#bomber's notebook

[knifechamber]

i love oot zelda. she's haunted by prophecies and visions. she's haunted by what she's done, the rash actions of a child done in earnest. the scheme of a child who is not listened to, made in secrecy. and while i know it was canonically done for security, i think its also the trauma that causes her to cast aside her own face, her own self, to take on a new one.

we all talk about how link had his childhood ripped from him, but the truth is that zelda never got to grow up either. sheik did, in her stead. the sheikah poet, who can distance himself behind rhyme and harp chords. the one who can atone for the innocent mistakes of that haunted child in his memory.

[knifechamber]

ocarina of time is a game where everyone forgets the good that you do, and the one person who would remember everything you'd been through will leave you.

but majora's mask will tell you that it's okay.

you will help as many people as you can, but not because you have to. it's the prime ethos of the game, in fact. the developers knew that four dungeons left much to be desired, and populated the world of termina with the intricate daily schedules and woes of its residents. many will agree that a playthrough without collecting all the masks is hardly the completed game at all, even though a majority of the masks aren't required to reach the ending credits. this isn't even coming at what constitutes as "complete" from a completionist angle-- these are not heart pieces, weapon upgrades or collectibles. it's the story. they're entirely optional but make up arguably more than half of the game's narrative, and that is by design.

you help them, you reset time, and they'll forget you.

but you'll carry that memory with you, becoming stronger with every soul you've touched. you become the fierce deity, the entity whose mask contains the memories, hopes, and dreams of everyone in termina.

you didn't have to spend time learning their routine, becoming intimately familiar with their lives and problems for even just a chance at easing their sorrows. the game doesn't tell you to do this. a tree doesn't tell you do to this. tatl doesn't tell you to do this. a prophecy doesn't obligate you. it's only a salesman that needs his mask back in 3 days, 3 souls to be healed, and 4 giants to be reunited. most everything else from then on is of your own volition.

you'll do it because you know it's the right thing to do. because the true spirit of heroism is acting on the goodness of your heart, not just playing the role in a goddess' legend.

it's more than the swordsmanship. it's more than the adventure. sometimes it's helping two sisters and their cows on their farm. sometimes it's helping a couple torn apart by a curse say their wedding vows to each other seconds before end of the world.

and all that being said, twilight princess' "the hero of time goes on to wallow in misery of his deeds being forgotten" is the absolute least inspired direction nintendo decided to take on this character. it's baffling that they somehow forgot that they made an entire game that already dissects this notion in much more profound and loving detail. and that they felt the need to bring back this character at all, after they'd already made the most beautiful open ended conclusion for link in the series. i debated keeping this addendum in the tags, but i really don't think i can.

anyway. i cannot beg people enough to play majora's mask.

[knifechamber]

is it controversial to say that a lot of people struggle to commit to the fact that oot link would genuinely have the mental faculties of a 10 year old because they value zelink more than themes and it would make them feel weird about it

[knifechamber]

neutral remake opinions up ahead:

see. ocarina of time was never this perfect and untouchable work of fiction, and that's not to say it didn't have genuinely fantastic thematic qualities, just that it often left much to be desired as you're sent off from one destination to the next. a modern adaptation has the time, budget, and privilege to sink its teeth into characters and their dynamics, turn unturned stones, etc. which i think could be interesting to see, and i will continue to be cautiously optimistic.

but weirdly enough, i can't help but think. at what cost is this sudden expansion of the story?

ocarina of time, the heartfelt story about the loss of childhood and growing up in a world not meant for you, is a very simply told story. but it's a fairytale-esque, storybook-like simplicity that really works for it.

and it's this certain quality in particular that i'm always going on about, particularly in conjunction with the more intimate narrative of majora's mask. i always felt as if, in passing the baton from ocarina to majora, it were changing cameramen. shifting the pov from a legend to a deeply personal account, in a way that felt (perhaps unintentionally) brilliant to me.

there's something about what toby fox had said during the undertale anniversary stream that comes to mind here. about how authors wont tell you everything, but that there is still value in taking it upon yourself to look "behind the curtain," and how your interaction with art is just as important as the words themselves. about how art is a conversation.

so then, the more you are told, the less you are able to infer for yourself — it becomes a one-sided conversation.

at the same time, i don't feel entirely unhappy about this premise. like i said, granted that they don't completely drop the ball (i know they will at least a little bit) there will at least be some fun to be had, new details to explore. i personally found it to be more productive to see this project not as something attempting to be a replacement or even a "definitive" version of the classic, but as a supplemental side thing. the original story is always going to exist, and there isn't a universe in which the remake becomes the better version of the story.

i'll be keeping my mind open!

[knifechamber]

[knifechamber]

we need transmasc sheik AND transmasc fado in ootr or we riot

[knifechamber]

i think the funniest thing about aoi so far is how much it tries to be like "dude its so fucked up that ganondorf gets to be king by birth because of some arbitrary reason irrelevant to any actual leadership qualities, when the actual chief should have been an earned position elected by the people (ardi). Pay No Attention to the goat we made our leader and king because he came down from heaven one day. yeah and btw its going to be a monarchy now. yeah people are going to be leaders by birth. it's like, chill when we do it though,"

[knifechamber]

feels awesome knowing my favorite zelda game has 0% zelink potential, minimal shipping prevelance, no ganondorf discourse, no hyrule, no room for demise's curse misinterpretations, and the highest volume of literate fans in the series (barely anyone cares about it enough and that's a net positive)