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The mental and emotional investments, the intrigue of the stories and art only dedication of collaborative minds can bring.I love the arts, the visions and more than anything I love the messages intentional or not that either paint themselves subtle or downright slap us in the face because...well, we WERE KIDS ONCE!\n\nThe Legend of Zelda series has always been a mix bag of different elements, uncertainties and peculiarities that when assembled in front of kids of any age our brains tend to fry in it's wake.I guess what I'm trying to say is that chances are more likely than not if you saw the Zelda train coming you better had hopped on because the wake of it's adventures would otherwise leave a bloody reminder.\n\nI am familiar with most of titles presented in the series. I say most because I quite frankly do my best to wipe away any notion that somehow the Wand Of Gamelon exists. Most likely the same will be done with Hyrule Warriors.\nLet's be fully honest here though, there just will not be enough booze in this world to wipe out that single brain cell in my head that is now dedicated to the knowledge Boobs were a highlight of that game's trailer.\n\nI started losing myself there for a moment. The point is that as a kid among other things my perceptions were shaped by various outlets, people, places, literature and media. Some of the more profound starting with Ocarina Of Time for The Nintendo 64.I would apologies that earlier titles of the series did little to engage me at the time but what do you expect? I'd barely had my time with the SNES before that big sultry lump of a console seduced me into the future of polygons.\n\nWHAT THE LEGEND OF ZELDA SERIES TAUGHT ME\n\n\n\n- Sometimes Life Isn't Fair -\n\nNow playing a little bit of catchup here, The Legend of Zelda series always revolved around an all encompassing set of ideals. The Youth with Courage, The Princess with Wisdom and the Evil Man with Power...shit that sounds so basic by this point in my life.However the me back in the day could care quite a great deal less. That game's box was GOLD and no one says no to a Gold Game Box.I had childish giddy visions of the adventures I would be on. What silly realms of madness Nintendo was about to bring me.\n\nCue the intro in the Rain as a young boy who reminds me a lot of myself stares upon a man on a ( Probably ) undead horse. There are no words, I don't know this man, what the hell is his problem and why is he just...sitting there.Turns out to all be a dream but really it is more a long the lines of premonition. The world around you is glorious and wonderful, filled with the same wordless wonders and terrors. In less than five minutes I'm quite certain I nearly was crushed to death by multiple perfectly rounded boulders that move throughout a maze without any assistance. I don't know why the fuck they're there, for all I know they were placed there to torment me like anything else within the game. It's the little things you try to work your way up to.\n\nThe thing is though was that I started to notice a pattern over time starting with getting that butter knife they call a sword. The world we and Link go through isn't so much punishing as it is demoralizing. Even our great victories are just short handed wins that often leads to worse things.\nAll the while the Constance of danger nagging at our weak bare behind is just growing stronger and stronger. It's like trying to run the marathon and everyone is Jesse Owens while you're just the guy trying to pull himself up because his legs are made of comedic tiny kazoos. I don't know why, they just are.\n\nIt's that theme that peppers each and every aspect of the life we live in that game. We destroy the evil in the Deku tree, It still dies, we get a useless stone. We get the Ocarina of time, we lose our closest allies, we play to forget the pain. We cut a couple of chickens and we die because...screw you, they're chickens. We get slightly confused by Shiek, turns out he's a girl and we...well we keep playing.\n\nIt's a bittersweet tune that echoes through every action we partake in within the game. Even the advantages we gain are just enough to get by but not by much. I never felt like the items I found were awarded, they were just NEEDED because holy hell this game was just not dicking around.\nEven the lore begged questions from my tormented head. I think the biggest next to \"why does Ruto want hot fish relations with Link and then totally drops it like the guppy tease that she is \" was why Ganondorf was the biggest douche in the land. I mean he was big too but...douche. Around that time the best answers resided in a game's guide.\n\nOfficial Nintendo Guides told a lot more than just where to go and what to do. They had this class to them that unveiled the deepest things about the Characters involved and the locations you wandered. I'd found Ganondorf and the answer became a bit more clear \" He was chosen to Bear the Triforce of Power As a Divine Joke. \"....as a divine....joke.Holy shit. You're telling me that the main antagonist of that world nearly destroyed everything and ruined the so called \" Sacred Realm \" because the three goddesses that apparently harbor the lower dimension of Hyrule thought \" Yeah, yeah this will be goddamn hilarious. \" every single living being tormented and tormenting is in the hands of those three.\n\nWell what about Link? Zelda? They're part of this joke too then? What kind of hellish universe do they live within in which the very gods they worship amuse themselves with the near destruction of the entire world they inhabit. That raised a lot of questions for me, a couple being \" So like..if someone dies because of this and you know many will, do you like...laugh when they pop up on the other side? \"\n\n\" If you are so bored why did you choose someone who would ultimately lay waste to the land and threaten your own existence? \" There were no answers. Not at the time anyway. I know better now and the truth is all the more amazingly profound. I kind of miss that shocking revelation though that even the gods could give a shit less about what happened in the world and probably themselves at that point. They were in on the whole reason your life sucked. It was like Russian roulette with Jesus which actually sounds divinely awesome when you think about it.\n\nBy the end of Ocarina of Time after all the torture, all the struggles and deaths, game overs, MENTAL INFLICTIONS OVER A WATER TEMPLE! Link and I were rewarded with a time travel abortion of those events. At first I cheered that Ganondorf wouldn't get his way, I would have spit on him if the in game options allowed but there was something else that took precedence over the moment.\n\nThe hero who wandered away from Hyrule and denied every event that would happen and unfold. Who wandered back into the woods and obscurity to not be seen again. A hero without glory and a bittersweet silent goodbye. I think I cried. Not because it was beautiful but because it was pointless. I think it was the first game that's message really set in. It went something like this \" Yeah congrats, oh by the way YOU SUCK AND GET NUFFIN. \"\n\nEverything about Ocarina of Time was a testament to unfairness. The bad guys always getting their way before you put them in their place BUT THEY GET THEIR WAY FOR AWHILE. You know while...while you stood holding a sword for like 20 years in cryo-sleep. Is that what happened? There was blue-There was this big blue cylinder thing around the- It was unfair......And I loved it. I loved that Ocarina of time took me by the balls\nas a gamer and said \" Are you man enough to be eaten by a fish? How about being attacked by flying palm trees or phantoms popping out of paintings? I WAIT FOR NO ONE. \"\n\nWith that controller and my limited hand eye coordination that was like Retro Dark Souls. It made me work for it and it taught me not all rewards are given by others. That life is unfair but Sometimes you need to reward yourself with the acceptance of the knowledge you did what was right. Self love, baby. Self love. Then Majora's Mask came a long and reminded me all over again, probably a lot more actually that Time is always against you, you are weaker than you think, and oh yeah, The moon will crush us all one day and grin over every minute of our agony. That was the message right?\n\n- Responsibility is overwhelming but necessary -\n\nNot too long after my adventures came to an end with Ocarina Of Time did they begin again with Majora's Mask. At the time of it's unveiling it was glorious. I may have partially gone blind when I found out the box had no longer been gold but the game cartridge itself had become gold. I also may have slightly urinated but I had...problems... I'd grown a little since then and found myself comfortable with the punishment the Zelda title could bring. I bested the Water Temple. No I mean it.\n\nForget Ganondorf, escaping the tower and defeating Ganondorf again. I was a man...until I was reverted back to a young Link and reminded of everything I lost. A clean slate but I imagined it would be easy to pick up from there. I'd started in an unknown Forest when Skull Kid Ambushed Link and took off with his horse. Hell of a quick start off I'll give you that. Doing acrobatics off giant logs like a ninja. Damn Link had grown Limber, I was going to totally kick some butt.\n\nThat is until I found out my horse was killed and became a Deku Shrub then left in a dungeon to die. It was like Shigeru Miyamoto was reaching out from the screen laughing like a mad man and yelling out in foreign language \" YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD? YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST A GAME? AHAHAHAHAH!!!!! \" and so it began. 3 Days, so little time and a lot to do. I'll admit I was caught off guard by the time system. First off I never watched commercials. I loved the mysteries of a title before I couldn't afford them with my own money.\n\nNow I'm just...scared. Scared and sad. That time system though...I had only faced off with time in games when I needed to get the hell out of somewhere. In Metroid I escaped the planet before the big explosion, In Golden Eye to escape...a big explosion.....now that I think about it, that was probably why I hated timed things. I always felt like I was always a second closer to being blown up. This was different though for me. It was a whole new game in multiple ways.\n\nThis was the core element of the game. It wasn't just the adventure, it was time tapping on my subconscious every moment of that adventure. It's a bit ironic how a game can make you feel so uncomfortable but Majora's mask did. It didn't need all it's screwed up and terrifying visuals either. All it took was the subtle hint that I had responsibilities. Time was dwindling, there were things that needed to be done. To me it was the ultimate Metaphor of obligation to live.\n\nEven as a kid I had my duties and hell yes did I get them done...but this game was the only one of it's kind that made me worry about doing them. What game does that?! I have so much to do before I die! The only thing though is that the entirety of my anxiety personified itself as the freaking moon itself growing closer to the planet. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide and so very little time. So I panicked, scrambled and did my best. What can I say? It needed to be done, whatever the hell it was needing to be done.\n\nEven when I had learned I could go back, that those three days could start again, the grim black and white silence of the ominous Screen text only heightened my doubts and worries. In a way it reflected the tedium of commitment that could not be ignored. I wanted to explore and to have fun...but there was no more time. Majora made it so that I was no longer a free and innocent child. I was responsible for those around me and myself. It terrified me because holy crap I was still struggling in school. I didn't need this shit!\n\nI still went back though. Each and every time, going back to day one and losing most if not all that I had. Just like going to a job that demands everything so that you can live. Then watching what you worked hard for leave your hands because you're not good enough. All going back to the start again. Ironic isn't it? The truth is however that it is not as bad for me as I make it sound. If Majora's Mask was anything at all, it was a teacher of a fundamental truth in and out of gaming and our lives.\n\nWe are responsible for everything. Every little thing that we do in one way or another has consequence and demands of it's own. You cannot ignore the bills you have to pay otherwise you lose your gas and electricity. You cannot shut out everyone around you otherwise you eventually become alone. You cannot Blame others when you yourself will always be responsible otherwise the moon will enter our orbit and kill us all. No wait- I sorta got mixed up for a second.\n\nIn the end I triumphed over time because I learned the tactics of that life In Majora's Mask. I learned the routines, adapted with the people and the time given to me. The looming threat of the moon coming began to lesson. Not fully but enough to get me going and always remembering where my loyalty lied. To live and continue my quest.\n\n- You can be a Hero even when you don't think you're one -\n\nAfter Majora's Mask I sort of popped off the radar for a bit. I'd never really been all that much for hand held gaming and really so many Zelda titles just decided to whore themselves to that fun fest. I'm sure they were great but Majora's Mask taught me about time and...and I didn't want to waste the battery life. I HAD NOT RECOVERED! TOO MANY BATTERIES AND- well when the Gamecube came around I'm sure we were all collectivley stunned by the beauty. Luigi's Mansion was my first game and dear lord my favorite.\n\nWind Waker however came onto the system and by that time it was just a whole new level of gaming performance. The visuals were stunning, the world never looked so big and bold and there were no fairies. THERE. WERE. NO. FAIRIES. It was an instant buy because of course it was. What surprised me though however was the very start of the game. The quiet and slow plodding intro we did our best to avoid and skip but ultimately never could because take you Ritalin and sit the hell down for a couple minutes.\n\nA story of our Hero Link who defeated Gannon in Ocarina of Time and helped banish his Ass to the void. Gannon came back but Link never did. At first my mind was caught on the fact that the events Of Majora probably took place at the same time and holy crap this is why Hyrule fell?! Another thought had hit me then. Well I always sorta concluded the main hero Link as not always being the same person but somehow...the same. That doesn't make much sense but it was like each and every Link shared in the same fate.\n\nSo in some way they were in fact all the same coming back to do the same job against the same evils that would repeat for an eternity. Then Wind Waker came a long and showed me a world where the evil had won and where the hero never came back to redeem it. Some heavy shit am I right? I'll tell a bit of truth here I was always used to some form of cosmic or worldly mayhem lasting for years sort of like Terminators where the whole future of Humanity is just screwed. The difference was that you never put yourself in the shoes of the hero who NEVER CAME BACK.\n\nSo many questions and not any answers. For all I knew Link just forgot to set his alarm clock, woke up late to look out his window and said \" What a beautiful- oooooOOOOh......shit. \" Your character wasn't a hero. In the other Zelda games you either started out quickly with no one to tell you otherwise or you just were. This though...You were just a kid again who wasn't born chosen, he made himself chosen to be the Hero. It's probably not as mind blowing as I make it out to be but that kid really had a lot of heart. Sure was going to do more than Link did amIRight?\n\nLink began to melt away from my mind in the World Of Wind Waker. I liked this kid, he was just as mute capable as any other Link but he was still a kid who made stupid choices, didn't think everything through, was stubborn but becoming the Hero no one else seemingly could be. Let's face it, he totally did it for his sister and then said \" Nah fuck it. I'll just save the earth. No sweat. \" and no sweat it was. I learned something from Wind Waker. I learned that we're not always born into the things we want to be.\n\nWe're not always the masters of art, or the gifted spinners of music. We aren't perfect and we never will be. Each and every one of us has the potential though. The potential to be more than we think we can be even when we think every little bit otherwise. I'm damn certain the goddesses laughed their asses off when the kid dressed as link. Then a second later crapped from the same assess when they found out he was doing shit no one had done in a hundred years because they just didn't try anymore. You don't need a giant bird to kidnap your sister to realize what to do or how hard to work to make things right.\n\nI'm sure the kid wasn't expecting anything in himself either but he became the Hero because he tried. Wind Waker taught me that I just had to try, try anything. So I became a raging meth addict. No. No I didn't but that would have been awesome for a news story. I did however become more passionate about the things I wanted to improve though. I wasn't going to stop either because I could be the hero if I tried hard enough and even today I still try hard. It's a never ending quest to become the Hero or master of the thing I want to change something or improve anything.\n\nIn the end The Legend of Zelda series taught me hard and inspiring truths even if most of it was covered in spines that could just have easily popped my heart like the world's most stuffed already about to burst balloon. It did not though because I was the hero there and even now I'm still wanting to be that hero. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get there. I swear to fucking god though if I hear one more fairy though I will lash out at the nearest most easily hittable person. ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "I would consider myself a rather avid gamer for multiple reasons. The mental and emotional investments, the intrigue of the stories and art only dedication of collaborative minds can bring.I love the arts, the visions and more than anything I love the messages intentional or not that either paint themselves subtle or downright slap us in the face because...well, we WERE KIDS ONCE!

The Legend of Zelda series has always been a mix bag of different elements, uncertainties and peculiarities that when assembled in front of kids of any age our brains tend to fry in it's wake.I guess what I'm trying to say is that chances are more likely than not if you saw the Zelda train coming you better had hopped on because the wake of it's adventures would otherwise leave a bloody reminder.

I am familiar with most of titles presented in the series. I say most because I quite frankly do my best to wipe away any notion that somehow the Wand Of Gamelon exists. Most likely the same will be done with Hyrule Warriors.
Let's be fully honest here though, there just will not be enough booze in this world to wipe out that single brain cell in my head that is now dedicated to the knowledge Boobs were a highlight of that game's trailer.

I started losing myself there for a moment. The point is that as a kid among other things my perceptions were shaped by various outlets, people, places, literature and media. Some of the more profound starting with Ocarina Of Time for The Nintendo 64.I would apologies that earlier titles of the series did little to engage me at the time but what do you expect? I'd barely had my time with the SNES before that big sultry lump of a console seduced me into the future of polygons.

WHAT THE LEGEND OF ZELDA SERIES TAUGHT ME



- Sometimes Life Isn't Fair -

Now playing a little bit of catchup here, The Legend of Zelda series always revolved around an all encompassing set of ideals. The Youth with Courage, The Princess with Wisdom and the Evil Man with Power...shit that sounds so basic by this point in my life.However the me back in the day could care quite a great deal less. That game's box was GOLD and no one says no to a Gold Game Box.I had childish giddy visions of the adventures I would be on. What silly realms of madness Nintendo was about to bring me.

Cue the intro in the Rain as a young boy who reminds me a lot of myself stares upon a man on a ( Probably ) undead horse. There are no words, I don't know this man, what the hell is his problem and why is he just...sitting there.Turns out to all be a dream but really it is more a long the lines of premonition. The world around you is glorious and wonderful, filled with the same wordless wonders and terrors. In less than five minutes I'm quite certain I nearly was crushed to death by multiple perfectly rounded boulders that move throughout a maze without any assistance. I don't know why the fuck they're there, for all I know they were placed there to torment me like anything else within the game. It's the little things you try to work your way up to.

The thing is though was that I started to notice a pattern over time starting with getting that butter knife they call a sword. The world we and Link go through isn't so much punishing as it is demoralizing. Even our great victories are just short handed wins that often leads to worse things.
All the while the Constance of danger nagging at our weak bare behind is just growing stronger and stronger. It's like trying to run the marathon and everyone is Jesse Owens while you're just the guy trying to pull himself up because his legs are made of comedic tiny kazoos. I don't know why, they just are.

It's that theme that peppers each and every aspect of the life we live in that game. We destroy the evil in the Deku tree, It still dies, we get a useless stone. We get the Ocarina of time, we lose our closest allies, we play to forget the pain. We cut a couple of chickens and we die because...screw you, they're chickens. We get slightly confused by Shiek, turns out he's a girl and we...well we keep playing.

It's a bittersweet tune that echoes through every action we partake in within the game. Even the advantages we gain are just enough to get by but not by much. I never felt like the items I found were awarded, they were just NEEDED because holy hell this game was just not dicking around.
Even the lore begged questions from my tormented head. I think the biggest next to "why does Ruto want hot fish relations with Link and then totally drops it like the guppy tease that she is " was why Ganondorf was the biggest douche in the land. I mean he was big too but...douche. Around that time the best answers resided in a game's guide.

Official Nintendo Guides told a lot more than just where to go and what to do. They had this class to them that unveiled the deepest things about the Characters involved and the locations you wandered. I'd found Ganondorf and the answer became a bit more clear " He was chosen to Bear the Triforce of Power As a Divine Joke. "....as a divine....joke.Holy shit. You're telling me that the main antagonist of that world nearly destroyed everything and ruined the so called " Sacred Realm " because the three goddesses that apparently harbor the lower dimension of Hyrule thought " Yeah, yeah this will be goddamn hilarious. " every single living being tormented and tormenting is in the hands of those three.

Well what about Link? Zelda? They're part of this joke too then? What kind of hellish universe do they live within in which the very gods they worship amuse themselves with the near destruction of the entire world they inhabit. That raised a lot of questions for me, a couple being " So like..if someone dies because of this and you know many will, do you like...laugh when they pop up on the other side? "

" If you are so bored why did you choose someone who would ultimately lay waste to the land and threaten your own existence? " There were no answers. Not at the time anyway. I know better now and the truth is all the more amazingly profound. I kind of miss that shocking revelation though that even the gods could give a shit less about what happened in the world and probably themselves at that point. They were in on the whole reason your life sucked. It was like Russian roulette with Jesus which actually sounds divinely awesome when you think about it.

By the end of Ocarina of Time after all the torture, all the struggles and deaths, game overs, MENTAL INFLICTIONS OVER A WATER TEMPLE! Link and I were rewarded with a time travel abortion of those events. At first I cheered that Ganondorf wouldn't get his way, I would have spit on him if the in game options allowed but there was something else that took precedence over the moment.

The hero who wandered away from Hyrule and denied every event that would happen and unfold. Who wandered back into the woods and obscurity to not be seen again. A hero without glory and a bittersweet silent goodbye. I think I cried. Not because it was beautiful but because it was pointless. I think it was the first game that's message really set in. It went something like this " Yeah congrats, oh by the way YOU SUCK AND GET NUFFIN. "

Everything about Ocarina of Time was a testament to unfairness. The bad guys always getting their way before you put them in their place BUT THEY GET THEIR WAY FOR AWHILE. You know while...while you stood holding a sword for like 20 years in cryo-sleep. Is that what happened? There was blue-There was this big blue cylinder thing around the- It was unfair......And I loved it. I loved that Ocarina of time took me by the balls
as a gamer and said " Are you man enough to be eaten by a fish? How about being attacked by flying palm trees or phantoms popping out of paintings? I WAIT FOR NO ONE. "

With that controller and my limited hand eye coordination that was like Retro Dark Souls. It made me work for it and it taught me not all rewards are given by others. That life is unfair but Sometimes you need to reward yourself with the acceptance of the knowledge you did what was right. Self love, baby. Self love. Then Majora's Mask came a long and reminded me all over again, probably a lot more actually that Time is always against you, you are weaker than you think, and oh yeah, The moon will crush us all one day and grin over every minute of our agony. That was the message right?

- Responsibility is overwhelming but necessary -

Not too long after my adventures came to an end with Ocarina Of Time did they begin again with Majora's Mask. At the time of it's unveiling it was glorious. I may have partially gone blind when I found out the box had no longer been gold but the game cartridge itself had become gold. I also may have slightly urinated but I had...problems... I'd grown a little since then and found myself comfortable with the punishment the Zelda title could bring. I bested the Water Temple. No I mean it.

Forget Ganondorf, escaping the tower and defeating Ganondorf again. I was a man...until I was reverted back to a young Link and reminded of everything I lost. A clean slate but I imagined it would be easy to pick up from there. I'd started in an unknown Forest when Skull Kid Ambushed Link and took off with his horse. Hell of a quick start off I'll give you that. Doing acrobatics off giant logs like a ninja. Damn Link had grown Limber, I was going to totally kick some butt.

That is until I found out my horse was killed and became a Deku Shrub then left in a dungeon to die. It was like Shigeru Miyamoto was reaching out from the screen laughing like a mad man and yelling out in foreign language " YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD? YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST A GAME? AHAHAHAHAH!!!!! " and so it began. 3 Days, so little time and a lot to do. I'll admit I was caught off guard by the time system. First off I never watched commercials. I loved the mysteries of a title before I couldn't afford them with my own money.

Now I'm just...scared. Scared and sad. That time system though...I had only faced off with time in games when I needed to get the hell out of somewhere. In Metroid I escaped the planet before the big explosion, In Golden Eye to escape...a big explosion.....now that I think about it, that was probably why I hated timed things. I always felt like I was always a second closer to being blown up. This was different though for me. It was a whole new game in multiple ways.

This was the core element of the game. It wasn't just the adventure, it was time tapping on my subconscious every moment of that adventure. It's a bit ironic how a game can make you feel so uncomfortable but Majora's mask did. It didn't need all it's screwed up and terrifying visuals either. All it took was the subtle hint that I had responsibilities. Time was dwindling, there were things that needed to be done. To me it was the ultimate Metaphor of obligation to live.

Even as a kid I had my duties and hell yes did I get them done...but this game was the only one of it's kind that made me worry about doing them. What game does that?! I have so much to do before I die! The only thing though is that the entirety of my anxiety personified itself as the freaking moon itself growing closer to the planet. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide and so very little time. So I panicked, scrambled and did my best. What can I say? It needed to be done, whatever the hell it was needing to be done.

Even when I had learned I could go back, that those three days could start again, the grim black and white silence of the ominous Screen text only heightened my doubts and worries. In a way it reflected the tedium of commitment that could not be ignored. I wanted to explore and to have fun...but there was no more time. Majora made it so that I was no longer a free and innocent child. I was responsible for those around me and myself. It terrified me because holy crap I was still struggling in school. I didn't need this shit!

I still went back though. Each and every time, going back to day one and losing most if not all that I had. Just like going to a job that demands everything so that you can live. Then watching what you worked hard for leave your hands because you're not good enough. All going back to the start again. Ironic isn't it? The truth is however that it is not as bad for me as I make it sound. If Majora's Mask was anything at all, it was a teacher of a fundamental truth in and out of gaming and our lives.

We are responsible for everything. Every little thing that we do in one way or another has consequence and demands of it's own. You cannot ignore the bills you have to pay otherwise you lose your gas and electricity. You cannot shut out everyone around you otherwise you eventually become alone. You cannot Blame others when you yourself will always be responsible otherwise the moon will enter our orbit and kill us all. No wait- I sorta got mixed up for a second.

In the end I triumphed over time because I learned the tactics of that life In Majora's Mask. I learned the routines, adapted with the people and the time given to me. The looming threat of the moon coming began to lesson. Not fully but enough to get me going and always remembering where my loyalty lied. To live and continue my quest.

- You can be a Hero even when you don't think you're one -

After Majora's Mask I sort of popped off the radar for a bit. I'd never really been all that much for hand held gaming and really so many Zelda titles just decided to whore themselves to that fun fest. I'm sure they were great but Majora's Mask taught me about time and...and I didn't want to waste the battery life. I HAD NOT RECOVERED! TOO MANY BATTERIES AND- well when the Gamecube came around I'm sure we were all collectivley stunned by the beauty. Luigi's Mansion was my first game and dear lord my favorite.

Wind Waker however came onto the system and by that time it was just a whole new level of gaming performance. The visuals were stunning, the world never looked so big and bold and there were no fairies. THERE. WERE. NO. FAIRIES. It was an instant buy because of course it was. What surprised me though however was the very start of the game. The quiet and slow plodding intro we did our best to avoid and skip but ultimately never could because take you Ritalin and sit the hell down for a couple minutes.

A story of our Hero Link who defeated Gannon in Ocarina of Time and helped banish his Ass to the void. Gannon came back but Link never did. At first my mind was caught on the fact that the events Of Majora probably took place at the same time and holy crap this is why Hyrule fell?! Another thought had hit me then. Well I always sorta concluded the main hero Link as not always being the same person but somehow...the same. That doesn't make much sense but it was like each and every Link shared in the same fate.

So in some way they were in fact all the same coming back to do the same job against the same evils that would repeat for an eternity. Then Wind Waker came a long and showed me a world where the evil had won and where the hero never came back to redeem it. Some heavy shit am I right? I'll tell a bit of truth here I was always used to some form of cosmic or worldly mayhem lasting for years sort of like Terminators where the whole future of Humanity is just screwed. The difference was that you never put yourself in the shoes of the hero who NEVER CAME BACK.

So many questions and not any answers. For all I knew Link just forgot to set his alarm clock, woke up late to look out his window and said " What a beautiful- oooooOOOOh......shit. " Your character wasn't a hero. In the other Zelda games you either started out quickly with no one to tell you otherwise or you just were. This though...You were just a kid again who wasn't born chosen, he made himself chosen to be the Hero. It's probably not as mind blowing as I make it out to be but that kid really had a lot of heart. Sure was going to do more than Link did amIRight?

Link began to melt away from my mind in the World Of Wind Waker. I liked this kid, he was just as mute capable as any other Link but he was still a kid who made stupid choices, didn't think everything through, was stubborn but becoming the Hero no one else seemingly could be. Let's face it, he totally did it for his sister and then said " Nah fuck it. I'll just save the earth. No sweat. " and no sweat it was. I learned something from Wind Waker. I learned that we're not always born into the things we want to be.

We're not always the masters of art, or the gifted spinners of music. We aren't perfect and we never will be. Each and every one of us has the potential though. The potential to be more than we think we can be even when we think every little bit otherwise. I'm damn certain the goddesses laughed their asses off when the kid dressed as link. Then a second later crapped from the same assess when they found out he was doing shit no one had done in a hundred years because they just didn't try anymore. You don't need a giant bird to kidnap your sister to realize what to do or how hard to work to make things right.

I'm sure the kid wasn't expecting anything in himself either but he became the Hero because he tried. Wind Waker taught me that I just had to try, try anything. So I became a raging meth addict. No. No I didn't but that would have been awesome for a news story. I did however become more passionate about the things I wanted to improve though. I wasn't going to stop either because I could be the hero if I tried hard enough and even today I still try hard. It's a never ending quest to become the Hero or master of the thing I want to change something or improve anything.

In the end The Legend of Zelda series taught me hard and inspiring truths even if most of it was covered in spines that could just have easily popped my heart like the world's most stuffed already about to burst balloon. It did not though because I was the hero there and even now I'm still wanting to be that hero. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get there. I swear to fucking god though if I hear one more fairy though I will lash out at the nearest most easily hittable person. ", "writing": "", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "", "pools_count": 0, "title": "What The Legend Of zelda Series Taught Me As A Kid", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "image/png", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "0", "rating_name": "General", "ratings": [], "submission_type_id": "1", "type_name": "Picture/Pinup", "guest_block": "f", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "3", "views": "88" }