*Well, excuuuse me, Princess

Welcome back, Open Book reader. Lovely to see you again, hope you’re doing well. As promised, I’m going to give some insight into what fuels all this nerdiness I’m brimming with. The relatively short version is that I’ve been playing video games since I was nine. No, wait – make that seven or eight? No wait, maybe three, because we have an old family photo of me covered in chicken pox relief powder as I play a…you know what, forget it. If I tell you the name of the system, it’s going to age me rapidly. Let’s play it safe and say three. But there is one game (series) that I’ve been returning to since I was nine going on ten. It cemented my desire to read (and eventually write) stories, watch movies, and seek out more tales that make you feel like you’re hovering over the protagonist’s shoulder as they embark on their epic adventure, or important quest, or if nothing else, a series of puzzling situations that make you go “how on EARTH is this person going to overcome any of this?” It got me through some of the worst times of my life. It has taught me in several ways to always stay on my toes, think outside the box, and most importantly, examine and explore everything.

Cue the B-flat minor chiptune, please!

…hmmm that might not be an easily recognizable reference. Okay, here we go.

(That's better. Also, whoever says you can't hear pictures is very, very mistaken.)

February 21 marks a pretty important day in video game history as fellow nerds and enthusiasts around the world celebrate the day The Legend of Zelda was first unleashed on the world. I must have been eight or so when I first saw that gleaming gold cartridge and heard the 8-bit intro at a relative’s house; I wouldn’t have been able to explain it at the time, but there something about both that gave me this lingering, haunting feeling this was no ordinary video game. I didn’t really get into the series until grade 5, when I started A Link to the Past and bonded with a classmate who was also a fan and was also getting frequently bullied, so we became fast gaming buddies. It came our go-to discussion topic over lunchtime, and we spent hours trying to figure out all the puzzles and hidden treasures (until she got the official walkthrough magazine – we worshipped that thing!). Years later I was playing Ocarina of Time and dreaming in Z-targeting. Somehow, word got around that I was a Legend of Zelda “expert”. I’ll forget when my music teacher boomed “Sifton, please see me after class” (I never got in trouble for anything, so this was scary) only to beg for help on behalf of his son who’d been having meltdowns trying to beat that freaking fish boss in the Great Bay Temple. When I’d first returned home from Japan and my dad passed away a few weeks later, running around the Gerudo Desert and rampaging through Arbiter’s Grounds in Twilight Princess was the only thing that satisfied my rage. During my master’s degree (which I completed in the worst living experience I’ve ever had) I got invested in Skyward Sword and committed to finishing it despite my hatred of the Wii controls. I remember my shield breaking during the final battle – after hours of playing with nowhere to save my progress – and the ensuing battle cry that ripped through the empty house as I launched myself at Demise just started swinging. ಠ益ಠ So yeah, long story short, Zelda has gotten me through some incredibly rough patches!

However, there is one more thing about the game that I really have to credit it for: it got me back into creative writing. I was always writing and making up weird stories as a kid, but high school and university kinda killed all that. For years, my mind was filled with math, science, all manner of things I was supposed to do for med school, getting a “real profession,” etc. etc. Then one day, my friends exposed to the wild word of (anime) fanfiction. Up until then I didn’t know it was something that lots of people were doing in their spare time, I thought it was just me being weird and having weird ideas. Next thing I know, I’d conjured up this 15-chapter long Simpsons-based spoof that kept me laughing for months (listen, I was taking five courses that year, so I only had so many hours to stay up late writing this thing). Yes, it is still floating around the internet somewhere. No, I’m not telling you where to find it. And if you do, I applaud your detective skills! Anyhoo, this horrendously cheesy fanfic that probably should not be seen by human eyes was my first complete writing project, and I hold a candle to it every time I succeed in NaNoWriMo (or publish something ಥ◡ಥ). I don’t think I’d have the belief in myself without it. I had an idea, I powered through it, and even though things were thrown in my path and didn’t seem worth the effort at times, I made it to the end and can look back on a job well done…or at least, completed. Good job, me.

(Side note, I think Yume would have quite a different antagonist without this fanfic...let's just say I took the Ganon spoof I created and ran with it as far I as I could.)

(I can't wait to gush about this movie later, too!)

Essentially, that’s what I feel in every Zelda game I’ve played so far. You start out as just regular old Link, just doing you, but then you’re called to action. You go through many ups and downs, and at times you think “there’s no way I’m going to beat this, I’m just little old Link” but in time you get stronger, you work harder, you take down everyone in your way, and in the end, you not only survive – you win. So in my temporary self-confidence, I advise anyone out there who feels like they’re “just Link” and there’s no way they can beat whatever eight-foot-tall Big Bad they're facing to pick up your sword and get to swinging. It might take a few tries, you might need a fairy (or maybe a walkthrough) or two but I’m telling: you can do it. Seriously, if I can do what I’m doing right now, anyone can do just about anything.

Go and do not falter, my child!

By the way, this is all I could fit on the table. There's MORE. 

(How it started vs. how it's going...are the kids still saying that?)

P.S. I got so excited about all things Zelda that I forgot to give shout-outs to Final Fantasy, especially 6 and 7 (which you'll recognize in the Kefka Perler beads and summon materia on my desk)...but I'll save their juicy backstories after this Yume prequel/sequel comes to life.

*Don’t forget; last time, I warned y’all that I can’t do catchy, creative titles. This was all I could come up with. Y'all were warned.