The Quest Blog
COMMENTARY DONE
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01/20/2019: Commentary: chapter 34
Chapter 34: Return to Cleanwater (commentary)In this chapter, the gang make their way back to Cleanwater City to gear up for their second legendary battle in a day, I put Alan through the wringer, and I kill an innocent bystander to make everyone feel bad so the chapter will be less boring for me, which is possibly the most brazenly me thing I ever did in this fic.
01/14/2019: Commentary: chapter 33
Chapter 33: Thunderyu (commentary)In this week's chapter, we battle our first legendary, Chaletwo is himself, May gets skewered as a human being, and there is dramatic wobbling. Apologies that this is a day late; been a bit preoccupied.
01/06/2019: Commentary: chapter 32
Chapter 32: The Birthday Party (commentary)This week, in the fic's longest chapter yet, I go off on an irrelevant tangent about exactly when I made which crucial ending discoveries, Sparky is Sparky, Mark battles some pointless junior trainers for the very last time in the fic (thank God), I tragically bungle the chapter's most important moment, we see the triumphant return of drunk Scyther, and my sixteen-year-old self realizes why gym leaders kept giving Ash badges without him actually beating them in a gym battle. Is this where the fic starts to get better? …not quite, but we're getting there!
12/30/2018: Commentary: chapters 30 and 31
Chapter 30: The Dragons of Ouen (commentary)Chapter 31: Spirit (commentary)
In these two shorter chapters, Scyther gets drunk, Mark has his birthday, I am very confused about Alan’s birthday, I find Chaletwo's conflicted love for his childish creations #relatable, we meet Spirit the Mary-Sue Ninetales, and I regret everything.
12/23/2018: Commentary: chapter 29
Chapter 29: Stormblade and ShadowdartIn the most self-indulgently Scyther-focused chapter yet, I use a truly torturous number of ellipses, Stormblade and Shadowdart swap concerns, there is a very annoying patch of grass, we have a random conversation about the animal world yet again, and I muse lengthily on the precise way I rearranged the contents of the UMR equivalents into this chapter.
12/16/2018: Commentary: chapter 28
Chapter 28: Scyther's Revenge (commentary)On this week's Quest for the Legends commentary: the lost chapter between chapters 27 and 28 including the fic's original first legendary capture attempt, Mark's developing psychic powers, a perfectly serviceable terse paragraph about Hitmonchan replaced by a way worse one, a murder attempt featuring Scyther being especially poorly written, and lengthy musings on whether there weren't much better ways to torture and murder this teenager. (So, uh, content warning on that, I guess.)
I'm way ahead on the commentary by now, as you can see in my signature - I just can't seem to stop. There's enough words of actual commentary for chapters 28 and 29 that I'm releasing them separately to avoid overwhelming you guys, but 30 and 31 will probably be released together on the 30th.
12/09/2018: Commentary: chapter 27
Chapter 27: Past, Present and Future (commentary)This week's commentary features Pokémon backstories, some edginess that was actually not my fault, some explanation of the other fanfic whose universe I hastily decided to merge with TQftL's in 2003 (resulting in the forest of Ruxido), gratuitous anime references, a bit with Alan's issues that got lost in the ILCOE, some me bungling Scyther's backstory, thirteen-year-old me's confident theories on psychology, and some angsty Scyther love poetry by thirteen-year-old me that I am physically unable to look at. Did you know that in 2003, I earnestly described the equivalent of this chapter as "like a tunnel: deep, dark, and long"? Well, now you know.
12/02/2018: Commentary: chapter 26
Chapter 26: Dead or AliveIn this week's commentary, we have possibly the fic's most delicious accidental foreshadowing, S U F F E R I N G, Mitch's actually relevant issues getting drowned out by irrelevant worldbuilding for the hell of it, some dramatic Pokémon biology, a lot of people not acting like human beings because I insisted on doing basically the same dialogue as in the original, references to drugs, general nonsense, our first glance at half of the official battling rules while the other half gets merrily ignored, and some battling involving a couple of cool creative bits and a lot of boring forgettable bits.
11/25/2018: Commentary: chapter 25
The Pokémon Festival - May 25th: Chaletwo's ArrivalIt's time! In this chapter, Sandslash tells Mark how great he is for sending his Pokémon out to talk to them in the same breath as he complains about how Mark never lets them out of their balls, I lament the loss of the Chaletwo merchandise, I try to pretend writing extensively about pain is absolutely not a thing I'd do, Mark tries to argue with Chaletwo about whether he's dead, and the epic plot is revealed at last… when the legendaries can stop bickering for five minutes to tell us about it.
This is a fun one! A bunch of plot stuff and how it changed over the years, plus just the ridiculousness that is this chapter in general.
11/24/2018: THE CREATION MYTH FINALLY REVEALED
In case anyone's following the Quest Blog and not my Tumblr: somebody got me to dig up the creation myth that I told you all in 2007 that I'd be posting as an extra with the final chapter. It is a hokey attempt at mythical writing last edited in 2008, but if you're curious, you can read it here!11/18/2018: Commentary: chapter 24
The Pokémon Festival - May 24th: The ThreatIn this pretty uneventful chapter mixing pointless filler and ominous buildup, we finally see Mark's parents admit to the conspiracy they orchestrated, I pointlessly describe a starter giveaway, and Mark ominously draws Chaletwo in his sleep GASP WHAT DOES IT MEAN
11/11/2018: Commentary: chapter 23
The Pokémon Festival - May 23rd: The Pokémon Frenzy Tournament (commentary)It's time for what was for a long time possibly my favorite chapter of the fic! It features attempted murder and suicide, because of course it does. Other features: random head-hopping, Mark finally deciding to actually consult his Pokémon before making a decision, a clumsy attempt to make you not notice which Pokémon are entered in this tournament, the moldy piece of chewing gum that is the true hero of this fic, and the resolution of the Scyther/Charmeleon subplot, with a lot of accompanying rambling.
11/04/2018: Commentary: chapter 22
The Pokémon Festival - May 22nd: The Attack Approval (commentary)In this chapter that's 90% irrelevant narrative detour that nothing ever comes of, I poke fun at my fifteen-year-old self's adverb usage, Mark manages to be a terrible person after doing so well last chapter, we resolve the illegal training subplot (badly), I attempt to write adult Ash, and I tell you about how much more fun the Attack Approval was in the previous versions.
10/28/2018: Commentary: chapter 21
The Pokémon Festival - May 21st: Evolution (commentary)We finally start the Pokémon Festival arc! In this chapter, Mark is actually pretty good apart from the bit where he thinks everyone would be seriously tempted to throw a Pokéball if standing in front of a legendary, we learn that Eevee purr in this universe, the Pokémon Festival organizers are terrible, May is apparently better at recognizing her Pokémon from a distance than Mark is, and we watch a fun family event involving throwing rocks at Pokémon.
10/21/2018: Commentary: chapters 19 and 20
Chapter 19: Good or Evil? (commentary)Chapter 20: The Warning (commentary)
Two chapters again, because I felt like it! In these chapters, I continue to be terrible at time, May tells Mark to stop whining about nearly being murdered, I fail to deal with the Scyther situation in any way whatsoever, we leave Aquarium City after spending like a chapter and a half in it, I speculatively rewrite the terrible, terrible Pokémon Center Chaletwo poster, Alan retells some Molzapart and Rainteicune, I manage to write Ash's Pikachu severely out of character, and we go over some of the hilarious ways that Alan has been a dick over the years. In the meantime, nobody is taking the whole child murder thing nearly as seriously as they should.
10/14/2018: Commentary: chapter 18
Chapter 18: Enemies Forever (commentary)In this chapter, May breezily acts like she didn't just leave Mark behind in Scorpio City, Mitch may or may not have remote soporific abilities, I poke fun at fourteen-year-old typos, we pointlessly watch Nurse Joy of Scorpio City transfer Sandslash, Marge gets a makeover, I clumsily try to justify making Mark not use Scyther immediately, Dratini gets to evolve after a very quick and kludgy paragraph acknowledging that he's neglected, the Scyther-Charmeleon subplot continues dramatically, I reference Satan, and I show you where, once upon a time, the fic also referenced George Bush and Saddam Hussein.
10/07/2018: Commentary: chapter 17
Chapter 17: The Shark and the Serpent (commentary)In this chapter, May leaves Mark behind, Mark finally learns about the Pokémon Festival that's like the biggest event in the entire region, Mark explicitly picks up on the fact Victor is lying to him but then does not react to this in any way whatsoever, there is a comedy routine pretty much straight out of the original, a sailor threatens to sue Mark, we see the sole appearance of the fic's most unnecessary fake Pokémon, and I muse on filler.
10/01/2018: Commentary: chapters 15 and 16
Chapter 15: Darkness and Poison (commentary)Chapter 16: The Third Badge (commentary)
Two chapters this week again! This time, I write in a character just to introduce another one of my ridiculously morbid fakemon; Sandshrew evolves and undergoes a sudden personality shift; May continues to not sound terribly competent but then actually does do something vaguely interesting, finally; I forget Dratini exists, again; we see the least interesting of the fic's gym battle twists; and Mitch is Mysterious™.
09/23/2018: Commentary: chapter 14
Chapter 14: Thief and Victim (commentary)This week on The Quest for the Legends, we learn of May's edgy past and get to know Taylor; I try to move as quickly as possible past the bit with the illegal training plot point; we see one of the fic's only references to Team Rocket (from the original); and I unexpectedly like the chapter a lot more than expected.
09/17/2018: Commentary: chapter 13
Chapter 13: The Black Desert (commentary)This week, Mark and May explore an ominously named desert because May socially awkward penguins Mark into it, I lovingly describe my very first completely original fake Pokémon, I properly introduce Mitch without having any idea what's actually up with him, Mew makes his most random appearance (or is it), and May almost dies, because mortal peril is a crucial component of all the best stories.