you of, and establish actual vaguely-coherent characterization for, the soon-to-reappear villain of chapter 10, published in 2004.
08/18/2019: Commentary: chapter 70
Chapter 70: Waraider (commentary)In this chapter, HORSE FIGHT
(Also, Robin learns things were worse than she thought, May continues to feel bad, I mourn the loss of the reveal of Sparky's Swellow, and we learn exactly why Shadey once told me "Well, yes, you would make up a unicorn and then give it issues.")
08/12/2019: Commentary: chapter 69
Chapter 69: LiesIn this chapter, May continues to feel the pressure, we meet a boy capturing legendary Pokémon with math, Leah is Leah, and Robin and Victor each try to voice the concerns that they have but are shut down.
08/04/2019: Commentary: chapter 68
Chapter 68: Truths (commentary)In this chapter, which in no way resembles its chapter plan or draft title, our heroes come clean with Carl in one of my favorite NaNo scenes, Carl manages to make everyone feel bad, and finally they get a reprieve with Sparky, who continues to be Sparky, and I correct a lingering typo.
07/28/2019: Commentary: chapter 67
Chapter 67: Friends (commentary)This week's chapter of The Quest for the Legends was extremely bad in the NaNo draft, and as posted was less extremely bad but still pretty A-to-B as our heroes get back in contact with Leah (last seen in chapter 51), Victor (last seen in chapter 40) and Sparky (last seen in chapter 34) and prepare to see Carl (last seen in chapter 38). Meanwhile, Robin tries to confront May with not exactly the results that she wanted, I tell you about Robin's definitely real special connection to Rick, Mary's cameo is sadly cut, I manage to fix a mathfail, I fail to notice why Victor was actually being super-awkward until late in editing, I cut a bunch of overly complex logistics but keep the overly complex result of that whole thought process, and there is Sparky.
07/21/2019: Commentary: chapter 66
Chapter 66: Doubts (commentary)In this chapter, we learn about the Waraider herd (but Chaletwo doesn't know as much as in the draft), Robin arranges to look up a phone number with May so she can talk to her privately (unlike the draft, where May suggested they spam-call everyone they've met together), Alan has a breakdown (slightly better built up than in the draft), Mitch's eyes have turned blue-green (but I don't explicitly point this out like I did in the draft), and Mark and Alan have a heart-to-heart talking about their thoughts on training, releasing Pokémon, and Alan's inferiority complex (unlike the draft, where Alan and Charlie had a heart-to-heart while Mark stood there awkwardly and then quietly left).
07/14/2019: Commentary: chapter 65
Chapter 65: Three DragonsIn this unimaginatively titled chapter that somehow took me a year to edit, Mark's recovered, everyone's dispirited, Robin tries so hard to stay positive, the gang battle the male Color Dragons, and I comment a lot on how I changed things from the NaNo draft, where the battle was unbelievably cheap and made no sense.
07/14/2019: May Meets Her Shadow
I just posted a short, unpolished, decidedly non-canon extra that I wrote in 2014 on my Tumblr, if you're interested! It's a random Persona 4 crossover. Of sorts. About May.07/07/2019: Commentary: chapter 64
Chapter 64: Hide and Seek (commentary)This week's commentary, now featuring probably more commentary than any previous commentary! In which we spend a chapter in May's head as she starts to crumble under the pressure of everything while Robin is hopelessly confused, and I show you graphs of my progression with the story and quotes from the fourteen months I spent mulling over everything before this chapter was finally published, finally get to compare different versions of the fic again with the NaNo draft, analyze basically everything May says or does because I spent fourteen months thinking about everything she says or does here, damn it, point out all my efforts to hint at how cold it is, and just generally wish we had more of May interacting with everyone because May.
07/06/2019: Responsivity
Better late than never, all three active styles here on the minipage are now responsive, meaning they now work nicely on mobile devices without zooming. Hopefully, this'll make it easier for you all to read commentaries on your phones, if you prefer!07/01/2019: Commentary: chapter 63
Chapter 63: Recovery (commentary)In this week's commentary on the first post-NaNo chapter, I remind you of a dream I described on the Quest Blog where I dropped a genuine plot hint and made it sound like a random dream thing, discuss the spontaneous addition of Robin Riverstone to the main cast and my difficulties using her properly in the NaNo draft, poke at some of the questionable things here, tell you about the original plan where they just picked a mountain range at random, and complain that the May POV isn't as good as the May POV I wrote after fourteen months of thinking about May and her POV.
06/24/2019: Commentary: chapters 61 and 62
Chapter 61: Mewtwo (commentary)Chapter 62: Diplomacy (commentary)
In this week's chapters, Mark has no idea what Scyther is even talking about but is happy for him anyway, they meet Mewtwo thanks to that one disgruntled reader from 2005, we get some more actual plot hints and finally talk about Chalenor a little bit, Mark figures things out while Chaletwo is firmly in denial, Mewtwo recommends diplomacy, and the next legendary battle goes delightfully off the rails as Mark does attempt diplomacy and gets himself injured.
06/23/2019: Commentary delay
Tonight's commentary is being delayed; I'm working on reading it over again and making edits but I have enough of a headache I kind of just need to stop and go to bed. Apologies for the wait! Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow.06/20/2019: Seventeen
Today (by which I mean the nineteenth because I stubbornly cling to the idea it's not actually tomorrow until I've gone to bed), it's been a year since I posted chapter 77, and seventeen years since I started writing the fic.Happy birthday, my dearest almost-legally-adult fic. To commemorate, I drew the final scene of the story. Thanks again to everyone who followed it, and to everyone who's been following the commentary, which has been a blast.
06/17/2019: Commentary: chapter 60
Chapter 60: The Swarm (commentary)In this chapter, basically an honorary Scyther spinoff, Razor reunites with Stormblade, learns what happened in The Fall of a Leader, talks to Nightmare again, they talk past each other as she accidentally overturns his entire worldview, and Razor finally manages to start to let go of his self-loathing and finds a real reason to live.
06/10/2019: Commentary: chapters 58 and 59
Chapter 58: Sins of the MotherChapter 59: December
The next couple of chapters are up, featuring Letaligon's resolution (or lack thereof), paternity revelations and Mark's efforts to help his Pokémon be happy, geeky Pokédex functions, a type reveal, a distorted legend, Alan being incredibly awkward, and setup for chapter 60.